Chief of the Prophets — Page 101
Chapter Six 101 these words, Sa‘d bin Mu‘ādh ra , the chieftain of Banū Aus immediately understood and said: O Messenger of Allah! Perhaps it is our counsel that you seek. By God!, when we have believed in you as being truthful, and have placed our hands in your hand, then go forth wherever you desire, we are with you. We swear by that Being who has sent you with the truth, that if you order us to jump into the sea, we shall jump into it, and not a single one of us shall hold back. God willing, you shall find us steadfast in battle and shall witness from us that which shall be the delight of your eyes. Muḥammad sa was very pleased to hear this speech and said: Go forth then in the name of Allah, because Allah has promised me that He shall definitely grant us victory over one of these two parties (i. e. , the army or the caravan). I swear by God that at this very time I am witnessing the places where the enemy men shall fall after being slain. 1 Muḥammad sa swiftly advanced towards Badr and when reaching close to it, he sent ‘Alī ra and Zubair ra forward for reconnaissance. When they reached the valley of Badr, they saw a few people drawing water from a spring. They attacked them and arrested an Abyssinian slave and brought him to Muḥammad sa. They interrogated him and gathered information about the army of the Quraish. When he told them that ‘Utbah, Shaibah, Abū Jahl, Abul Bakhtarī, ‘Uqbah bin Abī Mu‘īṭ, Ḥakīm bin Ḥizām, An-Nar bin Ḥārith, Umayyah bin Khalaf, Suhail bin ‘Amr, Naufal bin Khuwailid, and others were with them, Muḥammad sa addressing the Companions said: 1 Ibni Hishām and Ibni Sa‘d.