Hadith 31

e the city, until their chests are constricted from our houses, so they would disperse from us’. We were encouraged by that against them, and we advanced towards them and entered their city, and we closed its gates behind us, and we sat awaiting them (for duel). When the night shielded upon us and went we came to its half (midnight), they opened the gate of their city, while we were heedless, sleeping. There were no attentive ones among us except for four persons – Zayd Bin Harisa in one side from the sides of our soldiers, praying Salat and reciting the Quran; and Abdullah Bin Rawaha in another side, praying Salat and reciting the Quran; and Qatada Bin Al-Nu’man in another side, praying Salat and reciting the Quran; and Qays Bin Aasim in another side, praying and reciting the Quran. They came out in the intense darkness of the night and fired their arrows at us. And it was their city, and they were familiar with its ways and its places, and we were ignorant with these. We said between us, ‘They are cunning with us and coming to us, in the darkness of this night. It is not possible for us to dodge the arrows because we cannot see these coming’. While we were like that when we saw an illumination coming out from the mouth of Qays Bin Aasim Al-Miqary, like the flaming fire; and an illumination coming out from the mouth of Qatada Bin Al-Nu’man like the illumination of the venues and the Jupiter; and an illumination coming out from the mouth of Abdullah Bin Awaha like rays of the moon in the dark night; and light spread out from the mouth of Zayd Bin Harisa, more illuminating than the emerging sun. And it was so that those lights had illuminated our soldiers until it was brighter than the middle of the day, and our enemies were in intense darkness. We could see them, but they were blinded from us, and Zayd Bin Harisa separated us to go against them until we had surrounded them, and we could see them, but they could not see us, and we were seeing ones and they were blind ones. We unsheathed our swords upon them, and they came to be between the killed, and the injured, and the captive. And we entered their city, so we rounded up the offspring and the dependants, and the belongings, and the wealth – and these are their dependants and their offspring, and this here is their wealth. And, O Rasool-Allah-saww! We have not seen anything more strange than those lights, from the mouths of these people, which returned the darkness upon our enemies until it enabled us from (being victorious over) them’. Rasool-Allah-saww said: ‘Say, ‘The Praise is for Allah-azwj, Lord-azwj of the worlds’, upon what He-azwj has Graced you all with from the month of Shaban. This was the night of the first of Shaban, and the Sacred month had passed away from them, these are the lights with the deeds of these brothers of yours during the first of Shaban. They sent forth the lights during its nights, before the deeds had even occurred from them’. They said