Part of Pictures from the lives of the Companions (series completed)
· Lesson 84 of 93
Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (99) - Al-Alaa bin Al-Hadrami, may God be pleased with him - Part One
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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-'Ala' Ibn al-Hadrami, may Allah be pleased with him.
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The grieving, bereaved city of Medina lay resting its wounds that night,
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for it had lost the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
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It was in a state of the deepest attachment to him and the most desperate need for him.
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Yet, the Caliph of the Muslims, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, could not find a taste of sleep;
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it was as if his bed had been stuffed with thorns or his eyes smeared with embers.
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How could the heart of al-Siddiq find peace
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when most of the Arabs had exited the religion of Allah in droves and apostatized from Islam?
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And how could he close his eyes
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when the great state of the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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which had been built over twenty-three years of effort and struggle,
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and constructed through sorrows and heartaches,
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until it encompassed the Arabian Peninsula from end to end, had shrunk today?
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It had become confined to a small triangle,
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its apex in Medina, the capital of the Islamic state,
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and its base extending between Mecca and Ta'if.
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From this small remnant that remained with him in faith, al-Siddiq mobilized ten armies,
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and chose for them ten exceptional commanders
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with whom the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was well-pleased when he passed away.
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He dispatched them in every direction to fight the apostates.
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What troubled him most that night
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was choosing the eleventh commander for the army he would send to fight the apostates in Bahrain
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and the surrounding lands in the south of the Arabian Peninsula.
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The mission of this army was fraught with dangers,
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and its path was paved with thorns and hardship.
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Al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, continued to toss and turn on his bed,
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until Bilal Ibn Rabah pierced the silence of the night with his melodious, tender voice.
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The eyes of al-Siddiq welled with tears upon hearing the voice of the muezzin of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
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At the same time, an idea flashed into his mind
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that illuminated the path for him to choose the desired commander.
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His gentle features relaxed,
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and across his refined, sorrow-stricken face appeared
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a transparent veil of contentment and tranquility.
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When the obligatory prayer was finished, he called for parchment and an inkwell and wrote:
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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This is a covenant from Abu Bakr, the Caliph of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
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to al-'Ala' Ibn al-Hadrami,
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when he sent him to fight the apostates in Bahrain and its vicinity.
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He charged him to fear Allah as much as he could, in private and in public,
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and commanded him to be diligent in the cause of Allah,
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and to struggle against those who turned away from their religion
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and retreated from Islam to the delusions of Satan.
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The selection of al-'Ala' Ibn al-Hadrami
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as commander of the army heading to fight the apostates in Bahrain
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met with great satisfaction among the leaders of the Muslims.
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For al-'Ala' was a Companion of long standing,
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with a close bond to the Messenger, peace be upon him,
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and one of the scribes of the Revelation and those entrusted with it.
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Furthermore, he was the one who had brought Islam to Bahrain
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without shedding a drop of blood or harming anyone with a wound.
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This was when the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, sent him
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to al-Mundhir Ibn Sawa
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with a letter inviting him to Islam.
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He continued to treat him with gentleness
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and exercised wisdom in presenting Islam to him,
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until he and his people announced their Islam.
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The Prophet, peace be upon him, confirmed him in his rule,
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and appointed al-'Ala' Ibn al-Hadrami over the collection of alms (zakat).
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He commanded him to take the zakat from the wealthy
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and distribute it among the poor.
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Al-'Ala' remained in this work
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until the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, passed away.
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The king, al-Mundhir Ibn Sawa, followed him in the same month,
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may the mercy of Allah be upon him.
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There was no path before al-'Ala' Ibn al-Hadrami
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and his army, fighting in the way of Allah,
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to reach Bahrain
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except for the Dahna' desert,
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that desert which was fearsome at that time,
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and remains fearsome to this day,
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and which is known now as the Empty Quarter (al-Rub' al-Khali).
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The blessed, faithful army set out, crossing the vast wilderness,
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engaged in a fierce war with the sweeping winds,
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a bitter struggle with the raging sands,
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and a terrifying conflict with the harsh nature,
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where there was no water, no trees, and no life.
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While the people were in this state,
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they were struck by what no one could have anticipated,
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nor could the imagination of any dreamer have conceived.
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On the evening of a night with no stars,
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shrouded in darkness,
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the army dismounted from their camels in search of rest
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and in anticipation of the breaking of the dawn.
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For they were unable to travel at night
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for fear of getting lost in these deserts,
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where no foot had ever traced a path,
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and even if it had, the sweeping sands
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would have obliterated it in a few moments.
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No sooner had they settled on the ground
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than one of their camels rose up in a panic,
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for a reason they did not know,
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and began to run like a madman
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into those dark, vast plains.
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Its panic stirred all the other camels,
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and they rushed after it
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as if a thousand demons were riding them,
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or as if each one had been stung by a thousand snakes.
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The hardy men,
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the veterans of the desert,
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tried to stop these agitated,
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stampeding animals,
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or to catch up with them,
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but they soon lost them, and were themselves lost,
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and the desert swallowed them up.
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In a few moments,
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the army found itself in those deadly wastes,
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without water, without provisions,
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without a mount, and without hope.
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You may imagine, noble listener,
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the anguish that overwhelmed their souls,
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and you may conceive of the agony that shattered their hearts.
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You may give free rein to your soaring imagination
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to see what was surging in the depths of those chests.
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They became certain that they were inevitably doomed,
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and that this desert
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would fold them into its vast interior,
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just as the ocean folds a handful of sand into its depths,
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and that they would remain a secret of these terrifying wastes,
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which would never be revealed to anyone.
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Some began to leave their final testaments to others,
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certain that no one would emerge alive from the jaws of this death trap.
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But such is the way of life.
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At that moment, the inspired commander,
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the student of the unique and peerless Prophetic school, approached his soldiers
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and said to them in a tone of reassurance and confidence:
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"What is this panic, terror, and distress that has overcome you?"
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They replied, "How can you blame us?
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If we remain until tomorrow and the night gives way to the day,
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the sun will soon destroy us with thirst
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before its disc even rises to the zenith of the sky."
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He said to them, "I am confident that you will never be harmed,
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for you are those who have submitted to Allah and believe in Him.
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You set out in His cause,
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and you rose up to support His religion.
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So rejoice in a relief from Him,
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and by Allah, you will not be forsaken,
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nor will you be afflicted by anything that harms you.
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The relief of Allah is closer to you than you think."
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The words of the faithful commander descended into the hearts of his men
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like cool, sweet water to a thirsty soul.
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Their spirits calmed and their hearts found peace,
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and they surrendered their eyes to sleep.
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When the dawn broke, they performed dry ablution (tayammum) with clean earth,
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and stood before their Lord, humble and submissive.
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When the prayer ended, 'Ala' turned his face toward them,
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raised his palms toward the sky,
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and began to call upon Allah, the Almighty, with a pleading heart,
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tearful eyes, and a hopeful, expectant soul.
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They joined in his supplication, saying "Amen" to his hopes.
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He had not finished his private prayer to his Lord before water appeared to them from afar,
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its silver surface shimmering under the first light of morning.
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At first, the soldiers thought it was a mirage,
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like that which a person sees in the desert.
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But when they approached it, they found it was water.
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They began to praise and glorify Allah,
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and started to drink and wash themselves.
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They stayed there, waiting for the rest of Allah's relief.
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No sooner had the day reached its midpoint
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than they saw shadows in the distance heading toward them.
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They focused their gaze upon them,
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and they drew closer to them little by little.
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It was only a short while
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before they were certain that it was their camels coming toward them,
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as if a driver were herding them toward them.
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Through tears of joy at the relief of Allah, the Almighty,
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and hope in His victory,
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they saw their camels all arriving at the water,
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just as they had all departed,
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with their saddles and blankets still on them,
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and the provisions and supplies intact.