Al-Bukhārī and Muslim (1) also transmitted—through Ibn ʿAwn, from Hishām ibn Zayd, from his grandfather Anas ibn Mālik—that Anas said:

When the Day of Ḥunayn arrived, Hawāzin confronted us while the Prophet ﷺ had with him ten thousand men and the freed captives; yet they turned and fled. The Prophet ﷺ called out,

“O company of the Ansār!”

They replied, “At your service, Messenger of God, and at your pleasure; at your service—we stand before you.”

The Messenger of God ﷺ dismounted and declared,

“I am the servant of God and His Messenger.”

The idolaters were routed. The Prophet then distributed gifts to the freed captives and the Emigrants, but he gave nothing to the Ansār. They spoke about this, so he summoned them and ushered them into a pavilion, saying,

“Are you not content that people depart with sheep and camels while you depart with the Messenger of God ﷺ?”

They answered, “Indeed.”

The Messenger of God ﷺ continued,

“If people were to take a valley and the Ansār a mountain defile, I would take the defile of the Ansār.”

In another version preserved by al-Bukhārī (2) through this same chain, it says: When the Day of Ḥunayn occurred, Hawāzin, Ghatafān, and others advanced with their livestock and children, while the Messenger of God ﷺ had with him ten thousand men and the freed captives. They retreated from him until he was left alone. On that day he issued two separate calls, not mixing one with the other. Turning to his right he said:

“O company of the Ansār!”

They replied, “At your service, Messenger of God; rejoice, we are with you.”

He then turned to his left and said:

“O company of the Ansār!”

They replied, “At your service, Messenger of God; rejoice, we are with you.”

He was mounted on a white mule; he dismounted and said,

“I am the servant of God and His Messenger.”

The idolaters were routed, and that day he acquired abundant spoils, which he divided among the Emigrants and the freed captives, giving nothing to the Ansār.

The Ansār said, “When the battle is fierce we are summoned, yet the booty is given to others.” When this reached him, he gathered them in a pavilion and said,

“O assembly of the Ansār, what is this report that has reached me?”

They remained silent, so he said,

“O assembly of the Ansār, are you not pleased that people depart with the goods of this world while you depart with the Messenger of God, taking him back to your homes?”

They said, “Indeed.”

He said,

“If people were to walk through a valley and the Ansār through a mountain defile, I would walk through the defile of the Ansār.”

Hishām remarked, “I asked, ‘Abū Ḥamzah, were you present for that?’ He replied, ‘How could I have been absent!’”

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim (3) likewise reported—through Shuʿbah, from Qatādah, from Anas—that the Messenger of God ﷺ gathered the Ansār and said:

“Quraysh are still recent to Islam and to the calamities of the Age of Ignorance, so I wished to honor them and win their hearts. Are you not satisfied that people return with the goods of this world while you return with the Messenger of God to your homes?”

They answered, “Indeed.”

He added,

“If people were to take a valley and the Ansār a mountain defile, I would take the valley—or the defile—of the Ansār.”

The two Imams (4) also narrated it through Shuʿbah, from Abū al-Tayyāḥ Yazīd ibn Ḥumayd, from Anas in similar terms, and therein it is stated: They said, “By God, this is truly amazing—our swords are still dripping with their blood, yet the spoils are being distributed among them!” So he addressed them and spoke in words similar to those already mentioned.