against Riʿl, Dhakwān, ʿUṣayyah, and Banū Lihyān.

Anas said, “We even used to recite Qur’anic verses about them, but that passage was later withdrawn:

‘Convey to our people on our behalf that we have met our Lord, and He is pleased with us and we are pleased with Him.’

Bukhārī also relates: Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl told us; Hammām told us, from Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, who said that Anas ibn Mālik reported: The Prophet ﷺ sent his maternal uncle Ḥarām—the brother of Umm Sulaym—at the head of seventy mounted men. The leader of the idolaters, ʿĀmir ibn al-Ṭufayl, offered the Messenger of Allah ﷺ three choices: “You take the dwellers of the lowlands and leave the highlanders to me; or let me succeed you; or I shall attack you with a thousand—nay, with two thousand—men from Ghatafān.”

ʿĀmir was then stricken in the house of a certain woman and exclaimed, “A swelling like the swelling of a young camel—in the house of so-and-so! Bring me my horse.” He died on its back.

Ḥarām—who was lame—and another man from such-and-such a clan set off. Ḥarām said to his companion, “Stay close by: if they grant me safety you will join me, but if they kill me return to our people.” He approached the tribesmen and said, “Will you give me safe conduct so that I may deliver the message of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?” While he was speaking they signaled to one of their men, who came up from behind and stabbed him. (Hammām said: I think he added, “running the spear clear through him.”) Ḥarām cried out, “Allah is Most Great! By the Lord of the Kaʿbah, I have triumphed!”

They then pursued the rest of the party and killed them all except the lame man, who had taken refuge on a mountaintop. Thereupon Allah revealed to His Messenger—though the wording was later abrogated—

‘Indeed we have met our Lord, and He is pleased with us and we are pleased with Him.’

The Prophet ﷺ invoked curses against Riʿl, Dhakwān, Banū Lihyān, and ʿUṣayyah—those who had defied Allah and His Messenger—for thirty consecutive mornings.

Bukhārī further says: Ḥibbān narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us; Maʿmar informed me; Thumāmah ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Anas told me that he heard Anas ibn Mālik say: “When Ḥarām ibn Milḥān—my maternal uncle—was stabbed at Biʾr Maʿūnah, he scooped up his own blood like this, sprinkled it over his face and head, and said, ‘By the Lord of the Kaʿbah, I have triumphed!’”

Bukhārī also transmits—through ʿUbayd ibn Ismāʿīl, Abū Usāmah, and Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, from his father—that when the men at Biʾr Maʿūnah were killed and ʿAmr ibn Umayyah al-Ḍamarī was taken captive, ʿĀmir ibn al-Ṭufayl asked him, “Who is this?” pointing to a slain man. ʿAmr replied, “That is ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah.” ʿĀmir ibn al-Ṭufayl said, “I saw him after he was killed—he was lifted up toward the sky until I could see the heavens between him and the earth, then he was set down again.”

When the news reached the Prophet ﷺ he announced their martyrdom, saying:

“Your companions have been slain. They asked their Lord, saying, ‘Our Lord, inform our brothers that we are pleased with You and You are pleased with us,’ so He informed them on their behalf.”

Among those killed that day were ʿUrwah ibn Asmāʾ ibn al-Ṣalt—after whom someone was later named ʿUrwah—and Mundhir ibn ʿAmr, after whom another was named Mundhir.