Ibn Hishām says: “Most specialists in poetry consider the ode to be wrongly attributed to Saʿd.”

Ibn Isḥāq continues: “According to what has reached us, the first banner the Messenger of Allah ever fastened for a Muslim was the banner of ʿUbaydah. Al-Zuhrī, Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, and al-Wāqidī, however, differ; they hold that Ḥamzah was sent out before ʿUbaydah ibn al-Ḥārith. Allah knows best.”

He adds that, as will appear in the report of Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, the earliest commander of the detachments was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jahsh al-Asadī.

Ibn Isḥāq also states: “Some scholars allege that the Messenger of Allah dispatched him while he was on his way back from the expedition of al-Abwāʾ, before he reached Madinah.” The same is related by Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah from al-Zuhrī.

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Ibn Isḥāq narrates: “While the Prophet was still at that stop, he sent Ḥamzah ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim to the coastline in the direction of al-ʿĪṣ with thirty mounted Emigrants—there were no Helpers among them. On that shore he encountered Abū Jahl ibn Hishām, who had three hundred riders from Mecca. Majdī ibn ʿAmr al-Juhanī, a man on peaceful terms with both sides, intervened between the two parties, so they withdrew from one another without fighting.”

Ibn Isḥāq further remarks: “Some people claim that Ḥamzah’s banner was in fact the first banner the Messenger of Allah tied for a Muslim, because his expedition and that of ʿUbaydah occurred at the same time, which led to confusion.”

The author says: “Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, citing al-Zuhrī, reports that Ḥamzah was sent out before ʿUbaydah ibn al-Ḥārith and specifies that Ḥamzah’s mission came before the expedition of al-Abwāʾ. When the Prophet returned from al-Abwāʾ, he dispatched ʿUbaydah ibn al-Ḥārith with sixty Emigrants, recounting details similar to those already mentioned.”

Al-Wāqidī, as previously quoted, says that Ḥamzah’s detachment occurred in Ramadan of the first year, followed by ʿUbaydah’s in Shawwāl of that same year. Allah knows best.

Ibn Isḥāq has also cited verses attributed to Ḥamzah—may Allah be pleased with him—indicating that his banner was the first ever unfurled in