“O Messenger of Allah, I must speak.”
He said, “Speak.”

Al-Ḥajjāj continued:

I set out, and when I reached Mecca I stopped at Thaniyyat al-Bayḍāʾ. There I found a group of Quraysh listening for news and asking about the Messenger of Allah. They had heard that he had marched against Khaybar and knew it to be a fertile, well-fortified settlement in the Ḥijāz, supplied with provisions and fighting men, so they were prying for information from every passing rider. When they saw me they said, “It is al-Ḥajjāj ibn ʿIlāṭ!—” (they did not yet know I had embraced Islam)—“by Allah, he will have the news. Tell us, Abū Muḥammad! We have heard that the ‘severer of kinship ties’ has gone to Khaybar, the land of the Jews and the farmland of the Ḥijāz.”

I said, “Yes, that has reached me, and I have news that will gladden your hearts.”

They crowded against the flanks of my camel, pleading, “Come on, Ḥajjāj!” I said, “He has been routed with a defeat the like of which you have never heard. His companions have been slaughtered in numbers you have never heard of, and Muhammad himself has been taken prisoner. They have said, ‘We shall not kill him until we send him to Mecca, where he will be executed in front of those whose men he has slain.’”

They sprang up and ran through Mecca, shouting, “The news has reached you! Here is Muhammad—you are only waiting for him to be brought so that he may be killed in your midst.”

I then said, “Help me collect my money in Mecca and what is owed to me, for I intend to go to Khaybar and get a share of what is left of Muhammad and his companions before the merchants overtake me.”

They immediately gathered everything that belonged to me—faster than I had ever seen. I went to my wife and said, “Bring me my money”—she was keeping some of it for me—“perhaps I can reach Khaybar and profit from the trading opportunities before other merchants beat me to them.”

When al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib heard the report attributed to me, he came and stood beside me while I was in one of the merchants’ tents.

He said, “Ḥajjāj, what is this you have brought?”

I said, “Have you kept safe what I left with you?”

He replied, “Yes.”

I said, “Then step aside until I can meet you in private. As you see, I am busy gathering my wealth. Leave me until I finish.”

When I had finished collecting everything I owned in Mecca and was resolved to depart, I met al-ʿAbbās and said, “Keep my secret, Abū al-Faḍl—I fear pursuit. For three days say nothing, then speak as you please.”

He said, “I will.”

I said, “By Allah, I have left your nephew a bridegroom to the daughter of their king—meaning Ṣafiyyah bint Ḥuyayy. He has conquered Khaybar, taken everything it contained, and it now belongs to him and his companions.”

He asked, “What are you saying, Ḥajjāj?”

I answered, “Indeed, by Allah. Conceal this for me. I have accepted Islam, and I came only to collect my property lest it be seized. When three days have passed, make the matter known; by Allah, it is exactly as you would wish.”

When the third day arrived, al-ʿAbbās donned one of his robes, applied perfume, took his staff, and went out until he reached the Kaʿbah, which he circumambulated. When the people saw him they said, “Abū al-Faḍl, by Allah, this is fortitude in the face of a bitter calamity!”

He replied, “No—by Allah, the One by whom you swore! Muhammad has conquered Khaybar, has been left a bridegroom to the daughter of their king, has secured their wealth and everything in it; it now belongs to him and to his companions.”

They asked, “Who brought you this news?”

He said, “The very man who brought you what you heard. He entered your city a Muslim, took his money, and has gone to join Muhammad and his companions.”

They exclaimed, “O servants of Allah, …”