We sallied forth, and not even the fleet-footed gazelles could slip between our ranks, however hard they strained in flight.

Whenever we roused ourselves from a halting-place, you would have thought it the surging throng of a jostling pilgrimage season.

You remained at Rash al-Nuzūʿ, intent on reaching us, while we tarried among the palms of al-Madārik.

Our horses and mounts strode over the sown fields; whatever their hooves fell upon they flattened against the hard ridges.

Three nights we camped between Salʿ and Fāriʿ with sleek chargers and sure-footed beasts.

You imagined the warriors’ clash would strike at your very courtyard—something as palpable to the eye as weights of molten metal.

So do not dispatch your mettlesome steeds; rather bid them, with words as tight as a clasped bracelet, to hold back.

You exulted in them, though others were worthier of them—knights from the sons of Fihr ibn Mālik.

For you are on no Hijrah, whatever claim you make, nor are you a devotee who reveres its sacred injunctions.

Ibn Hishām (1) commented: “We have left out some lines because their rhymes differ.”

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah (2) reports from al-Zuhrī, and Ibn Luhayʿah from Abū al-Aswad, from ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called the people to the rendezvous with Abū Sufyān. The hypocrites then went about discouraging them, but Allah safeguarded His friends, and the Muslims set out with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to Badr, taking merchandise with them. They said, “If we meet Abū Sufyān, so be it; otherwise we shall purchase goods at the Badr market.” The account then proceeds much like that of Ibn Isḥāq concerning Abū Sufyān’s journey to Majannah and his return, the Prophet’s ﷺ dialogue with the man of Ḍamrah, and the Prophet’s offer to annul the treaty, which the latter refused.

Al-Wāqidī (3) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ departed with one thousand five hundred of his Companions, appointing ʿAbd Allah ibn Rawāḥah over Madinah. He set out on the first of Dhū al-Qaʿdah, in the fourth year. The sounder view, however, is that of Ibn Isḥāq—that the expedition occurred in Shaʿbān of the same fourth year; this is also the opinion of Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, though he mistakenly placed it in Shaʿbān of the third year. That is an error, for the appointment was made after the Battle of Uḥud, and Uḥud took place in Shawwāl of the third year, as noted earlier—Allah knows best.

Al-Wāqidī (4) further related: They stayed at Badr for the full length of the fair usually held there—eight days—then returned, having earned a profit of two dirhams for every dirham invested. Others said they went back, as Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“So they returned with a bounty and favour from Allah; no harm touched them, and they sought the good pleasure of Allah. And Allah is the Lord of immense bounty.” (Āl ʿImrān 3:174)