In 622 C.E., the first year of the Hegira the Holy Prophet sent an expedition against the Quraish under Ubayda bin al-Harith. The Muslim force consisted of eighty persons including Abu Bakr. The Muslim force encountered the Quraish led by Ikrama bin Abu Jahl at some distance from Madina on the way to Makkah. Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas from the Muslim ranks fired an arrow shot against the Quraish. It was the first arrow shot in the cause of Islam. The Quraish did not choose to fight. They increased their speed, and escaped to Makkah.
Verses composed by Abu Bakr.
The following verses composed by Abu Bakr on the occasion of the raid are on record: “Could you not sleep because of the specter of Salma in sandy valleys, And the important event that happened in the tribe? You see that neither admonition nor a prophet’s call Can save some of Lu’ayy from unbelief; A truthful prophet came to them, And they gave him the lie, And said ‘You shall not live among us.’ When we called them to the truth they turned their backs, They howled like bitches driven back panting to their lairs; With how many of them have we ties of kinship, Yet to abandon piety did not weigh upon them; If they turn back from their unbelief and disobedience (For the good and lawful is not like the abominable); If they follow their idolatry and error God’s punishment on them will not tarry. We are men of Ghalib’s highest stock From which nobility comes through many branches; I swear by the Lord of camels urged on at even by singing, Their feet protected by old leather thongs, Like the red-backed deer that haunt Makkah Going down to the well’s slimy cistern; I swear and I am no perjurer, If they do not quickly repent of their error, A valiant band will descend on them, Which will leave women husbandless, It will leave dead men, with vultures wheeling round. It will not spare the infidels as Ibn Harith did. Give the Banu Sahm with you a message And every infidel who is trying to do evil; If you assail my honor in your evil opinion I will not assail yours.”
