al-Ḥajjāj ibn ʿĀmir al-Sahmī’s two sons. Al-ʿĀṣ himself, together with his father and his uncle, were slain as idolaters on the Day of Badr.

The pommel, wooden grip, ring, pendant strap, suspension knobs, and chape of Dhū al-Faqār were all of silver; the qāʾima is the piece of wood one holds—that is, the hilt.

Al-Tirmidhī transmits, through Hūd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿd ibn Mazīdah from his grandfather Mazīdah, who said: “On the Day of the Conquest the Prophet ﷺ entered with gold and silver on his sword.”

Dhū al-Faqār—faqār being (with kasrah) the plural of faqrah and (with fatḥah) the plural of faqārah—was so named for the ‘vertebrae’ that marked it: attractive hollows carved along the spine of the blade. It is also said that its metal originated from an iron bar found buried beside the Kaʿbah, left there by the tribe of Jurhum; from that same piece were forged Dhū al-Faqār and Ṣamsāmah, the sword of ʿAmr ibn Maʿdīkarib al-Zubaydī, which he later presented to Khālid ibn Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ.

From the arms of Banū Qaynuqāʿ he captured three swords: a qalʿiyy blade—named after Marj al-Qalʿah, a spot in the desert—al-Bār, and al-Ḥanaf. Thereafter he also possessed al-Rasūb—so called from rasaba, “to sink,” because it plunges deep—and al-Mikhdham, “the Cutter”; he obtained both of them when al-Fals, an idol of the tribe of Ṭayyʾ, was taken. He likewise owned a sword named al-Qaḍīb, an active-participle form derived from qaḍb, “to cut.”

Al-Tirmidhī further relates from Ibn Sīrīn, who said: “I had my sword fashioned after the sword of Samurah, and Samurah claimed that he had modelled his after the sword of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; it was slightly curved (ḥanifī).” This report comes through ʿUthmān ibn Saʿd from Ibn Sīrīn; he is a weak narrator, and he is the one who also reported from Anas that the pommel of the Prophet’s ﷺ sword was of silver.

Al-ḥanaf denotes curvature.

Our teacher added: He ﷺ likewise owned a coat of mail called Dhāt al-Fuḍūl, so named for its exceptional length,