and informed him of all they had learned. During the month of Ramadan the Messenger of Allah ﷺ then called the Muslims to march against the caravan.

Abu Sufyan, meanwhile, reached the Juhayni tribesmen in a state of apprehension about the Muslims. He questioned them, and they told him about the two scouts. Abu Sufyan said, “Take some dung from their camels.” When it was crumbled he found date stones inside and exclaimed, “This is the fodder of the people of Yathrib.”

He quickened his pace and sent a man from Banu Ghifar named Damdam ibn ʿAmr to Quraysh with the message: “Ride out at once and protect your caravan from Muhammad and his companions.” Before Damdam’s arrival, ʿAtikah had already seen a dream—the vision of ʿAtikah referred to earlier—until the narrator said: Damdam reached Mecca and cried, “O descendants of Ghalib ibn Fihr, ride out! Muhammad and the people of Yathrib have come to intercept Abu Sufyan.”

Panic spread among them, and the vision of ʿAtikah troubled them. They mounted every sturdy or docile beast they had. Abu Jahl scoffed, “Does Muhammad think he will achieve what he did at Nakhlah? Tomorrow he will know whether we can defend our caravan or not!”

They set out nine hundred and fifty strong, driving one hundred horses, leaving no reluctant man behind. They even forced al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, Naufal ibn al-Ḥārith, Ṭālib ibn Abī Ṭālib, and his brother ʿAqīl to accompany them, until they encamped at al-Juhfah.

There Juhaim ibn al-Ṣalt ibn Mukharramah al-Muṭṭalibī laid his head down, dozed, and then awoke saying to his companions, “Did you see the horseman who just stood over me?” They replied, “No—you must be mad.” He said, “A horseman stood over me and announced: ‘Abu Jahl has been killed, and ʿUtbah, Shaybah, Zamʿah, Abu al-Bukhturī, and Umayyah ibn Khalaf,’ naming several men.” They retorted, “The devil is only playing tricks on you.” Juhaim reported the dream to Abu Jahl, who said, “So now you bring us the lies of the sons of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib on top of those of the sons of Hāshim. Tomorrow you will see who is killed.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out in pursuit of the caravan, taking the pass of Banu Dīnār, and, after returning by way of Thaniyyat al-Wadāʿ, he mobilized with three hundred and thirteen men.