not yet finished when the Jews greeted us with a shower of arrows at the very spot where we had halted. We were not in battle formation, and they were shouting from their stone towers. A stray arrow then struck Madhʿam and killed him. The people exclaimed, “Congratulations to him—Paradise!” but the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “No, by Him in whose hand is my soul! The cloak he seized on the day of Khaybar from the spoils before they had been apportioned is now blazing upon him as fire.”
When the people heard that, a man brought a sandal-strap—or two straps—to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He said, “A single strap—or two straps—of fire.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then arrayed his Companions for combat, drew them up in ranks, and handed the main banner to Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah. He gave another standard to al-Hubāb ibn al-Mundhir, one to Sahl ibn Ḥunayf, and one to ʿUbādah ibn Bishr. He called the defenders to Islam, telling them that if they embraced it their property would be safeguarded and their blood spared. A man came out to duel; al-Zubayr stepped forward and killed him. Another emerged; ʿAlī went out and killed him. Yet another appeared; Abū Dujānah faced him and killed him—until eleven of them had fallen. The next morning they laid down their arms, and Allah granted victory, the settlement being taken by force.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained at Wadi al-Qurā for four days. When the people of Taymāʾ heard of this, they sued for peace on payment of the jizyah. Later, in the time of ʿUmar, he expelled the Jews of Khaybar and Fadak but did not expel the inhabitants of Taymāʾ and Wadi al-Qurā, considering both to lie within the lands of Syria. In his view, everything up to Wadi al-Qurā in the direction of Madinah belonged to the Ḥijāz, and everything beyond it to Syria.
Ibn Wahb narrated: Yūnus related to me from Ibn Shihāb, from Ibn al-Musayyib, from Abū Hurayrah, that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was returning from the expedition of Khaybar, he travelled through the night. When drowsiness overtook us, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stopped to rest and said to Bilāl, “Keep watch for us during the night.” Sleep, however, overcame Bilāl, and neither the Prophet ﷺ nor Bilāl awoke until the sun’s heat had become intense… (the ḥadīth continues). Muslim recorded it.