“The Arabs will soon arrive for the coming season, and they have already heard about your companion. Therefore, agree on one unified position concerning him; do not differ, lest you contradict one another and each of your words refute the other.”

They said, “Abu ʿAbd Shams, speak up and formulate for us a view we can adopt.”

He replied, “No—rather, you speak and I will listen.”

They suggested, “Shall we say he is a soothsayer?”

He answered, “He is not a soothsayer. I have seen soothsayers, and what he says is nothing like their whispered murmuring.”

They said, “Shall we say he is mad?”

He replied, “He is not mad. We have observed madness and recognized it, and there is nothing in what he says of choking fits, convulsive movements, or deranged whisperings.”

They said, “Shall we say he is a poet?”

He said, “He is not a poet. We know poetry in all its metres—its rajaz, its hazaj, its qasid, its short and its long forms—and what he says is not poetry.”

They said, “Then shall we say he is a sorcerer?”

He answered, “He is not a sorcerer. We have seen sorcerers and their sorcery, and there is none of their blowing or knot-tying in what he says.”

They asked, “So what shall we say, Abu ʿAbd Shams?”

He replied, “By Allah, his speech is indeed sweet; its root is abundant and its branches bear ripe fruit. Whatever you say about it will be recognised as false. The nearest allegation you can make is to say that he is a sorcerer. So say: ‘He is a sorcerer who separates a man from his religion, a man from his father, a man from his wife, a man from his brother, and a man from his clan.’ ”

They dispersed on that basis and, when the pilgrimage season came, they sat along the roads; no one passed by them without their warning him about the Prophet and repeating their charge.

Concerning al-Walid, Allah revealed:
“Leave Me alone with the one I created single-handedly,
to whom I granted abundant wealth
and sons ever at his side…” (al-Muddaththir 74:11–13) and the subsequent verses.

And regarding that group He said:
“Those who have broken the Qur’an into parts.
By your Lord, We will surely question them all
about what they used to do.” (al-Hijr 15:91–93)

The author says:
In connection with this, Almighty Allah also said—exposing their ignorance and lack of sense—
“Rather, they say, ‘[It is] confused dreams! Rather, he has fabricated it! Rather, he is a poet! Then let him bring us a sign like those that were sent to the former peoples.’ ” (al-Anbiyaʾ 21:5)

They were utterly bewildered as to what to say about him, and everything they claimed was false, for whoever departs from the truth, whatever he says is in error.

Allah the Exalted said:
“See how they coin comparisons for you and thereby go astray, and cannot find a way.” (al-Israʾ 17:48; al-Furqan 25:9)

Imam ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd related in his Musnad: Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah told us, saying: ʿAli ibn Mushir narrated to us from al-Ajlah—who is Ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Kindi—from al-Dhiyyal ibn Harmalah al-Asadi, from Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah, who said:
“Quraysh gathered one day and said, ‘Find the one among you who is most knowledgeable about sorcery, soothsaying, and poetry. Let him go to this man who has divided our community, scattered our affairs, and reviled our religion; let him speak with him and see what reply he receives.’
They said, ‘We know no one for this task except ʿUtbah ibn Rabiʿah.’”