One Man on Foot Against the Raiders

Salamah himself after that followed ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUyaynah. He said: I had with me my sword and my bow and arrows, and I would shoot at them — meaning he would target their horses and kill the horses. And he would do that where there were a lot of trees, because he could ambush them, and he could also take a position of hiding that would protect him. He said: I would shoot them when I was among the trees, and whenever one of their horsemen came back at me, I would hide from him behind a tree and shoot at him, while I called out to them the battle cry — a line of poetry that he made: "Take it! I am the son of al-Akwaʿ, and today the wicked will die." And he would repeat this battle cry again and again.

He said: when I was among the trees, I would burn them with my arrows, and when we came through mountain passes — narrow trails in the mountains — I would climb on top of them and pelt them with rocks. He was driving these men crazy. He was alone, and he was fighting this entire group of men. First of all, he was alone, and they were a large group. Number two, he was on foot, and they were on horseback. But Salamah was courageous, and he was fast, and he was a good archer — and most important of all, he was a muʾmin.

He said: everything they had taken, I left behind my back. These men were running away from Salamah, and to make themselves lighter and faster in running away from him, they left the camels behind, and then they started leaving behind even some of their own belongings. It says in one narration that they left behind them thirty spears and thirty cloaks. They had to leave all of this behind them to lighten their weight, and whenever Salamah came across something they had left, he would put some stones on top of it to mark its location.

And then they received reinforcements: ʿUyaynah al-Fazārī came to them. They were in a narrow mountain pass, so, Salamah said, I climbed on top of them. ʿUyaynah said: what is this that I see? They said: we have had such a difficult time from this man. And then they said: he has not left us since early in the day until this moment, and he has taken everything away from us. ʿUyaynah told them: if this man saw that you were pursuing him, he would leave you alone — meaning, why are you leaving him alone? You are the ones giving him that chance; pursue him, and he will leave you alone. So four of them, at the command of ʿUyaynah, started climbing the mountain to go up to Salamah.

They climbed the mountain until they were within range of his voice. When they were within range of his voice, he said: do you know who I am? They said: no. He said: I am the son of al-Akwaʿ. By the One who has honoured the face of Muḥammad (peace be upon him), none of you will chase me and catch me, and none of you whom I chase will escape me. If you try to chase me, if you try to get me, you will not be able to; but if I pursue you, I will hunt you down. One of them said: I think he is right. And then they descended.