‘If I were to have some food prepared and invite them to my quarters’—and that is exactly what I did.

Later in the afternoon I met Abu Hurayrah and said, “The invitation is at my place tonight.” He replied, “You have beaten me to it, O brother of the Ansar.” While they were gathered with me, Abu Hurayrah said, “Shall I recount for you, O company of the Ansar, one of your own reports?” He then related the account of the Conquest of Mecca:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Khalid ibn al-Walid in charge of one of the two flanks, al-Zubayr in charge of the other, and appointed Abu ʿUbaydah over the foot soldiers. Then he saw me and said, ‘O Abu Hurayrah.’ I replied, ‘At your service and at your pleasure, Messenger of Allah.’ He said, ‘Call the Ansar for me, and let no one come to me except an Ansari.’ I did so. He then said, ‘Confront Quraysh and their rabble, and cut them down as one harvests a crop.’

“We advanced, and none of them directed any blow against us; whoever among us set upon any of them captured him. Abu Sufyan arrived and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, the very heart of Quraysh has been wiped out; there will be no Quraysh after today.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ proclaimed, ‘Whoever enters the house of Abu Sufyan is safe, and whoever lays down his weapons is safe.’ So they cast aside their arms.

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered the Sanctuary, began by touching the Black Stone, then circumambulated the Ka‘ba seven times and prayed two rakʿahs behind the Maqam. He then came forward holding a bow by its string and started jabbing it into the eye of one of their idols while reciting, ‘Truth has come and falsehood has vanished; indeed falsehood is ever bound to perish’ (Q 17:81). After that he went on until he reached al-Safa, climbed it until the House was in view, and praised Allah and supplicated Him.

“The Ansar who were with him were saying, ‘The man has been overtaken by longing for his homeland and compassion for his kin.’ Then revelation descended—and whenever revelation came, it never escaped our notice—and when the revelation was lifted…”