The Battle of Hunayn (Hazrat Musleh Mau'd's (ra) Narration)

Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) says,

“Ponder over an incident in history wherein the Battle of Hunayn, the disbelievers of Mecca joined the Muslim army saying that ‘Today, we will demonstrate the feats of our bravery’, but they were unable to withstand the onslaught from the Banu Thaqif and ran away from the battlefield. Hence, there came a time during this battle when only 12 companions remained around the Holy Prophet (sa). The Muslim army, which was a force of 10,000 men, became scattered. The army of the disbelievers, which comprised of 3,000 archers, were hiding on both sides of the valley and they began firing their arrows on them. Yet, despite this, the Holy Prophet (sa) did not wish to retreat and wanted to continue on. Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) became worried and grabbed the reins of the Holy Prophet’s (sa) mount, and said, ‘O Messenger (sa) of Allah (sa)! May my mother and father be sacrificed for your sake! This is not the time to advance ahead. The Muslim army will re-group, and we can attack then.’ However, the Holy Prophet (sa) said with great passion, ‘Leave the reins of my mount,’ and then he nudged it with his heel and advanced ahead, reciting the following couplet:

أنَا‭ ‬النَّبِيُّ‭ ‬لَا‭ ‬كَذِب‬‬‬ أنَا‭ ‬ابْنُ‭ ‬عَبْدِ‭ ‬الْمُطَّلِب‬‬‬

Meaning: ‘I am the promised prophet, whose eternal safety was vouchsafed, I am not a liar, therefore, I care not, whether you are an army of 3,000 or 30,000; O ye idolaters! Seeing this bravery of mine, do not think that I am God, I am a human and the son of your chief, Abdul Muttalib’ (i.e. his grandson). The Holy Prophet’s (sa) uncle, Hazrat Abbas (ra) had a loud voice, the Holy Prophet (sa) said to him, ‘Abbas! Come forward, and with a loud voice proclaim, “O companions of Surah al-Baqarah (i.e. those who had memorised Surah al-Baqarah), O companions who pledged allegiance under the tree at Hudaibiyah! The Messenger (sa) of God summons you.”’

One of the companions narrates, ‘Owing to the cowardice of the new Muslim converts from Mecca, when the vanguard of the Muslim army retreated, our mounts also ran and the more we tried to steer them back, the more they would run in the opposite direction. Until the voice of Abbas (ra) resounded inside the valley, “O companions of Surah al-Baqarah! O companions who pledged allegiance under the tree at Hudaibiyah! The Messenger (sa) of God summons you!”’

The companion further says, ‘When this voice reached my ears, it seemed as though I was no longer alive, but had died and that the trumpet of angel Israfil was resounding in the air. I pulled hard on the reins of my camel, its head touched its back, but it was so frightened that as soon as I would loosen the reins, it would run in the opposite direction again. Many of my comrades, including myself took out their swords, some managed to jump off the camels, and many had to severe the heads of their camels.’ The companions then began running towards the Holy Prophet (sa), and within a few moments, the army of 10,000 companions, which was running helplessly towards Mecca, gathered around the Holy Prophet (sa) again. A short while later, this army climbed the mount and destroyed the enemies, and this dangerous defeat turned into a great victory.”

(Tafsir-e-Kabir, Vol. 6, pp. 409-410)