Musannaf Ibn Abi Shayba 36:468

Abu Bakr narrated to us, he said: Hashim ibn al-Qasim Abu al-Nadr narrated to us, he said: 'Ikrimah ibn 'Ammar narrated to me, he said: Iyas ibn Salamah narrated to me, from his father, who said: I arrived in Medina at the time of al-Hudaybiyyah with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. I went out with Rabah, the servant of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—the Messenger of Allah had sent him with the camels—and I went out with him leading Talhah’s horse to graze it with the camels. When it was still dark before dawn, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Uyaynah raided the camels of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He killed their shepherd and went out driving them away, he and some people with him on horses. I said: "O Rabah, mount this horse and take it to Talhah, and inform the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that his livestock has been raided." I stood on a hill, turned my face toward Medina, and called out three times: "Ya sabahah!" (O, the morning alarm!). Then I followed the people, with my sword and my arrows. I began to shoot at them and hamstring their mounts, and that was when the trees were dense. Whenever a horseman turned toward me, I would sit at the base of a tree and shoot at him. No horseman approached me but that I hamstrung his mount. I kept shooting at them and saying: "I am the son of al-Akwa', and today is the day of the sucklings." I caught up with a man and shot him while he was on his saddle; my arrow struck him in the shoulder until it pierced through. I said: "Take that! I am the son of al-Akwa', and today is the day of the sucklings." When I was in the trees, I burned them with arrows, and when the mountain passes became narrow, I climbed the mountain and pelted them with stones. That remained my state and theirs; I followed them and recited verses until there was nothing of the livestock of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that I did not leave behind my back and rescue from their hands. Then I did not cease shooting at them until they threw down more than thirty spears and more than thirty cloaks to lighten their load. They did not throw anything down but that I placed a marker of stones upon it and gathered it on the path of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. When the morning had extended, 'Uyaynah ibn Badr al-Fazari came to them as reinforcements, and they were in a narrow pass. I climbed the mountain and was above them. 'Uyaynah said: "What is this that I see?" They said: "We have met from this one such hardship that we have not parted since dawn until now; he has taken everything that was in our hands and placed it behind his back." 'Uyaynah said: "If this man thought that there was a pursuit behind him, he would have left you." He said: "Let a group of you rise to him." A group of four of them rose to me, and they climbed the mountain. When I made them hear my voice, I said to them: "Do you know me?" They said: "And who are you?" I said: "I am the son of al-Akwa'. By the One who honored the face of Muhammad, no man among you will pursue me and catch me, nor will I pursue him and he will escape me." One of them said—I think he said—: "I will..." I did not leave my position until I looked at the horsemen of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, weaving through the trees. The first of them was al-Akhram al-Asadi, and behind him was Abu Qatadah, the horseman of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and behind Abu Qatadah was al-Miqdad al-Kindi. The polytheists turned and fled. I descended from the mountain and intercepted al-Akhram, and I took the reins of his horse. I said: "O Akhram, beware of the people, for I do not feel safe that they might cut you off. Wait until the Messenger of Allah and his companions arrive." He said: "O Salamah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day, and you know that Paradise is true and Hell is true, then do not stand between me and martyrdom." I released the reins of his horse. He caught up with 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Uyaynah, and 'Abd al-Rahman turned on him. They exchanged two strikes; al-Akhram hamstrung 'Abd al-Rahman's mount, and 'Abd al-Rahman struck him and killed him. 'Abd al-Rahman switched to al-Akhram's horse. Then Abu Qatadah caught up with 'Abd al-Rahman, and they exchanged two strikes. He hamstrung Abu Qatadah's mount, and Abu Qatadah killed him. Abu Qatadah switched to al-Akhram's horse. Then I went out running in pursuit of the people until I could no longer see any dust from the companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Before sunset, they turned toward a valley containing water called Dhu Qarad. They wanted to drink from it, but they saw me running behind them, so they turned away from it and hurried into the pass, the pass of Dhu Bi'r. The sun set, and I caught up with a man and shot him. I said: "Take that! I am the son of al-Akwa', and today is the day of the sucklings." He said: "May my mother be bereaved of me! An Akwa'i in the morning?" I said: "Yes, O enemy of his own soul." The one I shot was a young man. I followed him with another arrow, and two arrows were stuck in him. They left behind two horses, and I came with them, driving them to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while he was at the water from which I had driven them away, Dhu Qarad. The Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was there with five hundred men, and Bilal had slaughtered a camel from those I had left behind, and he was roasting some of its liver and hump for the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. I came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, let me be, and I will select one hundred men from your companions, and I will take the disbelievers by surprise in the darkness, so that not a single messenger among them will remain but that I will kill him." He said: "Would you really do that, O Salamah?" I said: "Yes, by the One who honored your face." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, laughed until I saw his molars in the daylight. Then he said: "They are now being entertained in the land of Ghatafan." A man from Ghatafan came and said: "They passed by such-and-such Ghatafani, and he slaughtered a camel for them. When they began to skin it, they saw dust, so they left it and fled." When morning came, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "The best of our horsemen today is Abu Qatadah, and the best of our foot soldiers is Salamah." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave me the share of both the horseman and the foot soldier. Then he let me ride behind him on al-'Adba' as we returned to Medina. When we were close to it, around the time of the forenoon, there was a man among the Ansar who could not be outrun. He began to call out: "Is there anyone to race? Is there no man who will race to Medina?" He did that repeatedly, while I was behind the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, riding behind him. I said to him: "Do you not honor a noble person, nor fear a distinguished one?" He said: "No, except for the Messenger of Allah." I said: "O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you, let me race the man." He said: "If you wish." I said: "Go ahead." He jumped off his mount, and I bent my legs and jumped off the she-camel. Then I held back for a stride or two, meaning I saved my energy. Then I ran until I caught up with him, and I struck him between his shoulder blades with my hand and said: "I have beaten you, by Allah!" or words to that effect. He laughed and said: "I think so," until we arrived in Medina.