concerning them, and that you will inevitably carry it out.”

The Prophet ﷺ replied, “Yes indeed, but still give me your counsel about them.”

Saʿd said, “If I were given authority over them, I would kill their fighting men, take their women and children captive, and distribute their wealth.”

The Prophet ﷺ said, “By Him in Whose hand is my soul, you have advised me concerning them with exactly what Allah has commanded me.”

Muḥammad ibn Saʿd reported: Khālid ibn Mukhallad told us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ the date-seller related to me, from Saʿd ibn Ibrāhīm, who heard ʿĀmir ibn Saʿd narrate from his father: When Saʿd ibn Muʿādh ruled regarding Qurayẓah that every male upon whom the razor had passed should be put to death, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “He has judged among them with Allah’s judgment, the judgment pronounced from above the seven heavens.”

Ibn Saʿd also said: Yazīd told us; he said: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid related to us, from a man of the Anṣār, who said: After Saʿd had delivered his verdict concerning Qurayẓah and returned, his wound burst open. The Prophet ﷺ was informed, so he came to him, took Saʿd’s head and placed it in his lap, and covered him with a white cloth; whenever the cloth was drawn over his face his feet became visible, for he was a fair-skinned, large-built man. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed, “O Allah, Saʿd strove in Your path, believed Your Messenger, and has fulfilled his duty; so receive his soul with the best reception You have ever granted to any man.”

When Saʿd heard the words of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he opened his eyes and said, “Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah! I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah.” His mother was weeping and lamenting:

“Alas for Saʿd, for Saʿd—
so prudent, so resolute!”

Someone said to her, “Are you composing verse for Saʿd?” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, “Leave her; other poets are more false than she.”

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ghasīl narrated from ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah, from Maḥmūd ibn Labīd, who said: When the medial vein (akhal) of Saʿd was struck, they moved him to the care of a woman named