حدثنا عمر بن إسماعيل بن مجالد بن سعيد، حدثني أبي عن بيان حدثني قيس بن حازم، قال: سمعت سعد بن أبي وقاص
يقول: «إني لأَوْل رَجل أَهْرَقَ دَمًا فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ، وَإِنْي لأَوْل رَجلٍ رَمَى بِسَهْمٍ فِى سَبِيلِ اللهِ لقَدْ رَأَيْتُنِي أغزوا فِي الْعِصَابَةَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ مُحَمْدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَا نَأكُلْ إلاَّ وَرَقَ الشَجَرِ وَالْحُبْلَةَ حَتَّى تَقَرَحَتْ أَشْدَاقُنَا وَإِنْ أَحَدُنَا لَيَضَعُ كَمَا تَضَعُ الشَّاةُ وَالبَعِير وَأَصْبَحَتْ بَنُو أَسَدٍ يَعَزِّرُونَنِى فِي الدِّينِ، لَقَدْ خِبْتُ إذَنْ وَخَسِرْت وَضَلَ عَمَلِي»
“I am the first man who shed blood in the cause of Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He), and I am the first man who shot an arrow in Allah’s cause. I had seen myself going forth to war in the troop of the Companions of Muhammad (blessing and peace be upon him). We ate nothing but tree-leaves and a kind of bean-fruit until the corners of our mouths were covered with ulcers, and one of us would excrete as the sheep and the camel excrete.
The Banu Asad started instructing me in the religion. I had therefore failed and lost my way, and my work had come to naught.”