The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “May your Lord have mercy on you.” ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb replied, “It is now assured, O Messenger of Allah—if only you had allowed us to enjoy his company a little longer.” He was slain on the day of Khaybar, falling as a martyr, and the manner of his death was then described exactly as al-Bukhārī has recorded.

Ibn Isḥāq (1) said: Someone I regard as trustworthy told me, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Marwān al-Aslamī, from his father, from Abū Muʿtab ibn ʿAmr, that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came into view of Khaybar he said to his Companions—while I was among them—“Halt.” Then he prayed:

“O Allah, Lord of the heavens and all they overshadow, Lord of the earths and all they bear, Lord of the devils and all whom they lead astray, Lord of the winds and all that they scatter! We ask You for the good of this town, the good of its people, and the good that is within it; and we seek refuge in You from its evil, the evil of its people, and the evil that is within it. Advance—in the name of Allah.”

This report is exceedingly rare through this chain.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī (2) transmitted it from al-Ḥākim, from al-Aṣamm, from al-ʿAṭṭāridī, from Yūnus ibn Bukayr, from Ibrāhīm ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Mujammaʿ, from Ṣāliḥ ibn Kaysān, from Abū Marwān al-Aslamī, from his father, from his grandfather, who said:

“We went out with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to Khaybar, and when we drew near and could overlook it he said to the people, ‘Halt,’ so they halted. He then supplicated:

‘O Allah, Lord of the seven heavens and all they overshadow, Lord of the seven earths and all they bear, Lord of the devils and all whom they lead astray! We ask You for the good of this town, the good of its people, and the good that is within it; and we seek refuge in You from the evil of this town, the evil of its people, and the evil that is within it. Advance—in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.’”

Ibn Isḥāq (3) also related—through a source he trusted—from Anas ibn Mālik, who said:

“Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out against a people he would not attack them until morning; if he heard the call to prayer he held back, and if he did not hear it he attacked. We reached Khaybar at night. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained there until daybreak, and when he heard no call to prayer he mounted and we mounted with him. I was riding behind Abū Ṭalḥah, my foot touching the foot of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The workers of Khaybar came out early with their spades and baskets; when they saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the army they cried, ‘Muhammad—and the army with him!’ Then they turned and fled headlong. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ proclaimed:

‘Allah is the Greatest! Khaybar is destroyed. When we descend into a people’s courtyard, wretched is the morning of those who were warned.’”

Ibn Isḥāq (4) narrated the same through Hārūn, from Ḥumayd, from Anas. Al-Bukhārī (5) reported likewise through ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf, from Mālik, from Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl, from Anas ibn Mālik, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reached Khaybar by night, and whenever he arrived at a people’s settlement by night he would not approach them until morning; when morning came the Jews … (continues).