Among the incidents of the war of the ditch that which happened to Sa’d B. Moa’adh, is described as follows: A’ayshah—may Allah reward her!—said: ‘In those days the enemies had on a certain occasion arrived opposite the apostle of God, and were engaged in fighting. At that time I was with the mother of Sa’d B. Moa’adh in the Hârethah-fort, which is one of the best strongholds of Madinah, when my eye suddenly alighted on Sa’d B. Moa’adh, who was passing by dressed in a short coat of mail, which was insufficient to protect either his arms or legs, he being a man of tall stature and corpulent. I was sorry for the imperfections of this cuirass, but his mother said: “Make haste to meet the apostle of God, for thou hast been so tardy that thou art now very far from his lordship.” I said: “Omm Sa’d, how would it be if thy son had armour sufficient to cover his body?” His mother replied: “God foreordaineth what He liketh.”’ And he was predestined to attain martyrdom by an arrow-wound. Accordingly, when Sa’d had reached the bank of the ditch, Janân B. Alu’rfah shot an arrow at him, saying: ‘Take that! I am the son of Alu’rfah!’ According to another tradition, Sa’d exclaimed: ‘May Allah burn thy face with fire!’ That arrow had, however, struck his eye and broke off. When he saw that the wound was a dangerous one he turned to the Qiblah of prayer, uttering the words: ‘O God, if Thy apostle is again to have a war with the Qoraish, then deliver me from the grasp of death, because I love nothing more than to fight a nation that accuses the apostle of falsehood, and has expelled him from the sanctuary of Mekkah; or else respite me till I behold the Bani Qoryttah in misery, according to my heart’s desire.’ His prayer was responded to, the blood ceased to flow from his wound, and he lived to fight against the Bani Qoryttah, whereon his wound opened again, so that he died, as will be narrated further on.
In the Moa’jum Tturâni it is related that in the war of the ditch there was a young man present who had just married, and had in the middle of the day requested the lord of the pious and model of the righteous to [allow him to] pay a visit to his family. After obtaining permission, this young man put on his armour and departed. When he reached his house he beheld his wife standing among a number of men, and in the exuberance of his jealousy he assaulted her, whereon the poor woman said: ‘Do nothing till thou seest what is in the house.’ He accordingly forbore to slay his wife, and stepped into his house, where he beheld a snake coiled up on his bed, which he forthwith snatched off with his lance and went out. The serpent struggled awhile on the top of the spear and expired, but the young man likewise died, and no one knew whether he had first expired or the reptile. When this event was brought to the notice of his holy and prophetic lordship —u. w. b.—he said: ‘Plead for pardon for your companion.’ Then he added: ‘In Madinah there are a number of serpents who have made profession of the Faith. If you obtain cognizance of one of them do not approach it [to kill it] for three days, but if it shows itself after that time to you, then kill it, because it is a devil.’
Let it not remain hidden to the intelligent that it is not possible to narrate all the events of the war of the ditch in this abridgment, and that therefore the musky reed will briefly record only two miracles, confirmed by two truthful witnesses, to establish the claim of his holy and prophetic lordship [to thaumaturgy]; but glory pertains to Allah, and grace comes from Him.
The first miracle is, according to the biographers of the prophet, recorded in the following tradition, which they possess, of Jâber B. A’bdullah the Anssâri, who said: ‘In those days, when we were engaged in digging the trench, I perceived one day the signs of hunger on the blessed countenance of his lordship. I therefore went to my house, where I had kept a fat kid which might afford a slender repast. This kid I slaughtered and placed the flesh into a pot with the intention of regaling the apostle— u. w. b.—therewith. I also ground one measure of barley into flour and ordered it to be leavened. Then I departed from my house and made haste to wait on his lordship. I informed him that I had prepared some food, and expressed my hope that he would condescend to be my guest. His lordship asked: “How much food is there?” I stated the amount, and his lordship said: “Very well.” He added: “Go and tell thy wife not to take away the pot from the fire, nor the bread out from the oven.”’ This is narrated in the Raudzatu-l-ahbâb, according to which Jâber also said: ‘After that he invited those at the ditch, exclaiming: “Jâber has prepared some food for you. Come!” Accordingly I went home, and said to my wife: “Woe betide thee! The apostle of God is coming with a number of the people of the ditch!” She asked: “Is his lordship aware of the quantity of food we have?” I said: “Yes.” She replied: “God and His apostle know better.” When the apostle of Allah arrived in our house he gave a signal, whereon the people entered in crowds. He approached in his own holy person the pot and the leaven, throwing into each of them some of the saliva of his Kawther-like mouth,* invoking a benediction thereon from the Lord of glory. Then he ordered me to put the bread into the oven, and when it was baked he took it out, and having likewise poured into a dish the soup with the meat, he seated ten men around it, who partook of the repast and were filled. In this manner he satisfied the hunger of nearly one thousand men, and when he left the pot and the oven he ordered us to cover the apertures of both. After returning to them we found the oven again full of bread and the pot of meat, as before, and by order of his lordship we ate our fill, and sent some food also to our neighbours. When, however, the apostle had left the house with the people of the ditch, the food had likewise been consumed.’ Some relate that Jâber had spoken as follows: ‘By order of the prophet we took the bread from the oven and the flesh from the pot, distributing the food among the men till they were all filled and went away; the bread, however, and the meat remained as before.’*
The second miracle was as follows, according to the traditions of Wâqidi and Muhammad E. Esahâq: It is related that the daughter of Bashir B. Sa’d has said: ‘My mother, the daughter of Ruâhah, gave me one measure of dates, telling me to take them to my father and uncle for dinner. While I was going in search of them the apostle of God perceived me, and said: “Come here, my little girl.” When I reached him, he asked: “What hast thou here?” I said: “I have some dates to carry to my father.” The apostle of God stretched forth his hand, and I placed some dates on his blessed palm. He then ordered me to spread out a cloth, into which he wrapped the dates, and ordered a man to exclaim: “Come, all ye people of the ditch.” The man obeyed, whereon all the people came, and ate as much of those dates as they liked. Then they departed; but still dates enough remained to fall over the borders of the cloth.’ Let it not remain hidden and concealed to the intelligent that the wonders and miracles which took place in those times are numerous, and that they are recorded in biographies and chronicles.
The siege is by some stated to have lasted twenty-seven, and according to the Seir Kazrâni twenty-four days. According to a trustworthy book, it appears that the opponents departed from the vicinity of Madinah after a siege of twenty-nine days. It is said that in the Ghazwah of the Ditch six men of the Anssâr attained the glory of martyrdom, and in some biographies their names are recorded as follows: Sa’d B. Moa’adh, and Anus B. Awus, and A’bdullah B. Sohal, and Ttofayl B. An-nu’mân, and Ka’b Zayd.* Of the idolaters three individuals departed to the infernal regions, namely: A’mru B. A’bdud, and Naofel B. A’bdullah Makhzûmy, and O’thmân B. Moniah of the Bani A’bdu-d-dâr, who was struck by an arrow in this Ghazwah, and on his arrival in Mekkah he surrendered his life to the possessor of hell on account of that wound.