where the commanders whom the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had appointed were killed one after another. The Muslims then agreed upon Khālid ibn al-Walīd as their commander. He took up the banner and withdrew with the Muslims—after Allah had granted him victory, according to one account. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, informed his Companions in Medina of their fate on the very day they were killed, several days before the news arrived.

In that year, the conquest of Mecca took place. After dispatching the expedition to Muʾtah, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, remained in Medina during Jumādā and Rajab. Then the incident occurred that necessitated the dissolution of the treaty with Quraysh concluded at al-Hudaybiyyah. A full account of this and the other events of the campaign would be lengthy. We have briefly recounted its main events in the fourth volume of the Jāmiʿ of Kitāb al-Bayān, the commentary on al-ʿUtbiyyah, for anyone wishing to consult it.

In that year, the campaign of Hunayn took place. Its account would be lengthy. We have also recounted it in the aforementioned volume of the Jāmiʿ of Kitāb al-Bayān, the commentary on al-ʿUtbiyyah. Anyone wishing to learn about it may consult that account.

In that year, the campaign of al-Tāʾif took place. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, proceeded from Hunayn to al-Tāʾif. He did not return to Mecca or turn aside for anything else, but went directly to campaign against al-Tāʾif, before dividing the spoils of Hunayn or attending to anything else. On his way to al-Tāʾif, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, passed through al-Jiʿrānah and then took the route through Qarn. Along that route, he built a mosque and prayed in it. He also came upon a fortress belonging to Mālik ibn ʿAwf al-Nasrī and ordered its demolition.

He then encamped—peace be upon him—near al-Tāʾif, in a valley called al-ʿAqīq. Thaqīf took refuge in their fortress, and the Muslims fought them. Thaqīf’s fortress had no equal among the fortresses of the Arabs. Some of the Muslims were struck by arrows, so the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, moved from that encampment to the site of the well-known mosque. He besieged them for twenty-odd nights; other accounts say ten-odd nights or twenty days. He ordered a catapult to be set up against al-Tāʾif and commanded that its inhabitants’ grapevines be cut down, except for a plot belonging to al-Aswad ibn