Imām Aḥmad related (1): “Yazīd ibn Hārūn told us, Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq narrated to us, saying: al-Zuhrī informed me, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Thaʿlabah, that when the two armies met Abū Jahl said, ‘O God, let the one who has severed kinship ties the most and who has brought us something we do not recognize be destroyed this morning.’ He was thus the one who sought the decisive judgment.

Ibn Isḥāq recorded the same report in his Sīrah (2).

Al-Nasāʾī (3) also transmitted it through the chain of Ṣāliḥ ibn Kaysān from al-Zuhrī.

Al-Ḥākim (4) narrated it as well from al-Zuhrī and then remarked, ‘It is sound according to the criteria of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, though they did not include it.’

Al-Umawī said (5): ‘Asbāṭ ibn Muḥammad al-Qurashī told us, from Muṭarrif, from ʿAṭiyyah, regarding the verse, “If you sought a decisive judgment, the decisive judgment has now come to you” (8 : 19). He said: Abū Jahl prayed, “O God, support the mightier of the two camps, the more honourable of the two clans, and the larger of the two parties.” Thereupon the verse was revealed: “If you sought a decisive judgment, the decisive judgment has now come to you.”’

ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥah (6) related from Ibn ʿAbbās concerning the words, “And when Allah promised you that one of the two parties would be yours” (8 : 7):

‘The caravan of the Meccans set out for Syria. News of this reached the people of Madinah, so they set out with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ intending to intercept the caravan. The Meccans heard of this and hastened after it so that the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions would not seize it. The caravan outpaced the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, while Allah had promised them one of the two parties; they preferred to meet the caravan. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ nevertheless advanced with the Muslims toward the enemy, though the Muslims disliked moving against such a formidable force.

The Prophet ﷺ and the Muslims encamped, with a stretch of loose, shifting sand (7) between them and the water. The Muslims suffered severe weakness, and Satan cast anger into their hearts, whispering, “You claim to be Allah’s allies while His Messenger is among you, yet the idolaters have beaten you to the water—how can this be?”

Allah then sent down upon them a drenching rain; the Muslims drank and purified themselves, and Allah removed from them the filth of Satan. The sand compacted so that the people and their mounts could walk upon it, and they advanced toward the enemy.

Allah (8) reinforced His Prophet ﷺ and the believers with a thousand angels: Gabriel led five hundred on the right flank, and Michael led five hundred on the left. Iblīs also arrived with a host of devils bearing his banner (9), appearing in the form of men from the Banū Mudlij, while Satan was—