“No noble mother ever bore, of any mighty sire—
on any mountain we know, or any stretch of plain—
sons like the six that issued from the womb of Umm al-Faḍl;
blessed be that matron and her stalwart men in their prime!”

Al-Kalbī said: “We have never seen the children of any woman whose graves are farther apart than those of the sons of al-ʿAbbās.”

Among the other children of al-ʿAbbās were Kathīr—who was a jurist—, Tammām—one of the strongest men of Quraysh—, and Umaymah; their mother was a bondwoman. There was also al-Ḥārith ibn al-ʿAbbās, whose mother was Ḥujayla bint (1) Jundab al-Tamīmiyya (2). Thus their total number was ten.

Al-Wāqidī reported: “ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd al-Hudalī told us, from Abū al-Baddāḥ ibn ʿĀṣim, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUwaym ibn Sāʿida, from his father, who said:

We came to the Prophet ﷺ and were told, ‘He is in the house of al-ʿAbbās.’ We entered, offered greetings of peace, and asked, ‘When shall we meet?’

Al-ʿAbbās said, ‘Among your own people (3) are some who oppose you, so keep your affair concealed until this pilgrim company disperses. Then we and you will meet; we shall set the matter plainly before you so that you embark upon it with full clarity.’

So the Prophet ﷺ appointed for them the night of the last nafr at the foot of al-ʿAqabah, and he instructed them not to wake anyone who was asleep and not to wait for anyone who was absent (4).

Muʿādh ibn Rifāʿah related: They slipped out after things had quieted down, and he had already reached the place ahead of them, accompanied only by his uncle al-ʿAbbās.

He said: The first to speak was al-ʿAbbās, who said:

‘O people of the Khazraj! You have invited Muhammad to what you have invited him, while he is among the most honored of men within his clan; by Allah, those of us who are—’