he was one of the people I loved most, and after him this son of his is among those I love most.” Agreed upon as authentic.

Shaybān narrated from Qatādah: “All of the Prophet’s campaigns—both the battles he personally led and the expeditions he dispatched—numbered forty-three.”

Then the month of Rabīʿ al-Awwal began; with its arrival ten full years had elapsed since the dating of the Prophet’s Hijrah.

All praise belongs to Allah alone.