I cast them, and the lot I dreaded came up; even so, I mounted and ignored the verdict of the divination arrows. My mare drew me ever closer until I could hear the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—reciting aloud. He did not look back, while Abu Bakr kept glancing behind him. Suddenly my horse’s forelegs sank into the ground up to the knees, and I was thrown off. I prodded her and she got up, but she could scarcely pull her legs free. Once she finally stood, the prints of her forelegs sent a cloud of dust shooting skyward like smoke. I cast the azlam again, and once more the lot I disliked appeared. So I called out to them, offering a guarantee of safety, and they stopped. I remounted and rode on until I reached them, and it dawned on me—after all the obstacles that had prevented me from overtaking them—that the cause of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was destined to triumph… He then narrated the rest of the hadith.