When news of their disagreement reached the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, he summoned Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman and sent him to them to see what the people were doing at night.
Muhammad ibn Ishaq narrated from Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad, from Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi; and others narrated from Ibrahim al-Taymi, from his father. They related that a young man from the people of Kufah said to Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, “Abu Abdullah, you saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and kept his company?” He replied, “Yes, my nephew.”
The young man asked, “What did you used to do?” Hudhayfah replied, “By Allah, we were severely tried.” The young man said, “By Allah, had we lived in his time, we would not have allowed him to walk upon the ground. We would have carried him upon our shoulders, served him, and done this and that.”
Hudhayfah said, “My nephew, by Allah, I saw myself on the night of the Confederates with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He said, ‘Who will rise and go to these people, bringing us news of them? Allah will admit him into Paradise.’ Yet not a man among us rose.
“Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed for a portion of the night. He then turned to us and said the same thing, but the people remained silent, and not a man among us rose. Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed for a portion of the night, then turned to us and said, ‘Who will rise and see what these people have done, on the condition that he will be my companion in Paradise?’ Yet no man rose, because of the intensity of fear, hunger, and cold.
“When no one stood up, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, called me, saying, ‘Hudhayfah!’ So, when he called me, I had no choice but to rise and go to him. I said, ‘At your service, Messenger of Allah,’ and rose to approach him, while my sides were trembling. He stroked my head and face, then said, ‘Go to these people and bring me news of them; but do not do anything until you return to me.’ Then he supplicated, ‘O Allah, protect him from before him, behind him, to his right and to his left, from above him and below him.’
“I took my arrow, fastened my weapons securely upon myself, and set out walking towards them, feeling as though I were walking in a bathhouse. I went and entered among the people. Allah had sent against them a wind and forces of His, wreaking upon them what they wrought: it left neither cooking pot, nor fire, nor tent undisturbed. Abu Sufyan was sitting, warming himself by the fire. I took an arrow, placed it in the middle of my bow, and was about to shoot him; and had I shot, I would have struck him. But I remembered the words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: ‘Do not do anything until you return to me.’ So I returned my arrow to its quiver.
“When Abu Sufyan saw what the wind and the forces of Allah were doing to them—leaving neither cooking pot, nor fire, nor tent undisturbed—he stood and said, ‘O company of Quraysh, let every man take hold of the hand of the one sitting beside him and find out who he is.’ I took hold of the hand of the man beside me and said, ‘Who are you?’ He replied, ‘Glory be to Allah! Do you not know me? I am so-and-so, son of so-and-so.’ He was a man from Hawazin.
“Abu Sufyan then said, ‘O company of Quraysh, by Allah, you are not in a place where you can remain. The horses and camels have perished; Banu Qurayzah have failed us, and reports have reached us from them that we dislike. And you see what we have suffered from this wind. So depart, for I am departing.’ He then went to his camel, which was hobbled, and sat upon it. He struck it, and it rose with him in three bounds. He did not untie its hobble until it was standing. When Ghatafan heard what Quraysh had done, they hastened back to their own lands.
“I returned to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, feeling as though I were walking in a bathhouse. I came to him while he was standing in prayer. When he concluded the prayer, I informed him of what had happened, and he laughed until his molar teeth could be seen in the darkness of the night. Once I had informed him and finished, I became cold, and the warmth left me.”