and not be like one who has squandered the pillars and means of his horsemanship and strength, only to find them⦗1⦘ absent when the moment of need arrives.

As for his words, “Cut off the stirrups,” he ordered this so that they would not become accustomed to riding always with stirrups; he wished to train them to ride without them and to vault onto their horses in a single leap.

And his statement, “Shoot at the targets,” instructed them that their purpose in shooting must be accuracy, not distance. Accuracy is the very aim of archery, and for this reason competition is judged by precision rather than by range, as we shall mention, God willing⦗2⦘.

Section

If archery contests possessed no benefit other than removing worry and banishing grief⦗3⦘ from the heart, that alone would suffice to show their excellence—and those devoted to them have experienced this themselves.

Al-Ṭabarānī⦗4⦘ has transmitted—through the narration of Hishām b. ʿUrwah, from his father, from ʿĀʾisha—