He told that he heard God's Messenger say, “The Byzantines will be defeated at your hands and God will defend you, but let none of you be so careless as not to employ his arrows.”*
* i.e. they must not neglect to practise archery. The idea is that although God defends them, this does not absolve them from effort.
Salama b. al-Akwa‘ told that God’s Messenger went out to some people of Aslam who were having a shooting match in the suq* and said, “Shoot, sons of Ishmael, for your ancestor was an archer. I am supporting the B. so and so,” referring to one of the two parties. They then stopped, and when he asked what was the matter, they replied, “How can we shoot when you are supporting the B. so and so?” He said, “Shoot; I am supporting you all.”
* Different explanations are given. It may be in the market-place (suq). Mirqat, iv, 202 is inclined to understand suq as the plural of saq (leg) and interpret it as meaning that they were on their feet, not riding camels. It has even been said that the reading is as-Sauq and that this is the name of a place; but I can find no reference to any such place. This all goes to show how difficult interpreters can make a passage seem when they let their imagination loose.
‘Uqba b. ‘Amir told that he heard God's Messenger say when he was on the pulpit, “Prepare for them as much strength as you can. Strength is shooting; strength is shooting; strength is shooting.”
