English Translation

Ya'qub told us, my father told us, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, Sadaqah ibn Yasar told me, from Aqil ibn Jabir, from Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari, concerning what he related of the diligence of the companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in worship, he said: We went out with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him - and in another place: We went out with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, on a campaign from Najd, and the wife of a man among the polytheists was captured near Najd. We fell upon one of the houses of the polytheists, and we captured the wife of a man among them. Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, set off returning, and her husband came - he had been absent - and was told of what had befallen her. He swore he would not return until he had shed blood among the companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was at some point along the way, he stopped in one of the mountain passes and said: "Who are two men to keep watch for us tonight against our enemy?" A man from the Emigrants and a man from the Helpers said: "We will keep watch for you, O Messenger of Allah." So they went out to the mouth of the pass, away from the camp. Then the Ansari said to the Muhajir: "Will you take the first part of the night and I the last, or will you take the last and I the first?" The Muhajir said: "Rather, take the first part for me and I will take the last for you." So the Muhajir slept, and the Ansari got up to pray. He began a surah of the Qur'an, and while he was reciting it, the husband of the woman came. When he saw the man standing, he knew he was a lookout of the group, so he shot an arrow at him and struck him with it. He pulled it out and set it aside, remaining standing, reciting the surah he was in, not moving for fear of breaking it off. Then the woman's husband shot at him again with another arrow and struck him; he pulled it out and set it aside, still standing praying, not moving for fear of breaking it off. Then the woman's husband shot at him a third time with an arrow and struck him; he pulled it out and set it aside, then bowed and prostrated, then said to his companion: "Get up, for I have been struck." So the Muhajir got up, and when the woman's husband saw the two of them, he fled, knowing that he had been detected. The Ansari was drenched in blood from the wounds inflicted by the woman's husband. His brother, the Muhajir, said to him: "May Allah forgive you! Could you not have alerted me the first time he shot you?" He said: "I was in a surah of the Qur'an that I had begun reciting, and I disliked to break it off; and by Allah, were it not that I would be neglecting a position the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had commanded me to guard, I would have let my soul be taken before I broke it off."