Part of Pictures from the lives of the Companions (series completed)
· Lesson 92 of 93
Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (107) - Amr bin Umayyah Al-Damri, 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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'Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri,
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may Allah be pleased with him.
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The fifth year of the Hijrah was
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one of the most grueling years in the ongoing war between the idolaters
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and Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
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This was because Quraysh had grown desperate and enraged
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upon seeing the scale tip in favor of the Muslims day after day,
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realizing that the war had turned into an existential struggle for them, a matter of survival or extinction.
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Thus, they deployed every possible weapon to eliminate the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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including assassination and treachery.
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Yet the Muslims were neither oblivious to the plots of Quraysh,
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nor any less fierce and resolute than them.
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The scouts and daring agents in both camps played an immensely vital role.
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One day,
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the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, stood among his close companions and said,
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"Who will go covertly to Makkah,
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make a strike against the people that the Arabs will long remember,
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and bring us whatever fresh news they have?"
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Thereupon, 'Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri stood up before him
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and said, "I will, O Messenger of Allah!"
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The face of the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, beamed with joy, and he said,
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"You are the man for it, O Abu Umayyah!"
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'Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri was
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among the renowned brave warriors of the Arabs—
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stout-hearted, sharp-minded,
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possessed of great resolve, and exceptionally quick-witted.
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There was no knot but that he had a way to untie it,
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and no predicament but that he had a way out of it.
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For example, the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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had previously sent him with a letter to the Negus,
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the King of Abyssinia.
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The Negus used to grant asylum to the Muslims and protect them.
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When 'Amr was permitted to enter along with the visitors,
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he noticed that the lintel of the door leading into the royal audience hall
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had been made extremely low,
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so that no one could pass through it
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except in a bowing posture, out of deference to the king.
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When he stood directly before the door,
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he turned around and entered backward, rear-first.
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The courtiers took offense at this
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and were about to seize him,
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but the Negus asked him,
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"What kept you from entering as people normally enter?"
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He replied,
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"Because we, the community of Muslims, have been forbidden
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from bowing to anyone other than Allah."
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So the king accepted his explanation.
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In short,
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'Amr ibn Umayyah was
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the most suitable person for this mission
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to which he had volunteered himself—
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were it not for a single disadvantage:
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that all the people of Makkah
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knew him,
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not merely by his appearance,
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but even by his voice and his gait.
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The Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, reinforced 'Amr
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with a man from the Ansar.
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'Amr and his companion set out,
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heading toward the strongholds of polytheism in Makkah.
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They kept pressing forward by night
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and lying in ambush by day,
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fearing that an eye of Quraysh's scouts might spot them.
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They were nourishing the hope
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of bringing Abu Sufyan ibn Harb
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back to Madinah, either slain or captive.
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When they drew near Makkah,
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they tethered their camel in one of its remote mountain passes
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and entered the city, cloaked under the mantle of darkness,
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making for the house of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb.
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The Ansari said to 'Amr,
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"O Abu Umayyah,
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I wish we could circumambulate the House and pray two rak'ahs,
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and then proceed with our business;
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for this might be our last time at the Sacred House."
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'Amr replied,
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"It is the habit of Quraysh, after eating their evening meal,
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to sit in the courtyards of their houses,
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most of which overlook the Ka'bah.
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Moreover, the people are at war
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and vigilant against any intruder."
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The Ansari pleaded with him, saying,
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"I adjure you to grant me this;
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no harm will touch us, Allah willing."
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'Amr relented,
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and they went to the House, circumambulated it seven times,
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and prayed two rak'ahs in the Hijr.
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Then they stepped out to carry out the mission for which they had come.
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'Amr said:
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"No sooner had we completed the two rak'ahs
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than I noticed a man staring intently at me in the dark.
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When he recognized me, he shouted,
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''Amr ibn Umayyah!
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By Allah, he has come to Makkah only for some evil scheme!'
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And he raised his voice, calling the people to arms.
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I said to my companion,
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'Escape! Escape!
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The people have been alerted to us!
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By Allah, if they overpower us,
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they will place our gallows
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right alongside the gallows of Khubayb!'
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We dashed up into the mountain,
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and suddenly the people rushed out in hot pursuit of us.
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But I was the most knowledgeable of men regarding Makkah's mountain passes;
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we kept weaving out of one pass and into another
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until they lost our track, gave up hope of finding us,
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and turned back.
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My companion and I entered a cave at the mountain's peak,
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and we spent that night inside it.
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When morning came,
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we saw, close to the cave, a man grazing his horse.
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We stayed put and kept utterly still
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so that he would not sense our presence.
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However, he soon walked toward the cave
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and prepared to enter it.
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I thought to myself, 'If he sees us,
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he will shout at the top of his lungs, alerting Quraysh to our hiding place.'
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I had a dagger with me,
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so I pounced on him and plunged it into his chest.
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He let out a single scream that echoed through the mountain passes,
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multiplying into a barrage of echoes.
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Shortly thereafter,
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I saw people swarming toward the source of the sound.
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I retreated to my spot in the cave
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and crouched low beside my companion.
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When they reached their fellow, they found him drawing his last breath.
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They asked him, 'Who struck you?'
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He gasped, ''Amr ibn Umayyah.'
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They asked, 'Where is he?'
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But death overtook him before he could point us out to them.
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Even though we were two bows' length away from them or even closer,
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hearing what they said and seeing what they did,
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it never occurred to any of them to enter the cave upon us.
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Instead, they set off searching for us beyond that area.
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When they found no trace of us,
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they carried their comrade away and headed back to Makkah.
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My companion and I stayed in the cave for the remainder of that day.
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When night fell over us,
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I said to him, 'Escape! Escape!
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For the enemy's scouts are combing the land thoroughly in search of us.'
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As we took the road back toward Madinah,
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I remembered Khubayb.
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The idolaters had captured and killed him,
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then crucified his body on a wooden cross in the outskirts of Makkah,
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stationing guards over him
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so that people would see him morning and evening.
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I said to myself, 'By Allah, I shall snatch him from them and bury him!'
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So we directed our path toward the place where he was mounted.
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As we drew near the guards,
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one of them said,
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'By Allah, I have never seen a walk
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more resembling the walk of 'Amr ibn Umayyah than tonight's!
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Were it not that he is now safe in Madinah,
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I would have said it is he!'
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I feigned deaf to his words as though they did not concern me,
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and continued straight toward the gallows.
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When I reached it,
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I leaped upon it,
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uprooted it from its place,
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hoisted it onto my shoulder,
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and took off running at full speed.
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The guards gave chase
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and pursued me relentlessly
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until I reached an overhanging bank above a massive watercourse.
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I threw Khubayb's body into it,
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whereupon the guards stopped chasing me
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and turned to retrieve him from the water.
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But Allah hid him from them, so they could not find him.
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My companion and I then pressed on
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until we took refuge in a cave in Mount Sahnan.
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While we were inside it,
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an old one-eyed man walked in on us.
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He offered the greeting of peace, then turned to me and asked,
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'Which tribe is the man from?'
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I replied, 'From Banu Bakr.
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And which tribe are you from?'
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He said, 'Also from Banu Bakr.'
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I said, 'Welcome then!'
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Shortly after, he lay down,
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raised his voice in song, and chanted:
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'I shall not be a Muslim as long as I live,
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nor bow to the religion of the Muslims!'
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I said to myself, 'You shall soon see!'
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I waited until he settled down.
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When he fell asleep, I took my bow,
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placed one of its ends directly into his sound eye,
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and leaned on it with my full weight
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until it reached the bone.
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I then woke my companion and said,
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'Escape! Escape!
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For I have just committed a grave act!'
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We hurried off, speeding toward Madinah.
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As we descended into Al-Naqi',
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Just two nights' journey away from Yathrib,
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we suddenly came across two men from the idolaters,
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whom Quraysh had sent to gather intelligence
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on the Muslims' movements.
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So I strung my bow and said to them,
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"Surrender!" But they refused,
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so I shot one of them with an arrow,
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and he fell dead on the spot.
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The second one then surrendered,
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so I bound him securely with rope
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and brought him to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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along with all the secrets and intelligence he carried.
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When the Messenger, peace be upon him, saw us,
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his face lit up and a smile broke across his countenance,
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and he said, "May these faces prosper!"
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Then he began asking me about our news,
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and I set about recounting the story to him
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while he smiled and laughed.