of Madinah, near Mount Salaʿ. When Quraysh, together with the clans of Asad and Ghaṭafān, besieged the city, the expedition was therefore named after this trench, which was the first prudent military stratagem ever employed in the Arabian Peninsula. The Battle of the Trench took place in the fifth year after the Hijrah.

– “He did not approve me”: The verb ʼajāza–yuǧīzu–ʼījāzah means “to pass” or “to authorize”; in other words, he did not advance me and did not grant me permission to fight.