I remember being present on the Day of the Tree, and the Prophet ﷺ was taking the oath of the people and I was holding a twig of the tree over his head. We were fourteen hundred (in number). We did not take oath to the death, but to the effect that we would not run away from the battlefield.
لَقَدْ رَأَيْتُنِي يَوْمَ الشَّجَرَةِ وَالنَّبِيُّ ﷺ يُبَايِعُ النَّاسَ وَأَنَا رَافِعٌ غُصْنًا مِنْ أَغْصَانِهَا عَنْ رَأْسِهِ وَنَحْنُ أَرْبَعَ عَشْرَةَ مِائَةً قَالَ لَمْ نُبَايِعْهُ عَلَى الْمَوْتِ وَلَكِنْ بَايَعْنَاهُ عَلَى أَنْ لاَ نَفِرَّ