The departure night of the Hijra

The night of the departure from Mecca: eleven of Quraysh's chiefs surrounded the Prophet ﷺ's house to harm him after midnight; Ali slept in his bed and the Prophet walked out between them safely to Abu Bakr's house, and the two left until they reached the cave of Thawr. It was the night of 27 Safar, September 622 CE.

When Quraysh's plan to kill the Prophet ﷺ was sealed by Dar al-Nadwa, God told him of the plot and he went at midday to Abu Bakr's house to settle the Hijra's stages. Eleven chiefs were chosen to surround the house — Abu Jahl, al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As, Uqba ibn Abi Mu'it, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Umayya ibn Khalaf, Abu Lahab and Ubayy ibn Khalaf among them — gathering at his door in the dark with execution set after midnight. The Prophet told Ali: sleep in my bed wrapped in my green cloak, nothing you dislike will reach you; then he walked out through their ranks, scattering a handful of valley dust over their heads while reciting the barrier verse, and not a man of them was left without dust on his head. He reached Abu Bakr's house and they left by night to the cave of Thawr — the night of 27 Safar, year 14 of prophethood, 12/13 September 622 CE.

The night of the departure from Mecca: when Quraysh's decision to kill the Prophet ﷺ was sealed — the plan Dar al-Nadwa had framed — God permitted him to leave and told him of the plot, so he went at midday to Abu Bakr's house to settle the stages of the Hijra. Eleven chiefs were chosen for the cordon: Abu Jahl, al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As, Uqba ibn Abi Mu'it, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Umayya ibn Khalaf, Zam'a ibn al-Aswad, Tu'ayma ibn Adi, Abu Lahab, Ubayy ibn Khalaf, Nabih ibn al-Hajjaj and his brother Munbih; they gathered at his door in the dark of night to watch him, execution set for after midnight — and in them the book sees the revelation of 'when the disbelievers plotted against you'. The Prophet told Ali: sleep in my bed wrapped in my green Hadhrami cloak, nothing you dislike will reach you; then he walked out through their ranks, took a handful of valley dust scattering it over their heads — God having taken their sight from him — reciting 'We set a barrier before them and a barrier behind them and covered them so they cannot see', and not a man of them was left without dust on his head. He went on to Abu Bakr's house and the two left by night through a back alley until they reached the cave of Thawr; in the morning the besiegers found Ali in the bed, and he said he knew nothing. It was the night of 27 Safar, year 14 of the prophethood, corresponding to 12/13 September 622 CE.