The Hand of Talha
On the day of the Battle of Uhud, Hazrat Talha (ra) took part in the battle alongside the Holy Prophet (sa). He was among those who stood resolutely with the Holy Prophet (sa) and pledged on the condition of offering their lives. Malik bin Zuhair fired an arrow in the direction of the Holy Prophet (sa) but Hazrat Talha (ra) protected the Holy Prophet’s (sa) blessed face with his hand. The arrow struck him on his little finger which consequently became incapacitated. When the first arrow struck him, he let out a small cry due to the immense pain. Upon this, the Holy Prophet (sa) stated, “If he had recited Bismillah [in the name of Allah], he would have entered paradise in a manner that people would be witnessing it before their very eyes.” In one of the books of history, it further states that on the day of the Battle of Uhud, an idolater twice struck a blow to Hazrat Talha’s (ra) head; once when he was coming towards him and the second time when he was turning away from him. He lost a lot of blood as a result of this.
(al-Tabaqaat-ul-Kubra li ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, pp. 162-163, Talha bin Ubaidillah Quraishi, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990)