your assailant.”
He said, “Pull out this arrow.” I did so, and a watery fluid spurted from the wound. Then he said, “Nephew, go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, convey my greetings to him, and ask him to seek forgiveness for me.” Abū ʿĀmir appointed me to command the people; he lingered only a short while before he died. The rest of the report was mentioned. Agreed upon (al-Bukhārī and Muslim).

Ibn Isḥāq relates: Seventy men of Thaqīf were killed at Ḥunayn beneath their banner, after which the idolaters fled—some to al-Ṭāʾif with Mālik ibn ʿAwf, some encamping at Awtās, and others heading toward Nakhlah. The cavalry of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ pursued them until Rabiʿah ibn Rafīʿ—called Ibn Ladghah—overtook Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah. Grabbing the camel’s halter, he at first supposed its rider a woman; on closer look he saw an aged man whom the youth did not recognize.

Durayd asked, “What do you intend to do with me?” He replied, “To kill you.” “And who are you?” “Rabiʿah ibn Rafīʿ al-Sulamī,” he answered. Rabiʿah struck him with his sword, but the blow did not harm him. Durayd said, “Your mother equipped you poorly! Take my sword from behind the saddle, then strike with it—above the stomach and below the skull—for that is how I used to strike men. And when you reach your mother, tell her that you have killed Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah; by Allah, many a day I shielded your womenfolk.”

Rabiʿah did as instructed and killed him. It is reported that when the sword fell and Durayd collapsed, his thighs were uncovered, the inner flesh white as parchment from long days riding bare-legged. When Rabiʿah returned to his mother and told her of the deed, she said, “By Allah, he had freed many a woman of your lineage from bondage.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had sent Abū ʿĀmir al-Ashʿarī in pursuit of those who headed for Awtās; he was struck by an arrow and killed. Abū Mūsā seized the banner and routed them. They maintained that Salamah ibn Durayd was the archer who shot Abū ʿĀmir.