Profiting by the permission, Sad threw himself on Mohammad, took him in his arms and pressed his lips to his body. 'Why do thou this thing?' asked the Prophet.--'O Messenger of Allah! death faceth me and I desired that for my last farewell, my flesh should touch thy flesh!'
Moved by such fierce devotion, Mohammad called down the blessing of the Most High on Sad. Then, having ordered his men to wait without flinching for the enemy's attack, he went back with Abu Bakr to the _arish_, of which the entrance was guarded by Sad ibn Muaz, sword in hand. The Prophet prayed: 'O Allah, remember Thy promise! If this day, Thou dost let the army of the soldiers of the faith be exterminated, no one will be left on earth to adore Thee!'
Uneasy at the great disparity of numbers, Mohammad renewed his supplicating prostrations. His mantle slipped from his shoulders. Abu Bakr picked it up and threw it over him again, saying: 'Rest easy, O Prophet! Allah will surely do what He promised!'
Overwrought by excess of fatigue and anxiety, the Prophet lost his senses, and his eyes closed for a second, only to reopen almost immediately. A smile lit up his features. 'Good news, O Abu Bakr!' he cried. 'The angel Jibra'il flieth to our assistance. I see the sand rising in a whirlwind under his horse's hoofs!
Leaving the "arish" abruptly, he called out to his army: 'Our enemies are routed! Already I see their backs turned in wild flight! I swear by Him who holdeth Mohammad's soul in the hollow of His hand, that any Believer killing a foe hath the right to his spoils; and any Believer killed face to the enemy will be immediately welcomed by Allah in the gardens of Paradise.'
Amir ibn Hammam, listening to these promises, held a handful of dates, and was about to lift them to his mouth, when he threw them on the ground with a sudden gesture of disdain, and shouted in tones of joyous exaltation: 'Bakhr! Bakhr! Considering that between me and my entry into Paradise there is only the slight barrier of death at the hands of the men over there'. Without finishing the sentence, he drew his sword and fell on the idolaters, digging a bloody road through their ranks, until be succumbed outnumbered.
Another among the Faithful having heard the Prophet declare that Allah would consider the martyr fighting with no armour than that of his faith to be more deserving than any, threw off his breastplate and followed Amir's footsteps until he, too, fell cut to pieces, but not until he had sent many Unbelievers to the infernal regions.