against them.”

The Prophet ﷺ asked, “To where?” Gabriel pointed toward Banū Qurayẓah, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out to them. They agreed to accept his judgment, and he in turn referred the decision to Saʿd.

Saʿd said, “My ruling is that the fighting men be killed, the women and children taken captive, and their wealth divided.”

Hishām relates: My father told me, quoting ʿĀʾishah, that Saʿd then supplicated, “O Allah, You know that there is no people I would rather fight for Your sake than those who belied Your Messenger and expelled him. O Allah, I believe that You have now ended the war between us and them. If any fighting with Quraysh still remains, keep me alive for it so that I may strive against them for Your sake; but if You have truly ended the war, make this wound burst and let my death be in it.”

His wound suddenly burst open at his collarbone (1). Those in the mosque—there was a tent belonging to Banū Ghifār there—were startled only by blood flowing toward them. They cried, “People of the tent! What is this coming from your direction?” They found Saʿd as his wound gushed blood, and he died from it.

Muslim likewise transmits this report (3) through the chain of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Numayr.

I say: He had first offered the earlier supplication before issuing judgment on Banū Qurayẓah, saying, “Do not let me die until my eyes are cooled with regard to Banū Qurayẓah.” Allah answered him. When he had ruled against them and his eyes were cooled to the fullest, he made this second supplication, and Allah granted him martyrdom—may He be pleased with him. A detailed account of his death will follow, God willing.

Imām Aḥmad (4) has also narrated a much longer version from ʿĀʾishah that contains further points of benefit. He said: Yazīd narrated to us, Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us from his father, from his grandfather ʿAlqamah ibn Waqqāṣ, who said that ʿĀʾishah told me:

“I went out on the Day of the Trench tracking the people, and I heard the ground thudding behind me. When I turned, it was Saʿd ibn Muʿādh with his nephew al-Ḥārith ibn Aws, who was carrying a shield. I sat down. Saʿd passed by wearing a coat of iron mail that left parts of his arms exposed, and I feared for those exposed parts, for he was one of the tallest and strongest of men. As he walked he chanted:

Wait a little—Ḥamal will reach the fray;
How good is death when the appointed time draws near!

“I rose and slipped into a garden, where I found a group of Muslims, among them ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb and a man whose face was covered by a close-fitting helmet (5), meaning a mail hood. ʿUmar said, ‘What has brought you here? By Allah, you are a bold woman! What assures you there will be no calamity or retreat?’ He kept reproaching me until I wished the earth would swallow me then and there. The man lifted the helmet (6) from his face, and it was Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allāh. He said, ‘O ʿUmar, woe to you! You have gone too far with your rebukes today…’