The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 479
X - Siege of Madīnah and Delicate State of the Muslims, Failure of the Disbelievers and Reality of Miracles 479 The night was pitch black, and I fearlessly yet silently, penetrated the enemy camp. At the time, I found Abū Sufyān standing above a fire in order to warm himself. Upon seeing him, I immediately took aim with my bow, and was about to shoot, but then I remembered the admonition of the Holy Prophet sa , and held back from shooting my arrow. If I had shot my arrow, Abū Sufyān was in such close range that most surely, he would not have been able to escape. 1 At the time, Abū Sufyān was urging his men to prepare for the return march and then he took to his camel right before my eyes. Due to his anxiety, he forgot to untie the forelegs of his camel. After this, I returned. When I reached my camp, the Holy Prophet sa was engaged in Ṣalāt. I waited until the Holy Prophet sa had finished and then presented my report of the entire situation. The Holy Prophet sa thanked God and said, “This is not the result of our own effort or strength, rather, it is due completely to the Grace of God, Who has put the confederates to flight by His breath. ” After this, news of the retreat of the disbelievers immediately spread throughout the Muslim camp. 2 It was perhaps on this occasion that the Holy Prophet sa also said: آن َ نَغْزُوْھُم ْ وَلَا یَغْزُوْنَنَا ا اَلْ “In the future we shall set out against the Quraish, they shall not have the courage to go forth against us. ” 3 Hence, after a siege of more or less, twenty days, the army of the disbelievers left Madīnah without success and victory, and the Banū Quraiẓah, who had also come out to aid them retired to their fortress. 4 In this war, the 1 Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim, Kitābul-Jihād Was-Siyar, Bābu Ghazwatil-Aḥzāb, Ḥadīth No. 4640 2 * As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Mālik bin Hishām, p. 632, Ghazwatul- Khandaqi Fī Shawwālin Sanata Khamsin, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001) * Tārīkhur-Rusuli Wal-Mulūk (Tārīkhuṭ-Ṭabarī), By Abū Ja‘far Muḥammad bin Jarīr Aṭ-Ṭabarī, Volume 3, p. 105, Thumma Kānatis-Sanatul-Khāmisatu Minal-Hijrati / Dhikrul-Khabari ‘An Ghazwatil-Khandaqi, Dārul-Fikr, Beirut, Lebanon, Second Edition (2002) * Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 3, p. 53, Ghazwatul-Khandaqi Wa Hiyal-Aḥzābu, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 3 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Maghāzī, Bābu Ghazwatil-Khandaqi Wa Hiyal-Aḥzābu, Ḥadīth No. 4110 4 Tārīkhul-Khamīs Fī Aḥwāli Anfasi Nafīs, By Ḥusain bin Muḥammad bin Ḥasan, Volume 1, p. 484/ p. 491-492, Ghazwatul-Khandaqi , Mu’assasatu Sha‘bān, Beirut