He was still a polytheist that day. Passing by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who was encamped at Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad, he said, “O Muhammad, by Allah, what has happened to your Companions has weighed heavily on us; we would have wished that Allah had spared you such loss.”
He then went on his way, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained at Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad, until he (Maʿbad) came upon Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb and those with him at al-Rawḥāʾ. They had now agreed to turn back against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions, saying, “We have struck at the core of his army—its leaders and its nobles—yet shall we retreat before wiping them out? Let us wheel round on their remnant and finish them off.”
When Abū Sufyān saw Maʿbad he asked, “What news do you bring, Maʿbad?”
Maʿbad replied, “Muhammad has set out after you with a host the like of which I have never seen. They burn with rage against you; all who stayed behind on your day have now joined him, remorseful for what they did, and in them is a fury such as I have never witnessed.”
Abū Sufyān said, “Woe to you—what are you saying?”
Maʿbad answered, “By Allah, I do not think you will move off before you behold the forelocks of their horses.”
Abū Sufyān retorted, “By Allah, we had resolved to turn back and annihilate them completely.”
Maʿbad said, “I warn you against that. By Allah, what I have seen compelled me to compose some verses about it.”
Abū Sufyān asked, “And what did you say?”
He replied (1):
My mount was almost shattered by the clamour—
the earth overflowed with sleek chargers in serried bands;
Lions of battle, noble, never feeble bow-collectors,
unwavering at the clash, nor weaponless men.
I fled on, thinking the very ground was tipping
when they rose behind a leader never forsaken.
I cried, “Woe to Ibn Ḥarb the day you meet them
when the valley’s floor roars with the rolling host!
I am a warner to the doomed who dwell in the open,
to every man among them possessed of mind or wealth.
From Aḥmad’s army—its lances are never blunt but crushing— (2)
and what I foretell cannot be expressed in mere words.”
These words deterred Abū Sufyān and those with him. A caravan from ʿAbd al-Qays then passed by him, and he asked, “Where are you headed?”
They replied, “To Madinah.”
He said, “For what purpose?”
They answered, “We seek provisions.”
He said, “Would you convey a message from me to Muhammad? I shall load your camels tomorrow with raisins at ʿUkāẓ once you reach it.”
They replied, “Yes.”
He said, “When you meet him, tell him that we have mustered to march against him and his Companions in order to exterminate whoever is left.”
The caravan passed by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was at Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad and conveyed to him what Abū Sufyān had said. He responded:
“Sufficient for us is Allah, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.”
Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī said the same.
Al-Bukhārī (3) recorded—related to us by Aḥmad ibn Yūnus (I think he said: by Abū Bakr, from Abū Ḥuṣayn, from Abū l-Ḍaḥā, from Ibn ʿAbbās):
“Sufficient for us is Allah, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.” Abraham—peace be upon him—said it when he was cast into the fire, and Muhammad ﷺ said it when they said, “Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them,” and it only increased them in faith, and they said, “Sufficient for us is Allah, and He is the best Disposer of affairs” (Āl ʿImrān 3:173). Al-Bukhārī alone narrated this report.
Al-Bukhārī (4) also said: Muḥammad ibn Salām related to us; Abū Muʿāwiyah narrated to us, from Hishām, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah,