Some have alleged that Tabuk is the name of a place between Hajar and the first limits of Syria; others, however, insist that it is the name of a fort; whilst others maintain that it is the name of a fountain, and that the army of Islâm having terminated its march in that locality, the campaign became known by the name of the Ghazwah of Tabuk. The reason for undertaking this expedition was because a caravan had arrived in Madinah from Syria, bringing from that country oil and flour, as also the news that the Governor of Greece and ruler of that country had collected an army so numerous that the plains and mountains could scarcely hold it; that many Christians and Arabs had joined the [Byzantine] Greeks, and that they were all marching to Madinah.
In the Raudzatu-l-âhbâb it is recorded that biographers— Allah have mercy on them!—give the following reason for the Ghazwah of Tabuk: At that time a caravan had arrived from Syria with oil and white flour, bringing also the information that the Emperor of Greece, having collected a large army, which was joined by the Arabs of Najd, Hazân, Ghasân, and other tribes, was marching to Madinah, and had already reached Bulqâr. According to another tradition, the Christian Arabs had written to [the emperor] Heraclius to the following effect: ‘The country of the man who pretends to be a prophet has been overtaken by famine and dearth, the possessions of his adherents are destroyed, and his country might be easily taken.’ Accordingly he [i.e., Heraclius] appointed one of the Greek chiefs, named Qobâd, with an army of forty thousand men to conquer Madinah. There is a tradition, that when this information was communicated to the prophet—u. w. b.—a Jew said: ‘O father of Qâsim, if thou art really a prophet, thou must go to Syria, because it is the country of the resurrection and of the prophets.’ At any rate, however, the lord of apostleship [whether he intended to act according to this advice or not] ordered his companions to get ready for a march against the Greeks, and sent circulars round to the tribes, who had attained the honour of professing Islâm, to be ready. His lordship, however, was always in the habit of keeping the destination of the army secret, lest the enemy might obtain information; but he made an exception in the Ghazwah of Tabuk, which he proclaimed, because the distance was great, the heat intense, the foes numerous, and provisions scarce, so that, considering all these circumstances, the people might come fully prepared. For this reason the army was called ‘the host of trouble,’* and historians, biographers, commentators, etc., narrate that the distress was so great that ten men had but one camel, which they rode by turns; the majority of the soldiers had no other provisions except old broken dates, barley full of weevils, and rancid grease. On that march water was so scarce that, despite the paucity of quadrupeds, the people were obliged to slaughter camels to moisten their lips with the water they obtained from them. The men had even been unwilling to start from Madinah, because the season of the maturity of their dates was just approaching, and they desired to repose in the shade and to enjoy their fruits. Here ends the extract from the Raudzatu-l-âhbâb, which, according to the opinion of the author of these pages, contains numerous misstatements, the most flagrant whereof is that, according to which his holy and prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—disregarded the heat, the calamity of the famine, the scarcity of water, the dearth of provisions, and the unwillingness of his companions, and had undertaken this expedition solely on account of what the Jews told him, and had again returned from Tabuk without entering Syria. Therefore intelligent and learned persons will do well to omit that tradition from their statements and not to copy it. Greeting to him who follows [Divine] guidance.
In short, when the august decision to march on an expedition to Syria had become a fixed determination with the lord of existences—u. w. b.—he sent Borydah B. Alkadzyb to the Bani Salym to collect troops; he despatched Abu Dhar Ghuffâry to the Bani Ghuffâr, and in the same manner he caused others of his companions to depart to their tribes for the same purpose. After that he appointed some companions to provide for the destitute warriors of the glorious army, and they assisted them according to their power. Abu Bakr, however, excelled all the other benefactors of the nation by spending his whole property for the sake of the religion of God; and O’mar B. Alkhattâb considered himself happy to surrender one moiety of everything he possessed. It is related that when the apostle of God ascended the pulpit and invited the rich to aid in fitting out the Arab army and relieving the poor, he referred them to the rewards of the next world. O’thman B. O’ffân, who was distinguished by his opulence among the glorious companions, arose and agreed to present one hundred camels, laden with provisions, to the destitute portion of the army. When his holy and prophetic lordship repeated his exhortation, O’thmân added one hundred camels more, which number he augmented at the third invitation to three hundred. Some biographers have narrated that the same benefactor added one thousand mithqâls of pure gold to the camels; others, however, assert that he engaged himself to provide for one third of the army, the whole of which amounted to thirty thousand men. Then his lordship the best of men said: ‘Hereafter O’thmân will never feel the want of property for what it has now effected.’ In some books we read that when O’thmân brought the thousand mithqâls of gold into the joyous assembly of the apostle of God, his lordship said: ‘O God, be pleased with O’thmân B. O’ffân, for I am pleased with him.’
There is a tradition that A’bdu-r-rahman B. A’wuf had brought a sum of four thousand dirhems to the apostle of God, and said: ‘I possessed eight thousand dirhems, and I have brought one half of that sum, wishing to gain the approbation of Allah, but the other moiety I have left for [the use of] my family and children.’ His lordship replied, with his wonderfully eloquent tongue: ‘May the Most High bless thee for what thou hast given, and for what thou hast retained.’ This wish of the apostle—u. w. b.—was responded to, and the wealth of that man became so great, that when he departed from the perishable to the imperishable world, each of the four wives whom he left after his death received eighty thousand mithqâls of gold for her share when the time of mourning had elapsed. All the noble Anssâr and Mohâjer also disbursed large sums of money, and many ladies parted with their trinkets and ornaments to fit out the army. When all the troops were in readiness, his holy and prophetic lordship assembled and reviewed them outside of Madinah, in the place called Thânyâtu-l-wodâa’, on which occasion he appointed Abu Bakr to be Commander-in-chief and Emâm of the army, which, however, a number of hypocrites, and also three Musalmâns, refused to join.
It is related that A’bdullah B. Abu Salûl, the hypocrite, came out from Madinah with his confederates and encamped at Dhabûb, but again returned with a number of hypocrites and Jews as soon as his holy and prophetic lordship had marched away from Thânyâtu-l-wodâa’, and said: ‘Muhammad has gone to fight the Greeks, and thinks it will be an easy matter; but I swear by God that I am of opinion that his companions will be scattered about the world as prisoners, dragging their yokes and fetters.’ When the retreat of A’bdullah had been brought to the august notice of his holy and prophetic lordship, he said: ‘Had he been knowing, he would not have stayed away from us.’ Another company of hypocrites associated with the army in that campaign for the sake of plunder; but with reference to their arrival and return unfavourable reports became current, which shall be narrated if it pleaseth God the Most High. It is related that when the apostle of Allah—u. w. b.—marched from Madinah he left A’li B. Abu Ttâleb there to watch over the mothers of the Musalmâns; but as the hypocrites of that city had said, ‘Muhammad has not taken A’li with him, because he is on bad terms with him,’ the Commander of the Faithful went after his lordship as soon as he had heard the gossip of the hypocrites and heretics, and obtained the felicity of an interview in the place called Jarf, where he explained what had taken place, and wished to participate in that campaign, but his lordship replied: ‘O A’li, art thou willing to stand in the same relation to me as Harûn [Aaron] stood to Mûsa [Moses], only that there will be no other prophet after me?’
It is certain that in Thânyâtu-l-wodâa’ the lord of apostleship—u. w. b.—distributed the standards, and conferred the great banner on Abu Bakr Ssiddyq, another on Zobayr B. Ala’wwâm, and another on Awus. The flags of the Khazraj he bestowed on Asad B. Alkhattyr and on Abu Dujâjah the Anssâry. When the army was reviewed in that locality it was found to amount to thirty thousand men, as mentioned above. Some allege that it consisted of eighty, and a few assert that it numbered one hundred thousand combatants, ten thousand of whom were mounted on horses, and that they had twelve thousand camels with them. In this expedition Khâled B. Alwolyd commanded the vanguard, Abu Jaud Ttolhah B. A’bdullah the right, and A’bdu-r-rahman B. A’wuf the left wing. After the army had started from Thânyâtu-l-wodâa’, a number of soldiers deserted in every halting-place, so that the friends and companions used to say, ‘Such-and-such a man has returned;’ but that prince replied: ‘Do not mind him. If there be any good in him, the Most High will probably cause him to join you again; but if not, Allah has shown you a favour by delivering you of his company.’
When the army had marched the required distance it arrived at Tabuk, where it halted two months by order of his holy and prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—resting from the toil and fatigue of the evening and morning [marches]. Meanwhile it became evident that the rumours current in Madinah about the intention of the Greeks to attack the professors of Islâm had no foundation whatever; nor could the least sign of the Qayssar or of the Greek army be perceived. Accordingly his lordship the refuge of prophecy— u. w. b.—consulted the chief Anssâr and Mohâjer about invading Syria and attacking the inhabitants thereof; and among the companions O’mar B. Alkhattâb rose, saying: ‘O apostle of God, if thou orderest us to proceed in that direction we shall obey, because we are all in attendance on thy heaven-aspiring stirrup.’ His lordship replied: ‘If I had received [Divine] orders I would not have consulted you.’ O’mar continued: ‘O apostle of Allah, the Emperor of Greece has great armies, numerous as locusts, provided with all the appliances of war, and they are assembled in the shadow of his sovereign power. There is not a single Musalmân among them; thou hast this year arrived near them; the rumour of thy power and dignity must have spread in that country, so that fear and trepidation have overpowered the Greeks. Nevertheless, if thou returnest this time and undertakest the war next year, it will be more suitable.’ This opinion of Farûq the greater being in conformity with that of the prophet, his holy and prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—concluded to march back to Madinah. It is related that when Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, heard that the apostle of God had arrived in Syria and was encamped in Tabuk, he appointed a man of the Bani Ghusân to pay a visit to the camp of the Musalmâns and to bring information about the qualities and characteristics of the lord of prophecy—u. w. b.—such as the redness of his eyes, the seal of prophecy, the giving and receiving of alms, and the like. The man obeyed, went to Tabuk, and returned to Heraclius after having made full inquiries, and described to the Qayssar all the properties and circumstances of the apostle of God. Heraclius thereon assembled the nobles and magnates of Greece, and ordered them to abandon Christianity and to embrace the sublime religion; but the Greeks were so amazed at the words of the Qayssar that they feared his sovereignty was drawing to an end; therefore he no longer pressed his views upon them, but secretly made his profession of the Faith, and was blessed with felicity in both worlds.