The Quraish forces, therefore, were already in these parts? This seemed most unlikely, for the scouts did not know the strength of the enemy in camels and horses, and considered the prisoners' avowal to be a falsehood. So they fell to brutally beating the young idolaters. 'Think not that ye can hoodwink us with your lies,' said Ali and Zubayr. 'We know perfectly well that ye belong to the caravan of Abu Sufyan.'
Again they rained blows on the boys. To escape such unjust chastisement, and also to keep the Mussulmans in this state of error so profitable to Abu Jahal's plans, because it prevented Mohammad's men from suspecting how close their enemies were to them, the prisoners began to supplicate their tormentors. 'Mercy, my lords! Verily nothing escapeth your sharp sight! Yea, we confess it—we belong to Abu Sufyan's caravan.'
Proud of their perspicacity and content with having obtained this avowal, Ali and Zubayr set them free. Meanwhile the Prophet had finished praying, and as he knew how to read men's minds, he upbraided his disciples. 'What is all this? When your prisoners tell you the truth, ye beat them, and now they lie and ye set them free?' He continued the examination. 'Where are the Quraish?'—'On the other side of that high hill of sand.'—'How many are they?'—'We know not.'—'How many camels do they slaughter daily?'—'Nine or ten.'—'Oho? they number from nine hundred to a thousand,' said Mohammad to himself. 'Who is at their head?' The prisoners quoted the names of the most noted men of the city, and the Prophet, shaking his head sadly, turned to his companions, saying: 'Of a truth, Makkah sends against us the best part of its liver!' (Meaning its best beloved children.)
Nevertheless, the die was cast. The Mussulmans, who had set out to fall on a caravan protected by a puny escort, found themselves facing a force at least three times greater than theirs, and assisted by formidable cavalry. At all costs, the well of Badr must be reached before the enemy. The Believers began their march again and attained the borders of the Wadi Superior which they found quite dry. Their supply of water was exhausted, and next day they suffered terribly from thirst. Satan tried to exploit these pangs by filling their brains with most depressing thoughts. 'See where you are led by the man who pretendeth to be the messenger of the Almighty! Ye are surrounded by countless enemies, only waiting till your strength be broken by the agonies of thirst. They will then attack you and ye will be defenceless and an easy quarry.'
Every brain was bewildered. Luckily, their training during the fast of Ramadhan had accustomed the Believers to endure the torments of thirst and prevented them from breaking down. At the very moment when the heat, concentrated in the lofty heights of the Wadi, was on the point of making their position untenable, great clouds crowned the high peaks. The sombre veils darkening the sun were torn aside, and Allah let loose beneficial showers to drench His faithful servants. The Wadi, only just before filled with stones and sand, was transformed into a raging torrent.
The Believers were able to quench their thirst, and they dug holes all along the Wadi that was at once filled by the swelling of the waters. They washed their clothing, heavy with sweat, and performed their ablutions. Last, but not least, the shifting sands that rendered their advance so difficult, grew solid by the damp, and made the ground firm beneath their feet. "He sent down upon you water from Heaven that He might thereby cleanse you, and cause the pollution of Satan to pass from you, and that He might gird up your hearts, and stablish your feet by it." (The Qur'an, viii, 11.)
For the idolaters, the storm was most disastrous. It overtook them in soil known as "Sabkha," signifying low-lying clay mixed with salt, churned by wet into greasy, sticky mud. Their camels slipped up and fell, their long legs comically gliding backwards, powerless to rise without the help of their drivers. Horses floundered, their hoofs sinking in the mire and, unable to find foothold, dropped back on their riders. The confusion and tumult cannot be described, and the efforts of the Unbelievers, to extricate themselves, hampered their advance and exhausted them by fatigue.
The Believers, being cleansed, purified and refreshed, passed the night in invigorating sleep. They did not even take the trouble to post sentinels, relying blindly on the words of the Prophet who assured them that the angels would guard the camp. He alone remained wakeful, absorbed in prayer. "Recollect when sleep, a sign of security from him, fell upon you." (The Qur'an, viii, 11.)
The hour arrived when the fate of Islam was to be decided. It was on a Friday, the seventeenth day of the month of Ramadhan.