Saʿd ibn Muʿādh said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: “Shall we not build a shelter (ʿarīsh) for you to stay in? We will tether your mounts there, then go out to confront the enemy. If Allah grants us victory, all is well; but if the matter turns the other way, you can mount your beasts and rejoin those of our people who have remained behind. There are men who do not love you any less than we do. Had they known you would be facing battle, they would never have stayed back; they cherish you and will support you.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ praised him and prayed for him. A shelter was accordingly built for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he remained in it with Abū Bakr—no one else was with them.

Al-Bukhārī reports: Abū Naʿīm told us, saying, “Israʾīl narrated to us from Mukhāriq, from Ṭāriq ibn Shihāb, who heard Ibn Masʿūd say: ‘I witnessed from al-Miqdād an episode such that, had I been its author, it would have been dearer to me than anything else comparable. He came to the Prophet ﷺ while the Prophet was invoking curses upon the idolaters and said: “We shall not say to you as the people of Moses said to Moses: ‘Go, you and your Lord, and fight; we will sit here’ (Q 5:24). Rather, we will fight at your right, at your left, in front of you, and behind you.” I saw the face of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ shine with gladness at those words; it made him happy.’”

Muslim and Abū Dāwūd relate: Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated to us from Thābit, from Anas, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ urged his Companions and set out for Badr. They encountered the water-carrying camels of Quraysh, among which was a black slave belonging to Banū al-Ḥajjāj. The Companions of the Prophet seized him and began asking, “Where is Abū Sufyān?” He replied, “By Allah, I know nothing of his affairs; but Quraysh have arrived—among them Abū Jahl, ʿUtbah and Shaybah the sons of Rabīʿah, and Umayyah ibn Khalaf.” Whenever he gave that answer they beat him, and he would cry, “Let me go! Let me go!”