"Al Fitr," the Prayer on the Breaking of the Ramadhan Fast.

'O Banu Quraizah!' said he, 'ye know how I feel towards you all?'—'Verily, and we have entire confidence in thee.'—'Being so, listen to me. The Quraish and the Ghatafans, your allies, are not in the same position as you. This part of the country is yours: here is your property; here dwell your families. Ye cannot abandon your land for another. They, on the contrary, are only here to fight Mohammad and his companions; their belongings and their families are beyond their enemies' reach. If the fortune of war turneth against them, they will return in tranquility to their own country and leave you in yours, to do the best you can with this man. Will ye be able to resist him, once ye face him alone? Fight therefore no more with these "qawms" without claiming hostages chosen from their noblemen, so as to make sure that you will never be left in the lurch before ye have brought Mohammad to his knees.'—'Of a truth, thy advice is good!' they declared unanimously. Nai then went to the Quraish idol-worshippers and talked to them. 'Ye know how I feel towards you all.'—'Aye.'—'I have been able to ascertain something that I consider is only right that you should be told at once. But swear to keep it secret.'—'We swear!'—'This is it,' he went on. 'Know that the Jews regret having annulled their compact with Mohammad and consequently have sent him this message: "Most certainly do we regret what we did, but if thou dost consent to pardon us, we will give up to thee several hostages chosen amongst the most noble of the Quraish or the Ghatafans we have seized; and we will remain thy faithful allies until thine enemies are exterminated." Mohammad having accepted, the Jews therefore will come and claim hostages, pretexting that they are certain of never being thrown over whilst holding these sureties. Take care never to give them a single hostage!'

He said the same thing to the Ghatafans, his fellow-countrymen, and was just as successful with them. The Quraish and the Ghatafans swore they would be on their guard.

One night, on the eve of a Saturday in the month of Shawwal, Abu Sufyan and the chieftains of the Ghatafans sent Ikrimah to the Banu Quraizah, charging him to say to them: 'We can no longer sojourn in these parts, so unsuitable to our horses and camels. Be ready to fight Mohammad to-morrow. We must get done with him!' They made answer: 'To-morrow is a Saturday, the Sabbath day, which means obligatory repose in our religion. But, at any rate, we cannot fight by your side unless ye grant us hostages chosen from the most noble among you, as a guarantee that ye will not abandon us before having crushed our common enemy.' When Ikrimah repeated these words, the Quraish and the Ghatafans cried out: 'By all our gods, what Naim told us concerning the Banu Quraizah was perfect truth!' The Confederates immediately sent another message, declaring plainly: 'By our gods, we'll not give you a single hostage!'

It was now the turn of the Banu Quraizah to find out how correct was the information vouchsafed by Naim and they came to a rupture with the Confederates. This piece of news, reported by Naim, made the Prophet rejoice exceedingly; but being desirous of knowing the effect produced by this rupture in the ranks of the Quraish and the Ghatafans, he said to Huzaifah: 'Make thy way, this very night, into the enemy's camp and find out what they may be planning. Come back and tell me without letting anyone know.'

Thanks to the pitchy darkness of that wintry night, Huzaifah glided among the enemies' tents. A high, icy wind had put out all the fires and blown down all the cooking-pots. The whistling gusts deafened all ears; and the shivering idolaters huddled together, wrapped up in the folds of their mantles. 'Keep an eye on your companions!' was the watchword shouted by Abu Sufyan, meaning: 'Beware of spies!' Huzaifah, with great presence of mind, seized the hand of an Infidel standing close to him and demanded in threatening accents: 'Who art thou?'—'Such an one; son of such an one.' Huzaifah let him go, and the Infidel, forced to exonerate himself, never thought of putting questions as well.

The relinquishment of the Banu Quraizah; the difficulties with regard to feeding camels and horses; and, above all, the disorder arising from that calamitous night, caused Abu Sufyan to be discouraged. After a short discussion between him and the other Quraish chieftains, in the hearing of invisible Huzaifah, the return of the besiegers to their dwellings was decided.