Then both he and al-Bayhaqī transmitted the report—through the isnād of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zinād—with wording to the same effect.

Al-Bayhaqī also related: Abū Ṭāhir the jurist told us; Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Qaṭṭān told us; Abū al-Azhar told us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī told us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr told us, from Muḥammad ibn al-Munkadir, from Rabīʿah al-Dīlī, who said:

“I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Dhū al-Majāz, going from one campsite to another, calling people to Allah. Behind him was a cross-eyed man whose cheeks were glowing. He kept saying, ‘People, do not let this man deceive you about your religion and the religion of your fathers!’ I asked, ‘Who is that?’ They said, ‘That is Abū Lahab.’

Al-Bayhaqī likewise transmitted the account through Shuʿbah, from al-Ashʿath ibn Sulaym, from a man of Kinānah, who said:

“I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the market of Dhū al-Majāz proclaiming, ‘O people, say: There is no god but Allah and you will prosper!’ A man was following behind him, flinging dust over him—it was Abū Jahl—while saying, ‘People, do not let this man turn you away from your religion; he only wants you to abandon the worship of al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā.’”

Although this version names Abū Jahl, the more likely view is that the man was Abū Lahab. We shall give the remainder of his biography when we discuss his death, which occurred after the Battle of Badr, God willing.

As for Abū Ṭālib, he was profoundly protective and naturally tender-hearted, as will become clear from his actions and noble traits, and from the measures he adopted to shield the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions—may Allah be pleased with them.

Yūnus ibn Bukayr narrated from Ṭalḥah ibn Yaḥyā ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, from Mūsā ibn Ṭalḥah, who said: ʿAqīl ibn Abī Ṭālib told me, “The Quraysh came to Abū Ṭālib and said, ‘Your nephew has harmed us in our meeting-place and in our mosque; stop him.’”