Ibn Isḥāq (1) said: Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ killed Abū Saʿd ibn Abī Ṭalḥah. ʿĀṣim ibn Thābit ibn Abī al-Aqlaḥ also went forth and shot Musāfiʿ ibn Ṭalḥah ibn Abī Ṭalḥah and his brother al-Julās, wounding each of them with an arrow. One of the two made his way to their mother, Sulāfah, laid his head in her lap, and she asked, “My son, who struck you?” He replied, “I heard the man who shot me say, ‘Take it— I am the son of Abī al-Aqlaḥ.’” She then vowed that, if Allah ever placed ʿĀṣim’s head in her hands, she would drink wine from his skull. ʿĀṣim, for his part, had pledged to Allah that he would never touch an idolater nor allow an idolater to touch him, and for that reason Allah protected him from them on the Day of al-Rajīʿ, as will be mentioned.

Ibn Isḥāq (2) continued: Ḥanẓalah ibn Abī ʿĀmir—his given name was ʿAmr, though some say ʿAbd ʿAmr ibn Ṣayfī—met Abū Sufyān Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb in single combat. ʿĀmir had been called “the Monk” in the pre-Islamic period because of his frequent devotions, but when he rejected the truth, left Madinah, and opposed the Messenger ﷺ, the Prophet named him “the Debauchee.” Ḥanẓalah is the Companion known as “Ḥanẓalah the Washed,” for the angels washed his body, as will be explained. As Ḥanẓalah was about to strike Abū Sufyān, Shaddād ibn al-Aswad—also known as Ibn Shaʿūb—saw him and killed him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Your companion is being washed by the angels; ask his family what happened.” His wife—al-Wāqidī states she was Jamīlah bint ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl, and that she had been a bride to him that very night—was asked, and she said, “He left in a state of major ritual impurity when he heard the call to arms.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said, “That is why the angels washed him.”

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah reports that Ḥanẓalah’s father stood over him, put his foot on his chest, and said, “Two sins you have committed! I warned you against dying like this. Yet, by Allah, you were faithful to kinship and dutiful to your father.”

Ibn Isḥāq (3) relates that Shaddād ibn al-Aswad versified about the killing of Ḥanẓalah, saying:
“I shall surely shield my comrade and myself / with a thrust as radiant as a sun-beam.”

Ibn Shaʿūb also recited:
“Had I not thrust back, O son of Ḥarb, and stood my ground, /
you would have lain unanswered on the Day of al-Naʿf.
Had I not wheeled my eager mount at al-Naʿf, /
hyenas—or ravenous wolves—would have growled over you.”

Abū Sufyān composed:
“Had I wished, a swift chestnut steed would have borne me away, /
and I would owe no favor to Ibn Shaʿūb.
My stallion kept their dogs at bay from break of dawn /
until the sun moved toward setting.
I fought them, crying out for victory, /
and drove them off with a firm and unyielding arm.”