“O Zayd—drive on the lean, worn-out mounts!
The night has grown long; be guided, then alight.”
Ibn Isḥāq continues: The army marched on until, when it reached the frontier of al-Balqāʾ, the forces of Heraclius—Romans together with allied Arabs—confronted them at a village of al-Balqāʾ called Mashārif. As the enemy advanced, the Muslims drew back to a village named Muʾtah. There the two sides met, and the Muslims formed their battle lines, placing on the right wing a man of Banū ʿUdhrah called Qutbah ibn Qatādah, and on the left wing an Anṣārī named ʿUbāyah ibn Mālik.
Al-Wāqidī relates: Rabiʿah ibn ʿUthmān told me, from al-Maqburī, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: “I was present at Muʾtah. When the idolaters drew near, we saw what no one could face: equipment, arms, cavalry, brocade, silk, and gold. My eyes flashed. Thābit ibn Aqram said to me, ‘Abū Hurayrah, it is as though you see a great multitude!’ I answered, ‘Indeed.’ He replied, ‘You were not with us at Badr; we were not granted victory because of numbers.’” Al-Bayhaqī recorded this report.
Ibn Isḥāq says: The two armies then engaged. Zayd ibn Ḥārithah fought with the banner of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, until he was engulfed by the enemy’s spears. Jaʿfar took up the banner and fought on; when the fighting pressed him hard he leapt from his light-coloured horse and hamstrung it, then fought the enemy until he was killed. Jaʿfar was thus the first Muslim known to hamstring his mount in Islam.
Ibn Isḥāq further relates, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr from his father ʿAbbād—my foster-father, one of Banū Murrah ibn ʿAwf, who took part in the expedition of Muʾtah—who said: “By Allah, it is as though I can still see Jaʿfar leaping from his light-coloured horse, hamstringing it, and fighting the enemy until he was slain, all the while chanting:
How sweet is Paradise and drawing near to it—
pure it is, and its drink is cool!
The Romans—Romans whose punishment is close—
unbelievers of distant lineage—
When I meet them, upon me lies to strike them!”
This ḥadīth was also transmitted by Abū Dāwūd through Ibn Isḥāq’s chain, though he did not cite the verses; it has been used as proof by