The Life of Mohammad Part 14

Nevertheless, the die was cast. The Mussulmans, who had set out to fall on a caravan protected by a puny escort, found themselves facing a force at least three times greater than theirs, and a.s.sisted by formidable cavalry. At all costs, the well of Badr must be reached before the enemy. The Believers began their march again and attained the borders of the Wadi Superior which they found quite dry. Their supply of water was exhausted, and next day they suffered terribly from thirst. Satan tried to exploit these pangs by filling their brains with most depressing thoughts. 'See where you are led by the man who pretendeth to be the messenger of the Almighty! Ye are surrounded by countless enemies, only waiting till your strength be broken by the agonies of thirst. They will then attack you and ye will be defenceless and an easy quarry.'

Every brain was bewildered. Luckily, their training during the fast of Ramadhan had accustomed the Believers to endure the torments of thirst and prevented them from breaking down. At the very moment when the heat, concentrated in the lofty heights of the Wadi, was on the point of making their position untenable, great clouds crowned the high peaks. The sombre veils darkening the sun were torn aside, and Allah let loose beneficial showers to drench His faithful servants. The Wadi, only just before filled with stones and sand, was transformed into a raging torrent.

The Believers were able to quench their thirst, and they dug holes all along the Wadi that was at once filled by the swelling of the waters.

They washed their clothing, heavy with sweat, and performed their ablutions. Last, but not least, the s.h.i.+fting sands that rendered their advance so difficult, grew solid by the damp, and made the ground firm beneath their feet. "_He sent down upon you water from Heaven that He might thereby cleanse you, and cause the pollution of Satan to pa.s.s from you, and that He might gird up your hearts, and stablish your feet by it._" (THE QUR'AN, VIII, 11.)

For the idolaters, the storm was most disastrous. It overtook them in soil known as "Sabkha," signifying low-lying clay mixed with salt, churned by wet into greasy, sticky mud. Their camels slipped up and fell, their long legs comically gliding backwards, powerless to rise without the help of their drivers. Horses floundered, their hoofs sinking in the mire and, unable to find foothold, dropped back on their riders. The confusion and tumult cannot be described, and the efforts of the Unbelievers, to extricate themselves, hampered their advance and exhausted them by fatigue.

The Believers, being cleansed, purified and refreshed, pa.s.sed the night in invigorating sleep. They did not even take the trouble to post sentinels, relying blindly on the words of the Prophet who a.s.sured them that the angels would guard the camp. He alone remained wakeful, absorbed in prayer. "_Recollect when sleep, a sign of security from him, fell upon you._" (THE QUR'AN, VIII, 11.)

The hour arrived when the fate of Islam was to be decided. It was on a Friday, the seventeenth day of the month of Ramadhan.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Believers perceiving the New Moon of the Month of Ramadhan._]

Hubbab-ul-Ansari, renowned for his sage counsels, craved permission to be heard, 'O Prophet!' said he; hath the spot where we are now encamped been pointed out by a Revelation, and therefore we are forbidden to go forward or retreat? Or are we free to discuss the choice of ground befitting warlike strategy?'--'No Revelation hath imposed this place upon me. Speak freely and explain any stratagem that thou dost judge the most advantageous.'--'In that case, strike the tents,' Hubbab rejoined, 'and with our troops, go down the channel of the Wadi and fill up every well we pa.s.s until arriving at the last.

There thou must dig a reservoir that will fill itself with all the water running under the sand, whilst the wells higher up, which we shall have choked, will have run completely dry. I know the strength and direction of the stream. Thanks to this reservoir, our warriors, during the battle, will be able to refresh their burning throats or relieve their sufferings if wounded, but our adversaries will not find anywhere in the surrounding country a single drop of water wherewith to slake their thirst.'

This piece of advice seemed reasonable to the Prophet, who carried out Hubbab's idea to the letter, and so fixed the future battlefield, for the Unbelievers would be forced to come and try to wrest from him the only spot where water was to be found.

Then Sad ibn Muaz spoke: 'O Prophet! allow us to build for thee an "arish" (shelter from the sun's rays) on this hill, from which thou wilt be able to watch every move in the fighting. Near thee, thy she-camel shall be hobbled, and we will gallop into the enemy's midst.

Should Allah grant us victory, thine eyes will be gladdened by the sight of our valour in defending the faith. Should fate be against us, thou wilt have naught else to do than to climb into the saddle and rejoin our rearguards, as devoted to thee as we are, and who will cover thy retreat.' The Prophet accepted, adding: 'Allah will reward you all by rendering a.s.sistance more efficacious than anything ye can imagine.'

The Believers cut down twigs of "araq" which they wattled, and so set up a shelter thatched with sheaves of "surfah". Mohammad retired therein in company with Abu Bakr, and when the advanced groups of enemy hors.e.m.e.n made their appearance, wheeling about defiantly before his eyes: 'O Allah!' he exclaimed, 'so there are the Quraish at last; urged on by monstrous pride to brave Thee and call Thy Messenger a liar!'

The enemy was a.s.sembled. After their efforts of the preceding day to extricate themselves from the briny mud of the "Sabkah," they had awakened with their throats afire; the storm, over too soon, not having filled any of the "ghadirs" and the wells of the Wadi having been choked up, the idolaters had not been able to find the least drop of water to allay the thirst that began to torture them. It was not to be wondered at, therefore, that the sight of the sheet of water sparkling in the reservoir dug by the Believers and which reflected the sun's rays, blinding their eyes, should increase the fury of their revengeful feelings.

Some of the hors.e.m.e.n, reckoning on the speed of their steeds, dashed recklessly forward, hoping to reach the tempting liquid. The Prophet ordered his archers to let the mounted men get quite near, and when they were well within range, to riddle them with showers of arrows.

All rolled on the ground, mortally wounded, with the exception of one rider, called Hakim.

Al Asad al Makhzumi, another idolater, instead of being discouraged by the result of this first attempt, felt his blood boiling in his veins and shouted loudly enough to be heard by both parties: 'By our G.o.ds!

by Lat and Uzza! I swear to slake my thirst in the cistern of Mohammad's "qawm." Then I'll demolish it and only death can stop me!'

He dashed forward, br.i.m.m.i.n.g over with arrogance. Hamzah went to meet him and, with a blow from his scimitar, sliced off one of his legs and sent it flying. Al Asad fell backwards, turned himself over, and hopping with surprising agility on both hands and his sound leg, tried to make his way to the reservoir and keep his oath. But Hamzah was there to meet him and finished him off just as he reached the goal.

Three champions came forward from among the ranks of the Unbelievers to challenge the Believers to single combat, and they were Utbah with his son, Al Walid, and his brother, Shaibah. Hamzah, Ali, and Obaidah were chosen by the Prophet to oppose them. Stalwart Hamzah and impetuous Ali soon rid themselves of their adversaries, stretching them bleeding and lifeless on the sand, but Obaidah and Utbah had no sooner crossed swords than they both wounded each other grievously.

Obaidah, one leg so deeply gashed that the marrow dripped from the bone, was on his back, at his enemy's mercy, when Ali and Hamzah came to the rescue and freed him by killing Utbah. They then lifted up their wounded comrade and carried him to the Prophet, who supported his head lovingly on his knee, consoling him by the glad tidings of the reward awaiting him in Paradise. Obaidah soon breathed his last sigh and was thus the first martyr struck down in the Holy War.

After these single combats causing the hearts of all the lookers-on to palpitate with warlike ardour, the shock of the forces could no longer be postponed. The Prophet had drawn up his warriors in line, shoulder to shoulder, in serried ranks, like stone blocks cemented to form a wall, and it was all he could do to restrain the impatience of many who, outstripping their brothers-in-arms, would have run to face certain and useless slaughter.

Such an one, Sad ibn Quzai, was far in advance of the post a.s.signed to him. So as to make him take his proper place, Mohammad struck him on the breast with the shaft of an arrow he held in his hand. 'Thou didst hurt me, O prophet!' cried Sad. 'As a messenger from Allah, sent to bring about the triumph of Right and Justice, thou dost owe me reparation on thine own body.'--'Satisfy thyself!'--'Thou art clothed, whereas my flesh was naked.' The Prophet laid bare his breast, saying: 'Give me as good as I gave, O Sad!'

Profiting by the permission, Sad threw himself on Mohammad, took him in his arms and pressed his lips to his body. 'Why do thou this thing?' asked the Prophet.--'O Messenger of Allah! death faceth me and I desired that for my last farewell, my flesh should touch thy fles.h.!.+'

Moved by such fierce devotion, Mohammad called down the blessing of the Most High on Sad. Then, having ordered his men to wait without flinching for the enemy's attack, he went back with Abu Bakr to the _arish_, of which the entrance was guarded by Sad ibn Muaz, sword in hand. The Prophet prayed: 'O Allah, remember Thy promise! If this day, Thou dost let the army of the soldiers of the faith be exterminated, no one will be left on earth to adore Thee!'

Uneasy at the great disparity of numbers, Mohammad renewed his supplicating prostrations. His mantle slipped from his shoulders. Abu Bakr picked it up and threw it over him again, saying: 'Rest easy, O Prophet! Allah will surely do what He promised!'

Overwrought by excess of fatigue and anxiety, the Prophet lost his senses, and his eyes closed for a second, only to reopen almost immediately. A smile lit up his features. 'Good news, O Abu Bakr!' he cried. 'The angel Jibra'il flieth to our a.s.sistance. I see the sand rising in a whirlwind under his horse's hoofs!

Leaving the "arish" abruptly, he called out to his army: 'Our enemies are routed! Already I see their backs turned in wild flight! I swear by Him who holdeth Mohammad's soul in the hollow of His hand, that any Believer killing a foe hath the right to his spoils; and any Believer killed face to the enemy will be immediately welcomed by Allah in the gardens of Paradise.'

Amir ibn Hammam, listening to these promises, held a handful of dates, and was about to lift them to his mouth, when he threw them on the ground with a sudden gesture of disdain, and shouted in tones of joyous exaltation: 'Bakhr! Bakhr! Considering that between me and my entry into Paradise there is only the slight barrier of death at the hands of the men over there'. Without finis.h.i.+ng the sentence, he drew his sword and fell on the idolaters, digging a b.l.o.o.d.y road through their ranks, until be succ.u.mbed outnumbered.

Another among the Faithful having heard the Prophet declare that Allah would consider the martyr fighting with no armour than that of his faith to be more deserving than any, threw off his breastplate and followed Amir's footsteps until he, too, fell cut to pieces, but not until he had sent many Unbelievers to the infernal regions.

From that moment, it was impossible to restrain the Believers. The Apostle sc.r.a.ped up a handful of dust, throwing it in the direction of the Quraish. 'May their faces be covered with confusion!' he cried.

'Forward! O Believers! Forward!'

The Faithful, like a human hurricane, threw themselves on the Unbelievers and frightful noises rent the air. The clas.h.i.+ng of weapons, cries of despair and triumph, reverberating again and again by reason of the echoes of the valley, were accompanied by a strange uproar, sounding jerkily, like the beating a of a drum.

Quoth an Arab idolater of the Banu Ghifar: "I went with one of my cousins to the top of a hill overlooking the battlefield, so as to find out which side was victorious, meaning to join the conquerors and plunder the vanquished.

"All of a sudden, at the very moment when the warriors of Islam attacked, I saw rising up behind them, from the depths of the valley, a great pillar of sand approaching with marvellous velocity. In its tawny spirals that threatened the clouds, fantastic and terrifying visions appeared and faded. It was like a gigantic combat of the Earth rebelling against the Heavens!

"Sounds quite as strange escaped from the whirlwind, freezing my blood with horror. There was the neighing and trampling of galloping steeds; the beating of great wings; the roll of loud drums and, dominating the tumult, an imperious voice shouting: 'Forward, Haizum!'

"In less than the twinkling of an eye, the whirlwind overtook the Believers, falling with them on to the ranks of the idol-wors.h.i.+ppers.

It soon reached us as well, smothering us in its yellow darkness. I lost sight of my companion, and was nigh fainting with fear. Powerful gusts of wind drove me hither and thither, and I had to cling to projecting rocks so as not to be swept away like a wisp of straw. My ears were deafened by atrocious clamours. The curses and the groans of the wounded; the blasphemy of the vanquished, mingled now with the rumbling of thunder. In the yellow, foggy obscurity, flashes of lightning gleamed; swords and spears glittered.

"At last, when the whirlwind pa.s.sed away, I saw my comrade p.r.o.ne on the ground, his breast torn open, showing the membrane of his heart and, like trees uprooted by a hurricane, countless dead bodies strewed the bed of the Wadi; and in the distance, lit up by a ray of sunlight, the soldiers of Islam pursued the enemy in flight."

This whirlwind was the track of Jibra'il riding his horse, Haizum, that Mohammad had seen at the head of three thousand angels flying to his aid. The whirlwind of sand, uplifted by the tempestuous wind, allied itself to the human whirlwind swept along by the stormy breeze of faith and both, at one bound, rushed upon Allah's foes. The shock was irresistible. The furious billows of the raging sands struck the idolaters straight in the face, blistering the flesh, filling mouths and nostrils, blinding eyes, so that they knew not where to strike, nor where to turn to defend themselves.

The Believers, on the contrary, felt their impetuosity increased by the pus.h.i.+ng of the hurricane, and their eyes, freely open, enabled them to avoid their adversaries' attack, and cut them down to a certainty. Better still: unknown, supernatural strength increased the strength of their arms tenfold, to such an extent that they fancied they struck at empty air, because they felt no resistance to the impact of their weapons. "Scarcely did I threaten a head with the edge of my blade," one of the conquerors narrated later, "than I saw it fly off my adversary's shoulders and roll on the ground, even before my weapon touched it." "_So it was not ye who slew them, but Allah slew them._" (THE QUR'AN, VIII, 17). Seventy idolaters bit the dust; and, among them, all the conspirators who tried to a.s.sa.s.sinate the Prophet at Makkah. Twenty-four of the dead belonged to the highest aristocracy: Utbah, Al Walid, Shaibah, Umaiyah ibn Khalaf, Abu Bukhtari, Hanzalah, Abu Sufyan's son, etc., and, most important of all, the chief of the expedition, the famous Abu Jahal.

Knowing that the latter was the life and soul of the plots weaved against the Prophet, the Faithful sought for the arch-conspirator everywhere in the fight. One of them, Muaz ibn Amr, having succeeded in falling across him, pierced his thigh with a furious lunge.

Ikrimah, Abu Jahal's son, rushed to his father's a.s.sistance and, with a scimitar, avenged him by hacking the left arm of Muaz. It hung from his shoulder by a strip of flesh. His movements hampered by the useless, swinging limb, Muaz stooped, and placing his foot on it, tore it off by roughly standing erect again. He threw it far from him and went on fighting.

Two young Ansars, sons of Afrah, coming to the rescue, dragged Abu Jahal out of the saddle and left him for dead, riddled with wounds.

The Prophet's mind was more engrossed with the fate of Abu Jahal than with that of any other of his foes. Ibn-i-Masud went out to search, and found him at last, in the midst of a pile of corpses. The chief of the idolaters was still breathing. Ibn-i-Masud placed his foot on the dying man's neck, even as one stamps on a viper, but just as he leant over, Abu Jahal, to brave him, seized him by the beard, and gazing at his conqueror, with a mad look of impotent rage, he shouted, the death-rattle sounding in his throat: 'Hast ever seen such a n.o.ble fellow as I, murdered by such vile ploughmen?'

To put an end to the infidel's insults, Ibn-i-Masud cut off his head and brought it to the Prophet. At the sight of the blood-stained face of his enemy, Mohammad exclaimed: 'Verily, this man was the detestable Pharaoh of his nation!'

Corpses soon became decomposed, exposed to the sun's torrid rays; the tumefied faces of the dead took on the colour of pitch. This phenomenon proved to the Believers that the infidels had been struck down by celestial warriors, for were they not already carbonised by the flames of h.e.l.l? Mohammad scoured the whole of the battlefield, ordering all the dead bodies he came across to be buried at once, no matter of which creed. Huzaifah, one of the early Islamic adepts, accompanying Mohammad, suddenly came upon the remains of Utbah ibn Rabiyah, his father. The son's features became distorted and blanched with mortal pallor. 'Hast thy father's death shattered thy soul?'

asked the Prophet.--'No, by Allah! but I knew my father was endowed with intelligence, goodness and generosity. I had hopes that he would have trodden the path of salvation. His death depriveth me of that hope. Hence my grief!'

The Prophet, impressed by the reply of this stoical Mussulman, called down the blessings of the Lord on his head. Mohammad then had his she-camel led to him and, mounting, rode to a dried-up well in which he ordered twenty-four of his best-known enemies to be buried. He stopped his she-camel in front of the mouth of this well and called on the dead by name:

'O such an one, son of such an one! And thou, such an one, son of such an one! Would ye not have preferred this day to have obeyed Allah and His Messenger? Of a surety, we have found that which Our Lord promised us; but you--have ye found that which your divinities promised you?--'O Apostle!' said Ura, 'why dost thou speak to soulless bodies?'--'By Him who holdeth in His hands the soul of Mohammad!' he replied, 'I swear that thou dost not hear my words as distinctly as they!'

By this he meant to inform Ura that these infidels, now dwelling in h.e.l.l, were compelled to acknowledge the truth of words that he had ofttimes repeated to them when they were in the land of the living.

Thus does a "hadis" of Ayishah explain this scene, for it is said in the Qur'an: "_Verily then, thou canst make the dead to bear._" (x.x.x, 51). The Believers only lost fourteen men, six Mohadjirun and eight Ansars, winning eternal glory as the first fallen in the Holy War.

[Sidenote: THE SOJOURN AT BADR AND THE RETURN TO AL-MADINAH]

The Prophet remained three days on the field of battle to bury the dead and gather together the booty which he left to be guarded by the family of the Najjar. He then got ready to go back to Al-Madinah.