Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām, al-Ḥārith ibn al-Ṣimmah, together with a band of other Muslims, accompanied him. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had climbed up into the mountain pass, Ubayy ibn Khalaf overtook him, and the Prophet ﷺ killed Ubayy, as related earlier.
Ibn Isḥāq said (1): Ubayy ibn Khalaf—as Ṣāliḥ ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf told me—used to meet the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Mecca and say, “Muḥammad, I have al-ʿAwd, a horse that I feed every day one farq of corn; I shall kill you while riding it.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would reply, “Rather, I shall be the one who kills you, if Allah wills.”
Later, at Uhud, when the Prophet ﷺ inflicted a small scratch upon Ubayy’s neck, the blood congested. On his return to Quraysh Ubayy kept saying, “By Allah, Muḥammad has killed me.” They answered, “By Allah, you have lost your mind; you are not seriously hurt.” He retorted, “He said to me in Mecca, ‘I am the one who will kill you.’ By Allah, had he merely spat upon me, he would have killed me.” The enemy of Allah died at Sarif (2) while they were taking him back to Mecca.
Ibn Isḥāq said (3): Concerning this Ḥassān ibn Thābit composed the following verses (4):
Heir to his father’s error, Ubayy was slain—
the day the Messenger met him face to face.
You came to him clutching a rotted bone,
threatening him—how blind you were, how base!
From you the Banu al-Najjār struck down Umayyah
when he cried, “O ʿAqīl, come give me aid!”
And ruined were the sons of Rabīʿah when
they followed Abu Jahl, that barren jade.
Hārith slipped off while we were occupied
with taking captives; in the night he strayed.
Ḥassān ibn Thābit also said (5):
Who will convey my words to Ubayy?
You have been hurled into the blazing fire.
From afar you longed for error, swore great oaths
that you would strike—your idle heart’s desire.
Your empty hopes, your words of disbelief
return upon you, drowning in their mire.
A thrust has reached you from a loyal hand—
noble of house, unsullied, rising higher.
His merit tops the living, every one,
when grave calamities and fears transpire.
Ibn Isḥāq said (6): When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reached the mouth of the pass, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib went out and filled