certain death. They are a people who have no protection and no refuge but their swords. By Allah, I do not think a single man among them will be killed without first killing one of you; and if they strike down as many of you as they themselves number, what pleasure will life still hold? So make up your minds.
When Ḥakīm ibn Ḥizām heard this, he walked among the ranks until he reached ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah and said, “Abū al-Walid, you are the elder of Quraysh, its chief and the one obeyed. Would you like to be remembered with praise until the end of time?”
ʿUtbah asked, “And what is that, Ḥakīm?”
He replied, “Lead the people back and assume responsibility for the case of your ally ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥaḍramī.”
ʿUtbah said, “Done—you have my pledge. He is my ally, so I will pay the blood money and whatever of his property was lost. Now go to the son of al-Ḥanẓaliyyah”—al-Ḥanẓaliyyah was Abu Jahl’s mother—“for I fear no one will stir up trouble among the people but him.”
ʿUtbah then rose to address the people: “People of Quraysh, by Allah you will gain nothing by meeting Muhammad and his companions in battle. By Allah, if you kill him, each man will forever look into the face of another he hates to see—having slain his cousin, his nephew, or a man of his own clan. Turn back and leave Muhammad to the rest of the Arabs; if they defeat him, so be it, and if matters turn out otherwise he will still be there for you, and you will not have exposed yourselves to what you abhor.”
Ḥakīm continues: “I went to Abu Jahl and found him fastening a coat of mail in place. I said, ‘Abu al-Hakam, ʿUtbah has sent me with such-and-such a message.’ He answered, ‘By Allah, his belly has swollen the moment he saw Muhammad and his companions! No, by Allah, we shall not turn back until Allah judges between us and Muhammad. ʿUtbah does not mean what he says; he has merely seen Muhammad and his men as ravenous eaters of a camel’s carcass, and his own son is among them, so he fears for him.’
He then summoned ʿĀmir ibn al-Ḥaḍramī and said, ‘Here is your ally wanting to turn the people back, while you have your vengeance before your very eyes. Rise and demand satisfaction for the violation of your honor and for your brother’s murder.’
ʿĀmir sprang up, uncovered his head, and cried out, ‘Wā ʿAmrāh! Wā ʿAmrāh!’
The war-spirit blazed, the matter became urgent, they closed ranks on their evil intent, and ʿUtbah’s sound counsel was undone.