The departure night of the Hijra

The night of the departure from Mecca: eleven of Quraysh's great men surrounded the Prophet's house to kill him after midnight; Ali slept on his bed and the Prophet went out from among them unharmed ¹.

When Quraysh's decision to kill the Prophet was sealed — the plan Dar al-Nadwa had concluded — God gave him leave to depart and informed him of the conspiracy; at midday he went to Abu Bakr's house to settle the stages of the Hijra with him ².

Eleven chiefs were chosen to surround the house: Abu Jahl, al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As, Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Umayya ibn Khalaf, Zam'a ibn al-Aswad, Tu'ayma ibn Adi, Abu Lahab, Ubayy ibn Khalaf, and Nabih ibn al-Hajjaj and his brother Munabbih ^{3 4}. They gathered at his door in the darkness of night keeping watch, the appointed moment being after midnight ⁵. The book holds that concerning them was revealed His word: "and when the unbelievers plotted against you, to confine you or kill you or expel you" (al-Anfal 30) ⁵.

The Prophet said to Ali: sleep on my bed and wrap yourself in this green Hadrami cloak of mine — nothing you would hate will reach you from them ⁶. Then he went out, passed through their ranks, took a handful of earth and scattered it on their heads while God had taken their sight from him, reciting: "and We set a barrier before them and a barrier behind them and covered them over, so they do not see" (Ya-Sin 9); no man of them remained but dust was cast on his head ⁶.

He went on to Abu Bakr's house, and the two left by a small door in the night until they reached the cave of Thawr ⁶. In the morning the besiegers found Ali on the bed and questioned him; he said: I know nothing of him ⁶. That was the night of 27 Safar in the fourteenth year of the prophethood, corresponding to 12/13 September 622 CE ⁷.