two men: one from Quraysh and the other a client of ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ. The Qurayshite slipped away, but we seized ʿUqbah’s client and kept asking him, “How many are they?” He would answer, “By Allah, they are great in number and formidable in might.” Whenever he said that, the Muslims struck him. Finally they brought him to the Prophet ﷺ, who asked, “How many are the people?” He replied, “They are many in number and strong in valor.” The Prophet pressed him to state their exact number, but he refused. Then he asked, “How many camels do they slaughter each day?” He said, “Ten.” The Prophet of Allah ﷺ concluded, “The army is a thousand strong—one camel for every hundred men, with its driver besides.”

That night a light rain fell, so we sought shelter beneath the trees and under our hide shields. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ spent the night imploring his Lord, saying, “O Allah, if this small band is destroyed, You will no longer be worshiped on earth.”

At daybreak the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called out, “To prayer, all together!” The people emerged from beneath the trees, the shields, and the embankment, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ led us in prayer and exhorted us to fight. He then said, “The host of Quraysh is gathered by that red spur of the mountain.”

As the enemy drew near and we pressed them hard, a man among them rode up and down their ranks on a red camel. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “ʿAlī, call Hamzah for me”—he was the closest of us to the idolaters—“and ask him who the rider of the red camel is and what he is saying to them.” Then he added, “If anyone in their camp is urging good, it is likely the rider of the red camel.”

Hamzah returned and reported, “It is ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah. He is dissuading them from battle and saying, ‘My people, I see fighters determined to die; you will not break through them while any good remains in you. My people, lay the blame on me today and say, ʿUtbah lost his nerve. Yet you know I am not…’”