Account of the Battle of Badr, taken from the Maghāzī of Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah—for his work is among the most reliable of the campaign narratives.

Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mundhir al-Ḥazāmi said: Mutarrif, Maʿn, and others related to me that whenever Mālik was asked about the maghāzī he would reply, “Rely on the Maghāzī of the righteous man Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, for it is the soundest account of the campaigns.”

Muḥammad ibn Faliḥ reported from Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah that Ibn Shihāb said—while Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Uways narrated: “Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUqbah told us—this being his exact wording—from his uncle Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, who said:

‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained in Medina for two months after the killing of Ibn al-Ḥaḍramī. Then Abū Sufyān set out with a caravan belonging to Quraysh, accompanied by seventy riders from the various clans of Quraysh, among them Makhramah ibn Nawfal and ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ. The party were merchants returning from Syria, and with them were the capital reserves of the Meccans. It is said that the caravan comprised one thousand camels. There was not a single awqiyyah (ounce) or more of Quraysh’s wealth that was not invested with Abū Sufyān—apart from Huwayṭib ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā; for that reason he remained behind and did not witness Badr.

When word of the caravan reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions—hostilities already existing between them—he dispatched ʿAdī ibn Abī al-Zaghbāʾ al-Anṣārī and Basbas ibn ʿAmr as scouts. They travelled until they came to a clan of Juhaynah near the seashore, asked about the caravan, and were given full information. The two men then returned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.’