The Conquest of Mecca—may Allah exalt and honor it:

Al-Bakkāʾī, transmitting from Ibn Isḥāq, says: The Banu Bakr ibn ʿAbd Manāh ibn Kinānah attacked Khuzaʿah while the latter were at a watering place below Mecca known as al-Watīr. The incident that rekindled hostilities between Bakr and Khuzaʿah was this: a man of the Banu al-Ḥaḍramī set out as a merchant; when he reached the heart of Khuzaʿah territory they fell upon him, killed him, and took his goods. In reprisal the Banu Bakr killed a man of Khuzaʿah, after which, shortly before the advent of Islam, Khuzaʿah retaliated by killing Salmā, Kulthūm, and Dhuʾayb—the sons of al-Aswad ibn Ruzn al-Daylī, men esteemed as the pride and nobles of the Banu Kinānah—at ʿArafah.

While Bakr and Khuzaʿah were thus engaged, Islam intervened and people became preoccupied with it. At the time of the Treaty of al-Hudaybiyyah between the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Quraysh, it was stipulated—by mutual consent—that anyone who wished could enter the covenant and alliance of the Messenger of Allah, and anyone who wished could enter the covenant and alliance of Quraysh. Accordingly, the Banu Bakr joined the alliance of Quraysh, whereas Khuzaʿah, both its believers and its idol-worshippers, joined the alliance of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

When the truce was in force, the Banu al-Dayl—a branch of Bakr—took advantage of it to exact vengeance from Khuzaʿah for those fallen brothers. Nufal ibn Muʿāwiyah al-Daylī set out with his men, surprised Khuzaʿah at al-Watīr by night, and fighting broke out; Quraysh also came up in support.