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

He retorted, “May the mother of Akwaʿ be bereaved at dawn!”

I answered, “Indeed—enemy of your own soul!” The man I had struck earlier that morning I followed up with another arrow, so that two shafts were now fixed in him. They abandoned two horses, and I brought them along, leading them to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at the water-hole of Dhū Qarad from which I had driven them. There I found the Prophet of Allah ﷺ with five hundred men, and Bilāl had slaughtered one of the camels I had forced them to leave; he was roasting some of its liver and hump-fat for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

I approached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allah, allow me to choose one hundred of your Companions and pursue the unbelievers under cover of darkness; I will leave no one among them able to bring back news.”

He replied, “Would you really do that, Salamah?” I said, “Yes, by Him who has honored you!” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ laughed until I could see his molars gleaming in the firelight, then said, “They are now being entertained in the land of Ghatafān.”

A man from Ghatafān arrived and reported, “They passed by So-and-so al-Ghatafānī, who slaughtered a camel for them; but when they began to skin it they saw a dust cloud, so they left it and fled in panic.”

When morning came, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared, “The best of our horsemen today is Abū Qatādah, and the best of our foot soldiers is Salamah.” He gave me both the share of a mounted fighter and that of one on foot, then mounted me behind him on al-ʿAḍbāʾ as we rode back to Madinah.

When we were only about a forenoon’s distance from the city, an Anṣārī—renowned for never being outpaced—began calling out, “Is there anyone willing to race? Is there no man to race me to Madinah?” He repeated this several times while I was riding pillion behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. I said to him, “Will you not honor a generous man and stand in awe of a noble one?” He answered, “No—except for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

I said, “O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be your ransom, allow me to race the man.” He said, “If you wish.” I replied, “Off you go.” He sprang down from his mount, and I swung my legs round and leapt from the she-camel. I gave him a head start of a ridge or two—holding a little back—then I sprinted, caught up with him, and tapped him between the shoulders with my hand, saying, “By Allah, I have beaten you!”—or words to that effect. He laughed and said, “So it seems!”—and we continued on until we reached Madinah.

Muslim (1) relates this ḥadīth through several chains from ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmār in similar wording; in his version it states: “I beat him to Madinah, and only three days later we set out for Khaybar.” Aḥmad records this same wording.

Al-Bukhārī and al-Bayhaqī place this expedition after Hudaybiyyah and before Khaybar, which is more plausible than the sequence given by Ibn Isḥāq—Allah knows best. It should therefore be dated to the beginning of the seventh year AH, for the campaign of Khaybar occurred in Ṣafar of that year.

As for the story of the woman who escaped on the Prophet’s ﷺ she-camel and vowed to slaughter it in gratitude for her deliverance, Ibn Isḥāq (2) transmitted it—as a mursal report—from Abū al-Zubayr, from al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī; it has, however, been handed down with connected chains through other routes.

Imām Aḥmad (3) said: “ʿAffān narrated to us; Ḥammād ibn Zayd narrated to us; Ayyūb narrated to us, from Abū Qilābah, from Abū al-Muhallab …”