ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī said:

“We marched with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the expedition of Dhāt al-Riqāʿ from Nakhl. During the raid one of our men wounded the wife of an idolater. When the Prophet ﷺ set out on the return journey, the woman’s husband—who had been away—came back. After he was told what had taken place, he swore that he would not rest until he had spilled blood among the followers of Muhammad. He therefore began to track the trail of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

The Prophet ﷺ halted at a campsite and said, ‘Who will stand guard over us tonight?’ A man from the Muhājirūn and a man from the Anṣār volunteered. They replied, ‘We will, O Messenger of Allah.’ He said, ‘Then station yourselves at the mouth of the mountain pass in the valley.’ The two were ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir and ʿAbbād ibn Bishr.

When they reached the mouth of the pass, the Anṣārī said to the Muhājirī, ‘Which part of the night would you like me to cover for you—the first part or the last?’ He answered, ‘Cover the first part for me.’ The Muhājirī lay down and fell asleep, while the Anṣārī stood in prayer.

The pursuing husband arrived. Seeing the lone figure, he realized that this was the sentry of the camp, so he loosed an arrow that struck him. The Anṣārī pulled it out, set it aside, and remained standing. The attacker shot a second arrow that likewise struck him; again he withdrew it, placed it beside him, and kept praying. A third arrow found its mark; he removed it, placed it with the others, then bowed, prostrated, and finally awakened his companion, saying, ‘Sit up; I have been wounded.’

The Muhājirī sprang to his feet, and when the assailant saw them both he knew he had been discovered and fled. When the Muhājirī saw the blood flowing from the Anṣārī he exclaimed, ‘Glory be to Allah! Why did you not wake me the moment he shot you?’ He replied, ‘I was reciting a sūrah and did not wish to interrupt it until I had completed it. When the arrows kept coming I bowed and alerted you. By Allah, had I not feared to abandon a post the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had ordered me to guard, I would rather my soul had departed before I cut short that recitation or finished it.’

This is the version Ibn Isḥāq recorded in al-Maghāzī.

Abū Dāwūd (1) also transmitted it, through Abū Tūbah, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak, from Ibn Isḥāq.

Al-Wāqidī (2), through ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿUmari, from his brother ʿUbayd Allāh, from al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad, from Ṣāliḥ ibn Khawwāt, from his father, narrated the full report about the Prayer of Fear and said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had captured some of their women, among them a striking young woman. Her husband spurred himself on, swearing that he would pursue Muhammad and would not return until he had shed blood or rescued his wife. Al-Wāqidī then recounted the incident in terms similar to Ibn Isḥāq’s version.

Al-Wāqidī (3) further related that Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh used to say: ‘While I was with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, a man from his Companions brought the chick of a bird. The Messenger of Allah was looking at it when its parents—or one of them—came fluttering up until it threw itself into the hands of the man who had taken its chick. I noticed that the people were amazed at this, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Are you astonished at this bird? You took its chick and it cast itself down in mercy for it. By Allah, your Lord is more merciful to you than this bird is to its chick.”’