[4] Early in the battle, an Abyssinian soldier shot an arrow at the face of Sultan Badlay, who caught it in his hand.

While attempting to cross the Awash River, they were taken by surprise and fell into an ambush by an Abyssinian general named Djan Sagana.

[4][3] Zara Yakob pursued the Muslim army as far as the Hawash River and captured booty which seemed absolutely marvelous to the Christian Ethiopians; in fact, the commercial relations that existed between the Adal Sultanate and the rulers of the Arab peninsula allowed Muslims to obtain luxury items that Christian Ethiopians, whose relations with the outside world were blocked, could not get.

Additionally, the possessions of both him and his wife, including their diverse collection of robes, were distributed among several monastic communities.

Despite this victory, the Zara Yakob decided not to conquer the Adalites, believing they were outside of the Christian boundary and shouldn't be included in his kingdom.