O sons of Ishmael, for your forefather was an archer.” It has already been mentioned that the Prophet ﷺ kept shooting from his bow on the Day of Uḥud until one of its tips snapped (1), and that after the messengers the best of all people—the Companions of Allah’s Messenger—also shot with me.

Now you know your own origin and pedigree, who first employed you, and to which people you truly belong. A faction of the Franks (2) relies on you, yet they have no real standing in horsemanship; the bulk of their warfare is conducted by means of craft and contrivance. Likewise, much of the Turks’ fighting rests on plotting, ruse, and deception (3). Through such methods they have seized wide territories and brought their inhabitants to heel.

Section
Horsemanship consists of four branches:

1. Riding horses and executing charges and withdrawals upon them.
2. Shooting with the bow.
3. Jousting with the lance.
4. Swordplay in circling combat.
   Whoever masters all four has perfected horsemanship, and these four skills were never fully combined except in the raiders (4) of Islam and its cavalry