Life of Muhammad — Page 67
sa 67 dispersed, believing they had won. There was no resistance to this attack by the enemy. Only the Prophet sa with a handful of guards stood against the entire enemy and all of them fell down fighting. " "If this is true," said Anas ra , "what use is sitting here and crying? Where our beloved Master has gone, there must we go too. " Anas ra had the last date in his hand. This he was about to put in his mouth but, instead, he threw it away saying, "O date, except thee, is there anything which stands between Anas ra and Paradise?" Saying this, he unsheathed his sword and flung himself into the enemy forces, one against three thousand. He could not do much, but one believing spirit is superior to many. Fighting valiantly, Anas ra at last fell wounded, but he continued to fight. Upon this the enemy horde sprang barbarously upon him. It is said that when the battle was over, and the dead were identified, Anas's ra body could not be identified. It had been cut into seventy pieces. At last a sister of Anas ra identifying it by a mutilated finger said, "This is my brother's body" ( Bukh a r i ). Those Muslims who made a ring round the Prophet sa but were driven back, ran forward again as soon as they saw the enemy withdrawing. They lifted the Prophet's sa body from among the dead. Ab u ‘ Ubaida bin al-Jarr ah ra caught between his teeth the rings which had sunk into the Prophet's sa cheeks and pulled them out, losing two teeth in the attempt. After a little while, the Prophet sa returned to consciousness. The guards who surrounded him sent out messengers to tell Muslims to assemble again. A disrupted force began to assemble. They escorted the Prophet sa to the foot of the hill. Ab u Sufy a n ra , the enemy commander, seeing these Muslim remnants, cried aloud, "We have killed Muhammad sa. " The Prophet sa heard the boastful cry but forbade the Muslims to answer, lest the enemy should know the truth and attack again and the exhausted and badly-wounded Muslims should have