“…its edges are chipped from the blows of the battalions. (1)”
He then sheathed the sword and handed it back to me. We set its value among ourselves at three thousand, whereupon one of us took it—how I wish I had been the one to take it. (2)
Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī relates—from Suhayl, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was standing on (Mount) Ḥirā when it began to quake. He said, “Be still, Ḥirā! Upon you there is none but a Prophet, a man of truthful faith, or a martyr.” With him at that moment were Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, Ṭalḥah, and al-Zubayr. (3)
This ḥadith is also transmitted by Muʿāwiyah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Jubayr, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, as a report traced back to the Prophet; his version likewise mentions ʿAlī among them.
As already noted in the biographies of the Rightly Guided (4), the Ten have been promised Paradise, and under the entry on Ṭalḥah it was mentioned
(1) The quoted half-verse completes the line that begins: “wa-la ‘ayba fihim ghayra anna suyufahum” (They have no flaw save that their swords …). It belongs to the poet al-Nabigha in his celebrated qasida in the letter ba, which opens with: “Kilini lahum yā Umayma nāsib, / wa-laylun uqāsīhi baṭīʾu l-kawākib.”
(2) Reported by al-Bukhari, no. 3973 (Book of Military Expeditions, Chapter: The killing of Abu Jahl); no. 3721 (Book of the Merits of the Companions, Chapter: The virtues of al-Zubayr); and no. 3975 (Book of Military Expeditions, same chapter).
(3) Reported by Muslim, no. 2417 (Book of the Merits of the Companions, Chapter: The virtues of Talha and al-Zubayr) through the chain Sulayman ibn Bilal → Yahya ibn Saʿid → Suhayl ibn Abi Salih → his father → Abu Hurayra, which also mentions “Ali and Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas.” The same wording is transmitted by Muslim and by al-Tirmidhi, no. 3697, via Qutayba ibn Saʿid → Abd al-Aziz ibn Muhammad → Suhayl ibn Abi Salih → his father → Abu Hurayra.
(4) See al-Dhahabi, “Tarikh al-Islam,” 1/153 ff. The manuscript from which this book was printed actually begins with what is now volume III; it is the earliest copy taken directly from the author’s own exemplar. The title-page margin states on the left: “Volumes I–II, covering the Prophet’s sira and the four rightly guided caliphs, are to be copied from Tarikh al-Islam.” Comparison has confirmed that the handwriting is al-Dhahabi’s, a view shared by several other editors. Consequently, the sections on the Prophet’s biography and that of the four caliphs in Tarikh al-Islam should be integrated into our present work, for they complete it—a step we intend to take, God willing.