Ibn Hishām remarks: “Most scholars of poetry deny that these verses are Ḥassān’s.”
The Expedition of ʿAmr ibn Umayya al-Ḍamrī, mounted after the martyrdom of Khubayb
Al-Wāqidī relates—reported by Ibrāhīm ibn Jaʿfar from his father; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī ʿUbaydah from Jaʿfar ibn ʿAmr ibn Umayya al-Ḍamrī; and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar from ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Abī ʿAwn, each adding details to the others’—that:
Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb once said to a band of Quraysh in Mecca, “Will no one rid us of Muḥammad? He walks about the market-places; if someone would assassinate him we could avenge ourselves.”
A certain Bedouin came to him and, once inside his house, said, “If you equip me, I shall go out and kill him. I am an expert tracker and guide, and I carry a dagger as keen as an eagle’s talon.”
Abū Sufyān answered, “You are our man,” handed him a camel and travel expenses, and cautioned, “Keep this quiet, for I fear someone might hear and pass word to Muḥammad.” The Bedouin replied, “No one will know.”
He set off by night on his mount, travelled for five nights, and at dawn on the sixth reached the ridge of the lava field. He began inquiring about the Messenger of God ﷺ until he came to the prayer-ground. Someone told him, “He has gone to the Banū ʿAbd al-Ashhal.” He led his camel there, tethered it, and then approached the Messenger of God ﷺ. He found him speaking in the mosque with a group of Companions and entered.
When the Prophet ﷺ saw him he said to his Companions, “This man intends treachery, but God will thwart him.”
The man stood and asked, “Which of you is the son of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib?”
The Prophet ﷺ replied, “I am the son of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib.”
The Bedouin moved toward him as though to whisper, but Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr pulled him back, saying, “Step away from the Messenger of God.” Usayd tugged at the inner fold of the man’s cloak and—there was the dagger! “Messenger of God,” he said, “this fellow is a traitor.”
The Bedouin was dumbfounded and cried, “My blood, my blood, Muḥammad!” Usayd seized him by the collar, and the Prophet ﷺ said, “Tell me the truth: who are you and what brought you here? If you speak truthfully it will benefit you; if you lie, I already know what you intended.”
The man asked, “Am I safe?” “You are safe,” he replied.
The Bedouin then disclosed Abū Sufyān’s plan and the reward he had promised. The Prophet ﷺ ordered that he be kept under guard with Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr. The next day he summoned him and said, “I have granted you security, so go wherever you wish—or would you like something better than that?”
“What is it?” the man asked.
“That you testify that there is no god but God and that I am the Messenger of God.”
He declared, “I bear witness that there is no god but God and that you are the Messenger of God. By God, Muḥammad, I was never afraid of any man, yet the moment I saw you my mind deserted me and my courage failed. Then you exposed the very scheme I had concealed from everyone, and I knew that you are under God’s protection and upon the truth, while Abū Sufyān’s party is the party of Satan.” The Prophet ﷺ smiled.
The man remained for several days, then asked leave of the Prophet ﷺ, departed, and was never heard of again.
The Messenger of God ﷺ then said to ʿAmr ibn Umayya al-Ḍamrī and Salamah ibn Aslam ibn Ḥurayth, “Go forth until you reach …”