Then ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿūd passed by Abū Jahl after the Prophet had ordered that he be sought out. According to what has reached us, the Prophet had said, “If he is hidden from you among the slain, look for the scar on his knee. One day, when we were both youths, he and I jostled each other at a banquet held by ʿAbd Allah ibn Judʿān. I was slightly slighter than he, so I pushed him and he fell on his knee, scraping it badly.”

Ibn Masʿūd continued, “I found him drawing his last breath and placed my foot on his neck. He had once seized me in Mecca, tormenting and jabbing me. I said, ‘Has God disgraced you at last, enemy of God?’ He replied, ‘How has He disgraced me? Is there anything beyond a man you have killed? Tell me, who holds the advantage today?’ I said, ‘God and His Messenger.’ He retorted, ‘You have climbed, little shepherd, a difficult ascent!’

“So I cut off his head and brought it to the Messenger of Allah, saying, ‘Messenger of Allah, this is the head of the enemy of God, Abū Jahl.’ He said, ‘By God, besides whom there is no deity?’ I answered, ‘Yes,’ and I flung the head before the Prophet.

“He then ordered that the dead be cast into a pit nearby. They were all thrown in except for Umayyah ibn Khalaf, who had swollen inside his coat of mail until it was filled. When they tried to drag him out, his body came apart, so they left him where he lay and covered him with earth until he was out of sight.

“When they had dumped the corpses into the pit, the Prophet stood over them and said, ‘O people of the pit, have you found what your Lord promised you to be true? For I have certainly found what my Lord promised me to be true.’ Some companions said, ‘Messenger of Allah, are you addressing people who have decomposed?’ He replied, ‘You do not hear what I say any better than they do; they simply cannot answer.’”