at all.’

He said, ‘Pass me my bow and two arrows from my quiver.’ She did so, and he shot an arrow at me that lodged in my forehead—he also said: in my side. I pulled it out, set it down, and did not move. Then he shot the second; it embedded itself in the top of my shoulder. I drew it out, laid it aside, and still did not stir.

He then said to his wife, ‘By Allah, both my arrows have struck that thing. If it were something capable of movement, it would have reacted. When morning comes, look for my arrows and bring them back; do not let the dogs chew on them.’

“We waited until their herds returned from pasture. When they had finished milking, watered the animals, and the early part of the night had passed, we launched our raid upon them: we killed those we killed, drove off the livestock, and headed back with it. The alarm of the people reached their clan. We hurried on until we passed by al-Ḥārith ibn Mālik ibn al-Barṣāʾ and his companion and took them along with us.

“Soon another cry for help came and forces arrived that we could not withstand. When only the floor of the valley of Qudayd separated us from them, Allah sent water from wherever He willed—no raincloud or shower had been seen beforehand—and a flood came that no one could cross. I saw them standing, looking at us, and not one of them could advance. We kept prodding the animals, hurried on until we had driven them up to al-Mushallal, then led them down from it and left our pursuers behind.

The Expedition of Hanān

Al-Wāqidī says in his Maghāzī: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Saʿīd ibn Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah related to me, from Bashīr ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd, who said: A man from Ashjaʿ named Ḥusayl ibn Nuwayrah arrived—he had been the Prophet’s ﷺ guide to