The Devotion of Life — Page 249
249 fate of those kings. Without doubt those kings and young men achieved worldly wealth but the real substance was accorded to the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) and the rest simply attained the mere shell. This allotment was just as after the Battle of 'Hunain' when the Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) distributed the spoils of war among the people of Mecca, a young man from Medina foolishly remarked ‘while blood drips from our swords, the spoils have been given to the people of Mecca. ’ When the Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) heard this news, he gathered all the Ansars (people of Medina) and said, ‘O Ansarullah ! I have come to know that one of your young men has said that while blood drips from our swords Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) has given the spoils of war to the people of Mecca. ’ The Ansars were extremely sincere and deeply loyal people, and on hearing this from the Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) they were profoundly distressed and said, ‘O Prophet of God, we do not say that. One of our foolish young men said this in error. ’ The Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) replied ‘O Ansar ! If you wanted you could have also said that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) has been granted victory merely by the Grace of Allah the Exalted and He has brought him back to his homeland with dignity. However, when the battle was over and Mecca was in the control of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him), the people of Mecca drove their sheep and