My hands were blistered from the digging.
Dust clung to my face, and my back ached like never before. I was just a teenager then, one of many who helped dig the long trench around Madinah — the blessed city where Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had settled after fleeing enemies in Mecca. You won’t find my name in any hadith, but I was there during the Battle of Khandaq, also called the Battle of the Trench.
We dug and dug because a huge army—ten thousand strong—was marching toward us. They wanted to destroy the Muslims and end Islam before it could grow. One of the Prophet’s ﷺ companions, Salman the Persian — a wise man who had traveled far in search of the truth — suggested something new for our people: dig a deep ditch around the exposed parts of the city. It would protect us from cavalry charges.
It was hard work. The ground was rocky, and our tools were simple. Sometimes we went days with barely any food. I remember feeling frustrated, even scared. Would we survive? Did Allah still see us?
One afternoon, while digging with the Prophet ﷺ nearby, our shovels struck something solid. We hit a huge rock we couldn’t break. Each man tried smashing it, but it wouldn’t crack. Then the Prophet ﷺ himself climbed into the trench with us.
He took the pickaxe in his own hands. With the first strike, I saw a spark light up the earth.
“Allahu Akbar!” he called — “Allah is the Greatest!”
He struck again. Another spark. “Allahu Akbar!”
On the third blow, the rock shattered. But what he said after that was what changed everything for me.
He told us, “I have been given the keys of Sham,” — that’s the region of Syria — “and, by Allah, I can see its palaces from where I stand.” He said the same about Persia and Yemen. These weren’t just places far away; they were powerful empires, mighty civilizations. And we were just a group of tired, hungry believers digging in the dirt!
I looked at him in shock. How could that be true? We couldn’t even feed ourselves.
But his voice was full of certainty. This wasn’t a dream or wish. It was revelation — what Allah had told him. He saw victory and light beyond the trench, even as our enemies closed in.
That night, I couldn’t sleep. I stared at the stars and thought about how the Prophet ﷺ saw through fear with the light of faith. Allah had shown him hope when all I saw was rock and dirt. For me, the trench had been a ditch of fear. But now, it became a line of light.
Years later, I heard news that Islam had reached Persia, Syria, and Yemen — just like he said. I wept when I heard it.
And I remembered the spark striking the rock.
It wasn’t just stone that broke that day — my doubts did too.
–
Story inspired by authentic narrations found in the Seerah of the Prophet ﷺ and reported in Hadith, including Sahih al-Bukhari and Musnad Ahmad. The moment of revelation during the trench digging is explained by many scholars, including in the works of Ibn Kathir and al-Tabari.
My hands were blistered from the digging.
Dust clung to my face, and my back ached like never before. I was just a teenager then, one of many who helped dig the long trench around Madinah — the blessed city where Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had settled after fleeing enemies in Mecca. You won’t find my name in any hadith, but I was there during the Battle of Khandaq, also called the Battle of the Trench.
We dug and dug because a huge army—ten thousand strong—was marching toward us. They wanted to destroy the Muslims and end Islam before it could grow. One of the Prophet’s ﷺ companions, Salman the Persian — a wise man who had traveled far in search of the truth — suggested something new for our people: dig a deep ditch around the exposed parts of the city. It would protect us from cavalry charges.
It was hard work. The ground was rocky, and our tools were simple. Sometimes we went days with barely any food. I remember feeling frustrated, even scared. Would we survive? Did Allah still see us?
One afternoon, while digging with the Prophet ﷺ nearby, our shovels struck something solid. We hit a huge rock we couldn’t break. Each man tried smashing it, but it wouldn’t crack. Then the Prophet ﷺ himself climbed into the trench with us.
He took the pickaxe in his own hands. With the first strike, I saw a spark light up the earth.
“Allahu Akbar!” he called — “Allah is the Greatest!”
He struck again. Another spark. “Allahu Akbar!”
On the third blow, the rock shattered. But what he said after that was what changed everything for me.
He told us, “I have been given the keys of Sham,” — that’s the region of Syria — “and, by Allah, I can see its palaces from where I stand.” He said the same about Persia and Yemen. These weren’t just places far away; they were powerful empires, mighty civilizations. And we were just a group of tired, hungry believers digging in the dirt!
I looked at him in shock. How could that be true? We couldn’t even feed ourselves.
But his voice was full of certainty. This wasn’t a dream or wish. It was revelation — what Allah had told him. He saw victory and light beyond the trench, even as our enemies closed in.
That night, I couldn’t sleep. I stared at the stars and thought about how the Prophet ﷺ saw through fear with the light of faith. Allah had shown him hope when all I saw was rock and dirt. For me, the trench had been a ditch of fear. But now, it became a line of light.
Years later, I heard news that Islam had reached Persia, Syria, and Yemen — just like he said. I wept when I heard it.
And I remembered the spark striking the rock.
It wasn’t just stone that broke that day — my doubts did too.
–
Story inspired by authentic narrations found in the Seerah of the Prophet ﷺ and reported in Hadith, including Sahih al-Bukhari and Musnad Ahmad. The moment of revelation during the trench digging is explained by many scholars, including in the works of Ibn Kathir and al-Tabari.
