Ibn Isḥāq (1) reported: “When the commanders had fallen, the Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — said, according to what has reached me:

‘Zayd ibn Ḥārithah took the standard and fought under it until he was martyred; then Jaʿfar took it and fought under it until he was martyred.’

He continued: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, then remained silent, and the faces of the Anṣār changed colour, for they feared something they would dislike had happened regarding ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah. He then said:

‘After that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah took the standard and fought under it until he was martyred.’

He added:

‘They were shown to me in Paradise, in a dream, upon couches of gold. I noticed that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah’s couch was turned slightly away from those of his two companions, so I asked, “Why is this?” and was told, “The other two advanced at once, whereas ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah hesitated briefly, and then advanced.”’

Ibn Isḥāq records this report with a broken chain of transmission.

Al-Bukhārī (2) narrated: Aḥmad ibn Wāqid related to us; Ḥammād ibn Zayd related to us, from Ayyūb, from Ḥumayd ibn Hilāl, from Anas ibn Mālik, that the Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — announced to the people the deaths of Zayd, Jaʿfar and Ibn Rawāḥah before any news had reached them. He said:

‘Zayd took the banner and was struck down; then Jaʿfar took it and was struck down; then Ibn Rawāḥah took it and was struck down’ — while his eyes were overflowing with tears — ‘until the banner was taken by a sword from among the swords of Allah, and Allah granted victory to them.’

Al-Bukhārī alone transmits this wording; he records it elsewhere (3) and, while on the pulpit, added: ‘They would not wish to be with us now.’

Al-Bukhārī (4) also related: Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr told us; Mughīrah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Makhzūmī — not al-Khuzāʿī — told us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿīd, from Nāfiʿ, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, who said: The Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — appointed Zayd ibn Ḥārithah commander in the expedition of Muʾtah, saying: ‘If Zayd is killed, then Jaʿfar; if Jaʿfar is killed, then ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah.’ ʿAbd Allāh (ibn ʿUmar) said: I was with them on that expedition. We searched for Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib and found him among the slain; in his body we counted more than ninety wounds, both stabs and arrow-shots. Al-Bukhārī is again the sole transmitter of this report.

Al-Bukhārī (5) likewise said: Aḥmad related to us; Ibn Wahb related to us; ʿAmr related to us, from Ibn Abī Hilāl — Saʿīd ibn Abī Hilāl al-Laythī — who said: Nāfiʿ informed me that Ibn ʿUmar told him he stood over Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib that day as he lay slain and counted fifty wounds, both thrusts and blows, none of them in his back. This narration too is unique to al-Bukhārī.

These two reports may be reconciled by saying that Ibn ʿUmar — may Allah be pleased with him — personally observed only that number of wounds, whereas someone else later counted a greater total; or that the wounds to the front of his body were inflicted before he fell, and when he lay on the ground they struck him again from behind, so that Ibn ʿUmar counted only the wounds inflicted while he was still facing the enemy — Allah knows best.

Among the evidences corroborating Ibn Hishām’s statement that his right hand was severed while holding the banner and then his left was cut off is what is narrated