Ghawrath's Sword, and the Caravan of Najd

Another ghazwah, Ghazwat Dhī Amr, four hundred and fifty Muslims, was against a tribe in Najd, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) attacked them because he heard that they were planning to attack him. So he went to meet them in their own territory; on the way he took captive one of their men, Jabbār ibn Muthallib, who became Muslim. Then, when they reached the enemy's land, it was rainy, so the clothes of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) got wet. He took off his armour and hung it on a tree so that his clothes could dry, and then he lay down under a tree. Ghawrath ibn al-Ḥārith, the head of the enemy's army, crept in and stood right above the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) with his sword in hand, and while the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was sleeping, he woke him up and said, "O Muḥammad, man yamnaʿuka minnī al-ān?" — who can save you from me now? The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), with all confidence, said: "Allah." Suddenly Ghawrath fell back and his sword fell. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) picked up the sword and stood on top of Ghawrath and said, "O Ghawrath, who can protect you from me now?" So he pleaded to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to spare his life, and he became Muslim. He went back to his people, and his people blamed him. He said, "A tall man stood in front of me and pushed me in my chest" — and that was Jibrīl (peace be upon him). So Ghawrath, who had wanted to kill the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), became Muslim, went back and gave his people the daʿwah, and many of them became Muslim — a miracle among the miracles of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). But this was a one-month-long journey; the Muslims were absent for an entire month.

Then there is Sariyyat Zayd ibn Ḥārithah — a sariyyah, so the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not go with them. The people of Quraysh were now suffering economically because of the continuous raids; the Muslims were putting serious pressure on Quraysh by raiding their caravans. The route from Makkah to Syria was jeopardised; the Muslims were all over the place, either their armies or tribes loyal to them, because the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was sending out these sarāyā to engage with the tribes surrounding Madīnah, to invite them to Islam or at least to make some alliances with them to guarantee that they would stand on the Muslim side. So now Quraysh's line to Syria was threatened. They consulted with some guides, who told them that if the routes of the Ḥijāz were not safe, why not go through Najd? So they took this long turn through Najd, getting close to Iraq, and from there entering into Syria — which cost more and took longer, but they had to do what they had to do. So they sent this caravan to go through Najd and from Iraq and then into Syria. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sent out a sariyyah, led by Zayd ibn Ḥārithah and a hundred Muslims, to raid it. This drove them crazy, and it was a successful attack: the guards of the caravan ran away, and the Muslims took over the caravan, because it had so much silver in it.