—“O Messenger of Allah, has there ever befallen you a day harder than the Day of ʾUḥud?”

He answered, “I have suffered greatly at the hands of your people, and the severest of what I faced from them was on the day of al-ʿAqabah. On that day I offered myself to Ibn ʿAbd Yalīl ibn ʿAbd Kulāl, yet he gave me no response to what I requested. I left, weighed down with sorrow, and did not come to my senses until I was at Qarn al-Thaʿālib. I lifted my head, and there above me was a cloud casting its shade. I looked, and inside it was Gabriel who called to me, saying: ‘Allah has heard the words of your people to you and how they replied. He has sent the Angel of the Mountains so that you may command him regarding them as you wish.’

“The Angel of the Mountains then called me, greeted me with peace, and said, ‘O Muhammad, Allah has heard the words of your people to you and how they replied. I am the Angel of the Mountains; your Lord has sent me to you so that you may command me as you please. If you wish, I will cause al-Akhshabayn (the two rocky ridges) to close in upon them.’”

But the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, replied, “Rather, I hope that