When your horsemen hovered about Badr—yet could not remain steadfast once the clash began—we pressed on, guided by the light of God that scatters every darkness and veil. The Messenger of God led us forward by a command whose decree, coming from God, is the most perfect of judgments. Thus your riders gained no triumph at Badr, nor did they return to you unharmed.

So be not hasty, Abū Sufyān; wait and watch the noble steeds that will emerge from Kudāʾ. In God’s aid the Holy Spirit rides, and Michael as well—how blessed that company!

Ḥassān ibn Thābit recited—though Ibn Hishām reports that others attribute the lines to ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith al-Sahmī—

Arrayed in the gleaming rings of mail they advance,
led by a stout-hearted man, keen and never timid.

I mean the Messenger of the Lord of all creation,
whom He has exalted above mankind in piety and generosity.

You boasted you would guard your honor,
and claimed the waters of Badr would stay beyond our reach;

yet we arrived, ignoring your threats,
until we drank our fill, our thirst completely quenched.

We clung to a rope that shall never be severed,
a firm cord stretched out from the cords of God.

The Messenger is among us, the truth is with us, and we follow it
until death—victory without limit.

A sure, flashing flame that gives light:
Badr shone forth over all men of noble birth.

Ḥassān ibn Thābit also said:

Oh, would that I knew—have the people of Mecca heard
how we crushed the unbelievers in their hour of distress?

We slew their chiefs when we met them in combat,
and they returned with backs that had been broken.

We killed Abū Jahl—and before him ʿUtbah—
and Shaybah, who toppled forward on hands and neck.

We killed Suwayd, and after him another ʿUtbah,
and Ṭuʿmah as well amid the rising dust.

How many a noble of illustrious lineage we have slain,
a man honored among his people, famed for his name!