The warriors, too, were ready. A compact crowd surrounded the dwelling of the Prophet who soon appeared, girt with his coat of mail, helmet on head, sword by his side, shield on his shoulders, and spear in hand....
Whilst waiting, the Faithful had had time to reflect. They began to regret their hasty decision, and their chiefs, ashamed at having upheld different ideas to those of Allah's Chosen One, said to him: 'We ought to have bowed down to thy judgment. We feel inclined to remain where we are. Thou canst put aside thine armour.'—'When a Prophet hath buckled on his breastplate,' replied Mohammad, 'he forfeits the right to take it off until the fight is finished.'
The army of the Believers numbered a thousand foot-soldiers, but possessed only two horses. The standard of the Mohadjirun was confided to Musab ibn Amir; that of the Aus to Uqaid; the banner of the Khazraj being borne by Habbab. Just before sunset, the column went forward, taking a northerly direction.
Scarcely had they passed the ramparts, when they were rejoined by a troop of six hundred men, all well-armed. They were Jews; allies of Abdullah, the "Hypocrite," and it was thanks to his counsel that they offered their assistance to the Prophet. 'Allah's aid sufficeth,' he answered, as he sent them away, for knowing their secret sympathies, he feared they might betray him.
Abdullah, belittled by the rejection of his allies, lost no time in trying to spread anxiety in the soldiers' ranks by perfidious remarks such as these: 'Mohammad listens to the chatter of good-for-nothing folks, and spurns the good advice I give him. Why go to face certain death?' In this way, he succeeded in decoying a third of the little army, thus reduced to about seven hundred men and, at the head of the deserters, he turned back on the road to Al-Madinah, followed by the hooting of the true Believers.
The next morning, on a Saturday, the eleventh day of the month of Shawwal, before daybreak, the Prophet ordered the tents to be folded. He asked for a guide clever enough to lead his troops, unseen by the enemy, to the Jabl-ul-Uhud, a mountain rising isolated in the plain. Abu Haythama came forward and led them through the orchards and palm-tree plantations of the Banu Harith.
The owner of one of these gardens, a "Hypocrite," named Mirba, his eyes eaten away by ophthalmia, rose up as he heard Mohammad's footsteps at the head of his troops, and shouted to him: 'If even it were true that thou art the Prophet of Allah, I would not authorise thee to go through my garden!' Picking up a clod, he added: 'By Allah! if I did not fear to strike someone else, I would hurl this earth in thy face.' The Believers wished to punish the insolence of the "Hypocrite" by taking his life, but Mohammad restrained them, saying: 'Kill him not, for he is blind. His heart is as blind as his eyes.'
Along this by-path, and concealed behind the thick foliage of the orchards, the Mussulmans reached the mountain of Uhud before sunrise, without having been caught sight of by their foes.
The Prophet arranged his forces for the fight. They had the mountain behind them; their left wing being covered by the pass of Ainin, so that there was no fear of being turned. To be more sure, he posted Ibn Jubayr above this defile, with fifty of his most skilful archers, to whom Mohammad gave the following strict order: 'If the idolaters' cavalry attempt to outflank us, by slipping through the ravine, repulse them with showers of arrows. But whether the enemy should be above or below us, remain steadfast at your post, and whatever befalls, take care not to go forward!'
At this juncture, a loud outcry was heard resounding in the direction of the plain. The Makkans had just perceived the Believers who, with the oblique rays of the sun playing on their spears, stood out in glowing relief on the rocky slopes of the Jabal-ul-Uhud. Exactly as the Prophet had foreseen, the enemy's army, its right wing directed by Khalid ibn Walid, the terrible, and its left wing commanded by Ikrimah, son of Abu Jahal, spread itself out in a semi-circle, so as to surround and turn the Mussulmans.