Part of Pictures from the lives of the Companions (series completed)
· Lesson 57 of 93
Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (72) - Abu Aqeel Al-Anqi, 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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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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Abu 'Aqil al-Aniqi, may Allah be pleased with him.
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The affair of Musaylimah the Liar grew grave and intensified.
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Forty thousand of his people, the Banu Hanifah, had gathered for him,
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and they were supported by about twenty thousand from their allies.
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His army was the greatest army the Arabs had known up to that day,
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and at the same time, it was many times larger than the army of the Caliph of the Muslims,
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Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him.
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The imminent danger that had befallen the Muslims at that time
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was not limited to Musaylimah the Liar
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and his massive, unified, and cohesive army;
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rather, this danger also manifested in the other apostates
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who, in their entirety, believed in Allah,
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testified that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,
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and did not dispute the establishment of prayer.
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However, they demanded that the Caliph cease requiring them to pay the zakat.
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As for Musaylimah the Liar and those with him,
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they denied the prophethood of Muhammad, may the best of prayers and purest of peace be upon him,
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disbelieved in the Noble Book that Allah had revealed to him,
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and believed in a prophet who fabricated lies against Allah.
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If this immense force were destined to be victorious,
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it would lead to the eradication of Islam and its people,
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and Allah would not be worshipped in the Arabian Peninsula after that day.
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Al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, dispatched against Musaylimah the Liar
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an army led by 'Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl.
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'Ikrimah, if you do not know, was a knight of the battlefield,
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a hero of conflicts, and a son of wars.
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Furthermore, he placed under his banner heroic, formidable men,
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brave warriors whose swords were accustomed to victory.
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But Musaylimah dealt them a blow that shook the Muslims' composure
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and stirred the anger of their Caliph, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq.
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He quickly sent a messenger to prevent the defeated army
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from returning to Medina, so as not to weaken the resolve of the Muslims,
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and ordered him to remain where he was.
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Then he wrote him a letter blaming him for his haste
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before completing his numbers and equipment,
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telling him, "Do not let me see you, and do not let me see you,
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and do not return to Medina,
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lest you weaken the resolve of the Muslims
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and break their spirit."
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The defeat of 'Ikrimah shook the consciences of the Muslims deeply,
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and opened their eyes more than ever before to the impending disaster.
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The Caliph rose to save Islam and the Muslims
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from this surrounding danger.
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He cleared some fronts of the Muslim soldiers
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and temporarily overlooked the apostates who refused to pay the zakat,
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all to mobilize for Musaylimah the largest army he could muster,
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and to provide this army with the greatest power to ensure victory, by the permission of Allah.
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Al-Siddiq formed his army from three legions:
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The first was the legion of the Muhajirun (Emigrants),
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who had endured what they endured for the sake of Allah and His Messenger, peace be upon him.
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They suffered for the sake of the call what they suffered,
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and built with their own hands the edifice of Islam, brick by brick,
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mixing its soil with their sweat and tears.
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The second was the legion of the righteous Ansar,
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who supported the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
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aided him, protected him, and fought the enemies of Allah alongside him,
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as the wars bore witness to them.
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The third was the legion of the sons of the desert,
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the people of strength, might, and courage.
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He then placed in the army a group of the Qur'an reciters
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who carried the Book of Allah,
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and he was protective of them and cherished them.
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Then he added to them the veterans of Badr,
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even though he used to say about them:
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"I do not employ this elite group of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, in war;
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rather, I keep them for righteous deeds,
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for Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He,
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may avert calamity through them
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more than the victory that comes by their hands."
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Then he entrusted the banner of the army to the Drawn Sword of Allah,
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Khalid ibn al-Walid.
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The two hosts met on the land of Yamamah.
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Musaylimah arrayed his soldiers at 'Aqraba,
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and placed the women, children, and wealth behind the army.
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Khalid arrayed his soldiers opposite his enemy's army,
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and the two armies stood waiting for the moment of the crushing attack.
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Each of the two parties saw with the certainty of faith that this battle
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was a battle of annihilation or survival.
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Sharhabil ibn Musaylimah the Liar stood,
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stirring the feelings of pride and tribal zeal among his people.
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He said:
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"O Banu Hanifah,
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this day is a day of jealousy and defense of honor.
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If you are defeated,
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you will see the women who sought protection with you taken as captives.
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So defend your women and children,
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fight for your lineage and ancestry,
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and charge at your enemy."
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He had barely finished his words
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when his people poured onto the ranks of the Muslims
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like the falling of rocks,
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and flowed upon them like a torrent.
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The rank of the Muslims bent in defeat,
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and Khalid ibn al-Walid was displaced from his tent,
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and his wife, Umm Tamim, fell into their grasp.
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They intended to kill her,
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were it not for a man among them who granted her protection, so she was spared.
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Khalid received the shock with a steady heart and firm resolve,
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because no doubt had entered his heart regarding the victory of Allah,
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nor had any despair touched him regarding His support.
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So he thought and consulted,
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and his thinking and consultation led him to realize that the cause of the defeat
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was the three legions of the Muslims relying upon one another.
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So he shouted to the army:
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"Separate, O soldiers!
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Separate, so that the valor of each group among you may be known,
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and so the Muslims may know from where they were attacked."
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The shout of Khalid ibn al-Walid stirred the Muslims' zeal for the religion of Allah,
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ignited their longing for martyrdom in the way of Allah,
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and lifted the veils from their eyes,
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so they saw the palaces of Paradise with their doors open to receive the martyrs.
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At that moment, there emerged in the ranks of the Muslims acts of heroism
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that the hand of history has never recorded anything more magnificent or greater.
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There appeared among the soldiers of Allah acts of manhood
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that the annals of history have never known anything more noble or honorable.
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At the forefront of these heroes
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was the hero of this story of ours,
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'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Tha'labah al-Ansari,
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known by the kunya Abu 'Aqil al-Aniqi.
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Let us listen to 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab,
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for he is the one who will narrate to us his wonderful story.
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'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar said:
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"When the Muslims lined up for battle on the day of Yamamah,
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Abu 'Aqil al-Aniqi was boiling like a cauldron,
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and leaping like a lion.
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No sooner had the fighting broken out
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than he placed his own neck before the necks of the Muslims,
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and held his chest before their chests.
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He was the first to be struck by an arrow that day.
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The arrow entered the chest of Abu 'Aqil al-Aniqi
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and lodged between his shoulders,
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without touching his heart;
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had it touched it, he would have died instantly.
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He reached his hand toward the arrow,
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pulled it out from between his shoulders,
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and stood fighting,
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until the wound weakened his left side.
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Then, it was not long before his strength failed,
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and he fell in his place, advancing and not retreating.
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We carried him to his tent and placed him inside it,
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and he was not far from us.
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When the heat of the battle intensified,
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and the Muslims were hard-pressed,
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Abu 'Aqil heard al-Bara' ibn Malik al-Ansari calling out:
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'Where are you, O company of the Ansar?
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Where are you?
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I am al-Bara' ibn Malik al-Ansari!
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Come to me, O company of the Ansar!'
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Then he saw Ma'n ibn 'Adi al-Ansari
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breaking the scabbard of his sword,
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leaping to the front,
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climbing a rise of land, and shouting:
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'For the sake of Allah, O company of the Ansar!
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Charge! Charge at your enemy!
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O you who supported the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him!'"
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'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar said:
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"I looked at Abu 'Aqil,
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and I saw him rising to his feet.
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I approached him and said:
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'What do you want, O uncle?'
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He said:
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'Did you not hear al-Bara' ibn Malik al-Ansari
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and Ma'n ibn 'Adi calling me?'
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I said: 'They did not call you,
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nor did they name anyone specifically.
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Besides, they do not mean the wounded.'
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He said:
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'They are calling the Ansar,
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and I am one of them,
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and it is upon me to answer them, even if by crawling.'
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Then he girded himself,
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took the sword in his right hand,
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and began to call out:
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'O Ansar! Charge! Charge like the day of Hunayn!'
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'O Ansar! Charge! Charge like the day of Hunayn!'
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The Ansar gathered and aligned,
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advanced before the Muslims, and fought selflessly,
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until they forced Musaylimah and those with him into the Garden of Death.
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We, the Muhajirun, mingled with them,
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and our swords joined their swords.
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Then, I caught a glimpse,
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and there was Abu 'Aqil at the gate of the Garden of Death,
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his arm having been severed from the shoulder
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and fallen to the ground,
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and he had fourteen mortal wounds upon him.
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I stood over him while he was dying, in his last breath, and said:
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'Abu 'Aqil!'
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He said with a slurred tongue: 'Labbayk (At your service).'
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'Who won?'
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'Tell me, who won?'
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I said: 'Rejoice!
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For the enemy of Allah and the enemy of His Messenger, peace be upon him, has been killed.'
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He raised his finger to the sky,
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I said, "Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, is praising him."
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Then he breathed his last.
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'Abdullah Ibn 'Umar said:
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"When I returned to Medina,
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I informed the Faruq of the entire story of Abu 'Aqil.
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His eyes welled with tears, and he said:
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'May Allah have vast mercy upon Abu 'Aqil.
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For he never ceased asking Allah for martyrdom and persisted in seeking it,
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until he attained it.
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He was, to my knowledge, among the best of the Companions of our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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and the elite among his followers.'
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Abu 'Aqil never ceased asking Allah for martyrdom,
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and seeking it from Him, until he attained it.
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And he was indeed among the best of the Companions of our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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[as testified by] 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab,
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in these words of praise."