I opened the doors one after another until I reached a staircase. Thinking I had already reached the ground, I set my foot down—only to fall on that moonlit night and break my leg. I bound it with a turban, then made my way to the gate and sat there, saying, “I will not leave tonight until I know whether I have killed him.”

When the rooster crowed, the town crier mounted the rampart and proclaimed, “I announce the death of Abū Rāfiʿ, the merchant of the Ḥijāz!” I hurried back to my companions and said, “Quickly—Allah has slain Abū Rāfiʿ.” Then I went to the Prophet ﷺ and informed him. He said to me, “Stretch out your leg.” I stretched it out; he wiped it, and it was as though I had never felt any pain at all.

Al-Bukhārī also said (1): Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Ḥakīm al-Awdi narrated to us; Shurayḥ narrated to us; Ibrāhīm ibn Yūsuf narrated to us, from his father, from Abū Isḥāq, who said: I heard al-Barāʾ say:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAtīk and ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah, together with others, against Abū Rāfiʿ. When they drew near the fortress, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAtīk said, ‘Stay here while I go and look around.’ I contrived a way to enter the fortress. The people had lost a donkey and came out with torches to look for it. Fearing I might be recognized, I covered my head and sat as though relieving myself. The gate-keeper called out, ‘Whoever wishes to enter, let him do so before I shut the gate.’ I went in and hid in a donkey stall near the gate.

“They supped with Abū Rāfiʿ and talked until part of the night had passed; then they went back to their dwellings. When everything grew quiet and I heard no movement, I came out. I saw the gate-keeper place the key of the fortress in a niche, so I took it and opened the gate. I said to myself, ‘If they discover me, I will walk away slowly.’ I then went to the doors of their houses and locked them from the outside. After that I climbed up to Abū Rāfiʿ on a staircase. The room was dark—his lamp had gone out—and I could not tell where he was.

“I called out, ‘Abā Rāfiʿ.’
‘Who is it?’ he replied.

“I moved toward the voice and struck him, but the blow did not finish him and he cried out. I returned as though to assist him and, altering my voice, said, ‘What is the matter, Abā Rāfiʿ?’ He said, ‘Woe to you! A man has come in and struck me with a sword.’ I struck him again, and still it did not finish him; he cried out and his family rose. I came back once more, disguising my voice like someone trying to help, and found him lying on his back. I placed the sword in his belly and leaned upon it until I heard the crunch of bone. Then I left in a daze, reached the staircase intending to descend, but fell and dislocated my leg. I bandaged it and returned to my companions, hopping on one foot.

“I said, ‘Go and give the glad tidings to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for I will not move until I hear the public announcement.’ At dawn the crier mounted the wall and proclaimed, ‘I announce the death of Abū Rāfiʿ!’ I stood up and walked without the least discomfort, caught up with my companions before they reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and gave him the good news.”

Al-Bukhārī alone preserves these particular chains among the authors of the six canonical collections.

I say: It is possible that when ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAtīk fell from that staircase, his foot was dislocated, his leg broken, and his foot and hand badly bruised. Once he bound them, the pain subsided—owing to the extraordinary circumstances he was in—and when he tried to walk, he was divinely aided because of the noble jihad he was undertaking. When he finally reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his heart was at ease, the pain began to