He would say, “I shall tell you.” But the moment they left him alone he would repeat exactly the same words, while the Prophet ﷺ was praying and could hear everything. When the Prophet ﷺ finished his prayer he said, “By the One in whose hand is my soul, you strike him when he tells you the truth and you let him go when he lies! Quraysh has indeed come, intent on protecting Abū Sufyān.”

Anas said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then pointed to the ground and declared, “Here, tomorrow, is where so-and-so will be struck down,” placing his hand on the earth; “and here is where so-and-so will be struck down,” placing his hand on the earth; “and here is where so-and-so will be struck down,” again placing his hand on the earth.

Anas continued, “By the One in whose hand is my soul, not one of them fell outside the spot where he ﷺ had placed his hand.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then ordered that the bodies be dragged by their legs and flung into the well of Badr. Sound.

Hammād also related, from Thābit, from Anas, that when news reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ of Abū Sufyān’s approach, he consulted his Companions. Abū Bakr spoke but he turned away from him; ʿUmar spoke but he turned away from him; then Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah—thus the narrator said, though the well-known name is Ibn Muʿādh—rose and said, “Is it us you mean, O Messenger of Allah? By the One in whose hand is my soul, were you to command us to plunge into the sea, we would plunge into it; and were you to command us to spur our mounts as far as Bark al-Ghimād, we would do so.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ thereupon rallied the people, who set out until they encamped at Badr, and he proceeded with the account already mentioned. Muslim recorded it.

Muslim also transmits it through Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīrah, in a shorter form, from Thābit, from Anas: ʿUmar told us, “Yesterday the Messenger of Allah ﷺ pointed out to us the places where the enemy would fall: ‘Here is the spot where so-and-so will fall tomorrow, God willing; and here is the spot where so-and-so will fall tomorrow, God willing.’ By the One who sent him with the truth, none of them missed those boundaries; they fell exactly around them and were afterwards thrown into the well.”