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As soon as Umm Ammarah
fell, the infidel saw the Prophet standing by himself and rushed
at him. He raised his sword and struck a savage blow at the Prophet's
head. The sword cut a few links in the Prophet's chain helmet but
was unable to penetrate it. Deflected by the helmet, the sword continued
in its thrust and landed on the Prophet's right shoulder. The violence
of the blow was such, and the power of muscle behind it so great,
that the Holy Prophet fell into a shallow ditch just behind him.
From here he was later lifted up by Ali and Talha.
Seeing the Prophet fall, Ibn Qamiah turned
and rushed back to the Quraish, shouting at the top of his voice:
"I have killed Muhammad! I have killed Muhammad!"
1 This shout carried across the battlefield
and was heard by Quraish and Muslim alike. It broke the spirit of
the Muslims, and most of them turned and fled towards Mount Uhud.
A few Muslims, however, decided that if the Messenger of Allah was
dead there was no point in their living on. They rushed at the Quraish
cavalry-determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible, but
were cut down in no time by Khalid and Ikrimah. Here Khalid killed
his third man-Rafa'a bi Waqsh.
As the main body of the Muslims fled to the hills, most
of the Quraish turned to loot the dead, and the Muslims defending the
Holy Prophet now found that none of the Quraish remained near them. The
temptation of loot proved as strong for the Quraish as it had proved a
little while before for the Muslims. Finding his way clear, the Prophet,
surrounded by the survivors of his group, withdrew towards the defile
in the valley. In this withdrawal a few of the Quraish followed the Prophet
but were beaten off and one or two of them were killed by the Companions.
Khalid saw the movement of the Prophet's group towards the mountain pass,
but made no attempt to intercept it, for he was busy pursuing the main
body of the Muslim infantry. Thus the Prophet had no difficulty in reaching
the defile, and the group climbed the steep slope of the spur, where it
formed a rocky bluff about 400 feet high, on the east edge of the defile.
Here the Prophet stopped, in a cleft in the rock, to survey the tragic
panorama which stretched before him. (For this last phase see Map
2.)
Of the group of 30 who had fought with the
Prophet in the preceding few actions, only 14 remained and most
of these were wounded. Sixteen of them had fallen-in defence of
the Prophet and in the way of Allah.
Thus the Muslims abandoned the field of
battle. Some fled in panic far away; some returned to Madinah; some
did not rejoin the Prophet till two days later. But those who intended
to seek refuge in the hills moved in small groups, fought their
way through the Quraish cavalry and reached the foot of Mount Uhud.
Here they dispersed, some taking shelter in the foothills, some
climbing up to the ridge, others hiding in the re-entrants. None
of them knew what he would do next. The Quraish were in complete
command of the battlefield.
On arrival at the defile the Prophet had
some time to see to his wounds. Here his daughter, Fatimah, joined
him. Ali brought water in his shield from a nearby pool, and Fatimah
cried softly as she washed the blood from her father's face and
dressed his wounds. In the shelter of this difficult pass, where
the Quraish could not attack in strength, the Prophet rested his
weary body.
Of the Muslims who had taken shelter on
Mount, Uhud, some were moving about aimlessly, not knowing where
to go or what to do. One of them, a man named Kab bin Malik, wandering
towards the defile, saw the Prophet and recognised him. This man
had a powerful voice. He climbed onto a large rock, and facing the
direction where he knew most of the Muslims had taken shelter, he
shouted, "Rejoice, O Muslims! The Messenger of Allah is
here!"2 As he shouted, he pointed
with his hand towards the Prophet. As a result of this call, which
was not heard by the Quraish, many groups of Muslims moved over
the hills and joined the Prophet. These included Umar, whose delight
at seeing the Prophet again was boundless.
Meanwhile Abu Sufyan was looking for the
body of the Prophet. He wandered over the battlefield and looked
at each dead face, hoping that he would see the face of his enemy.
Every now and then he would ask his men, "Where is Muhammad?"
While he was so wandering, he came across Khalid and asked him
the question. Khalid told him that he had seen Muhammad, surrounded
by his Companions, moving towards the defile. Khalid pointed out
the rocky bluff to Abu Sufyan, and the latter asked him to take
his horsemen to attack the position.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 78.
2. Tabari:
Vol. 2, p. 200; Waqidi: Maghazi, p. 185.
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