It has been narrated above that a number of idolaters had left the battle-field in dismay with Mâlek B. A’wuf and had gone to Ttâyf. Some of those people were of the tribe Hoâzân and some of the Thaqyf, who had, before the battle and subsequent flight, strengthened and provisioned that citadel for a whole year; accordingly they garrisoned and closed it, being again prepared for war. When this information came to the knowledge of his lordship, who was the promulger of the signs of mercy [i.e., verses of the Qurân], he concluded to march in that direction and to conquer the fort. He then entrusted A’li B. Abu Ttâleb— u. w. b.—with the glorious standard, and sent Abu O’baydah Jurrâh, or according to another tradition Khâled B. Alwolyd, with one thousand valiant combatants for a vanguard, and marched after them himself to Ttâyf with the rest of the army. During the journey the castle of Mâlek B. A’wuf, near which the army passed, was burnt by order of the prophet, who arrived at his destination after performing the march, and encamped near the fort, the garrison of which, however, poured forth a shower of arrows, wounding numerous Musalmâns; therefore, the august camp was shifted to a position where the mosque of Ttâyf stands at present. On that occasion Ttofayl B. A’mru, who had gone to demolish the idol-temple of Dhu-l-Kayf, returned, and joined the victorious army with four hundred men of his own people and tribe, who carried with them appliances needed for a siege. His holy and prophetic lordship also ordered his glorious companions to fell the date-trees and to destroy the vineyards of the neighbourhood. Perceiving these operations, the people of the fort began to lament and to implore his lordship to show mercy for the sake of God and the poor cultivators, and to order the soldiers to cease felling the trees; but his lordship replied: ‘I abandon them to the mercy of God.’ During this siege, which lasted eighteen or, according to others, forty days, great battles took place, so that many of the glorious companions were wounded; twelve of them tasted the beverage of martyrdom, and one of the martyrs of Ttâyf was A’bdullah B. Abu Bakr Ssiddyq. While the siege lasted his lordship one day issued orders for a proclamation to be made to the effect that, ‘Everyone coming from the fort to us shall be free,’ in consequence of which nearly twenty slaves came down, attained the felicity of carpet-osculation, and were all manumitted by his lordship, who delivered their necks from the yoke of slavery, allotting each of them to a Musalmân, who had to provide for him. Afterwards, when the people of Ttâyf waited upon the prince of this world, professed the Faith, and surrendered the keys of the fort, they said: ‘O apostle of God, restore to us our slaves.’ His lordship replied: ‘They are freemen of the God of mankind, and will never again be your serfs.’ It is related that during the siege of Ttâyf his holy and prophetic lordship — u. w. b. — called A’li B. Abu Ttâleb and communicated many secrets to him, whereat the people were astonished, and said to each other: ‘The prophet of God has told many wonderful and long secrets to the son of his uncle.’ But when his lordship heard this, he said: ‘I did not tell him mysteries, but God the Most High did’—meaning, ‘I spoke to A’li by the command of God.’
Distich: Parrot-like I was kept before a mirror;
What the eternal master told me to say, I said.
It is related that during the siege of Ttâyf his holy and prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—once had a dream, in which he saw a large pitcher full of milk, or, according to another tradition, of fresh butter, and before he stretched forth his hand to taste it a cock made its appearance, which touched the pitcher with its beak and emptied all its contents. When his lordship narrated this dream to Ssiddyq [i.e., Abu Bakr], who was an excellent interpreter, he replied: ‘O apostle of God, this vision means that thou art not allowed to take the fort this year.’ His lordship believed Ssiddyq, and replied: ‘Thou hast spoken the truth, for I have myself thus explained my dream.’
It is related that Khowlah, the spouse of O’thmân B. Motta’wun, requested the apostle of God to give her the trinkets and ornaments of the daughter of A’ylân and of the daughter of Sohayl when he conquered the fort, because these two women were, by their great property and numerous camels, distinguished above all the other women of Ttâyf. His lordship, however, replied: ‘How can I give thee the ornaments of even one of these two women, since we are not allowed to take the fort?’ She reported these words to the great Fârûq [i.e., O’mar], and he also asked: ‘O apostle of God, is it certain that the fort will not be taken?’ He replied: ‘Yes.’ O’mar accordingly issued marching orders with the consent of his lordship, and the professors of Islâm being displeased with them, asked: ‘How can we return without having taken the fort?’ His lordship rejoined: ‘Then fight!’ The companions therefore attacked the fort, but again returned after receiving many wounds. His lordship then said: ‘To-morrow we shall march away, if it pleaseth Allah the Most High.’ This time, however, the victorious army was greatly pleased, and marched away from the fort the next day.
It is related in some biographies that, while the siege of Ttâyf was being carried on, his holy and prophetic lordship —u. w. b.—appointed A’li Murtadza—u. w. b.—with a number of glorious companions to make excursions into the country, and to destroy every idol they could find. The lord A’li—u. w. b.—obeyed orders and started, but encountered on the road a number of valiant men of the tribe Khusha’m, among whom there was a man so confident of his strength that he came out from among the people desiring to fight a duel, and as none of the professors of Islâm ventured to fight that idolater in single combat, A’li B. Abu Ttaleb—u. w. b.—at last responded to the challenge, despite of the protests of Abu-l-a’ass B. Rabyi’, who was the son-in-law of the apostle of God, and who said: ‘It is not proper that the commander of the force should begin the combat, seeing that there are so many others. The Commander of the Faithful, however, replied: ‘No other man is willing to go, and if I am slain, thou must take the command.’ Thereon A’li the Commander of the Faithful—u. w. b.—met the traitor, and sent him with one stroke of his bright scimitar to the abode of perdition; afterwards he destroyed all the idols of the Bani Hoâzân and of the Bani Thaqyf which were in that region. The apostle was waiting for his return near the gate of the fort of Ttâyf, and as soon as the prince of saints had terminated his business, he joined the august camp, was received by the seal [i.e., the last] of prophets—u. w. b.— with the exclamation of the Takbyr, and was led into privacy, where the communication of mysteries, alluded to above, took place. Ja’ber relates that while the prophet and A’li were closeted together, O’mar entered, and said: ‘O apostle of God, tellest thou secrets to A’li?’ And when his lordship gave the reply already mentioned [above], Fârûq repented of his question, returned, and said to himself: ‘I fear this opposition will end like that of Hodaybiah.’ A man who had been present in the Ghazwah of Ttâyf said: ‘When we were marching away, I rode by the side of the apostle of God, and happened to wear heavy sandals on my feet. The two camels accidentally approached each other so closely that my sandal touched his blessed leg, whereon his lordship struck my foot with his whip, saying: “Go a little further, because my leg is aching.” The next day, however, he sent a man to call me, and I said to myself: “Yesterday my sandal gave him pain, and possibly he will punish me to-day.” But when I obtained the honour of foot-osculation, he said: “Yesterday I struck thy foot with my whip, and to-day I have summoned thee to accept the reparation.” And he gave me fifty Bunhahs.’* Another companion says: ‘When the apostle of God arrived in the locality of Qurn, he rode the she-camel Qasswy, and I was riding by his side. His lordship, desiring to strike the animal with his whip, accidentally struck me, then looked at me, and asked: “Has my whip touched thee?” I said: “Yes, O apostle of God; may my father and mother be a sacrifice for thee;” and when we halted at Joghrânah [supra Joghrân] he gave me one hundred and twenty sheep as a reparation, and, beginning with this capital of the sheep, I became [gradually] a man of property and opulence.’