Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (2/279)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

is better than the station of so-and-so and so-and-so.’

That day one could see her fighting with unparalleled valor. She had girded up her garment around her waist and went on until she had received thirteen wounds. She later said:

‘I could see Ibn Qamiʾah striking me on my shoulder; that was the most serious of my injuries, and I treated it for an entire year.’

Afterwards a herald of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called out for the march to Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad (1). She tightened her clothes about her, but because of the profuse bleeding from her wounds (2) she was unable to set out.

Ibn Saʿd relates: Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar told us, ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn ʿUmārah informed us, from ʿUmārah ibn Ghaziyyah, who said:

Umm ʿUmārah said: ‘I saw myself when the people scattered from around the Messenger of Allah ﷺ so that with him there remained no more than a handful—not even ten men. My two sons, my husband, and I stood in front of him shielding him, while the people passed by in retreat. He saw me without a shield, then noticed a man turning away with a shield in his hand and said, “Throw your shield to someone who is fighting!”

The man threw it, I caught it, and I began to shield the Messenger of Allah with it. What harmed us most were those mounted ruffians; had they been on foot like us, we would—God willing—have dealt with them.

A horseman came at me and struck, but I blocked him with the shield so that his blow did nothing. As he wheeled away, I struck the hock of his horse, and it fell on its back. The Prophet ﷺ then cried out, “O son of Umm ʿUmārah, your mother, your mother!”

She continued: ‘He helped me finish him off until I sent him to Shaʿūb (3).’

(1) A place located eight miles from Medina, on the left side of the road leading to al-Hulayfa; see Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Maʿad, vol. 3, pp. 242–243 (our edition). (2) Ibn Saʿd, al-Tabaqat, vol. 8, p. 413. (3) Shuʿub is one of the Arabic terms for al-maniya (death); the report is found in al-Tabaqat, vol. 8, pp. 413–414.

خَيْرٌ مِنْ مُقَامِ فُلاَنٍ وَفُلاَنٍ) . وَكَانَتْ تَرَاهَا يَوْمَئِذٍ تُقَاتِلُ أَشَدَّ القِتَالِ، وَإِنَّهَا لَحَاجِزَةٌ ثَوْبَهَا عَلَى وَسَطِهَا حَتَّى جُرِحَتْ ثَلاَثَةَ عَشَرَ جُرْحاً، وَكَانَتْ تَقُوْلُ: إِنِّي لأَنْظُرُ إِلَى ابْنِ قَمِئَةَ وَهُوَ يَضْرِبُهَا عَلَى عَاتِقِهَا، وَكَانَ أَعْظَمَ جِرَاحِهَا، فَدَاوَتْهُ سَنَةً. ثُمَّ نَادَى مُنَادِي رَسُوْلِ اللهِ ﷺ إِلَى حَمْرَاءِ الأَسَدِ (١) ، فَشَدَّتْ عَلَيْهَا ثِيَابَهَا، فَمَا اسْتَطَاعَتْ مِنْ نَزْفِ الدَّمِ ﵂ وَرَحِمَهَا (٢) -. ابْنُ سَعْدٍ: أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بنُ عُمَرَ، أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ الجَبَّارِ بنُ عُمَارَةَ، عَنْ عُمَارَةَ بنِ غَزِيَّةَ، قَالَ: قَالَتْ أُمُّ عُمَارَةَ: رَأَيْتُنِي، وَانْكَشَفَ النَّاسُ عَنْ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ ﷺ فَمَا بَقِيَ إِلاَّ فِي نُفَيْرٍ مَا يُتِمُّونَ عَشَرَةً، وَأَنَا وَابْنَايَ وَزَوْجِي بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ نَذُبُّ عَنْهُ، وَالنَّاسُ يَمُرُّوْنَ بِهِ مُنْهَزِمِيْنَ، وَرَآنِي وَلاَ تُرْسَ مَعِي، فَرَأَى رَجُلاً مُوَلِّياً وَمَعَهُ تُرْسٌ، فَقَالَ: (أَلْقِ تُرْسَكَ إِلَى مَنْ يُقَاتِلُ) . فَأَلْقَاهُ، فَأَخَذْتُهُ، فَجَعَلْتُ أُتَرِّسُ بِهِ عَنْ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ، وَإِنَّمَا فَعَلَ بِنَا الأَفَاِعْيَلَ أَصْحَابُ الخَيْلِ، لَو كَانُوا رَجَّالَةً مِثْلَنَا أَصَبْنَاهُمْ - إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ -. فَيُقْبِلُ رَجُلٌ عَلَى فَرَسٍ، فَيَضْرِبُنِي، وَتَرَّسْتُ لَهُ، فَلَمْ يَصْنَعْ شَيْئاً، وَوَلَّى، فَأَضْرِبُ عُرْقُوبَ فَرَسِهِ، فَوَقَعَ عَلَى ظَهْرِهِ، فَجَعَلَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ يَصِيْحُ: (يَا ابْنَ أُمِّ عُمَارَةَ، أُمَّكَ أُمَّكَ) . قَالَتْ: فَعَاوَنَنِي عَلَيْهِ حَتَّى أَوْرَدْتُهُ شَعُوْبَ (٣) .

(١) موضع على ثمانية أميال من المدينة عن يسار الطريق إذا أردت الحليفة. وانظر " زاد المعاد " ٣ / ٢٤٢، ٢٤٣ بتحقيقنا. (٢) ابن سعد ٨ / ٤١٣. (٣) شعوب: من أسماء المنية، والخبر في " الطبقات " ٨ / ٤١٣، ٤١٤.