The following month Muhammad sent him with ten men to Ghatafan territory in Dhu’l-Qassa. They arrived by night but could not see any people. As they slept, a hundred men surrounded them. When the ambushers started shooting arrows, Ibn Maslamah was the first to awaken, shouting, "The weapons!" The Muslims jumped up and fired in the dark for an hour. The Bedouins threw spears and killed three of them; the Muslims killed one; then the ambushers killed seven more. Ibn Maslamah fell with a wounded ankle but was the only survivor. The Bedouins stripped the corpses and departed. Later, a Muslim happened to pass the site, and on finding Ibn Maslamah alive, he gave him food and water and transported him back to Medina.