Miḥṣan, Muḥraz ibn Naḍlah of Banū Asad ibn Khuzaymah, Abū Qatādah al-Ḥārith ibn Ribʿī of Banū Salamah, and Abū ʿAyyāsh ʿUbayd ibn Zayd ibn Ṣāmit of Banū Zurayq.

When they had all gathered around the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he placed Saʿd ibn Zayd in command over them and said:

“Ride out in pursuit of the enemy; I shall catch up with you along with the people.”

The Prophet ﷺ had also said to Abū ʿAyyāsh, as I have been told by men of Banū Zurayq:

“O Abū ʿAyyāsh, if you were to give this horse to a man who is a better horseman than you, he would overtake the foe.”

Abū ʿAyyāsh replied, “O Messenger of Allah, I am the finest horseman of all!” He then spurred the horse, yet—by Allah—it had not carried him fifty cubits before it threw him. I was astonished at that. Men of Banū Zurayq maintained that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ then gave Abū ʿAyyāsh’s horse to Muʿādh ibn Māʿṣ, or to ʿĀʾidh ibn Māʿṣ ibn Qays ibn Khaladah, who became the eighth rider.

Some people count Salamah ibn al-Akwaʿ as the eighth, omitting Usayd ibn Zuhayr; Allah knows best which of the two opinions is correct. Salamah, however, was not mounted that day; he was the first to catch up with the enemy, running on foot.

The cavalry set out and closed in. ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah told me that the first horseman to reach the enemy was Muḥraz ibn Naḍlah, who was nicknamed al-Akhram and also called Qumayr. The horse beneath him belonged to Maḥmūd ibn Maslamah and was known as Dhū ’l-Limmah (“the Long-Maned”). When Muḥraz reached the enemy he called out, “Stand firm, you sons of al-Lakīʿah! Wait until those coming from behind you—the Emigrants and the Helpers—overtake you!”

One of them charged and killed him. The horse bolted and could not be caught until it stopped at a corral of Banū ʿAbd al-Ashhal, that is, it returned to the very stable it had occupied in Madinah.

Ibn Isḥāq (1) says: No other Muslim was killed that day.

Ibn Hishām (2) adds: Several scholars nevertheless mention that Waqāṣ ibn Mujazziz al-Mudlijī was also killed on that occasion.

Ibn Isḥāq (3) relates, on the authority of someone I do not suspect, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik, that Muḥraz had in fact been riding a horse owned by ʿUkkāshah ibn Miḥṣan called al-Janāḥ; Muḥraz was killed and al-Janāḥ was taken. Allah knows best.

He continues (4): When the cavalry converged, Abū Qatādah killed Ḥabīb ibn ʿUyaynah and covered him with his own cloak, then rejoined the rest. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ advanced with the Muslims—ibn Hishām notes that he had left Ibn Umm Maktūm in charge of Madinah—and, finding a corpse wrapped in Abū Qatādah’s cloak, the people said, “Abū Qatādah has been killed!”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “It is not Abū Qatādah; it is a man whom Abū Qatādah slew. He placed his cloak on him so that you would know he was his.”

ʿUkkāshah ibn Miḥṣan then overtook Awbār and his son ʿAmr ibn Awbār, who were riding a single camel. He transfixed them both with his spear, killing them, and some of the milch-camels were retrieved.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ travelled on until he camped at the mountain of Dhū Qarad. People continued to join him, and he remained there a day and a night. Salamah ibn al-Akwaʿ said to him, “O Messenger of Allah, if you would dispatch me with a hundred men, I would bring back the rest of the herd and seize the necks…"