Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (3/328)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

—right up to this very moment, and he has taken away everything that was in our hands.”

ʿUyaynah said, “Had he not realized that pursuers were on his heels, he would have left you alone. Let a party of you go up after him.”

Four men then climbed toward me. When they came within earshot I called out, “Do you know who I am?”

They asked, “And who are you?”

I replied, “I am the son of al-Akwaʿ. By Him who honored the face of Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—no one of you pursues me without my escaping him, and I pursue no one without overtaking him.”

One of them remarked, “I rather think that is so.”

I had not left my place when I saw the Messenger of Allah’s horsemen threading their way through the trees. In the lead were al-Akhram al-Asadī, Abū Qatādah, and al-Miqdād, and the idolaters turned and ran.

I dismounted and took hold of al-Akhram’s bridle. “I fear they may cut you off,” I said. “Proceed more slowly until the Muslims catch up.”

He replied, “O Salamah! If you believe in Allah and the Last Day, and you know that Paradise is real and the Fire is real, then do not stand between me and martyrdom.”

So I released his bridle. He caught up with ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUyaynah, and they exchanged two thrusts. Al-Akhram crippled ʿAbd al-Raḥmān’s horse, but ʿAbd al-Raḥmān killed him, mounted al-Akhram’s horse, and rode on. Abū Qatādah then caught up with ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. They, too, exchanged two thrusts; he hamstrung Abū Qatādah’s mount, but Abū Qatādah killed him and transferred to his horse.

I set off running in pursuit of the enemy until I could no longer see the dust of our own riders. Shortly before sunset they veered toward a ravine that held water, called Dhū Qarad (1). When they noticed me racing after them, they turned away from it and pressed on up the mountain pass. The sun had set when I overtook one man and shot him, saying, “Take that! I am the son of al-Akwaʿ … and today—

(1) Thu Qarad: a watering place located two days’ march from Madinah, on the way to Khaybar. Al-Bukhari notes in his Sahih, 7/352, that this was the raid in which the Prophet’s she-camels were seized, three days before the Khaybar campaign. Al-Hafiz (Ibn Hajar) confirms this, relying on the report of Iyas b. Salama b. al-Akwa. In the lengthy hadith recorded by Muslim (no. 1807) through this chain, the narrator says at the end: “We returned from the expedition to Madinah, and by Allah, we stayed in Madinah only three nights before marching out to Khaybar.” Ibn Saad, however, writes (2/80) that the expedition of Thu Qarad occurred in Rabi al-Awwal of year six, before al-Hudaybiyya; other opinions place it in Jumada al-Ula. Ibn Ishaq dates it to Sha‘ban of that same year.

إِلَى الآنَ، وَأَخَذَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ كَانَ فِي أَيْدِيْنَا. فَقَالَ عُيَيْنَةُ: لَوْلاَ أَنَّهُ يَرَى أَنَّ وَرَاءهُ طَلَباً لَقَدْ تَرَكَكُمْ، لِيَقُمْ إِلَيْهِ نَفَرٌ مِنْكُم. فَصَعِدَ إِلَيَّ أَرْبَعَةٌ، فَلَمَّا أَسْمَعتُهُم الصَّوتَ، قُلْتُ: أَتَعرِفُونِي؟ قَالُوا: وَمَنْ أَنْتَ؟ قُلْتُ: أَنَا ابْنُ الأَكْوَعِ، وَالَّذِي أَكَرَمَ وَجْهَ مُحَمَّدٍ ﷺ، لاَ يَطْلُبُنِي رَجُلٌ مِنْكُم فَيُدْرِكَنِي، وَلاَ أَطْلُبُهُ فَيَفُوتَنِي. فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ مِنْهُم: إِنِّيْ أَظُنُّ. فَمَا بَرِحْتُ ثَمَّ، حَتَّى نَظَرتُ إِلَى فَوَارِسِ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ ﷺ يَتَخَلَّلُوْنَ الشَّجَرَ، وَإِذَا أَوَّلُهُمُ الأَخْرَمُ الأَسَدِيُّ، وَأَبُو قَتَادَةَ، وَالمِقْدَادُ؛ فَولَّى المُشرِكُوْنَ. فَأَنْزِلُ، فَأَخَذتُ بِعِنَانِ فَرَسِ الأَخْرَمِ، لاَ آمَنُ أَنْ يَقتَطِعُوكَ، فَاتَّئِدْ حَتَّى يَلْحَقَكَ المُسْلِمُوْنَ. فَقَالَ: يَا سَلَمَةُ! إِنْ كُنْتَ تُؤمِنُ بِاللهِ وَاليَوْمِ الآخِرِ، وَتَعلَمُ أَنَّ الجَنَّةَ حَقٌّ وَالنَّارَ حَقٌّ، فَلاَ تَحُلْ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ الشَّهَادَةِ. فَخَلَّيتُ عِنَانَ فَرَسِهِ، وَلَحِقَ بِعَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بنِ عُيَيْنَةَ، فَاخْتَلَفَا طَعْنَتَيْنِ، فَعَقَرَ الأَخْرَمُ بِعَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ فَرَسَهُ، ثُمَّ قَتلَهُ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ، وَتَحوَّلَ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ عَلَى فَرَسِ الأَخْرَمِ، فَيَلْحَقُ أَبُو قَتَادَةَ بِعَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، فَاخْتَلَفَا طَعْنَتَيْنِ، فَعَقَرَ بِأَبِي قَتَادَةَ، فَقَتَلَهُ أَبُو قَتَادَةَ، وَتَحوَّلَ عَلَى فَرسِهِ. وَخَرَجْتُ أَعْدُو فِي أَثَرِ القَوْمِ حَتَّى مَا أَرَى مِنْ غُبَارِ أَصْحَابِنَا شَيْئاً، وَيَعرِضُونَ قُبَيْلَ المَغِيبِ إِلَى شِعْبٍ فِيْهِ مَاءٌ، يُقَالَ لَهُ: ذُو قَرَدٍ (١) ، فَأَبْصرُوْنِي أَعْدُو وَرَاءهُم، فَعَطَفُوا عَنْهُ، وَأَسْنَدُوا فِي الثَّنِيَّةِ، وَغَرَبَتِ الشَّمْسُ، فَأَلْحَقُ رَجُلاً، فَأَرمِيْهِ؛ فَقُلْتُ: خُذْهَا وَأَنَا ابْنُ الأَكْوَعِ ... وَاليَوْمَ

(١) ذو قرد: ماء على ليلتين من المدينة بينها وبين خيبر، قال البخاري في " صحيحه " ٧ / ٣٥٢: وهي الغزوة التي أغاروا فيها على لقاح النبي ﷺ قبل خيبر بثلاث. قال الحافظ: كذا جزم به، ومستنده في ذلك حديث إياس بن سلمة بن الاكوع، عن أبيه، فإنه قال في آخر الحديث الطويل الذي أخرجه مسلم (١٨٠٧) من طريقه، قال: فرجعنا، أي: من الغزوة إلى المدينة، فوالله ما لبثنا بالمدينة إلا ثلاث ليال حتى خرجنا إلى خيبر، وأما ابن سعد، فقال: ٢ / ٨٠: كانت غزوة ذي قرد في ربيع الأول سنة ست قبل الحديبية، وقيل في جمادى الأولى، وعن ابن إسحاق: في شعبان منها.