Al-Kalbi—through Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās—said: “And among the people is one who sells his soul….” (al-Baqarah 2:207) was revealed about Suhayb and a number of his companions after the people of Mecca seized them and tortured them in order to turn them back to shirk (polytheism). (1)
Aḥmad relates in his Musnad: Asbāṭ narrated to us, (he said) Ashʿath narrated to us, from Kurdūs, from Ibn Masʿūd, who said:
“The chiefs of Quraysh passed by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while Khabbāb, Suhayb, Bilāl, and ʿAmmār were sitting with him. They said, ‘Have you been content with these men?’ Then the Quran was revealed concerning them: ‘And warn with it those who fear…’ up to His words, ‘And Allah knows best the wrongdoers’ (al-Anʿām 6:51–58).” (2)
ʿAwf al-Aʿrābī, from Abū ʿUthmān, reported:
“When Suhayb determined to emigrate, the people of Mecca said to him, ‘You came to us a destitute pauper, and now your condition has changed!’ He replied, ‘Tell me, if I leave you my wealth, will you let me go?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ So he handed over his property to them. When that reached the Prophet ﷺ he said, ‘Suhayb has profited! Suhayb has profited!’” (3)
Yaʿqūb ibn Muḥammad al-Zuhrī said: Ḥuṣayn ibn Ḥudhafa ibn Ṣayfī narrated to us (4), saying