Life of Muhammad — Page 94
sa 94 archery. This continued throughout the day; and, as the army of Mahomed sa was but just sufficient to guard the long line, there could be no relief. Even at night Kh a lid ra , with a strong party of horses, kept up the alarm, and still threatening the line of defence, rendered outposts at frequent intervals necessary. But all the endeavours of the enemy were without effect. The trench was not crossed. The battle had gone on for two days. Still there had been no hand-to-hand fighting, no great bloodshed. Twenty-four hours of fighting had resulted in only three deaths on the enemy side and five on the Muslim side. Sa ‘ d bin Mu ‘ a dh ra , a chief of the Aus tribe and a devotee of the Prophet sa , was wounded. Repeated attacks on the ditch, however, resulted in some damage, and this made further attack easier. Great scenes of valour and of loyalty were witnessed. It was a cold night, perhaps the coldest in Arabia. We have on the authority of ‘ A ’ isha ra , the Prophet's sa holy consort, that the Prophet sa rose from his sleep again and again to guard the damaged part of the ditch. He became exhausted. He returned to bed but then, having warmed himself a little, went again to guard the ditch. One day he was so exhausted that he seemed quite unable to move. Then he said he wished some devoted Muslim would come and relieve him of the physical labour of guarding the ditch in the cold of the night. Soon he heard a voice. It was Sa ‘ d bin Waqq as ra. The Prophet sa asked him why he had come. "To guard your person," said Sa ‘ d ra. "There is no need to guard my person," said the Prophet sa "A part of the ditch is damaged. Go and guard it that Muslims may be safe. " Sa ‘ d ra went, and the Prophet sa was able to sleep. (There was some coincidence. For when the Prophet sa arrived at Medina and danger to his person was very great, even then it was Sa ‘ d ra who offered himself for a guard. ) On another occasion during these difficult days, the Prophet sa heard the sound of arms. "Who is it?" asked the Prophet sa. " ‘ I b a d bin Bishr ra ," was the reply.