Documented.

Hisham ibn ʿUrwah, on the authority of his father, from Zaynab bint Umm Salamah, from her mother, related: “An effeminate man was with me. He said to my brother ʿAbd Allah, ‘If Allah grants you victory over al-Taʾif tomorrow, I can direct you to the daughter of Ghaylan, for she approaches on four and withdraws on eight.’ When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ overheard him, he said, ‘Do not ever let this fellow enter upon you.’”

This meaning is agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Al-Waqidi, citing his teachers, reported that Salman said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, “I think you should set up the manjaniq (catapult) against their stronghold—meaning al-Taʾif—for in the land of Persia we used to erect it against fortresses, and without a catapult a siege drags on.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ therefore ordered him to do so, and Salman built a catapult with his own hands and set it up against the fortress of al-Taʾif.

Some say it was Yazid ibn Zamʿah who brought the catapult along with two beasts of burden; others say it was al-Tufayl ibn ʿAmr.

Thaqif then rained down red-hot iron hooks upon them, burning the dabbābah (mobile shelter). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded that their grapevines be cut down and burned, whereupon Sufyan ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Thaqafi called out, “Why are you destroying our property? It belongs either to us or to you!” So he left them standing.

Abu al-Aswad, from ʿUrwah through Ibn Lahīʿah, narrated that ʿUyaynah ibn Badr came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, “Give me permission to speak to them; perhaps Allah will guide them.” He was given leave, so he went in and, once inside the fortress, declared, “By my father, hold your ground! By Allah, we are more abased than slaves. I swear by Allah, if anything happens to him, the Arabs will claim honor and power, so cling to your fortress.”

When he came out, the Prophet ﷺ asked him, “What did you say to them?” He replied, “I invited them to Islam and warned them …”