who will escort me to his own people, for Quraysh have prevented me from conveying my Lord’s words. O people, say, “There is no god but Allah,” and you will succeed: by it you will gain mastery over the Arabs, and by it the non-Arabs will be humbled before you.”

They would retort, “O Muhammad, do you want to make all the gods into a single God? This affair of yours is indeed astonishing!”

Yet the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, continued to proclaim his summons openly, manifest his mission, and invite humanity to it, while they abused him, argued with him, spoke to him, and rebutted him with the most offensive replies. He bore their harm with patience and would say,

“O Allah, to You belongs all praise; had You willed, they would not have behaved this way.”

When the persecution of Quraysh became too severe, he set out for al-Ṭāʾif, a well-known town.