Mohammed, with three hundred and thirteen soldiers, mounted chiefly on camels, received word of this advance.  His men were lying between Medina and the sea, and, as he thought, directly between the caravan and Abu Jahl’s army.  He told his men to be of good cheer, as Allah had promised them an easy victory; yet he was careful to omit no human means of securing an advantage.  He posted his troops beside the brook Bedr, and had them hastily throw up an entrenchment to cover the flank of his troops.  Then, sure of a constant supply of water, and safe from fear of surprise, he awaited the Meccan army.

He himself ascended a little eminence, accompanied only by Abu Beker, and, in a small hut made of branches, he prayed for the assistance of three thousand angels.  In his excitement, one of his old paroxysms came on, but this was regarded as auspicious by his men, to whom, superstitious as they were, every occurrence of this kind was an additional presage of victory and an additional spur to bravery in battle.

And now the opposing force appeared, coming down the opposite hill, the men hot, weary, and covered with dust.

After a preliminary skirmish between individual combatants, the battle began,—­not a systematic charge in close ranks, not the disciplined attack of trained warriors, but a wild melee of camels, horses, flashing scimitars, gleaming daggers and plunging spears, in the midst of clouds of dust and streaming scarfs.

The combat was long, and at one time the party of Mohammed seemed to waver.  The prophet rushed out, threw a handful of dust into the air and exclaimed: 

“May confusion light upon their faces!  Charge, ye faithful! charge for Allah and his prophet!”

Nothing could withstand the wild dash made by his men.  Filled with the passion of enthusiasm, the zeal of fanatics, and the confidence of success, they bore down like madmen.  The Koreish, many of whom were fearful of enchantment by the prophet, were seized with sudden panic.  In vain Abu Jahl tried to rally them.  He was torn from his horse by a savage Moslem, and his head severed from his body.  His troops fled in terror, leaving seventy men dead on the field and seventy prisoners.

The bodies and prisoners were robbed, and the spoil divided.  Mohammed, in order to avert dispute over the booty, very conveniently had a revelation at the time.—­“Know that whenever ye gain any spoil, a fifth part thereof belongeth unto God, and to the apostle, and to his kindred, and the orphans, and the poor, and the traveler.”

Upon this occasion he claimed a considerable amount of silver, and a sword, Dhu’l Fakar (or the Piercer), which he carried in every subsequent battle.

During the battle, Yusuf, the priest, had fought bravely.  Mounted on a magnificent horse, his commanding figure had marked him out as an object worthy of attack.  Accordingly he was ever in the thickest of the fight.  With cool and calm determination his blows fell, until suddenly an event occurred which completely unmanned him, and gave his enemies the advantage.