—leaning his back against the Kaʿbah and saying, “People of Quraysh, by Him in whose hand is my soul, not one of you has awoken this morning upon the religion of Abraham except me!” Then he would add, “O Allah, if I only knew which manner of worship is dearest to You, I would devote myself to You through it,” after which he would prostrate on the back of his mount.

Ibn Isḥāq said: In renouncing his people’s religion Zayd composed the following lines:

Shall I serve one Lord or a thousand lords
when destinies are portioned out?
I have cast aside al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā together—
so acts the steadfast, patient heart.

—and there were other verses besides these.

Ibn Isḥāq continued: Al-Khaṭṭāb ibn Nufayl—Zayd’s paternal uncle and maternal half-brother—used to censure and abuse him until he forced him to the heights above Mecca, where Zayd settled on Mount Ḥirāʾ overlooking the city. Whenever he slipped into Mecca in secret they harassed and expelled him, loath for him to spoil their religion or win a follower. He then departed in search of the religion of Abraham, wandering through Syria and the Jazīrah. Ibn Isḥāq relates that as he was returning toward Mecca, he was waylaid in the territory of the Lakhm tribe, who assaulted and killed him.

Chapter:

Set al-Ahl bint ʿAlwān informed us; she said: al-Bahāʾ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān informed us; he said: Manūjihr ibn Muḥammad informed us; he said: Hibat-Allāh ibn Aḥmad informed us; he said: al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Baṭḥā narrated to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Ḥarrānī informed us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al-Russaʿnī informed us; he said: al-Muʿāfā ibn Sulaymān informed us; he said: Fulayḥ narrated, from Hilāl ibn ʿAlī, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār,