on the head with his sword. Thābit ibn Qays rushed at him, bound both of his hands to his neck with a black rope, and led him to the house of the Banū Ḥāritha. On the way they met ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥa, who asked, “What is this?” Thābit replied, “Isn’t it astonishing? He lunged at Ḥassān with a sword—by Allah, I think he has killed him!” ʿAbd Allāh said, “Has the Messenger of Allah ﷺ been informed of what you have done to him?” “No,” he answered. ʿAbd Allāh said, “By Allah, you have gone too far. Release him, and in the morning we shall go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and tell him what happened.” So he let him go.

When morning came they went to the Prophet ﷺ and related the matter. The Prophet said, “Where is Ibn al-Muʿaṭṭal?” Ṣafwān stood up and said, “Here I am, O Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet asked, “What made you do what you did?” He replied, “He kept hurting me and multiplying his abuse; he would not desist until he hinted at me in his satire, so anger overtook me. Here I am—whatever right is due from me, take it.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Call Ḥassān for me.” When Ḥassān was brought, the Prophet said, “O Ḥassān, have you maligned my people after Allah guided them to Islam?”—meaning: “Have you vented your resentment against them, Ḥassān? Be gracious about what has befallen you.” Ḥassān replied, “It is yours to decide, O Messenger of Allah.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then gave him Sirīn the Copt, who later bore him ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, and he granted him a piece of land that had belonged to Abū Ṭalḥa and which Abū Ṭalḥa had donated to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

Yaʿqūb ibn ʿUtbah told me that when Ṣafwān ibn al-Muʿaṭṭal struck Ḥassān he said:
“Deflect the sword’s edge from you, for I am
A youth who, when satirized, is no poet.”

Ḥassān then said to ʿĀʾisha ﵂: