Ibn Isḥāq (1) relates: It has reached me that, while the Messenger of God ﷺ was besieging Thaqīf, he said to Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, “Abū Bakr, I saw in a dream that a bowl filled with butter was brought to me; a rooster pecked at it and spilled its contents.” Abū Bakr—may God be pleased with him—replied, “I do not think you will obtain from them today what you hope for.” The Messenger of God ﷺ answered, “Nor do I expect it.”

He continues: Khawlah bint Ḥakīm al-Sulamiyyah, the wife of ʿUthmān ibn Maẓʿūn, then said, “Messenger of God, if God grants you victory over al-Ṭāʾif, grant me the jewelry of Bādiyah daughter of Ghaylān ibn Salamah, or that of al-Fāriʿah daughter of ʿAqīl; they are among the loveliest women of Thaqīf.” I was informed that the Messenger of God ﷺ replied, “And what if no permission has been granted concerning Thaqīf, Khawlah?”

Khawlah went out and told ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, who entered upon the Messenger of God ﷺ and asked, “Messenger of God, what is this statement Khawlah claims you made?” He replied, “I did indeed say it.” ʿUmar asked, “Then leave has not been granted regarding them?” He said, “No.” ʿUmar said, “Shall I announce the departure?” He answered, “Yes.” So ʿUmar called for the march.

When the people had mounted, Saʿīd ibn ʿUbayd ibn Asīd ibn Abī ʿAmr ibn ʿIlāj cried out, “Behold, the tribe is staying put!” ʿUyaynah ibn Ḥiṣn responded, “Indeed—by God, an honorable, noble stance.” A Muslim retorted, “May God fight you, ʿUyaynah! Do you praise the idolaters for resisting the Messenger of God ﷺ when you came to support him?” He replied, “By God, I did not come to fight Thaqīf with you. I only hoped that Muhammad would conquer al-Ṭāʾif so that I might obtain a slave-girl from Thaqīf, lie with her, and perhaps she would bear me a son—for Thaqīf produce tough offspring.” (2)

Ibn Lahīʿah narrates, from Abū al-Aswad (3), on the authority of ʿUrwah, the story of Khawlah bint Ḥakīm, the Prophet’s words, and ʿUmar’s call to depart. He adds that the Messenger of God ﷺ ordered the people not to unsaddle their mounts. When morning came, the Messenger of God ﷺ and his Companions set out, and as he rode off he prayed, “O God, guide them and spare us their burden.”

Al-Tirmidhī (4) transmits—through ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUthmān ibn Khuthaym, from Abū al-Zubayr, from Jābir—that some Companions said, “Messenger of God, the arrows of Thaqīf have burned us; supplicate God against them.” He replied, “O God, guide Thaqīf.” Al-Tirmidhī then remarked, “This is a ḥasan gharīb ḥadīth.” (5)

Yūnus also relates from Ibn Isḥāq (6)—who said that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr and ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mukaddam informed him, on the authority of scholars they had met—that the Messenger of God ﷺ besieged the people of al-Ṭāʾif for thirty nights, or thereabouts, and then withdrew,