to a level stretch at the valley’s end. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Say: We seek Allah’s forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance.” They repeated the words, whereupon he said, “By Allah, this is the very ḥiṭṭah—the plea for pardon—that was offered to the Children of Israel, yet they refused to say it.”

ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hishām relates: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then ordered the people, saying, “Take the path to the right, between the two sides of al-Muḥammas, along the track that brings you out at Thanīyat al-Marār, descending to al-Hudaybiya on the lower side of Mecca.” When Quraysh saw the dust cloud raised by the army and realized the Muslims had left their original route, they galloped back to alert Quraysh.

Shuʿbah and others transmit from Ḥuṣayn, from Sālim ibn Abī al-Jaʿd: I asked Jābir, “How many were you on the Day of the Tree?” He replied, “We were one thousand five hundred (1500).” He then mentioned that thirst had overtaken them. Water was brought to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a basin; he placed his hand in it, and water gushed from between his fingers like springs. We all drank, filled our containers, and were satisfied; had we been one hundred thousand, it would still have sufficed.

Al-Bukhārī also recorded this narration through other chains from Ḥuṣayn.

Abū ʿAwānah reports from al-Aswad ibn Qays, from Nabīḥ al-ʿAnazī, who said: Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allah narrated, “We campaigned—or travelled—with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and our number that day was fourteen hundred (1400). When the time for prayer came, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked, ‘Does anyone have water for purification?’ A man hurried forward with a waterskin containing a little water—the only water among us. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ poured it into a cup, performed ablution, and then walked away, leaving the cup. The people crowded round it, saying, ‘Wipe yourselves with it, wipe yourselves!’ Whereupon the Messenger…"