“They charged us clad in iron mail, as though
Bakr ibn Wāʾil himself, the tribe of unbending pride.”

1 Next, the Banū Nājjiyah rallied around the camel, followed by the Banū Ḍabbah, and a great many of them were killed there.2 It is said that the hands of seventy men were severed while ʿĀʾishah still held the camel’s halter. When they were finally worn down, the Banū ʿAdī ibn ʿAbd Manāf advanced, fought with grim determination, and succeeded in lifting the camel’s head high.

The enemy now made the camel their sole target, declaring, “The fighting will not cease so long as this camel remains standing.” The halter was in the hand of ʿAmrah ibn Yathribī—some say his brother ʿAmr ibn Yathribī—when ʿAlbāʾ ibn al-Haytham (a renowned champion and horseman) bore down on him. [Nufayl ibn] ʿAmr al-Jamallī stepped forward, but Ibn Yathribī slew him. ʿAlbāʾ then attacked in turn and was likewise killed by Ibn Yathribī. Zayd ibn Ṣuḥān was also killed, while his brother Ṣaʿṣaʿah ibn Ṣuḥān was carried off wounded. ʿAmmār called Ṣaʿṣaʿah out to single combat; the two advanced between the lines—ʿAmmār, now ninety years old, wearing a rough sheepskin coat belted with a palm-fiber rope.

People exclaimed, “We belong to Allah and to Him we return—now ʿAmmār will rejoin his companions!” Ibn Yathribī struck at ʿAmmār with his sword, but ʿAmmār caught the blow on his small shield; the blade sank and stuck fast. ʿAmmār counter-struck, severing his opponent’s legs, and the man was taken prisoner5 before ʿAlī. He pleaded, “Spare me, Commander of the Believers!” ʿAlī replied, “After you have slain three men?” and ordered his execution.

The camel’s reins then passed to another man of the Banū ʿAdī, whom ʿAlī had deputed. Rabiʿah al-ʿUqaylī challenged him; they fought until each killed the other. Al-Ḥārith al-Ḍabbī seized the reins next, no one showing greater ferocity, and he chanted7:

“We are the sons of Ḍabbah, guardians of the camel;
We meet the champion whenever a champion descends.
We avenge Ibn ʿAffān with the tips of our spears;
Death is sweeter to us than honey.
Return our shaykh to us—then we shall desist.”

8 Some attribute these verses to Wasīm ibn ʿAmr al-Ḍabbī. Whenever one man holding the camel was killed,10 another took his place, until forty of them had fallen.

ʿĀʾishah said, “My camel remained steady until I no longer heard the voices of the Banū Ḍabbah.” After that, seventy men of Quraysh took the halter in turn, each killed after the other. Among them was Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥah, known as al-Sajjād. He said to ʿĀʾishah, “Command me, O Mother.” She replied, “I command you to be like the better of the two sons of Adam,” and he refused to