the Muslims—a great many of them were struck down. But when they saw our steadfastness and saw that we had no intention of retreating, they fled. Whenever one man fell, seven men bound together fell with him, and all of them were killed. The iron caltrops behind them also kept hamstringing them.
Al-Numan said, “Bring the standard forward.” So we began advancing the standard, killing and routing them. When al-Numan saw that Allah had answered him and saw the victory, an arrow came and struck him in the flank, killing him. His brother, Ma‘qil ibn Muqarrin, came, covered him with a cloth, took the standard, and advanced. Then he said, “Advance, may Allah have mercy on you.” So we advanced, routing and killing them.
When we had finished and the people had gathered, they asked, “Where is the commander?” Ma‘qil said, “Here is your commander. Allah has gladdened his eyes with victory and sealed his life with martyrdom.” The people then pledged allegiance to Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman.
Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, was in Medina praying to Allah and awaiting news with the anxiety of a woman in labour. Hudhayfah sent Umar news of the victory with a Muslim man. When he arrived before him, he said, “Rejoice, Commander of the Believers, at a victory through which Allah has honoured Islam and its people and humbled associationism and its people.”
Umar asked, “Did al-Numan send you?” He replied, “Bear al-Numan’s loss patiently, Commander of the Believers, seeking Allah’s reward.” Umar wept and recited, “To Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return.” He then asked, “And who else, woe to you?” He replied, “So-and-so and so-and-so”—until he named a number of men—then added, “And others, Commander of the Believers, whom you do not know.” Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said as he wept, “It does them no harm that Umar does not know them; Allah knows them.”
I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission; all its narrators are trustworthy. Mubarak ibn Fudalah explicitly stated that he heard it directly. He was corroborated by Sa‘id ibn Ubayd Allah al-Thaqafi, who related: “Bakr ibn Abd Allah al-Muzani and Ziyad ibn Jubayr narrated to us from Jubayr ibn Hayyah,” with the same report up to the words, “and the times for prayer arrive.” Al-Bukhari recorded it (3159 and 3160), with the additional wording, “and Caesar is the wing.” Al-Hafiz (6/264) indicated that this addition is anomalous, since it conflicts with this transmission route of Mubarak ibn Fudalah and the forthcoming route of Ma‘qil ibn Yasar, which states: “Isfahan is the head, while Fars and Azerbaijan are the two wings.”