Muhammad then consulted his followers about digging a protective trench around his position, and opinions differed. In the end he ordered the very trench the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had once dug to be re-excavated, and he personally joined in the work.

ʿUthmān al-Zubayrī relates:

“A multitude gathered around Muhammad—never had I seen a larger crowd; I reckon we were one hundred thousand. (1)

“Muhammad addressed the assembly, saying, ‘The enemy is at hand, and I release you from your pledge to me.’ People began to slip away until only a small band remained. They fled with their families into the mountains, yet ʿĪsā did them no harm. Instead he wrote to Muhammad, calling him to obedience and warning:

‘Beware lest the man who summons you to Allah kill you and you become the worst of those slain, or lest you kill him and thereby magnify your sin.’

“Muhammad replied, ‘If you refuse, we shall fight you for the very cause your grandfather Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr fought—breaking the oath of allegiance.’

“ʿĪsā then surrounded Medina during the month of Ramadan and invited Muhammad to make peace for three days. He advanced to the city wall and called out himself:

‘People of Medina! Allah has made blood inviolable. Come out under our protection and leave this man to us.’

“They cursed him, so he withdrew. He repeated the offer the next day, and on the third day he pressed forward, gained the upper hand, and renewed his promise of safety to Muhammad, but Muhammad refused and dismounted to fight.

“One observer said, ‘I believe he killed seventy men with his own hand that day.’

ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Jaʿfar recounts: ‘We were with Muhammad—a force comparable to the men of Badr. Several champions engaged in single combat, and a soldier from al-Manṣūr’s army approached near Ahjār al-Zayt (2) seeking a duel. A man in a yellow cloak went out to him and killed the challenger; another advanced and he killed him as well. Then ʿĪsā’s men swarmed him with arrows until they felled him. The fighting raged from early morning until afternoon, and ʿĪsā’s troops filled in the trench so their cavalry could cross.’

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar adds: ‘Muhammad applied his burial perfume, readying himself for death. I said to him, “You have no strength left for what you are facing….”’