to Khaybar. He asked him, “Where have you come from, O Husayl?”

“From Yaman and Hanān,” he replied.

“And what news do you bring?”

“I have left a force of Yaman, Ghatafān, and Hanān. ʿUyaynah has sent them word: ‘Either you march to us or we will march to you.’ They answered, ‘Come to us,’ and they are aiming for you or for one of your border posts.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then summoned Abū Bakr and ʿUmar and informed them. They both said, “Dispatch Bashīr ibn Saʿd.” So the Prophet tied a banner for him, sent him out with three hundred men, and ordered them to travel by night and hide by day. They did so until they reached the lower outskirts of Khaybar, raided the people, and killed ʿUyaynah’s lookout. They next met ʿUyaynah’s contingent and skirmished with them; the force broke and fled, two of their men were captured, and they were brought before the Prophet ﷺ, whereupon they embraced Islam.

The Detachment of Abū Ḥadrad to al-Ghābah

Yūnus ibn Bukayr, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, relates: Concerning Abū Ḥadrad al-Aslamī—as Jaʿfar ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Aslam told me from Abū Ḥadrad himself—he said:

“I married a woman from my clan and set her dowry at two hundred dirhams. I went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to seek his help in meeting the expense. He asked, ‘How much did you give as dowry?’ I answered, ‘Two hundred dirhams.’ He exclaimed, ‘Glory be to Allah! By Allah, even if you had been scooping from an entire valley it would not have been any more. By Allah, I have nothing with which to help you.’

“After a few days a man of Jusham ibn Muʿāwiyah named Rifāʿah ibn Qays—or Qays ibn Rifāʿah—arrived with a large subdivision of Jusham. He camped with his people and those who were with him at al-Ghābah, intending to rally the tribe of Qays to fight the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He was a man of standing. The Prophet ﷺ summoned me and two other Muslims and said, ‘Go out to him and bring back reliable information.’ He provided us with a scrawny, worn-out she-camel, and I mounted her