Khubaib—for I was far too young for that. Rather, Abu Maysera of the Banu ʿAbd al-Dār took a spear, placed it in my hand, clasped both my hand and the spear, and drove it into him until he died.

Ibn Isḥāq then related that Khubaib said:

The factions have ringed me round, inciting every clan,
and mustering every gathering they could summon.
Each man lays bare his hatred, striving against me,
while I am bound, abandoned, powerless.
They have brought their sons and their women to watch,
and I stand fastened to a lofty, unyielding trunk.
To Allah I complain of my exile and my anguish,
and of what these confederates have prepared for me at death’s door.
The Lord of the Throne has steadied me for what they intend;
though they cut my flesh, their hope of breaking me is gone.
All this is for Allah’s sake; and if He so wills,
He will bless even these sundered limbs.
They offered me unbelief—or death instead—and my eyes overflowed,
but not from fear.
It is not death I dread—die I must—
I fear the searing blaze of Hell in the desolate waste.
By Allah, I care not, so long as I die a Muslim,
on whichever side my body falls for Allah’s cause.
Never shall I display to the foe humble submission or panic—
my return is to Allah alone.

Yūnus ibn Bukayr and Jaʿfar ibn ʿAwn report—from Ibrāhīm ibn Ismāʿīl—that Jaʿfar ibn ʿAmr ibn Umayya told him: his father narrated from his grandfather, whom the Prophet ﷺ had dispatched as a scout: “I made my way to the wooden post on which Khubaib was fastened. I climbed it, wary of prying eyes, untied him, and he fell to the ground. I then jumped down, withdrew a short distance, and when I looked back I could no longer see Khubaib, as though the earth had swallowed him.”

Jaʿfar ibn ʿAwn added: “From that day to this, no trace of Khubaib’s body has ever been found.”