Wishing to avenge his uncle Tahaimah, slain at Badr by Hamzah, Zubayr ibn Mutam promised to free his Abyssininan slave, Al-Uhayha, if he succeeded in killing Hamzah.
Thus spoke Al-Uhayha: "During the battle, I had no eyes but for Hamzah. When I caught sight of him, he was like a rutting grey camel, throwing down all he met with such terrible blows that none of them rose again. Not daring to face him, I dogged his footsteps, skulking behind bushes or rocks. At last, he neared the spot where I was hidden. I am skilled at throwing the Abyssinian javelin and rarely miss my mark. Just as Hamzah cut Siba down with a blow on the head, I balanced my spear and sent it hissing at him. It stuck in his groin, coming out between his thighs. Terrible in his wrath, Hamzah turned to attack me, but his strength failing him, he fell down in a huddled heap and died on the spot. I then came out of my place of concealment, tore my spear from his dead body and left the battlefield. I only struck at Hamzah to gain my freedom."
The standard-bearer of the Mohadjirun, Musab ibn Amir, was slain at the Prophet's side. His murderer, Qaumiah-al-Lissi, thinking that he had killed Mohammad himself, returned to his comrades. 'I've slain Mohammad!' he bawled, puffed up with pride.
Ali seized the standard that had slipped from Musab's grasp, and accepted the challenge of Abu Sad ibn Abi Talhah, the idolaters' standard-bearer, who uttered these jeering words:
'O companions of Mohammad! ye maintain that our swords send you to Paradise whilst yours despatch us to hell! By Lat and Uzza! ye lie in your teeth, for ye take good care not to rush on our blades!'
Ali did not allow him to say anything else. No sooner did the two men meet, than the mocking idol-worshipper was sent rolling in agony to earth. Ali's arm was lifted to finish him off when suddenly the young man averted his head and turned away: Abu Sad, in falling, had exposed his nakedness to his conqueror.
A furious fight took place round the flag of the Quraish, and, many other Infidels passed from life to death. Two defenders of this banner, Mishfah and his brother, Al Zulas, both pierced through and through by arrows, dragged themselves along to their mother, Sulafa, one of Hind's companions. The two lads, vomiting streams of blood, rested their heads in the lap of the woman who had brought them into the world. 'O my poor boys!' she cried, her voice choked with sobs, 'who dealt you these terrible blows?'—'When we fell,' her sons replied, 'we heard a voice saying: "Take these darts from me. I am Asim, son of Allah."' And Sulafa swore that Asim's skull should be fashioned by her into a cup from which she would drink vinous liquors.
The balance of victory was clearly in favour of the Believers. The Quraish flag was laid out on the ground, close to a heap of dead bodies, and no idolater dared to lift the banner. The rout of Allah's foes had begun. The fury of Hind, her serving-girls, and her female friends was changed to terror. They lifted their draperies, showing their legs, in order to flee more easily in wild haste. The archers, posted near the ravine on the slopes of the Uhud, could see all this better than anyone else, and they stamped with hot impatience, fearing that they would not be able to take a hand in plundering the vanquished.
In vain their chieftain, Ibn Jubayr, tried to retrain them by bidding them remember the Prophet's strict orders, and their duty which was to cover the army's flank by guarding the mountain pass. 'The fight is finished,' they answered in ill-humour. 'Victory is ours! We mean to have our share of the booty, or deserve the crown of martyrdom.' Like a living torrent, they rushed down the declivity of the ravine, disobeying Allah and His Messenger.
"Already had Allah made good to you His promise, when by His permission ye destroyed your foes, until your courage failed you, and ye disputed together about the order, and disobeyed, after that the Prophet had brought you within view of that for which ye longed." (The Qur'an, iii, 145.)