Horsemanship has therefore taken two distinct forms:
– the horsemanship of knowledge and articulate proof,
– and the horsemanship of archery and close-quarters combat.

That is why the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ were the most perfect of people in both forms: they won hearts with evidence and argument, and they conquered lands with sword and spear.

The disciplines of disputation and of battle are thus among the most important and beneficial sciences for Allah’s servants, in this life and the next. Nothing can be weighed against the scholars’ ink except the martyr’s blood, and the loftiest rank in both abodes belongs to these two groups, while all other people are their flock, following the lead of their chiefs.⦗1⦘

For this reason, most of the scholars’ writings in this field revolve around these two categories.

We shall now, in brief, mention a selection of the works composed on the second category—the horsemanship of archery and thrusting.⦗2⦘