238 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMADAs though we had been hostile to them, but we have no
hostility for them; all we told them is to be chaste and
just.
And we told them of Islam, but they do not accept it
and treat it as if it were a joke.
They kept this up till I was appointed to raid them
where they reside, seeking security in virtne.
At the order of the Messenger of God, being the first
to have his banner fly above me, it not having appeared
before.
A flag bringing victory, from a God of honour and power,
His deeds the best of all.
They left in the evening, gathered together, the
cooking pot of each of us boiling with the rage of his
Companions.
When we saw one another they made their mounts kneel
and tied up their mounts, and we tied ours an arrow's reach
away.
We told them, "Our connection to God is our aid. But
the only connection you have is to error."
Abn Jahl arose to fight there, acting in evil, hut he
was disappointed, for God rejected Aba Jahl's tricks.
We had only thirty mounted men, while they numbered two
hundred, with one extra yet.
0 Lu'ayy, do not obey your evil men; come over to
Islam, to the path that is plain.
For I fear that yon will have pain wrought upon you and
you will cry out in regret and mourning."'Ibn Ishxq went on, "And Aha Jahl b. Hish-, God damn him, spoke the follow-
ing verses in response,
'I was amazed at the reasons for false worship and
ignorance and at those who seek to do harm through division
and idiocy,
At those who abandon the practices of our fathers and
forebears, those fine and noble leaders.'He then quoted the rest of the poem.
Ibn Hishw stated, "Most poetry scholars deny that the first poem can be
attributed to Harnza, God be pleased with him, or the second to Ahii Jahl, God
damn him!"
THE EXPEDITION TO BUWAT, IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF RADWA.Ibn Ishaq stated, "The Messenger of God (SAAS) sent an expedition against
Quraysh in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, that is in 2 AH."