Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (سيرة 2/67)

Ibn Buraydah—on the authority of his father—narrated: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sometimes seized by a migraine, and would remain indoors a day or two without coming out. When we encamped before Khaybar, the migraine struck him again and he did not appear before the people. Abu Bakr therefore took the banner of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, advanced, fought fiercely, and then returned. ʿUmar took it next, fought even more fiercely than the first engagement, and likewise came back. When this was reported to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he said, “Tomorrow I shall surely give the banner to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger, and whom Allah and His Messenger love. He will seize it by assault.” ʿAlī was not present at the time. Quraysh craned their necks toward the banner, each man hoping he would be the one chosen.

At daybreak ʿAlī arrived, riding a camel which he made kneel close by. His eyes were inflamed with ophthalmia, and he had bound one of them with a strip of Qatari cloth. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked, “What is the matter with you?” He replied, “My eye has been inflamed since you departed.” The Prophet said, “Come near,” then spat into his eye, and it never caused him pain again for the rest of his life. He then handed the banner to ʿAlī, who rose to depart wearing a crimson-purple jubba whose nap showed on the outside, and he went straight toward the citadel of Khaybar.

Marhab, the master of the fortress, came out to meet him. He wore a finely wrought Yemeni helmet and, upon his head, a hollowed stone the size of an egg, and he chanted his battle-rajaz. ʿAlī answered with rajaz of his own, the two exchanged two blows, and ʿAlī struck first: his sword split the stone, the helmet, and Marhab’s head until it reached the molars, and the fortress fell into his hands.

ʿAwf al-Aʿrābī narrates—through Maymūn Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Azdī, from Ibn Buraydah, from his father—that Marhab and ʿAlī exchanged two blows; ʿAlī then struck him on the crown until the sword bit into his teeth, and the entire camp heard the sound of the blow.

بن بريدة، عن أبيه، قال: كان رسول الله ﷺ: ربما أخذته الشقيقة فيلبث اليوم واليومين لا يخرج، ولما نزل خيبر أخذته الشقيقة فلم يخرج إلى الناس، وأن أبا بكر أخذ راية رسول الله ﷺ ثم نهض فقاتل قتالا شديدا، ثم رجع. فأخذها عمر فقاتل قتالا شديدا هو أشد من القتال الأول، ثم رجع فأخبر بذلك رسول الله ﷺ، فقال: "لأعطينها غدا رجلا يحب الله ورسوله ويحبه الله ورسوله يأخذها عنوة"، وليس ثم علي. فتطاولت لها قريش، رجاكل رجل منهم أن يكون صاحب ذلك. فأصبح وجاء علي على بعير حتى أناخ قريبا، وهو أرمد قد عصب عينه بشق برد قطري. فقال رسول الله ﷺ: "ما لك"؟ قال: رمدت بعدك، قال: "ادن مني"، فتفل في عينه، فما وجعها حتى مضى لسبيله، ثم أعطاه الراية فنهض بها، وعليه جبة أرجوان حمراء قد أخرج خملها، فأتى مدينة خيبر. وخرج مرحب صاحب الحصن وعليه مغفر مظهر يماني وحجر قد ثقبه مثل البيضة على رأسه، وهو يرتجز، فارتجز علي واختلفا ضربتين، فبدر علي بضربة، فقد الحجر والمغفر ورأسه ووقع في الأضراس، وأخذ المدينة. وقال عوف الأعرابي، عن ميمون أبي عبد الله الأزدي، عن ابن بريدة، عن أبيه، قال: فاختلف مرحب وعلي ضربتين، فضربه علي على هامته حتى عض السيف بأضراسه. وسمع أهل العسكر صوت ضربته.