who had already begun to disperse.

The Confederates had melted away from him, and when I sat down among them Abu Sufyān sensed that someone not of their company had slipped in. He therefore said, “Let each man take the hand of the one next to him.” I immediately put out my hand to the man on my right and seized his, then reached for the man on my left and grasped his hand. I remained among them for a short while, then got up and returned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who was standing in prayer. He motioned to me with his hand, “Come nearer.” I drew closer, and he gestured again until he let a corner of the cloak he was wearing while praying fall over me. When he finished, he asked, “What news do you bring?” I replied, “The people have deserted Abu Sufyān; no one remains with him except a small band stoking the fire. Allah has poured upon him a cold just like the one He has poured upon us, yet we hope from Allah for that which he does not hope.”

ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmār narrated from Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Ḥanafī, from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, the nephew of Hudhayfah, who said: Hudhayfah once recalled their battle scenes, whereupon his companions said, “By Allah, had we been there we would have done this and that.” Hudhayfah replied, “Do not wish for it. I myself saw what befell us on the Night of the Confederates.” He then continued the story at length.

Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid said: Ibn Abī Awfā narrated to us that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ supplicated against the Confederates, saying, “O Allah, Revealer of the Book, Swift in reckoning, defeat the Confederates. O Allah, defeat them and shake them.” Agreed upon.

Al-Layth said: Al-Maqburī told me, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to say, “There is no god but Allah alone; He strengthened His army, aided His servant, and single-handedly routed the Confederates—nothing can withstand Him.” Agreed upon.

Israʾīl and others narrated from Abū Isḥāq, from Sulaymān ibn Ṣurad, who said: When the Confederates had been driven away, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared, “Now we shall march against them and they will not …”