Part of Pictures from the lives of the Companions (series completed)
· Lesson 90 of 93
Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (105) - Abdullah bin Atik, may God be pleased with him
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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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Mawaddah Association is pleased
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to present to you snapshots 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 on him.
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'Abdullah ibn 'Atik,
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may Allah be pleased with him.
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“Or think ye that ye will enter paradise while yet there hath not come unto you the like of (that which came to) those who passed away before you? Affliction and adversity befell them, they were shaken as with earthquake, till the messenger (of Allah) and those who believed along with him said: When cometh Allah's help? Now surely Allah's help is nigh.” (2:214)
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Just as they endured severe suffering at the hands of the Jews,
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no one among the Jews was more detrimental to the religion of Allah,
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nor more harmful to Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
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than Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf and Sallam ibn Abi al-Huqayq.
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Indeed, within these two tyrants was combined an amount of evil that was otherwise scattered among all the wicked.
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In them met a degree of malice that surpassed all other vile traits.
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They made it their sole concern to plot against the religion of Allah
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and to harbor hostility toward Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
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Whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) concluded a treaty with anyone,
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they immediately incited them to break it
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and urged them to renounce it.
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Nor did they find an enemy of Islam residing peacefully
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without rising up to incite them to wage war against it.
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The first of the two was a poet,
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who unleashed his tongue against the honor of the chaste and devout Muslim women,
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slandering them with falsehoods and fabrications.
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The second was a corruptor,
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who set about mobilizing confederate tribes against the Muslims,
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stoking the passions of the idolaters against them,
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and devising plans to trepanning the Noble Messenger—
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upon him be the best of blessings and the purest of greetings—
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to the point of nearly killing him by dropping a boulder upon him,
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had Gabriel (peace be upon him) not alerted him
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to the imminent danger surrounding him.
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Thus, the Noble Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and those with him became certain
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that this germ of evil could not be eradicated
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except by uprooting these two tyrants,
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and that the blood of the people could not be preserved
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except by shedding the blood of these two.
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Among the blessings Allah granted His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
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was supporting him with the tribes of the Aws and the Khazraj.
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These two clans of the Ansar
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used to compete in doing good works,
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racing one another to perform acts of righteousness,
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and clashing like two horned rams
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in noble deeds and glorious exploits.
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The Aws would not do anything pleasing to Allah
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and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
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without the Khazraj saying:
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"No, by Allah, we will not let them surpass us in this virtue
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or outstrip us in this good deed!"
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So they would continuously watch for opportunities until they matched it
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or perhaps even surpassed it.
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Nor would the Khazraj do anything beneficial to Islam and its people
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without the Aws making the same pledge
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and performing a similar deed.
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Thus, this rivalry of theirs brought blessing to Islam and good to the Muslims.
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Allah had honored the Aws
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by placing the death of Allah's enemy, Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, at the hands of a group of their young men.
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So the Khazraj said:
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"No, by Allah, we will not let them outweigh us in this honor
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and gain precedence over us through it!
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If they have dispatched Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf,
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one of the two arch-enemies of Islam,
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then the other enemy of Islam, Sallam ibn Abi al-Huqayq,
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is still alive,
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and his elimination shall be our achievement, Allah willing, with His aid!"
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The Khazraj sought permission from the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
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to assign five of their young men to kill the enemy of Allah, Sallam ibn Abi al-Huqayq,
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and he granted them permission.
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He then appointed one of them as commander over these noble and righteous young men:
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'Abdullah ibn 'Atik (may Allah be pleased with him).
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He instructed them not to kill a woman or a child,
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and not to inflict any harm upon either of them.
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So they bade farewell to the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
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and departed to carry out one of the most daring adventures known in the history of self-sacrifice.
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Now let us leave the floor to the commander of the unit
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to recount to us their thrilling story.
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'Abdullah ibn 'Atik said:
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"As soon as the Messenger (peace be upon him) gave us permission
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to proceed with the task we had volunteered for,
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we set off toward the central region of the Hijaz,
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where Sallam ibn Abi al-Huqayq and his people resided in a fortress of theirs.
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When we drew near the fortress,
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we lay low in our position until the sun neared its setting,
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and the inhabitants of the fortress began returning with their livestock from the pastures.
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So I said to my companions:
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'Stay in your place,
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for I am going to head toward the gate of the fortress,
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hoping I might manage to enter alongside those going in.'
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I then blended in with the people
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and walked with them as though I were one of them,
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and no one paid any attention to me.
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When I drew near the gate,
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I wrapped my garment over my head
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so that the gatekeeper of the fortress would not spot me,
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and I sat down as if answering the call of nature.
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When the people entered and no one remained except me,
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the gatekeeper called out to me, saying:
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'O servant of Allah!
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If you wish to come in, enter now,
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for I want to lock the gate.'
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So I entered and concealed myself not far from him,
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hidden under the cover of darkness.
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When he felt certain that no one remained outside the fortress,
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he locked the gate
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and hung the ring of keys on a peg attached to a wooden beam.
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As for me,
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I remained in my hiding place
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and began inspecting the fortress,
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familiarizing myself with its pathways,
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and casting my eyes about in search of the man's upper chamber
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to locate the route leading to it.
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It was not long before I confirmed its location,
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and by the dim light of a lamp, I recognized
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that a group of his companions were spending the evening talking with him.
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When the night-talkers dispersed, the lamp was extinguished,
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and I was sure he had retired to his bed and fallen asleep,
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I took the keys from the peg
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and proceeded in the dark of night to the outer door of his mansion.
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I opened it gently,
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and once I was inside the mansion,
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I locked it behind me from the inside,
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so that no one could enter.
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Then I proceeded to the second door
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and did with it as I had done with the first door.
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I continued doing this;
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whenever I passed through a door, I locked it behind me.
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What prompted me to do this
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was my calculation that if the people became aware of my presence
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or an alarm was raised among them,
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they would not be able to reach me
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until after I had killed him.
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When I reached the upper chamber of the mansion,
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I found it dark,
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and I found him lying among his family and children.
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I could not tell where he was located among them,
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and I feared that if I struck out on mere suspicion, I might hit someone else
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and thereby violate the instruction of the Messenger (peace be upon him)
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not to kill a woman or a child,
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exposing myself to destruction to no avail.
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So I took the initiative and called him by the agnomen (kunya) his close associates used for him,
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saying: 'Abu Rafi'!'
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He asked: 'Who is this?'
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Thus I knew his location and brought my sword down toward the source of the voice.
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I was agitated,
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so my blow accomplished nothing against him.
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He screamed at the top of his voice,
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so I stepped out of the room and tripped over the lamp.
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I picked it up in my hand and cast it far away from its place,
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so that no one would go to it and light it.
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Then I returned to him, altered my voice, and said:
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'What is this screaming, O Abu Rafi'?'
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He said: 'Woe to your mother!
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Indeed, there is a man in the house who struck me with a sword and then hid!'
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So I approached him
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and dealt him a strike firmer and more precise than the previous one,
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inflicting a severe wound upon him,
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though he did not die.
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So I plunged my sword into his belly
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and pressed down on it with all my weight
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until he let out a scream that awakened his wife.
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I then pulled my sword from his body while he lay motionless.
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The woman woke up to the sound of her husband,
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jumping up terrified and calling out for help.
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I considered bringing the sword down upon her,
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were it not that I remembered that the Messenger (peace be upon him)
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had forbidden us from killing women and children,
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so I refrained from harming her.
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Within moments,
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the people awoke to her screaming,
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and commotion spread through the fortress.
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I had no choice but to go out shouting alongside the people,
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saying: 'Help! Help!
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To the rescue! To the rescue!'
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So they began pouring toward the upper chamber
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while I made my way outward,
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until I reached the very last step of the fortress stairs.
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I had weak eyesight,
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so I thought I had reached the ground,
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but I fell and broke my leg.
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I bandaged my broken leg with my turban
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and dragged it along until I joined my companions outside the fortress.
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The people of the fortress lit fires in every direction
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and rose en masse from their sleeping quarters,
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rushing out of the fortress in search of those who had raided them.
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As for us,
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we were hiding in a water channel below the fortress.
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When the people despaired of finding us,
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they returned to their leader to see what had become of him.
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My companions said: 'Let us escape! Let us escape!
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For the people have stopped searching for us
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and are occupied with their master instead of us.'
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I replied: 'No, by Allah!
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I will not leave this spot until I know for certain that I have killed him.'
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One of my companions said:
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'I will go and bring you news of him.'
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He went until he mingled with the people and approached the man,
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seeing his wife moving toward him with a lamp in her hand,
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while the Jewish elders followed behind her, asking her about what had happened
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and about the strange man who had breached their fortress and what he had done.
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She said, "By Allah, I do not know,
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but I heard a voice that sounded remarkably familiar.
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When I listened closely, I said to myself,
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'This is the voice of Ibn 'Atik!'
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However, I second-guessed myself and thought,
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'Where would Ibn 'Atik be in this land?'"
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She then approached her husband and raised the lamp,
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staring intently at his face.
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Then she recoiled from him, crying out,
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"By my God, Yahud has died! He has died!"
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When he heard her say that, his heart was at ease,
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so he returned to us and gave us the good news.
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At that point, my companions carried me,
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and they traveled with me until we reached the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
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We found him upon the pulpit, delivering a sermon to the people.
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When he saw us, he said, "May these faces prosper!"
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"May these faces prosper!"
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We replied, "May your face prosper, O Messenger of Allah!"
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And we gave him the good news of the death of Allah's enemy.
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When he descended from the pulpit, he saw my condition.
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He said, "No harm shall come upon you, O Ibn 'Atik."
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Then he said, "Extend your leg."
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So I extended it, and he wiped over it,
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and I stood upon it
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as though I had never suffered any pain in it at all.
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'Abdullah ibn 'Atik remained
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a striver in the cause of Allah,
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until he passed away to his Lord as a martyr on the Day of al-Yamamah.
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— Ibn 'Abd al-Barr