ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUyaynah swooped down upon the camels of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, killed their herdsman, and—with a band of mounted men—drove the herd away. I said, “Rabāḥ, mount this horse, ride it to Ṭalḥah, and tell the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that his pasturing herd has been raided.”

I then climbed a rise, faced Madinah, and three times cried out, “Yā Ṣabāḥāh!”

After that I set off after the raiders with my sword and arrows. I kept loosing shafts at them, hamstringing their mounts, for the trees were thick in that place. Whenever a horseman wheeled back toward me I would crouch at the base of a tree and shoot; no rider advanced but I crippled him. All the while I chanted:

“I am the son of al-Akwaʿ; today is the day of the sucklings!”

I closed in on one of them and shot him while he was on his mount; my arrow pierced his thigh and came out at his shoulder, and I cried:

“Take it—­I am the son of al-Akwaʿ; today is the day of the sucklings!”

When the trees enveloped me I rained arrows on them; when the passes narrowed I climbed the heights and pelted them with stones. Thus I kept on, pursuing them and reciting my verses, until not a single beast belonging to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained behind me—I had rescued them all. I continued to shoot at them until they threw down more than thirty spears and more than thirty cloaks to lighten their loads; whatever they discarded I piled stones upon. I gathered everything along the route by which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would come.

When the forenoon had stretched on, ʿUyaynā ibn Baḍr al-Fazārī arrived to reinforce them; they were in a narrow defile. I climbed the mountain and stood above them. ʿUyaynā said, “What is this I am seeing?” They replied, “We have suffered torment at this man’s hands; he has not left us since before dawn until now, taking everything we had and putting it behind his back.” ʿUyaynā said, “Had this fellow not thought a force was coming behind him he would have left you alone. Let some of you go up to him.” Four of them climbed the mountain toward me.

When I heard their footsteps I called out, “Do you know who I am?” They said, “Who are you?” I answered, “I am the son of al-Akwaʿ. By Him who honored the face of Muhammad, no man of you pursues me and catches me, nor do I pursue him and he escapes me.” One of them said, “I think he is right.”

I was still in my place when I saw the horsemen of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ threading their way through the trees. The first of them was al-Akhram al-Asadī, followed by Abū Qatādah, the Messenger of Allah’s horseman, and behind Abū Qatādah came al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad al-Kindī. The idolaters turned and fled. I came down from the mountain and seized the rein of al-Akhram’s horse.

I said, “O Akhram, beware of the enemy—I fear they may cut you off. Hold back until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions catch up.” He replied, “Salamah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day and know that Paradise is true and Hell is true, then do not stand between me and martyrdom.”

So I released his reins. He caught up with ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUyaynah. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān wheeled around; they exchanged two thrusts—al-Akhram wounded ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, but ʿAbd al-Raḥmān struck him and killed him, then mounted al-Akhram’s horse. Abū Qatādah caught up with ʿAbd al-Raḥmān; they exchanged two thrusts—ʿAbd al-Raḥmān wounded Abū Qatādah, but Abū Qatādah slew him, and then mounted al-Akhram’s horse.

I again set off running after the enemy until I could no longer see any dust raised by the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ. Before sunset the raiders veered toward a ravine with water called Dhū Qarad. They wanted to drink from it, but when they saw me running after them they turned away and sped up the pass of Dhī Biʾr, and the sun set. I caught up with one of them and shot him, saying: