We return to the account of Ibn Ishaq. He said: When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had completed the trench, Quraysh advanced and encamped at the confluence of the watercourses at Rumah, between al-Jurf and al-Ghabah, with ten thousand of their allied contingents and those of Banu Kinanah and the people of Tihamah who had followed them. Ghatfan and their followers from the people of Najd also advanced, until they encamped at the foot of Naqma, beside Uhud.

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the Muslims went out and took up position with Mount Sal' behind them, numbering three thousand Muslims. He pitched his camp there, with the trench between him and the enemy. He ordered that the women and children be placed in the fortified strongholds.

Then the enemy of Allah, Huyayy ibn Akhtab of Banu al-Nadir, went out and came to Kab ibn Asad al-Qurazi, the man responsible for Banu Qurayzah’s treaty and covenant. Kab had made peace with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ⦗77/a⦘ on behalf of his people and had entered into a covenant with him to that effect. When Kab heard that Huyayy ibn Akhtab had come, he shut his fortress against him. Huyayy asked permission to enter, but Kab refused to open the gate for him.

Huyayy called out, “Kab, open the gate for me.”

Kab replied, “Woe to you, Huyayy! You are an ill-omened man. I have made a covenant with Muhammad, and I will not break what lies between him and me. I have seen from him nothing but fidelity and truthfulness.”

Huyayy said, “Woe to you! Open the gate so that I may speak with you.”

Kab said, “I will not do so.”

Huyayy said, “By Allah, you have shut me out only to keep me from sharing your porridge.” This provoked the man’s anger, and he opened the gate for him.

Huyayy said, “Woe to you, Kab! I have come to you with the might of the age and with a surging sea. I have brought Quraysh, with their leaders and nobles, and encamped them at the confluence of the watercourses at Rumah; and Ghatfan, with their leaders and nobles, and encamped them at the foot of Naqma beside Uhud. They have pledged and bound themselves to me not to depart until they have wiped out Muhammad and those with him.”

Kab ibn Asad said to him, “By Allah, you have come to me with the humiliation of the age: a cloud that thunders and flashes, but whose water has already been poured out, leaving nothing in it. Leave me with Muhammad and the course upon which I am. For I have seen from Muhammad nothing but truthfulness and fidelity.”

But Huyayy ibn Akhtab continued to pressure Kab by every means until he consented, after Huyayy gave him a solemn pledge and covenant before Allah: “If Quraysh and Ghatfan return without having overcome Muhammad, I will enter your fortress with you, so that whatever befalls you may befall me as well.” Thus Kab ibn Asad broke his covenant and renounced the agreement that had existed between him and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

When this news reached the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the Muslims, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent Sad ibn Muadh of Banu Abd al-Ashhal, who was then the chief of Aws; Sad ibn Ubadah of Banu Saidah, who was then the chief of Khazraj; together with them Abdullah ibn Rawahah of Banu al-Harith ibn al-Khazraj, and Khawwat ibn Jubayr of Banu Amr ibn Awf. He said, “Go and ascertain whether what has reached us concerning these people is true. For if it is”