Part of Pictures from the lives of the Companions (series completed)
· Lesson 65 of 93
Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (80) - Al-Qaqa bin Amr, may God be pleased with him - Part Three
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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The Mawaddah Association is pleased
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to present to you glimpses from the lives of the Companions,
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by Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
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may Allah have mercy upon him.
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Al-Qa'qa' ibn 'Amr, may Allah be pleased with him.
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No sooner had the night approached and wrapped the field of al-Qadisiyyah in its darkness
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than the soldiers laid down their weapons
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and rested their sides upon their sleeping mats.
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For the second day of the battle had been like the one before it,
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heavy in its burden and intense in its ferocity.
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Yet, the eyes of al-Qa'qa' ibn 'Amr did not sleep.
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And how could they sleep,
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while the patience of the Muslims had worn thin,
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and they were awaiting the reinforcements coming from al-Sham
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under the command of Hashim ibn 'Utbah?
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Despair had almost overtaken them,
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and their thoughts were scattered in every direction.
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So, he resolved to repeat on this day what he had done the day before.
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Al-Qa'qa' began to send forth his thousand horsemen
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who had come with him to the place where they had stood the previous morning,
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far from al-Qadisiyyah.
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He commanded them that when the sun rose upon them,
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they should advance toward the battlefield in groups of one hundred, one after another,
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with the distance of a sightline between each group and the next.
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He ordered them to fill the air with dust,
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and to fill the earth with clamor and noise,
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to instill confidence and resolve in the hearts of the Muslims,
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and to spread anxiety and fear in the souls of the Persians.
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No sooner had the morning dawned
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“And the earth shineth with the light of her Lord, and the Book is set up, and the prophets and the witnesses are brought, and it is judged between them with truth, and they are not wronged.” (39:69)
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than the battalions began to appear from behind the desert
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toward the battlefield, magnifying and praising Allah.
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Al-Qa'qa' received them, battalion after battalion,
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and designated their positions within the ranks.
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But the stream of battalions exceeded ten.
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He looked and saw that Hashim ibn 'Utbah
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had also arrived with his army at the outskirts of al-Qadisiyyah with the morning.
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Hashim saw the horsemen of al-Qa'qa' ibn 'Amr and what they were doing,
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and he was pleased with their actions.
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He divided his soldiers into hundreds,
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and ordered them to follow one another to the battlefield.
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This great reinforcement did not significantly weaken the resolve of the Persians,
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because they had repaired the litters of their elephants
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and renewed their girths,
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lining them up at the forefront of the army
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as if they were a solid, cemented structure.
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They were confident that the elephants would wreak havoc on the Muslims that day
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even more than they had on the first day,
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because this time they had taken precautions for them
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such as they had never taken before.
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They surrounded them with horsemen on every side
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so that the Muslims could not reach them
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to cut their girths,
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smash their litters,
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or strike the elephants,
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causing them to turn and flee as they had on the first day.
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No sooner had the battle begun
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than the Muslims charged at the protectors of the elephants,
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and the Persians charged at the Muslims
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who were confronting these protectors.
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Around these terrifying animals,
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fierce battles raged,
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in which much blood was shed,
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and many lives were lost.
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The Muslims remained patient and steadfast,
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and they showed great endurance against their enemy.
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They struck down the protectors of the elephants,
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one after another,
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until they were either dead or wounded,
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retreating on their heels.
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But these ferocious animals,
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as soon as they saw that their protectors had fallen away from them,
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became wild and agitated,
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and charged into the ranks of the Muslims
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like moving fortresses.
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They began striking with their long trunks,
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“And thou wouldst have deemed them waking though they were asleep, and We caused them to turn over to the right and the left, and their dog stretching out his paws on the threshold. If thou hadst observed them closely thou hadst assuredly turned away from them in flight, and hadst been filled with awe of them.” (18:18)
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sparing no one and leaving nothing in their path.
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The blows of swords had no effect on them,
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and the thrusts of spears could not reach them.
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The arrows only increased their fury and agitation.
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Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas sensed the catastrophe about to befall the Muslims
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because of these elephants,
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and he became certain that if he did not eliminate them,
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the Muslims would suffer a defeat from which they would never recover.
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The most burdensome of these elephants to the Muslims
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was the white elephant, which belonged to Yazdegerd, the King of the Persians,
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followed by the mangy elephant, which was no less terrifying.
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The other elephants followed them as if they were their leaders.
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Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas consulted a group of Persians who had embraced Islam regarding these elephants,
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and asked them about their vulnerabilities.
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They said, "Blind their eyes and cut their trunks,
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and they will fail and lose their power."
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So he sent for al-Qa'qa' ibn 'Amr and his brother 'Asim and said,
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"Take care of the white elephant for the Muslims."
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And he sent for two brave men from the tribe of Asad and said,
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"You two, take care of the mangy elephant."
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Al-Qa'qa' and his brother 'Asim dismounted from their horses
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and rushed, cutting through the ranks toward the white elephant.
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When they were within a bow's length or closer,
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al-Qa'qa' aimed his spear at its right eye,
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while his brother took responsibility for its left eye.
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They struck its eyes with their spears in the same moment,
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and their spearheads vanished into the sockets.
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The terrifying animal shook its head from the intensity of the pain,
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a movement that threw its riders to the ground,
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and it trampled them, crushing them.
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Then the elephant lowered its trunk to the ground
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to feel its way after losing its sight.
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Al-Qa'qa' leaped upon it and severed its trunk with his sword.
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The two Asadi horsemen charged at the mangy elephant,
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blinded one of its eyes,
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and inflicted a severe wound upon its trunk.
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It turned back toward the Persian ranks, wild and chaotic,
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and began to wreak terrible havoc among them.
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They goaded it, so it turned toward the ranks of the Muslims,
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but the Muslims poked it, so it returned from whence it came.
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Then it began to trot back and forth,
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squealing like a pig from the intensity of the pain.
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Then it rushed toward the river and leaped into it,
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and the other elephants followed it and leaped in behind it.
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Its riders cried out to the right and to the left.
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The elimination of the elephants had a great impact
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on both the Muslims and their enemies alike.
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As for the Muslims, they became certain of the help of Allah,
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and trusted in His victory if they remained patient and steadfast,
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and sacrificed their blood in the cause of Allah.
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As for the Persians, they were compensated for the loss of the elephants
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by the massive reinforcements sent to them
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by their king, Yazdegerd,
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which greatly bolstered their resolve.
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Both sides approached the fighting
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like the thirsty approaching water.
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A fierce battle raged between them,
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grinding men and weapons to dust.
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When the night grew dark,
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and wrapped the universe in its black cloak,
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neither side laid down its weapons,
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as they had done every night.
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Instead, they connected the fighting of the day with the fighting of the night,
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as if each of them had resolved
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not to lay down their weapons
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until victory had turned against their enemy.
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Because of this resolve
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which the combatants had made,
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because of the darkness that shrouded the universe,
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and because of the dust that covered the battlefield,
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the situation slipped from the hands of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas,
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the commander of the Muslim army,
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just as it slipped from the hands of Rustam,
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the commander of the Persian army.
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They lost control over their armies.
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Sa'd knew that al-Qa'qa' ibn 'Amr
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had advanced against the Persians without his permission,
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and he feared for the Muslim soldiers
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that a catastrophe might befall them.
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But he could do nothing but say,
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"O Allah, forgive al-Qa'qa' ibn 'Amr and grant him victory.
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O Allah, I have granted him permission,
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even if he did not ask for it."
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What added to his anxiety
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was seeing the Arab tribes advancing behind al-Qa'qa',
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one after another.
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Here is Asad rushing forward with all its might,
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there is Bajilah advancing with its cavalry and infantry,
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here is Kindah approaching,
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and there is Nakha' charging.
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So he found no choice but to pronounce his three takbirs,
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signaling the general offensive.
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The Muslims all attacked.
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The two opposing armies ignited
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the flames of a battle with flying sparks.
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You could see nothing in the darkness of the night
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except eyes like burning coals rotating in their sockets,
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and hear nothing but a murmur
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like a roar emanating from throats,
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and see nothing but the sparks flying
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from the clash of blades against blades.
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When the morning breathed upon that dark night,
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which was called the Night of Harir,
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exhaustion had reached its limit for both sides.
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Their arms were weary,
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their resolve had weakened,
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and their swords had become notched.
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Each side wished
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to lay down their weapons in search of rest,
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yet victory had not been written for them.
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At that moment,
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al-Qa'qa' ibn 'Amr stood among the ranks of the Muslims
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and said,
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"O company of Muslims,
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victory will be after an hour
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for whoever among you or your enemy remains steadfast in fighting.
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So be you the ones who remain patient for this hour."
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Then he charged with a group of his elite men
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toward the Persian camp.
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The Muslims charged with his intensity.
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The sun of that day had not risen high
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before the ranks of the Persians
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They were reeling under the weight of the Muslims' onslaught.
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A violent gale swept across the battlefield.
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It tore the canopy from Rustam’s throne above him.
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And cast it into the river.
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Al-Qa'qa' and those with him surged toward the throne.
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To strike down its occupant.
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Rustam leaped from it.
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And when he saw that the Muslim soldiers.
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Were on the verge of closing in on him.
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He threw himself into the river.
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One of Al-Qa'qa's men pounced upon him.
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And split his forehead in two with his sword.
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He then climbed onto the throne and began to shout:
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"I have killed Rustam, by the Lord of Muhammad!"
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"I have killed Rustam, by the Lord of the Ka'bah!"
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The death of Rustam was indeed.
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The conclusion to the greatest battle.
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That changed the course of history.
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And Al-Qa'qa' ibn 'Amr.
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Was the peerless hero of this battle.
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Without dispute.
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The voice of Al-Qa'qa' ibn 'Amr in the army.
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Was worth more than a thousand horsemen.
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Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him.