the foremost chiefs.
He (the narrator) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then came toward us, smiling.
ʿAlī—may Allah be pleased with him—said: I said to Abū Bakr, “O Abū Bakr, that Bedouin has struck you with a crushing blow!”
He replied, “Indeed, O Abū al-Ḥasan. There is no calamity but that an even greater one is above it, and misfortune is tethered to the tongue.”
He (ʿAlī) added: We then arrived at a gathering characterized by serenity and dignity. Seated there were venerable elders of standing and presence. Abū Bakr stepped forward and gave the greeting of peace—ʿAlī said: Abū Bakr was always the first to every good—
Abū Bakr asked them, “From which people are you?”
They answered, “From Banū Shaybān ibn Thaʿlabah.”
Abū Bakr turned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, “May my father and mother be sacrificed for you; after these men, none in their tribe possesses greater honor.”
(In another narration he said: “No excuse remains for their people after these men; they are the elite of their clan, the very elite of mankind.”)
In that company were Mafrūq ibn ʿAmr, Hāniʾ ibn Qabīṣah, al-Muthannā ibn Ḥārithah, and al-Nuʿmān ibn Sharīk. The closest of them to Abū Bakr was Mafrūq ibn ʿAmr, who surpassed them all in eloquence. Two long braids hung upon his chest, and he sat nearest to Abū Bakr.
Abū Bakr asked him, “How many are you in number?”
He replied, “We exceed a thousand, and a thousand are never overcome for being too few.”
Abū Bakr asked, “And how strong is your protection?”
He said, “We expend our utmost; every people has its own vigor.”
Abū Bakr asked, “What is war like between you and your enemies?”
Mafrūq answered, “We are at our most furious when battle is first joined, and at our fiercest in combat when anger flames. We value our thoroughbred horses above our own unborn children, and weapons above milch-camels. Victory is from Allah—sometimes He grants it to us, and at other times He grants it against us. Are you the man of Quraysh?”
Abū Bakr replied, “If you have heard that he is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then here he is.”
Mafrūq said, “We have heard that he claims that.” Then he turned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and asked, “To what do you call, O brother of Quraysh?”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stepped forward and sat down, while Abū Bakr shaded him with his cloak. He ﷺ said:
“I summon you to bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone without partner, and that I am the Messenger of Allah; to shelter me, protect me, and support me until I deliver on Allah’s behalf what He has charged me with. Quraysh have banded together against Allah’s command, denied His Messenger, and preferred falsehood to truth—yet Allah is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy.”
Mafrūq said, “And what else do you call us to, O brother of Quraysh?”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited: “Say, ‘Come, let me recite what your Lord has forbidden you: that you associate nothing with Him, and that you show kindness to your parents…’” until His words, “This He has instructed you with, that you may understand.” (Sūrat al-Anʿām 6:151-153)
Mafrūq then said, “And what else do you summon us to, O brother of…"