and keep him away from us.’
So he said, ‘Aqīl, go and bring Muhammad to me.’ I went to him and led him out of a small hut—called a kins (or, as he also said, a khins), meaning a modest dwelling—and I brought him in the blazing heat of midday.
When he arrived, Abū Ṭālib said, ‘These cousins of yours claim that you offend them in their gathering-place and in their mosque; desist from harming them.’
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ lifted his gaze toward the sky and said, ‘Do you see this sun?’ They replied, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘I am no more able to abandon what I do than you are able to kindle a flame from it.’
Abū Ṭālib then declared, ‘By Allah, my nephew has never lied. Go back.’
Al-Bukhārī recorded this in al-Tārīkh through Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAlāʾ from Yūnus ibn Bukayr. Al-Bayhaqī likewise transmitted it, through al-Ḥākim, al-Aṣamm, and Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār, from the same chain, using these very words.
Al-Bayhaqī further reported—by way of Yūnus from Ibn Isḥāq—that Yaʿqūb ibn ʿUtbah ibn al-Mughīrah ibn al-Akhnas related: When Quraysh made that demand of Abū Ṭālib, he summoned the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, ‘My nephew, your people have come to me and said such-and-such. Spare me and spare yourself; do not burden me with something that neither I nor you can bear. Refrain from saying to your people what they dislike.’
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ thought his uncle had changed toward him—was about to abandon and surrender him—and he felt too weak to stand alone. He said:
‘Uncle, were they to place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, I would not abandon this matter until Allah makes it prevail or I perish in the attempt.’
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then wept. As he turned to leave, Abū Ṭālib, seeing how far matters had gone, called out, ‘My nephew!’ He turned to him and said, ‘Proceed with your mission and do whatever you wish. By Allah, I will never hand you over to anyone.’
Ibn Isḥāq said that Abū Ṭālib composed the following verses:
By Allah, they shall never reach you with their hosts
Until I lie buried, my body hidden in the dust.
So go your way; upon you there is no blame—
Rejoice, and let your eyes find ease in that.
You called me, and I know you are my well-wisher;
Indeed you spoke the truth and have always been trustworthy.