—and a tongue of fire (1) almost scorched me (2). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ turned toward me and said, “Shaybah, come closer.” I moved up to him, and he placed his hand upon my chest, saying, “O Allah, protect him from Satan.” He (Shaybah) said: “By Allah, before he lifted his hand he had become dearer to me that day than my very hearing and sight. He then said, ‘Go forward and fight.’ I advanced against the enemy, and, by Allah, had I met my own father alive that day I would have slain him.
When the combatants regrouped, he said to me, ‘Shaybah, what Allah has willed for you is better than what you had willed for yourself.’ He then told me everything that had been in my heart—matters known to no one but Allah, exalted is He. I bore witness and said, ‘I seek Allah’s forgiveness,’ and he replied, ‘May Allah forgive you.’ (3)
He succeeded ʿUthmān ibn Ṭalḥah in the custodianship of the Kaʿbah, and the key has remained with his descendants and household to this very day. The Banū Shaybah are named after him, and they are the keepers of the Kaʿbah.
Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ (4) and others state that he died in the year 59 AH. Muḥammad ibn Saʿd (5) says he lived on into the time of Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah, while Ibn al-Jawzī records in al-Muntaẓam that he died this same year.
ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Rabīʿah (6) ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim was a Companion who settled in Damascus, where he owned a house. At his death he appointed Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah—then Commander of the Believers—as his executor.
Al-Walīd ibn ʿUqbah (7) ibn Abī Muʿayṭ Abān (8) ibn Abī ʿAmr Dhakwān ibn Umayyah ibn ʿAbd Shams ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Quṣayy, Abū Wahb, was a Qurashi of the clan of al-ʿAbshamī.
(1) “ash-Shiwadh”: the flame.
(2) “yamhashni”: it burns me.
(3) Mukhtasar Tarikh Dimashq, vol. 11, p. 10.
(4) Tarikhuhu, p. 226; see Tahdhib al-Kamal, vol. 12, p. 606.
(5) Tabaqat al-Kubra, vol. 5, p. 448.
(6) Tabaqat Ibn Sa‘d, vol. 4, p. 57; Nasab Qurayq, p. 87; Tabaqat Khalifa, pp. 14, 2808; Musnad Ahmad, vol. 4, p. 165; Tarikh al-Bukhari, vol. 6, p. 131; al-Jarh wa al-Ta‘dil, vol. 6, p. 68; Jumharat Ansab al-Arab, p. 71; al-Isti‘ab, vol. 3, p. 1006; al-Jam‘ bayna Rijal al-Sahihayn, vol. 1, p. 329; Asad al-Ghaba, vol. 3, p. 508; Tahdhib al-Asma wa al-Lughat, vol. 1 (1), p. 208; Mukhtasar Tarikh Dimashq, vol. 15, p. 293; Tahdhib al-Kamal, vol. 18, p. 278; Tarikh al-Islam, vol. 3, p. 46; al-‘Ibar, vol. 1, p. 66; Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’, vol. 3, p. 112; al-Kashif, vol. 2, p. 182; Tadhhib al-Tahdhib, vol. 2, p. 248 note A; Mir’at al-Jinan, vol. 1, p. 137; al-‘Uqd al-Thamin, vol. 5, p. 494; Tadhhib al-Tahdhib, vol. 6, p. 383; al-Isabah, vol. 2, p. 430; Khulasat al-Khazarji, p. 379; Shadharat al-Dhahab, vol. 1, p. 282.
(7) Tabaqat Ibn Sa‘d, vol. 6, p. 24 and vol. 7, p. 476; Nasab Qurayq, p. 138; Tabaqat Khalifa, pp. 57, 825, 974, 1487, 3064; Musnad Ahmad, vol. 4, p. 32; al-Muhbir (al-Fihrist); al-Ma‘arif, p. 318; al-Ma‘rifa wa al-Tarikh, vol. 3, pp. 309, 329; al-Jarh wa al-Ta‘dil, vol. 9, p. 8; Mashahir ‘Ulama’ al-Am’sar (d. 284), p. ?; al-Aghani, vol. 5, p. 122; Jumharat Ansab al-Arab, p. 115; al-Isti‘ab, vol. 4, p. 1552; Tarikh Ibn ‘Asakir, vol. 17, p. 434 note b; Asad al-Ghaba, vol. 5, p. 451; Tahdhib al-Asma wa al-Lughat, vol. 1 (2), p. 145; Mukhtasar Tarikh Dimashq, vol. 26, p. 335; Tahdhib al-Kamal, vol. 31, p. 53; Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’, vol. 3, p. 412; al-Kashif, vol. 3, p. 211; Tadhhib al-Tahdhib, vol. 4, p. 138 note A; al-‘Uqd al-Thamin, vol. 7, p. 398; al-Isabah, vol. 3, p. 637; Tadhhib al-Tahdhib, vol. 11, p. 142; Khulasat al-Khazarji, p. 417.
(8) In the printed edition, “bin Aban” is an error.