Section: How the battle unfolded—its initial flight and the eventual triumph of the God-fearing

Yūnus ibn Bukayr and others transmit from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq (1): ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah told me, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from his father, who said:

Mālik ibn ʿAwf marched with those under his command to Ḥunayn and reached it before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He stationed his men in the narrow passes and recesses of the valley. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions advanced until, in the dim light of dawn, they began their descent into the valley. No sooner had the people entered than cavalry burst out in their faces and charged them; the ranks broke and everyone fled, each man paying no heed to another.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ veered to the right and called out:

“Where are you going, O people? Come to me! I am the Messenger of Allah! I am the Messenger of Allah! I am Muḥammad son of ʿAbd Allāh!”

There was no response, and the camels crowded one against another. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ surveyed the plight of the people while only a handful of his household remained with him: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib; Abū Sufyān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib; his brother Rabīʿah ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib; al-Faḍl ibn al-ʿAbbās—some say al-Fuḍayl ibn Abī Sufyān—Ayman son of Umm Ayman, and Usāmah ibn Zayd. Some narrators add Qutham ibn al-ʿAbbās. A group of the Emigrants were likewise present, among them Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. Al-ʿAbbās held the bridle of the Prophet’s white mule, upon which he sat, its reins drawn tight.

A man of Hawāzin, mounted on a red camel, stood before his people with a black banner fixed atop a long spear. Hawāzin were arrayed behind him: whenever he overtook someone he speared him, and when people slipped past, he raised his spear to those behind so that they might follow.

While he was thus engaged, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and an Anṣārī went after him. ʿAlī came up from behind and struck the camel’s hamstrings so that it collapsed onto its haunches. The Anṣārī leapt upon the rider and dealt him a blow that severed his foot halfway up the shin, and he toppled from his saddle.

The fighting then raged. By Allah, those who had fled had not yet fully returned from their rout before they found the captives already bound before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

Imām Aḥmad likewise transmitted this report (2) through Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Zuhrī, from his father, from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq.

Ibn Isḥāq (3) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ turned to Abū Sufyān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib—who was among those who remained steadfast that day with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and whose Islam was excellent once he had embraced it—while he was holding the crupper of the Prophet’s mule, and asked,

“Who is this?”

He replied, “Your mother’s son, O Messenger of Allah.”