“Are you getting all this ready?”
He answered, “For Muhammad and his Companions.”
She said, “By Allah, I do not think anything can withstand Muhammad and his Companions.”
He replied, “By Allah, I hope to bring you some of them to serve you.” Then he declaimed:
If they advance today, I shall have no plea—
my weapons are whole and finely honed,
a double-edged blade, swift to leave the sheath.
He then took part at al-Khandamah with Safwān, ʿIkrimah, and Suhayl. When the Muslims in Khālid’s detachment met them, a skirmish broke out. Karaz ibn Jābir, of Banū Muhārib ibn Fihr, and Khunays ibn Khālid ibn Rabīʿah ibn Aṣram, an ally of Banū Munqidh—both of whom had been in Khālid’s force but had strayed off and taken another path—were killed; Khunays fell first, followed by Karaz.
They add: From Khālid’s cavalry, Salamah ibn al-Milā’ al-Juhanī was also slain, while about twelve or thirteen idolaters were killed. The rest fled, and Ḥimās fled with them until he reached his house.
He said to his wife, “Shut the door on me.” She replied, “And where is all that talk of yours now?” He answered with verses:
Had you been there on the day of al-Khandamah—
when Safwān turned and ʿIkrimah turned,
while Abū Yazīd stood fast like a bulwark,
meeting them with flashing swords
that severed every arm and skull,
striking till nothing could be heard but gurgling,
with wailing behind us and groaning—
you would not have voiced the least reproach.
Ibn Hishām notes that these lines are also attributed to al-Raʿʿāsh al-Hudhalī.
He further reports that the battle cry of the Muhājirūn on the days of the Conquest, Ḥunayn, and al-Ṭā’if was: “O sons of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān!” The cry of the Khazraj was: “O sons of ʿAbd Allāh,” and that of the Aws: “O sons of ʿUbayd Allāh.”
Al-Ṭabarānī relates—with his chain from Ibn ʿAbbās—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Indeed, Allah made this town sacred on the day He created the heavens and the earth; He fashioned it when He fashioned the sun and the moon. What is directly above it in the sky is also inviolable. It was never lawful for anyone before me; it was made lawful for me only for an hour of a day, after which it reverted to its earlier sanctity.”
Someone said to him, “Khālid ibn al-Walīd is still killing.” He replied, “Rise, so-and-so, go to Khālid ibn al-Walīd and tell him to raise his hands from killing.” The man went and said, “The Prophet ﷺ