Ibn Hishām(1) remarks: God revealed—according to what Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah transmitted from Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Qatādah—the verse: “O you who believe! Do not betray Allah and the Messenger, nor betray your trusts while you know” (al-Anfāl 27).

Ibn Hishām(2) continues: Abū Lubābah remained tied for six nights. At each prayer time his wife would come, untie him so that he could perform ablution and pray, then he would bind himself again, until his repentance was confirmed in the words of the Almighty: “And others have acknowledged their sins; they mixed a righteous deed with another evil one. It may be that Allah will turn to them in mercy; surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (al-Tawbah 102).

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah’s version—that he stayed bound for twenty nights—appears more plausible, and Allah knows best.

Ibn Isḥāq(3) relates that Allah informed His Messenger ﷺ of Abū Lubābah’s acceptance of repentance toward the end of the night while he was in the house of Umm Salamah. The Prophet began to smile,(4) and when Umm Salamah inquired he told her that Allah had accepted Abū Lubābah’s repentance. She asked leave to convey the news; when he granted it, she went out and announced it. People hurried over to congratulate him and tried to untie him, but he said, “By Allah, none shall release me except the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came out for the dawn prayer he released him from the rope and was pleased with him.

Ibn Isḥāq(5) adds: Thalabah ibn Saʿyah, Usayd ibn Saʿyah, and Asad ibn ʿUbayd—a number of men from the clan of [Hadl], neither from Qurayzah nor al-Naḍīr yet related to them by blood—embraced Islam on the very night Qurayzah submitted to the judgment of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

That same night ʿAmr ibn Suʿdā al-Qurazī slipped out and passed the guard post of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, which was under the command of Muḥammad ibn Maslamah. When Muḥammad saw him he asked, “Who is it?” He replied, “ʿAmr ibn Suʿdā”—for ʿAmr had refused to join Banū Qurayzah in their treachery against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, saying, “I will never betray Muḥammad.” When Muḥammad ibn Maslamah recognized him he said, “O Allah, do not deprive me of overlooking the stumbles of honorable men.” He then concealed his trail and let him go, so that ʿAmr spent that night in the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. Thereafter he departed, and no one knows where he went to this day.

His story was reported to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said, “That is a man whom Allah delivered because of his loyalty.”

Some claim he had actually been tied up with the rest of Banū Qurayzah; at daybreak his rope was found lying on the ground and no one knew where he had gone. Concerning him the Messenger of Allah ﷺ uttered that statement—and Allah knows best which account is correct.

Ibn Isḥāq(6) further narrates: When morning came they surrendered to the judgment of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Aws sprang to their feet and said, “O Messenger of Allah, they were our allies, not those of the Khazraj, and yesterday you dealt with the allies of our brothers as you know”—alluding to his pardon of Banū Qaynuqāʿ when ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy interceded for them, as mentioned earlier.