The Muslims were retreating, yet the Messenger of Allah ﷺ spurred his mule forward toward the unbelievers. Al-ʿAbbās said: “I was grasping its bridle, holding it back so that it would not dash ahead, while Abū Sufyān had hold of the stirrup of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said:
‘O ʿAbbās, call the Companions of the samurah-tree!’
By Allah, the moment they heard my voice it was as though a cow had wheeled round to her calves; they cried out, ‘At your service, at your service!’ They and the idolaters then closed in combat. The rallying cry passed among the Anṣār: ‘O company of the Anṣār, O company of the Anṣār!’ Then it was confined to the Banū al-Ḥārith of al-Khazraj, and they shouted, ‘O Banū al-Ḥārith ibn al-Khazraj!’
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, seated upon his mule and leaning forward as though stretching to observe their fighting, said, ‘Now the furnace is ablaze!’ He then took some small pebbles, hurled them into the faces of the unbelievers, and declared, ‘Be routed, by the Lord of Muhammad!’ I looked, and the battle still seemed to be progressing as before, yet—by Allah—no sooner had the Messenger of Allah ﷺ cast his pebbles at them than I saw their edge grow dull and their ranks break in flight.
Muslim relates this (1) from Abū al-Ṭāhir, from Ibn Wahb, with similar wording, and likewise from Muḥammad ibn Rāfiʿ, from ʿAbd al-Razzāq, from Maʿmar, from al-Zuhrī.
Muslim also transmits (2) through ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmār, from Īyās ibn Salamah ibn al-Akwaʿ, from his father, who said: “We campaigned with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Ḥunayn. When we met the enemy I advanced, scaled a rise, and a man from the polytheists confronted me. I shot him with an arrow, and he slipped from view—I never knew what became of him. I then looked round and saw the enemy emerging from another pass; they and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ clashed, whereupon the Companions turned and I too fled. I was wearing two mantles—one wrapped round my waist, the other draped over me.
“My lower wrap came loose; I gathered it up and ran past the Prophet ﷺ while retreating, and he was on his grey mule. He ﷺ remarked, ‘Indeed, the son of al-Akwaʿ has felt fear.’ When they pressed upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ he dismounted, took a handful of earth, faced them with it, and said, ‘May the faces be disfigured!’ There was not a single man among them but that Allah filled his eyes with dust from that handful; they turned in flight, Allah routed them, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ distributed their spoils among the Muslims.”
Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī said in his Musnad (3): Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated to us, from Yaʿlā ibn ʿAṭāʾ, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yasār, from Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Fihri, who said: “We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Ḥunayn. We travelled on an exceedingly hot day, and halted beneath the shade of the acacia trees. When the sun had passed its zenith I donned my coat of mail, mounted my horse, and went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was in his pavilion. I said, ‘Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Is it now time to set out, O Messenger of Allah?’”