whatever lies beneath them.

Abu Jahl then urged him, “Your people will not be pleased with you until you say something against him.”

Al-Walid replied, “Give me time to think about it.”

After pondering, he concluded, “It is nothing but inherited sorcery, a spell handed down from others.”

At that point the revelation came:
“Leave Me alone with the one I created single-handedly.”
(Al-Muddaththir 11)

This report was narrated by ʿAbd al-Razzaq from Maʿmar, from Ayyub, from ʿIkrimah, from him.

Another narration states:
“Al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah met with a group of Quraysh. He was an elderly man among them, and the pilgrimage season had arrived. He said, ‘Delegations of the Arabs will soon come to you, and they have heard about your companion. Agree upon one position regarding him and do not differ, lest you contradict one another and some of you refute what others say.’

They suggested…”