When his eyes fell on the ruins...

When his eyes fell on the ruins, he hid his face with a cloth and rode his camel faster to leave the place behind as soon as possible. The next day the Muslims ran short of water. They came to the Prophet (a.s) and told him that if they were allowed to take water on the way, this situation of scarcity would not have arisen. The Prophet (a.s) lifted his hands for prayer and before his prayer was over, dark clouds appeared on the horizon and copious rain started.

The men drank it and stored in their containers. The journey through the dry deserts was very tiring. Fifteen to twenty persons had to share one camel or horse. They rode on these animals in turns. They had to trudge through the desert more on foot than astride any animal. For eating, they got no more than dry bread and water was very scarce. Those who were unable to bear the hardship, they started returning back.

Whenever the Prophet (a.s) was informed of the deserters, he used to say,” If they have virtue in them, they will come back to join us. If not, it will be lesser burden on our heads!” Abū-Dharr fell behind because his camel was very emaciated and was unable to keep pace with others. People told the Prophet (a.s) that even Abū-Dharr had deserted. About him, too the Prophet (a.s) said that if he had virtue in him, he would join back the caravan.

When Abū-Dharr saw that the camel was unable to go any further, he took away his baggage from its back and started moving forward on foot. Some people of the army saw him coming at a distance. They started speculating who the person could be who was walking all alone. The Prophet (a.s) said it must be Abū-Dharr. When the men strained their eyes a little, they confirmed it was he!

The Prophet (a.s) said: “May Allah have mercy on Abū-Dharr that he is coming alone, he will die in loneliness and will be raised on the Day of Judgment alone.”[1] When the army reached Tabūk, they struck camp there. For long distances, there was not any sign of the Roman troops. The Prophet (a.s) camped there for twenty days, but from no direction, there was any sign of approaching [1] Sahīh al-Bukhārī, Vol 3, Page 54 [2] Tārīkh al-Tabarī, Vol 2, Page 271 armies.

The information given by the Syrian traders was wrong. In this time, the Prophet (a.s) sent delegations to the chiefs of the tribes in the area inviting them to embrace Islam or start paying the jizyah. The chief of Ayla, Yawhanna ibn Rawbah came to the Prophet (a.s) and struck a truce at a jizyah of 300 Dinar.