He — the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — had sent him with the good news.

Usāmah said: I heard the outcry and went out to find Zayd arriving with the glad tidings. By Allah, I did not believe it until we actually saw the captives, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ allotted ʿUthmān his full share.

Al-Wāqidī (1) reports: On the return journey from Badr, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed the ʿAṣr prayer at al-Uthayl. After completing one rakʿah he smiled, and when he was asked about the reason he said,

“Michael can be seen with dust on his wing; he smiled at me and said, ‘I was pursuing the enemy.’”

Gabriel then came to him after the fighting at Badr, riding a mare with its forelock plaited, his front teeth coated with dust. He said, “O Muḥammad, my Lord has sent me to you and has ordered me not to leave you until you are pleased. Are you pleased?” He replied, “Yes.”

Al-Wāqidī (4) continues: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had dispatched Zayd ibn Ḥārithah and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah ahead of him from al-Uthayl. They reached Madinah on Sunday when the forenoon heat was intense. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah parted from Zayd at al-ʿAqīq and began calling from the back of his mount:

“O company of the Anṣār, rejoice in the safety of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and in the slaying and capture of the idolaters! The sons of Rabīʿah are dead, the sons of al-Ḥajjāj are dead, Abū Jahl is dead, Zamʿah ibn al-Aswad is dead, Umayyah ibn Khalaf is dead, and Suhayl ibn ʿAmr has been taken prisoner!”

ʿĀṣim ibn ʿAdī said: I approached him and asked, “Is it really true, Ibn Rawāḥah?” He replied, “By Allah, it is. Tomorrow the Messenger of Allah ﷺ will arrive with the captives chained together.” He then went round the houses of the Anṣār in the upper part of the town, giving the good news door by door, while the children ran with him shouting, “The wicked Abū Jahl has been killed!”

When he reached the quarters of Banū Umayyah, Zayd ibn Ḥārithah arrived on al-Qaṣwāʾ, the Prophet’s camel, announcing the news to the people of Madinah. When he reached the prayer-ground he cried from his mount:

“ʿUtbah and Shaybah, the sons of Rabīʿah; the sons of al-Ḥajjāj; Umayyah ibn Khalaf; Abū Jahl; Abū al-Bukhtarī; and Zamʿah ibn al-Aswad have been killed, and Suhayl ibn ʿAmr, the man with the prominent teeth, is among a large number of captives!”

Yet some people still would not believe him, saying, “Zayd ibn Ḥārithah has returned only in defeat,” which angered and worried the Muslims. Zayd had arrived just as we had levelled the earth over Ruqayyah, daughter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, in al-Baqīʿ.

One of the hypocrites said to Usāmah, “Your companion and those with him have been killed.” Another said to Abū Lubābah, “Your friends have scattered beyond all hope of re-assembling. Their leaders are dead, Muḥammad himself is dead, here is his camel that we recognise, and Zayd is so terrified he does not know what he is saying — he has come back routed.”

Abū Lubābah replied, “Allah exposes him as a liar!”