Saʿd passed by reciting:

“Wait but a little, and the clash of battle will be met;
How fine is death when the appointed term has come!”

She continued: He was wearing a coat of mail that left parts of his limbs exposed, and I feared for those limbs, for he was one of the tallest and strongest of men. I then climbed over the wall of a garden and found a group there—ʿUmar was among them, and with them was a man whose face was covered by a helmet. ʿUmar said to me, “What has brought you here? By Allah, you are a bold woman! How can you be sure this is not an attack and a calamity?” He kept reproaching me until I wished the earth would split open that very moment and swallow me.

The man then lifted the helmet from his face, and it was Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allah. He said, “Woe to you! You have gone too far. Where can one seek refuge or flee except to Allah?”

A man from Quraysh called Ibn al-ʿArqa then shot an arrow at Saʿd, crying, “Take this—from Ibn al-ʿArqa!” The arrow struck the medial vein of his arm. Saʿd prayed, “O Allah, do not let me die until You grant me satisfaction against Qurayẓah.” They had been his clients and allies in the age of ignorance. His wound closed up, and Allah sent the wind against the idolaters.

The narrator continued the story at length. Among what she said was: “Later his wound burst open again, though it had healed so completely that only a tiny scar like a thread could be seen. He returned to his pavilion. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abu Bakr, and ʿUmar were with him, and from my room I could distinguish Abu Bakr’s weeping from that of ʿUmar; they were, as Allah the Exalted says, ‘merciful among themselves’ (Qurʾan 48:29). I asked, ‘What would the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do?’ She replied, ‘His eyes did not shed tears over anyone, but when he felt grief he would grasp his beard.’”

Hammād ibn Salamah narrated from Muḥammad ibn Ziyād, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAmr ibn Saʿd ibn Muʿādh, that when the Banū Qurayẓah submitted to the judgment of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he sent for Saʿd ibn Muʿādh, who was brought on a donkey, weakened by his wound. The Prophet ﷺ said to him, “Give me your counsel regarding these people.” Saʿd replied, “I know that Allah has commanded you…”