70. The expedition against Banū Liḥyān

1. Sirat Ibn Hisham 1210No grade recorded

   غَزْوَةُ بَنِي لِحْيَانَ [ خُرُوجُ الرَّسُولِ إِلَى بَنِي لِحْيَانَ ] قَالَ ابْنُ إسْحَاقَ: ثُمَّ أَقَامَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ بِالْمَدِينَةِ ذَا الْحَجَّةِ وَالْمُحَرَّمَ وَصَفَرًا وَشَهْرَيْ رَبِيعٍ، وَخَرَجَ فِي جُمَادَى الْأُولَى عَلَى رَأْسِ سِتَّةِ أَشْهُرٍ مِنْ فَتْحِ قُرَيْظَةَ، إلَى بَنِي لِحْيَانَ يَطْلُبُ بِأَصْحَابِ الرَّجِيعِ: خُبَيْبَ بْنَ عَدِيٍّ وَأَصْحَابَهُ، وَأَظْهَرَ أَنَّهُ يُرِيدُ الشَّامَ، لِيُصِيبَ مِنْ الْقَوْمِ غِرَّةً.

   ✧ The expedition of Banū Liḥyān [The Messenger's departure to Banū Liḥyān]. Ibn Isḥāq said: Then the Messenger of God ﷺ stayed in Madinah during Dhū al-Ḥijjah, al-Muḥarram, Ṣafar, and the two months of Rabīʿ, and he departed in Jumādā al-Ūlā, at the head of six months after the conquest of Qurayẓah, to Banū Liḥyān, seeking [vengeance for] the companions of al-Rajīʿ: Khubayb b. ʿAdī and his companions. He made it appear that he wanted [to go to] Syria, in order to take the people by surprise.

2. Sirat Ibn Hisham 1211No grade recorded

   [ اسْتِعْمَالُهُ ابْنَ أُمِّ مَكْتُومٍ عَلَى الْمَدِينَةِ ] فَخَرَجَ مِنْ الْمَدِينَةِ ﷺ، وَاسْتَعْمَلَ عَلَى الْمَدِينَةِ ابْنَ أُمِّ مَكْتُومٍ، فِيمَا قَالَ ابْنُ هِشَامٍ. [ طَرِيقُهُ إلَيْهِمْ ثُمَّ رُجُوعُهُ عَنْهُمْ ] قَالَ ابْنُ إسْحَاقَ: فَسَلَكَ عَلَى غُرَابٍ، جَبَلٍ بِنَاحِيَةِ الْمَدِينَةِ عَلَى طَرِيقِهِ إلَى الشَّامِ، ثُمَّ عَلَى مَحِيصٍ، ثُمَّ عَلَى الْبَتْرَاءِ، ثُمَّ صَفَّقَ ذَاتَ الْيَسَارِ، فَخَرَجَ عَلَى بَيْنٍ، ثُمَّ عَلَى صُخَيْرَاتِ الْيَمَامِ، ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامَ بِهِ الطَّرِيقُ عَلَى الْمَحَجَّةِ مِنْ طَرِيقِ مَكَّةَ، فَأَغَذَّ السَّيْرَ سَرِيعًا، حَتَّى نَزَلَ عَلَى غُرَانَ، وَهِيَ مَنَازِلُ بَنِي لِحْيَانٍ، وَغُرَانُ وَادٍ بَيْنَ أَمَجَّ وَعُسْفَانَ، إلَى بَلَدٍ يُقَالُ لَهُ: سَايَةُ، فَوَجَدَهُمْ قَدْ حَذِرُوا وَتَمَنَّعُوا فِي رُءُوسِ الْجِبَالِ. فَلَمَّا نَزَلَهَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَأَخْطَأَهُ مِنْ غِرَّتِهِمْ مَا أَرَادَ، قَالَ: لَوْ أَنَّا هَبَطْنَا عُسْفَانَ لَرَأَى أَهْلُ مَكَّةَ أَنَّا قَدْ جِئْنَا مَكَّةَ، فَخَرَجَ فِي مِئَتَيْ رَاكِبٍ مِنْ أَصْحَابِهِ حَتَّى نَزَلَ عُسْفَانَ، ثُمَّ بَعَثَ فَارِسَيْنِ مِنْ أَصْحَابِهِ حَتَّى بَلَغَا كُرَاعَ الْغَمِيمِ، ثُمَّ كَرَّ وَرَاحَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَافِلًا

   ✧ His appointment of Ibn Umm Maktūm over Madinah: He ﷺ departed from Madinah and appointed Ibn Umm Maktūm over Madinah, as Ibn Hishām said. His route to them and then his return: Ibn Isḥāq said: He took the route by Ghurāb, a mountain on the side of Madinah on the road to Syria, then by Maḥīṣ, then by al-Batrāʾ, then he turned to the left and came out at Bayn, then at Ṣukhayrāt al-Yamām, then the road led him straight on the highway of the Makkah road. He hastened the pace quickly until he halted at Ghurān, which is the camping grounds of Banū Liḥyān. Ghurān is a valley between Amajj and ʿUsfān, extending to a place called Sāyah. He found that they had become wary and fortified themselves on the mountaintops. When the Messenger of God ﷺ halted there and missed what he wanted of catching them unawares, he said: "If we went down to ʿUsfān, the people of Makkah would see that we have come to Makkah." So he went out with two hundred riders of his companions until he halted at ʿUsfān, then he sent two horsemen of his companions until they reached Kurāʿ al-Ghamīm, then he turned back and the Messenger of God ﷺ returned home.

3. Sirat Ibn Hisham 1212No grade recorded

   [ مَقَالَةُ الرَّسُولِ فِي رُجُوعِهِ ] فَكَانَ جَابِرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ يَقُولُ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ حِينَ وَجَّهَ رَاجِعًا: آيِبُونَ تَائِبُونَ إنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ لِرَبِّنَا حَامِدُونَ، أَعُوذُ بِاَللَّهِ مِنْ وَعْثَاءِ السَّفَرِ، وَكَآبَةِ الْمُنْقَلَبِ، وَسُوءِ الْمَنْظَرِ فِي الْأَهْلِ وَالْمَالِ

   ✧ [The Messenger's statement on his return] Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh used to say: I heard the Messenger of God ﷺ say when he turned back: "Returning, repenting, if God wills, praising our Lord. I seek refuge in God from the hardship of travel, the gloom of the homecoming, and an evil sight in family and property."

4. Sirat Ibn Hisham 1213No grade recorded

   [ شِعْرُ كَعْبٍ فِي غَزْوَةِ بَنِي لِحْيَانَ ] وَالْحَدِيثُ فِي غَزْوَةِ بَنِي لِحْيَانَ، عَنْ عَاصِمِ بْنِ عُمَرَ بْنِ قَتَادَةَ، وَعَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ أَبِي بَكْرٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ كَعْبِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ؛ فَقَالَ كَعْبُ بْنُ مَالِكٍ فِي غَزْوَةِ بَنِي لِحْيَانَ: لَوْ أَنَّ بَنِي لِحْيَانَ كَانُوا تَنَاظَرُوا لَقُوا عُصَبًا فِي دَارِهِمْ ذَاتَ مَصْدَقِ لَقُوا سَرَعَانًا يَمْلَأُ السَّرْبَ رَوْعُهُ أَمَامَ طَحُونٍ كَالْمَجَرَّةِ فَيْلَقِ وَلَكِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا وِبَارًا تَتَبَّعَتْ شِعَابَ حِجَازٍ غَيْرِ ذِي مُتَنَفَّقِ

   ✧ [Poetry of Kaʿb on the expedition of Banū Liḥyān] And the account of the expedition of Banū Liḥyān is from ʿĀṣim b. ʿUmar b. Qatādah, and ʿAbd Allāh b. Abī Bakr, from ʿAbd Allāh b. Kaʿb b. Mālik. Kaʿb b. Mālik said concerning the expedition of Banū Liḥyān: If Banū Liḥyān had considered one another, they would have met bands in their abode, possessing strength; they would have met a swift force whose terror fills the valley, before a grinder like the Milky Way, a mighty host. But they were like hyraxes that followed the mountain paths of Ḥijāz, with no way of escape.