"Quraysh advanced and at al-Juhfa Juhayrn b. al-Salt b. Makhrama b.
al-Muccalib b. 'Abd Manaf had a vision. He said, 'I had a vision in my sleep,
while half-way between waking and sleeping, of a man riding a horse and lead-
ing a camel, who came to a halt. He then said, 'Wtba b. Rabi'a, Shayba b. Rabica,
Aba al-Hakam b. Hisham, Umayya b. Khalaf and so on, are all killed!' He went
on to enumerate other chiefs of Quraysh as well who were killed at Badr.
"Juhaym went on, 'I then saw him strike the upper chest of his camel and send
it on into the camp. And every single tent there was splattered with its blood.'
"When Juhaym's vision was reported to Aba Jahl, God damn him, he said, 'So
he too is a prophet from the 'Abd al-Mucwlib family! He'll know tomorrow who
will be killed, if we meet in battle!"'Ibn Ishaq continued, "Thinking he had saved his caravan, Aba Sufyan sent word
to Quraysh, 'You came out to do battle in order to protect your caravan, people
and wealth; God has now saved these, so go back!'
"But Abn Jahl b. Hisham said, 'By God, we'll not turn around until we reach
Badr!"'
Badr was a place where the Arabs would hold a fair and market each year.
(Aba Jahl went on) 'L'We'll stay there three days, slaughter some camels, eat
well, drink wine and the entertainers will play music for us. The bedouin will get
to hear of our journey and of our gathering there, and they will always respect us
for it. Let's proceed ahead.'
"AI-Akhnas b. Shariq b. 'Amr b. Wahb al-Thaqafi, an ally ofthe Bana Zuhra,
who lived in al-Juhfa, said, '0 Bana Zuhra, God has saved your wealth for you
and has now rendered your companion Makhrama b. Nawfal safe; since you only
came out to protect him and the wealth he bears, put the blame for cowardice on
me and go back. There is no need for you to go to battle when you have suffered
no loss. Don't do as he says.'
"And they did go back; not one member of the Zuhra tribe took part in the
battle of Badr. They obeyed him because they recognized his authority.
"Every sub-tribe of Quraysh except the Bana 'Adi did participate. Not a
single one of them took part.
"And so the Bana Zuhra went back with al-Akhnas; not a man from these two
tribes engaged in the battle."
Ibn Ishaq went on, "And so the force proceeded. There was some debate
between Talib b. Abn Talib, who was present there, and some of the Quraysh.
They told him, 'We well know, you men of the Bana Hashim, that even though
you have come out with us, that your sympathy lies with Muhammad.' And so
Talib went back to Mecca with some other men. On that subject he spoke the
following verses,
'0 God, if Tdib goes to battle with a force allied to
fight in great troops like there,