He then spoke to them along the same lines as he had spoken to Bishr ibn Sufyān. They returned to Quraysh and said, “People of Quraysh, you are being hasty with Muhammad. He has not come to fight; he has come only as a visitor to this House.” Quraysh, however, distrusted them and answered sharply, “Even if he has no intention of fighting, by Allah he will never enter it over us by force, for we will not give the Arabs cause to talk about us.”
Al-Zuhrī said: Khuzaʿah—both its Muslims and its idolaters—were the repository of the Prophet’s confidential counsel; they hid nothing from him of what took place in Mecca.
He went on: Quraysh next sent Mikraz ibn Ḥafṣ ibn al-Akhyaf of Banū ʿĀmir ibn Luʾayy. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw him approaching he said, “That man is treacherous.” Once Mikraz reached him and spoke, the Prophet gave him an answer like the one he had given to Budayl and his companions. Mikraz then returned to Quraysh and reported what the Prophet had told him.
They afterward dispatched al-Ḥulays ibn ʿAlqamah—or Ibn Zabbān—who on that day was the chief of the Aḥābish, a man of Banū al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd Manāh ibn Kinānah. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw him he said, “This man belongs to a people devoted to worship; parade the sacrificial animals in front of him so that he may see them.” When al-Ḥulays beheld the hady streaming toward him across the valley, garlanded, their hair rubbed away from the long delay in reaching the place of sacrifice, he turned back to Quraysh, awed by what he had seen, and reported it to them. They retorted, “Sit down! You are only a Bedouin who understands nothing.”
Ibn Isḥāq said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr related to me that al-Ḥulays flared up at this and declared, “People of Quraysh, by Allah, this is not what we swore to you for, nor what we covenanted with you about! Is one who comes to the House of Allah to honor it to be turned away? By Him in whose hand is the soul of al-Ḥulays, you will either let Muhammad proceed to what he came for, or I shall march off with the Aḥābish as one man.” They answered, “Enough! Calm down, Ḥulays, until we secure terms that satisfy us.”
Al-Zuhrī, in his account (1), said: They then sent ʿUrwah ibn Masʿūd al-Thaqafī to the Prophet. ʿUrwah said, “People of Quraysh, I have seen how you treat anyone you send to Muhammad—harsh words and abuse. You know you are like parents to me and I am like your child”—for ʿUrwah was the son of Subayʿah bint ʿAbd Shams—“I heard of the distress that has come upon you, so I gathered those of my tribe who obeyed me and came to share your burden.” They replied, “You speak the truth; we do not suspect you.” ʿUrwah then went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and sat down before him.
He said, “Muhammad, you have gathered the riffraff of people and brought them against your own stronghold to break it open with their help. Quraysh have come out with their women and children, clad in leopard skins, swearing by Allah that you shall never enter it over them by force. By Allah, I can already see these men deserting you tomorrow.”
Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, was standing behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and shouted, “Suck the clitoris of al-Lāt! Shall we turn away from him?” ʿUrwah asked, “Who is that, Muhammad?” He replied, “That is Ibn Abī Quḥāfah.” ʿUrwah said, “By Allah, were it not for a favor you once did me, I would repay you in kind, but let this offset it.”
As he spoke, ʿUrwah kept reaching out and stroking the Prophet’s beard. Al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah, standing above the Prophet in full armor, knocked his hand away each time it touched the Prophet’s beard and said, “Keep your hand from the face of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ before it fails to come back to you.” ʿUrwah exclaimed, “Woe to you—how harsh you are!”