Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq said: After that, the Quraysh came to Abū Ṭālib and said, “O Abū Ṭālib, here is ʿImārah ibn al-Walīd, the strongest and handsomest youth among Quraysh. Take him—his full protection and loyalty are yours. Adopt him as your son; he will belong to you. In return, hand over to us this nephew of yours, the one who has abandoned your religion and the religion of your forefathers. We will put him to death, for a man can be exchanged for a man.”

Abū Ṭālib answered, “What a wretched bargain you propose! You give me your son to feed for you, while I give you my son for you to kill? By Allah, that shall never be.”

Al-Muṭʿim ibn ʿAdī ibn Nawfal ibn ʿAbd Manāf said, “By Allah, O Abū Ṭālib, your people have dealt fairly with you and have offered a way out of what you dislike. Yet I see you are unwilling to accept anything from them.”

He replied, “By Allah, they have not been fair to me. It is you who have resolved to abandon me and aid the people against me, so do whatever you wish.”

The matter then grew tense, war-feeling blazed, and the two sides exchanged hostilities. Abū Ṭālib recited:

Say to ʿAmr, al-Walīd, and Muṭʿim alike:
Would that my ‘share’ of your protection were but a young she-camel—
A feeble, slack-jawed beast that bellows loudly,
Sprinkling its own legs with drops of urine.

I see our brothers—born of the same father and mother—
Whenever they are asked, they say, “Let others decide the affair.”
Most of all ʿAbd Shams and Nawfal:
They have cast us off just as glowing embers are tossed away.

Yūnus ibn Bukayr narrated from Ibn Isḥāq: A shaykh from Egypt—some forty-odd years ago—told me on the authority of ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, in a long story that took place between the idolaters and the Prophet ﷺ. When the Prophet rose and left them, Abū Jahl said, “People of Quraysh, Muḥammad will not cease from what you see—reviling our religion, insulting our forefathers, calling our minds foolish, and cursing our gods. I swear by Allah, tomorrow I shall sit in wait for him with a stone; when he prostrates I will smash his head with it, and afterward the sons of ʿAbd Manāf may deal with me as they please.”