had lost heart because of captivity, so they kept me confined in Mecca. During the qunūt the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would pray for me. In the end I slipped away and joined the Messenger of Allah ﷺ after the Treaty of al-Hudaybiyah. I died shortly thereafter—very possibly while the Prophet ﷺ was still alive—and Umm Salamah, his cousin, mourned me, saying:

O eye, weep for al-Walīd, son of al-Walīd, son of al-Mughīrah;
In lean years he was our shelter, our mercy and our provider of food.
Large-hearted and noble, ever reaching for the loftiest aim—
A man like al-Walīd, son of al-Walīd, father of al-Walīd, sufficed his whole clan.

Among the captives was Abū ʿAzza ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Jumahī. He was poor and had daughters to support. He said to the Prophet ﷺ, “You know I have no wealth; I am in want and I have dependants, so grant me your favor.” The Prophet ﷺ set him free on condition that he would never again aid anyone against him.

ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr relates: Not long after the disaster that struck Quraysh at Badr, ʿUmayr ibn Wahb al-Jumahī—one of Quraysh’s arch-fiends and a fierce persecutor of the Muslims—sat in the Hijr with Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah. ʿUmayr’s son Wahb was among the prisoners. As they spoke of the men who lay in the well and of the calamity that had befallen them, Ṣafwān said, “By Allah, there is no good in life after them.” ʿUmayr replied, “You are right. By Allah, were it not for a debt I cannot repay and for dependants I fear for, I would ride to Muhammad and kill him; I have a pretext, for my son is held captive by them.” Ṣafwān seized the moment: “Your debt and your family are on me.” ʿUmayr answered, “Then keep this secret.” He sharpened his sword, laid poison on it, and set off for Madinah.

ʿUmar was sitting with a group of Muslims discussing the Day of Badr when he saw ʿUmayr dismount at the mosque door, sword slung across him. ʿUmar said, “That dog, the enemy of Allah—ʿUmayr—has come. He is the man who scouted us at Badr.” He then went in to