Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 405
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 405 and the straitness of the rugged road, panic seized the army and they turned and fled. The rallying calls of the Holy Prophet had no effect, except that a band of devoted followers, including Abbas, his son Fadhl, Ali, Abu Bakr, Umar, Usama and Aiman, gath ered round him. The confusion increased, the multitude of camels jostling wildly one against the other; all was noise and clamour and the Holy Prophet’s voice was lost amid the din. He bade Abbas, who held his mule, to call aloud, ‘Ye Ansar! Ye men of the Pledge of the Tree!’ Abbas forthwith shouted these words over and over again at the pitch of his stentorian voice, till they reached far and near. At once they touched a chord in the hearts of Ansar; arrested in their flight, they flew to the Holy Prophet, crying aloud, ‘Here we are; here we are. ’ A hundred of these devoted followers, disengaged with difficulty from the camels that jammed the road, threw themselves across the gorge and stayed the downward rush. Relieved from the pressure from above, the arm y rallied and returned to the battle. The Holy Prophet spurred forward his mule, calling out, ‘I am the Prophet, no impostor; I am the son of Abdul Muttalib. ’ The conflict was severe, and the issue, from the nature of the ground and the impetuosity of the foe, for some time doubtful. The moment was critical, but in the end, the steadiness of Ansar and the enthusiasm of the rest when once recalled, won the day. The enemy fled and the rout was complete. Malik, taking his stand with the flower of his army at the upper end of the valley, covered the escape of his broken forces; but he was unable to rescue the women and children who fell into the hands of the Muslims, with the camp and all that it contained.