Awṭās and the Death of Durayd

So Hawāzin retreated. The leader, as said, was Mālik ibn ʿAwf al-Naṣrī. What happened was that Mālik ibn ʿAwf and the main body of the army retreated to al-Ṭāʾif and shut the gates of al-Ṭāʾif — al-Ṭāʾif was a fortified city — while another branch of the army, a smaller branch, went to a place called Awṭās. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) also split his army: the major part, led by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), followed Mālik ibn ʿAwf al-Naṣrī to al-Ṭāʾif, while a smaller group, led by Abū ʿĀmir al-Ashʿarī, the uncle of Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, went to Awṭās.

First, this smaller sariyyah that went to Awṭās, led by Abū ʿĀmir al-Ashʿarī. Among the disbelievers who went to Awṭās was Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah; he was with this small group of disbelievers who went to this area. Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah was mentioned before: he was a very old man at the time, a well-known poet, and also a very experienced and seasoned fighter. He, as mentioned before, had this discussion with Mālik ibn ʿAwf al-Naṣrī, in which he told him that it was a mistake to bring out the families and the wealth and put them at such risk, and he told them: does anything bring back a person who is in retreat? Anyway, Mālik ibn ʿAwf insisted, and it eventually turned out that the words of Durayd were true. Anyhow, let us see how events turned from there.

Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah was with this group at Awṭās. One of the members of the Muslim army, named Rabīʿah ibn Rufayʿ al-Sulamī, found a camel with a litter on top of it, of the kind usually used for women. So he was leading this camel, thinking that there was a woman in there and that he had taken her captive. When he had the camel kneel down and went to take a look inside the litter, to his amazement he found that it was not a woman but an old man. So he pulled the old man out of this litter. The old man asked him: what do you want to do with me? He said: I want to kill you. He said: who are you? He said: I am Rabīʿah ibn Rufayʿ al-Sulamī. And then he drew his sword and struck Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah.

The blow was not fatal, so Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah told him: your mother did not arm you right. And then he said: here, take my sword from my saddle and strike me with it — hit above the spine and below the skull; that is how I used to strike men. And then, when you go back to your mother, tell her: I killed Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah. I swear, many were the times I defended your women. Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah was talking to a man who was also a descendant of Hawāzin — these were clans closely related — but this one was a Muslim and Durayd was a kāfir. And Durayd was telling him that there were days when he had fought for the sake of his people and for the sake of his women. Now this was a young man; he did not know about this history; but Durayd was telling him about it because he knew that the older people of his clan would know about it. So he told him: when you go back to your mother, tell her that you killed Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah. So he struck him as he was told, and Durayd fell down dead. When he fell, his private parts were exposed, and this young man said: the skin high up between his thighs was like parchment, from having so often ridden his horse bareback. The skin was so rough because he used to ride his horse without a saddle. This was a seasoned fighter with a long history behind him.

Anyway, look at the turn of events — subḥān Allāh, the aqdār of Allah (ʿazza wa jall). A man like Abū Ṭālib — just to give an example of how one never knows how the qadar of Allah will turn out, and this means that a Muslim should always be prepared and ready, and should always ask Allah (ʿazza wa jall) to give him thabāt, steadfastness — Abū Ṭālib, who all his life supported the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and prevented any harm from reaching him, dies a disbeliever; and then there is a person like Abū Sufyān, who spent all his life fighting against Muḥammad (peace be upon him), and eventually, in his old age, he becomes a Muslim. So here there is Mālik ibn ʿAwf, who was the one who brought this disaster on the people of Hawāzin, and who insisted on following his wrong opinion and rejecting the opinion of Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah, which was a wise opinion: Mālik ibn ʿAwf ends up becoming a Muslim — how that happened will be told — while Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah, who gave him the sound advice, dies a disbeliever.

This young man, Rabīʿah, went back to his mother and told her, just as Durayd had told him: I have killed Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah. She said: I swear, he freed three of your mothers — meaning three of your relatives older than you; this could refer to his mother, or his grandmothers, or his aunts. Anyway, this is the story of Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah.