Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 189
189 Badr In the beginning of Ramadhan, it was generally known in Medina that a large trading caravan of Quraish was returning to Mecca from Syria under the leadership of Abu Sufyan. It was accompanied by about fifty armed guards. It was a richly - loaded caravan in w hich everyone of Quraish had invested his or her savings. It has been pointed out earlier that these caravans constituted a grave threat to the security of Medina and, therefore, on receiving intimation of the approach of the caravan, the Holy Prophet, pea ce be on him, dispatched two Emigrants, Talha bin Ubaidullah and Saeed bin Zaid, to gather intelligence about the caravan and to report back. At the same time, he instructed his Companions that they should be ready to set forth to block the passage of the caravan to the south. On his side, Abu Sufyan, apprehending that his progress with the caravan might be blocked by the Muslims, sent a fast rider to Mecca to explain the situation to Quraish and bring an adequate force for the safeguarding of the caravan. He also veered somewhat to the west and began to travel fast with the caravan on a route closer to the sea. When his emissary arrived in Mecca he, according to Arab custom, began to behave wildly and started shouting: ‘Men of Mecca, Muhammad and his Compan ions have set forth from