archers. They fired at them a volley (1) of arrows like a swarm of locusts (2), and they fell back. The men then came to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—while Abū Sufyān ibn al-Hārith was leading his mule. He dismounted, supplicated and sought Allah’s help, saying:
‘I am the Prophet—this is no lie;
I am the son of ‘Abd al-Muttalib.
O Allah, send down Your victory!’”
Al-Barā said: “When the fighting grew fierce, we would take shelter behind him, and the bravest among us was the one who stood alongside him”—meaning the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace (3).
In the hadith of Salamah ibn al-Akwa‘: “When they closed in on the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—he dismounted from the mule, took a handful of earth and hurled it towards their faces, saying: ‘May those faces be disfigured!’ (4). There was not a single man among them whom Allah had created whose eyes were not filled with earth from that handful. They turned and fled, and Allah defeated them (5), and the Messenger of Allah distributed
(1) Al-Nawawī states, 12/118: “Rishq, with an i vowel, denotes the arrows shot simultaneously by a group.”
(2) Al-Nawawī states, 12/120: “It means: as though they were a swarm of locusts. It seems that the swarm was likened to an animal’s leg (rijl) because the leg is a part of the animal.”
(3) This hadith is reported—with variations in wording—from al-Barā’ ibn ‘Āzib—may Allah be pleased with him—in Muslim, 3/1400–1401 (Book of Jihad and Military Expeditions, chapter on the Battle of Hunayn). Al-Bukhārī reports it in abbreviated form: 5/153 (Book of Military Campaigns, chapter on Allah’s words: “And on the day of Hunayn, when your great numbers impressed you…”); 4/32 (Book of Jihad and Military Expeditions, chapter on the Prophet’s white mule—may Allah bless him and grant him peace); and 4/43 (Book of Jihad and Military Expeditions, chapter on one who drew up his companions’ ranks during a rout). It is also reported in Sunan al-Tirmidhī, 3/117 (Book of Jihad, chapter on steadfastness in battle). Al-Tirmidhī states: “There are also reports on this subject from ‘Alī and Ibn ‘Umar.” See also al-Musnad (al-Halabī edition), 4/289, 304.
(4) Al-Nawawī states, 62/122: “That is, ‘May they be disfigured.’”
(5) (N), (S), (B): wa-hazamahum (“and He defeated them”).