Lady Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: On the occasion of the Battle of the Trench, I went out following behind the people. I heard the sound of footsteps behind me on the ground. I turned and saw that it was Sayyiduna Sa’d bin Mu’adh (may Allah be pleased with him). With him was his nephew, Harith bin Aws, who was carrying his shield. I sat down on the ground. Sayyiduna Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) passed by, and he was wearing a coat of mail whose edges were protruding outward. I was concerned about the protruding edges of Sayyiduna Sa’d’s (may Allah be pleased with him) armor. He was a tall, well-built man. Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: When he passed by, he was reciting this rajaz (poetic chant):“Wait a little while, then you will reach death, and what a good death it is when a man’s time is complete.”

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: I got up and entered a garden where some Muslims were present, among them Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: May you be ruined! Why have you come? By Allah, you have shown great boldness. What made you feel safe from the possibility that some calamity or trial could befall you? Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: He kept reproaching me until I wished that the earth would split open and I would enter it. Among those people was a man who had covered his face with a cloth. He removed the cloth from his face, and it was Sayyiduna Talha bin Ubaidullah (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: O Umar! May you be ruined! Today you have gone to extremes. Where can one go besides Allah Almighty?

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: A man named Arqah, who was from the polytheists, shot an arrow at Sayyiduna Sa’d (bin Mu’adh, may Allah be pleased with him) and said: Take this! I am Ibn Arqah. The arrow struck his specific vein and cut it. Sayyiduna Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Allah, do not let me die until You cool my eyes regarding Banu Qurayza. Those people and their allies had been his confederates in the time of ignorance. The wound of Sayyiduna Sa’d bin Mu’adh (may Allah be pleased with him) healed, then Allah Almighty sent a wind against the polytheists. Allah Almighty sufficed the believers regarding the place of battle, and Allah is Powerful and Dominant. Abu Sufyan went to Tihamah and met his companions in Uyainah and Najd. Banu Qurayza returned and fortified themselves in their area. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) returned to Madinah and ordered a tent made of leather to be set up for Sayyiduna Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) in the mosque. He (the Prophet) removed his weapons.

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: Then Gabriel came to him and said: Have you removed your weapons? By Allah, the angels have not yet removed their weapons. Go to Banu Qurayza and fight them. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the departure, put on his battle attire, left his house, and passed by Banu Ghanm, who were neighbors of the mosque. He asked: Who just passed by you? They replied: Dihyah Kalbi passed by us (i.e., Gabriel came in the form of Dihyah Kalbi). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went to Banu Qurayza and besieged them for 25 days. When the siege became severe and the trial upon them became hard, it was said to them: Accept the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as arbitrator. They consulted Abu Lubabah, who gestured to them that they would be slaughtered. So they said: We accept Sayyiduna Sa’d bin Mu’adh (may Allah be pleased with him) as arbitrator. They ended the siege on the decision of Sayyiduna Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) summoned Sayyiduna Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him), who was brought on a donkey covered with a mat made of palm branches. His people surrounded him, saying: O Abu Amr, these are your allies and confederates, your companions in battles, and those whom you know. But Sayyiduna Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) did not answer them until he came near their children. Then he turned to his people and said: Now is the time for Sa’d to not care about the blame of any blamer for the sake of Allah Almighty. When he came before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the Prophet said: Stand up for your leader and help him down. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Our leader is Allah Almighty. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Help him down. They helped him down. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: Judge between them. Sayyiduna Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) said: My judgment is that their fighting men be killed, their children taken captive, and their wealth distributed. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You have judged according to the judgment of Allah and His Messenger. Then Sayyiduna Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) supplicated to Allah Almighty, saying: O Allah, if You have kept the war with Quraysh for Your Prophet, then keep me for it, and if You have ended the war between Your Prophet and them, then seize me to Yourself. Then blood began to flow from his wound, though it had previously healed, until only a minor wound remained.

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) returned, and Sayyiduna Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) went back to his home, to the tent that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had set up for him. Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was with Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: By Him in Whose hand is my soul, I was in my chamber when I clearly heard the weeping of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Thus it happened as Allah Almighty says:“They are merciful to one another.”

The narrator Alqamah said: O Mother of the Believers, what would the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) do (i.e., at the time of weeping)? Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) replied: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would not shed tears over anyone, but he would grasp his blessed beard (due to the intensity of grief).