Al-Wāqidī reports that the Prophet ﷺ marched against Banū Sulaym at Bahrān when six nights of Jumādā al-Ūlā had elapsed. Bahrān lies in the vicinity of al-Furʿ, eight stages’ distance from Madinah. The Prophet was away ten nights. Word had reached him that a force of Banū Sulaym had gathered there, so he set out with three hundred men, appointing Ibn Umm Maktūm to administer Madinah in his absence. Al-Furʿ—pronounced with a short u on the fa and a silent rā—lies between Mecca and Madinah.

One of them cried out, “Do you think we are like your own people? Do not be deceived by the fact that you met a folk inexperienced in war and were able to seize an opportunity against them. By Allah, were you to fight us, you would surely learn that we are the real men!”

Ibn ʿAbbās said, “These verses were revealed about them and no one else: ‘Say to those who…’”