IMAM ABU AL-FIDA' ISMACJL IBN KATH~R 257This is similar to the words of God Almighty, "like the devil, when he says to
man, 'Disbelieve!' and when man disbelieves, he says, 'I am quit of you; I fear
God, the Lord of the worlds'" (sarat al-Hash?; LIX, v.16).
And God Ahnighty said, "And say: 'The truth has come; and falsehood has
vanished; falsehood is ever bound to vanish"' (sarat Bang Isr2il or al-Isr8);
XVII, v.81).
And so when Satan, God damn him, on that day saw the angels descend to give
victory, he fled. He was the first to flee, though he had been the chief encourager
and helper of Quraysh, deceiving them and making them false promises. Satan's
promises were only to mislead.
Yanus stated, quoting Ibn Ishaq, "Quraysh went forth with a sense of anxiety
and weakness. They consisted of 950 warriors led by 200 cavalry. They had slave
girls with them striking tambourines and chanting invective against the
Muslims."
He lists day by day those providing food for the Quraysh force.
Al-Umawi stated, "The first person to slaughter for them following their
departure from Mecca was Aha Jahl. He slaughtered ten camels. At 'Asfm
Umayya b. Khalaf slaughtered nine, and Suhayl b. 'Amr ten more at @did. At
Qadid they turned off to the wells in the direction of the sea coast and remained
a day there. Shayba b. RabiCd slaughtered nine more for them. Next morning
they reached al-Juhfa, where 'Utba b. Rabica slaughtered ten and the next morn-
ing, at al-Abwn), Nubih and Munbih, two sons of al-Hajjaj slaughtered ten.
Next, alLCAbbas h. 'Abd al-Mu~alib slaughtered ten, and Aba al-Bakhtari ten
more at the well at Badr. They then ate from their provisions."
Al-Umawi stated, "My father related to us, quoting Aba Bakr al-Hudhali, as
follows, 'The polytheists had with them 60 horses and 600 coats of mail, while
the Messenger of God (SAAS) had with him 2 horses and 60 coats of mail.
This, then, was how they left Mecca and moved towards Badr.Regarding the activities of the Messenger of God (SAAS), Ibn Ishnq stated,
"The Messenger of God (SAAS) moved out with his men several days after the
start of Ramadan. He appointed Ibn Umm Maktam to lead the people in prayer
and he sent back Aha Lubnha from al-Rawhn) to administer Medina.
"He entrusted the banner, which was white, to Mu~Lab b. Wmayr, while he
was preceded by two black flags one, called al-'Uq~b, the standard, carried by
'Ali b. Aba Tnlib, the other borne by one of the Helpers."
Ibn Hisham stated that the Helpers' flag was carried by Sacd b. Mu5dh. Al-
Umawi said it was with al-Khabbab b, al-Mundhu.
Ibn Ishaq went on, "The Messenger of God (SAAS) appointed Qays b. Aba
SaCsaCa, a brother of the Bana Mein b. al-Najjw, over the rear guard."
Al-Umawi said that they had two horses, on one of which rode Mus'ab h.
Wmayr, and on the other al-Zubayr b. al-'Awwm. Sa'd b. Khaythama had
charge of the right flank, al-Miqdad b. al-Aswad that of the left.