Al-Bayhaqī transmits, through the chain of Abū Kurayb Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAlāʾ al-Hamadānī—Muʿāwiyah ibn Hishām, Shaybān, Abū Isḥāq, ʿIkrimah—from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:
Abū Bakr remarked, “O Messenger of Allah, I see that you have turned gray.” He replied,
“It is Sūrat Hūd, al-Wāqiʿah, al-Mursalāt, ʿAmmā Yatasaʾalūn, and Idhā al-Shamsu Kuwwirat that have made me gray.” (1)
In another wording, related by Abū Kurayb, from Muʿāwiyah ibn Hishām, Shaybān, Firās, ʿAṭiyyah, from Abū Saʿīd, it is reported that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said, “O Messenger of Allah, gray hair has come upon you so quickly.” He answered,
“It is Sūrat Hūd and its sisters—al-Wāqiʿah, ʿAmmā Yatasaʾalūn, and Idhā al-Shamsu Kuwwirat—that have turned my hair gray.” (2)
Section: On his courage, peace and blessings be upon him
We noted in the Tafsīr (3), citing some of the early generations, that they inferred from the verse, “So fight in the path of Allah; you are responsible only for yourself, and urge on the believers” (al-Nisāʾ 4:84), that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was commanded never to flee from the idolaters when they faced him, even if he stood alone—derived from the words, “you are responsible only for yourself.”
Indeed, he ﷺ was one of the bravest, most steadfast, and most resilient of people; he never fled a battlefield, even when his Companions retreated.
One Companion said, “Whenever fighting intensified and the clash became fierce, we would take shelter behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” (4)
Thus, on the Day of Badr he flung a handful of pebbles at a thousand idolaters, all of whom were struck, while he proclaimed,
“May the faces be disgraced!”
The same occurred at Ḥunayn, as mentioned earlier. During the second phase of the battle of Uḥud most of his Companions fled, yet he remained steadfast in his position; only twelve stayed with him—seven were slain and five survived.
At that time he killed Ubayy ibn Khalaf—may Allah curse him—dispatching him swiftly to the Fire.
Again at Ḥunayn the people all turned in flight—though they numbered twelve thousand that day—while he stood firm with about one hundred Companions. Mounted upon his mule, he spurred it toward the enemy, announcing his name aloud and declaring:
“I am the Prophet…"