—situated to the east of Mecca, about a two-night journey away. He was accompanied by Zayd ibn Hārithah. He remained there for ten days, not leaving a single notable among them without visiting him in his home, speaking with him, and inviting him to tawḥīd (pure monotheism). None of them responded; instead they feared he might sway their youths, and so they incited their rabble against him. Whenever he walked they pelted him with stones until his feet were bleeding, while Zayd—his freedman—shielded him with his own body. At last they were driven to seek the shade of a vine arbor in an orchard belonging to ʿUtbah and Shaybah, the two sons of Rabīʿah, whereupon the riffraff that had been following him withdrew. There he supplicated, saying:

“O Allah, to You I complain of the weakness of my strength, the paucity of my means, and my insignificance in the eyes of people. O Most Merciful of the merciful, You are the Lord of the downtrodden and You are my Lord. To whom will You entrust me: to a distant one who will scowl at me, or to an enemy to whom You have given power over me? If You are not angry with me, then I do not mind; yet Your protection is more expansive for me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which darkness is illumined and the affairs of this world and the next are set right, lest Your wrath descend upon me or Your anger fall upon me. Yours alone is the right to censure until You are pleased, and there is no power nor might except through You.”

When the two sons of Rabīʿah saw what had happened to him, they felt compassion for him and said to a servant of theirs named