Muhammad ibn ʿAmr related—through his father and grandfather ʿAlqamah—from ʿĀʾishah that Gabriel came with dust upon his front teeth and said, “Have you laid down your arms? By Allah, the angels have not yet put theirs aside. Go out to Banū Qurayẓah.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ therefore put on his armor and gave the order to march. When he passed by Banū ʿAmr he asked, “Who has just ridden past you?” They said, “Dihyah.” Dihyah’s beard and face closely resembled Gabriel’s. The Prophet ﷺ then reached Banū Qurayẓah and besieged them for twenty-five nights, after which they submitted to the judgment of Saʿd. (The full account is recorded at length in the Musnad of Aḥmad.)

Yūnus, citing Ibn Isḥāq, reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent ʿAlī ahead carrying his banner, and the people hastened after him.

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out in Gabriel’s wake. He passed an assembly of Banū Ghanm who were awaiting him and asked, “Has a horseman just gone by you?” They replied, “Dihyah passed on a white horse with a brocade saddle-cloth beneath him, wearing armor.” He said, “That was Gabriel.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to liken Gabriel’s appearance to that of Dihyah.

When ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ approaching, he went out to meet him and said, “Turn back, O Messenger of Allah; Allah will protect you from the Jews.” ʿAlī had heard them speaking ill of the Prophet ﷺ and of his wives, and he disliked that the Prophet might hear it. “Why are you telling me to turn back?” the Prophet asked. ʿAlī kept what he had heard to himself. The Prophet said, “I suspect you heard them reviling me. Press on, for once the enemies of Allah see me they will not dare utter anything you heard.”

When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reached their fortress, while they were positioned on its heights, he called out in a loud voice to a number of their nobles so that they could hear him, saying, “Answer me, O community of Jews, O….”