In the month of Sha'ban of the fourth year of the Hijrah...

In the month of Sha'ban of the fourth year of the Hijrah, the Prophet and his friends came to the land of Badr as they had agreed the year before. Abu Sufyan and the people of Mecca, too, left their city but after going some distance, they changed their minds and returned, but before doing so Abu Sufyan said to his supporters: "O men of Quraysh! This war would have been possible for you in the years of greenness and freshness of the desert. But nothing can be done.

This year we are faced with a drought. So I will go back and you can follow my example."46 Hassan's poetical works 91 printed Europe, and Sharh Diwan Hassan of al-Barquqi 157-158. Hassan's poetical works 91, and Description of Hassan's poetical works 158-159, and Description of Nahj al-balaghah 3/387 with slight changes. Sirah of Ibn Hisham 3/581-667…