were women of Banū Hāshim. They realized that by supporting the pact they had severed the bonds of kinship and shown contempt for the truth. That very night they unanimously agreed to break the covenant they had sworn—renouncing its treachery and washing their hands of it.
Allah then sent a termite against their scroll, and it devoured every word that spoke of pledges and undertakings. Some said the document was hanging from the roof of the Kaʿba; the insect left no Name of Allah without erasing it, while every phrase of idolatry or injustice remained untouched. Allah revealed this to His Messenger, who in turn told Abū Ṭālib. Abū Ṭālib declared, “No, by the piercing stars, he has never lied to me.”
He set out with a group of Banū ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib and walked to the Mosque, which was crowded with Quraysh. They rebuffed him, but Abū Ṭālib said, “Matters have occurred between us that we have not yet disclosed. Bring your parchment—the one on which you bound yourselves—so that perhaps we may reach a truce.” They produced it and said, “The time has come for you to yield and return to an arrangement that will reunite your people. Only one man stands between us and you, and you have placed him in mortal danger.”
Abū Ṭālib replied, “I have come only to offer you a proposal in which you will receive your fair share. My nephew has informed me—and he has never lied—that Allah has repudiated this document, erased every mention of His Name in it, and left standing your treachery and severing of family ties. If it is as he says, then wake up to the truth, for by Allah we shall never surrender him until the last of us dies. But if what he says is false, we will hand him over to you.” They agreed and opened the scroll. When Quraysh saw that it was exactly as Abū Ṭālib had described, they said, “By Allah, this is nothing but sorcery from your companion,” and they backslid, returning to their disbelief.
The Banū ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib responded, “Others—not we—are more deserving of being called liars and sorcerers. Consider: the pact you forged to cut us off is nearer to idolatry and sorcery than anything we have brought. Had you not joined together upon sorcery, the parchment would not have decayed while it was in your very hands. So tell us—are we the sorcerers, or are you?”
At that, Abū al-Bukhturī, Muṭʿim ibn ʿAdī, Zuhayr ibn Abī Umayyah ibn al-Mughīra, Zamʿah ibn al-Aswad, and Hishām ibn ʿAmr—who was keeping the document—