Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 192
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 192 in awe of them. Nevertheless, a small number went back, but the main body went forward and arrived at Badr on the ninth day after setting out from Mecca. They were a strong body of 1,000 well - armed warriors. They had 700 camels and 100 horses. Most of them were in armour and were well - armed. In Medina, before the return of Talha bin Ubaidullah and Saeed bin Zaid, the Holy Prophet received secret intimation, probably sent by his uncle Abbas, that a strong army of Quraish had set out from Mecca, but he did not disclose this information to anyone , except to a few of his very close Companions who were forbidden to mention it to anyone else. The Companions continued with their preparations to set forth against the caravan. Hitherto Ansar, who, according to the terms of the Second Pledge of Aqabah, h ad undertaken to safeguard the Holy Prophet in the event of an attack upon Medina, had not taken part in any scouting campaign; but on this occasion quite a number of them indicated their readiness to set forth. The Holy Prophet, while still in Medina, hel d a council and asked for advice from his Companions. Abu Bakr and Umar assured him of their utmost devotion, but he did not react to their declarations in any way, from which the leaders of Ansar gathered that he was waiting for them to declare their stan d. Thereupon, S’ad bin Ubadah, chief of Khazraj, made a spirited declaration that they were ready to make whatever sacrifice may be needed in the cause of Allah. Thereafter, the Holy Prophet called for volunteers and a number of Emigrants and Ansar offered to set forth with him. But as the general impression was that the campaign was directed against the caravan, several of the Companions felt that it was not necessary