Ibn Isḥāq (1) said: They remained in that state for two or three years, until hardship wore them down, and nothing reached them except what was smuggled in secretly by any of the Quraysh who wished to maintain ties with them.
It is related that Abū Jahl ibn Hishām once met Ḥakīm ibn Ḥizām ibn Khuwaylid ibn Asad, who was accompanied by a servant carrying wheat intended for his aunt Khadījah bint Khuwaylid—she being with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the ravine. Abū Jahl grabbed hold of him, saying, “Are you taking food to the Banū Hāshim? By God, neither you nor your food will move from here until I disgrace you in Mecca!”
Abū’l-Bukhturī ibn Hishām ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Asad came forward and asked, “What business have you with him?” Abū Jahl replied, “He is transporting food to the Banū Hāshim.” Abū’l-Bukhturī said, “It is food that his aunt had with him and sent him to bring her. Will you stop him from delivering her provisions? Let the man go.”
Abū Jahl—may Allah curse him—refused, and the two traded insults. Abū’l-Bukhturī picked up a camel’s jawbone, struck him with it, split his head, and trampled him severely. Ḥamzah ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib was close by and saw what happened. They all dreaded the incident reaching the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions, for then they would rejoice at the Quraysh’s misfortune.
All the while, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ continued to summon his people night and day, in secret and openly, publicly proclaiming Allah’s command (2), fearing no one among mankind.
When Allah thus protected him from them, and his uncle and his clan—the Banū Hāshim and Banū ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib (3)—stood between him and the violence they intended, the Quraysh turned to taunting, mocking, and disputing with him. Meanwhile, the Qur’an was being revealed concerning their deeds and those who set themselves up as his enemies—some of them named explicitly, others addressed collectively among the disbelievers Allah mentioned.
Ibn Isḥāq (4) listed among these: Abū Lahab, for whom an entire sūrah was revealed; Umayyah ibn Khalaf, at whom the verse “Woe to every slanderer, backbiter” (al-Humazah 1) —indeed the whole sūrah—was directed; and al-‘Āṣ ibn Wā’il, addressed by the verse, “Have you seen the one who rejects Our signs and says, ‘I shall surely be given wealth and children’” (Maryam 77), as noted earlier.
He also mentioned Abū Jahl ibn Hishām, who said to the Prophet ﷺ, “You will stop reviling our gods, or we will revile yours,” whereupon Allah revealed: “Do not revile those they invoke besides Allah, lest they revile Allah out of hostility, without knowledge” (al-An‘ām 108). He further cited al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah ibn ‘Alqamah (5): after the Prophet ﷺ finished his gatherings in which he recited the Qur’an and called people to Allah, al-Naḍr would sit in the same place and recite to them tales of Rustam and Isfandiyār and the wars fought between them in the era of the Persians, then say, “By God, Muḥammad’s stories are no better than mine, and his discourse is nothing …”