“O clan of Ibn Ukkāl, will you heed his appeal—
you pledged never to surrender the grey-haired chief?
For the sons of ʿAmr are base and abject
if they do not ransom their fettered captive. (1)
He (the poet) said: Ḥassān ibn Thābit answered him, saying (2):
[long metre]
Had Saʿd been left at liberty that day in Mecca, (3)
many of you would have lain slain before he was captured—
by the keen edge of a whetted blade,
or by a yellow shaft of nabʿa wood
that sings when the bow-string is loosed
and drives the arrows on.
He (Ibn Isḥāq) continued: The Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf went to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, informed him of the matter, and asked him to release ʿAmr ibn Abī Sufyān so that they might ransom their man with him. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, granted their request; they sent ʿAmr to Abū Sufyān, who thereupon set Saʿd free.
Ibn Isḥāq said (4): Among the captives was Abū al-ʿĀṣ ibn al-Rabīʿ ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā ibn ʿAbd Shams ibn Umayyah, the son-in-law of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and the husband of his daughter Zaynab.
Ibn Hishām added (5): The one who captured him was Kharāsh ibn al-Ṣammah of the Banū Ḥarām.
Ibn Isḥāq went on: Abū al-ʿĀṣ was counted among Mecca’s foremost men in wealth, trustworthiness, and trade. His mother was Hālah bint Khuwaylid, sister of Khadījah bint Khuwaylid. It was Khadījah who asked the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, to marry his daughter Zaynab to him, and he never refused her a request; this was before revelation. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had previously married his daughter Ruqayyah—or, according to another report, Umm Kulthūm—to ʿUtbah ibn Abī Lahab. When revelation came, Abū Lahab said, “Preoccupy Muḥammad with his own concerns,” and ordered his son ʿUtbah to divorce the daughter of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, before the marriage was consummated. She was later married to ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, may Allah be pleased with him.
They then approached Abū al-ʿĀṣ and said, “Divorce your wife; we will marry you to whichever woman of Quraysh you choose.” He replied, “By Allah, never! I will not part with my companion, nor would I exchange my wife for any woman of Quraysh.” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used—so I have been informed—to praise him for the way he treated his in-laws.
I say: The ḥadith affirming this praise of him as a son-in-law is authentically recorded in al-Ṣaḥīḥ (6), as will be mentioned later.
Ibn Isḥāq said (7): The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, neither declared anything lawful in Mecca nor forbade anything while he was powerless; Islam had already separated Zaynab, daughter of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, from Abū al-ʿĀṣ, yet he was unable to enforce their separation.