Yet they were averse to letting the first shock fall upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions. They report that Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb and Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah were with him; Ṣafwān’s wife had already embraced Islam while he himself was still a polytheist, yet they had not been separated.

They also relate that the commander of the idolaters that day was Mālik ibn ʿAwf al-Naṣrī, accompanied by Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah, who trembled from extreme old age, and that their women, children, and livestock were present with them. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ dispatched ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥadrad as a scout; he spent the night in their camp and heard Mālik saying to his men: “When morning comes, charge them in a single rush, break the scabbards of your swords, and place your herds in one line and your women in another.”

At daybreak Abū Sufyān, Ṣafwān, and Ḥakīm ibn Ḥizām drew back to the rear, waiting to see in whose favor the issue would turn, while the two armies formed their ranks. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ mounted his gray mule, faced the lines, instructed the troops, urged them to fight, and promised them victory if they held firm. While they were in that state the idolaters launched a single, united attack; the Muslims wavered, then turned and fled.

Hārithah ibn al-Nuʿmān said, “I reckoned how many remained with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ after the people had fallen back, and I estimated them at one hundred men.”

They narrate that a man from Quraysh passed by Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah and said, “Rejoice in the rout of Muhammad and his companions; by Allah, they will never rise from it!” Ṣafwān replied, “You congratulate me on Bedouins prevailing? By Allah, a lord from Quraysh is dearer to me than a lord from the Bedouins,” and he became angry.

Mūsā adds that Ṣafwān sent one of his servants, saying, “Go and find out what the battle cry is.” The servant returned and said, “I heard them shouting, ‘O sons of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān! O sons of ʿAbd Allāh! O sons of ʿUbayd Allāh!’” Ṣafwān exclaimed, “Muhammad has prevailed,” for that was their slogan in war.

They recount that when the fighting pressed upon him, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood up in his stirrups while still on the mule, raised his hands to Allah, and prayed: “O Allah, I beseech You for what You promised me; O Allah, it is not fitting that they triumph over us.”

He then called out to his Companions, rousing them: “O Companions of the Pledge of al-Ḥudaybiyyah! By Allah, by Allah, rally to your Prophet!”

It is also reported that he urged them, saying: “O Helpers of Allah and His Messenger! O sons of al-Khazraj! O reciters of Sūrat al-Baqarah!” and he ordered some of his Companions to proclaim these words.

They say that he took a handful of pebbles, flung them at the faces of the idolaters and across all their lines, and declared, “May the faces be disfigured!” His Companions then hastened toward him, racing one another.

They claim that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Now the furnace is ablaze!” Whereupon Allah routed His enemies from every direction touched by those pebbles. The Muslims pursued them, killing them, and Allah granted them their women and children as booty. Mālik ibn ʿAwf fled until he entered the fortress of Ṭāʾif with a number of his people’s nobles. Many of the people of Mecca embraced Islam at that time, seeing how Allah had helped His Messenger ﷺ and exalted His religion. This was reported by al-Bayhaqī.

Ibn Wahb said (1): Yūnus related to me from al-Zuhrī, who said: Kathīr ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib informed me that al-ʿAbbās said, “I was present with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the Day of Ḥunayn. Abū Sufyān ibn al-Ḥārith and I stayed close to him, never leaving his side, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was mounted on a white mule that Fura ibn Nufāthah al-Judhamī had presented to him. When the two hosts met, the Muslims turned and fled …”