saw in a dream that there was a notch in his sword and that cattle were being slaughtered. He interpreted the notch to mean that someone from his own household would be killed and the slaughtered cattle to mean that a number of his Companions would be killed. The notch stood for the loss of a member of his family, for a person seeks protection in his clan just as he seeks protection with his sword; once the sword is nicked, it signals a breach in his household. And that is exactly what happened: Ḥamzah, the Prophet’s uncle, was martyred at Uḥud.

As for the slaughtered cattle, they represented those Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—who were killed at Uḥud, about seventy men. They appeared to him as cattle because cattle provide many benefits; of all the livestock they are the most useful for ploughing, for fattening, for growth, and for milk, and they offer many other advantages.

In the same way, all of the Companions were pure goodness, and there is abundant good in them for this ummah. Even if their only virtue were that Allah enabled them to convey the divine law to the Muslim community, that alone would be sufficient, for we have no access to the law of Allah except through the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them.