ʿAlī declared,
“I am the servant of Allah and the brother of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

ʿUbaydah said,
“I am the one who belongs to the Alliance.”

Each champion then advanced toward his opposite; they fought, and Allah put their foes to death.

Concerning this Hind composed:

“O eyes of mine, pour forth a flowing stream of tears
for Khindif’s noblest, who never turned to flee.
At dawn his kin—sons of Hāshim and sons of al-Muṭṭalib—
rallied to defend him;
They made him taste the biting edge of their swords,
striking him yet again after he had already fallen.”

Because of this, Hind vowed to eat Ḥamzah’s liver.

I say: This ʿUbaydah is the son of al-Ḥārith ibn al-Muṭṭalib ibn ʿAbd Manāf. When he was brought to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, they laid him down beside the place where the Prophet ﷺ was standing. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stretched out his blessed foot beneath him, and ʿUbaydah rested his cheek upon it and said, “O Messenger of Allah, were Abū Ṭālib to see me now, he would know that I am most deserving of his verse:

‘We shall never surrender him until we lie slain around him,
heedless of our children and our wives.’

He then died—may Allah be pleased with him—and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I bear witness that you are a martyr.” Al-Shāfiʿī, may Allah have mercy on him, transmitted this report.

The first Muslim to be killed in the battle was Mihjaʿ, the freedman of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb; an arrow struck and killed him. Ibn Isḥāq relates that after him Ḥāritha ibn Suraqa, of the clan of ʿAdī ibn al-Najjār, was shot in the throat with an arrow while drinking from the cistern and died.

Both Ṣaḥīḥs record from Anas that Ḥāritha ibn Suraqa was killed at Badr while serving among the scouts; a stray arrow hit him and he died. His mother came and said, “O Messenger of Allah, tell me about Ḥāritha. If he is in Paradise I shall be patient, but if not, Allah will see what I do”—meaning that she would wail, for wailing had not yet been forbidden. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied,
“Woe to you! Have you lost your senses? Paradise has eight levels, and your son has attained the highest Firdaws.”

Ibn Isḥāq continues: The two armies then drew near and pressed upon one another.