indeed, the most handsome of them all. When Abraha saw him he held him in high esteem and could not bear to seat him beneath him, yet he was reluctant for the Abyssinians to witness him sharing the royal throne. So Abraha stepped down from his seat, sat upon his carpet, and placed ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib at his side.

Then he said to his interpreter, “Ask him: what is your request?” The interpreter conveyed the question, and ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib replied, “My request is that the king return to me the two hundred camels he has taken.”

When Abraha heard this he said to the interpreter, “Tell him: You impressed me when I first saw you, but I have lost interest in you now that you have spoken. You address me about two hundred camels I have seized from you, yet you say nothing of the House that is your religion and the religion of your forefathers, the very House I have come to demolish—why do you not speak to me about it?”

ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib answered, “I am the owner of the camels; the House has a Lord who will protect it.”

Abraha retorted, “It will not be protected from me.”

ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib replied, “That is between you and Him.” Abraha then returned the camels to ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib.

Ibn Isḥāq relates that it is also said that when ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib entered upon Abraha he was accompanied by Yaʿmar ibn Nufātha ibn ʿAdī ibn al-Dīl ibn Bakr ibn ʿAbd Manāh ibn Kinānah, the chief of Banū Bakr, and Khuwaylid ibn Wāʾilah, the chief of Hudhayl. They offered Abraha one-third of the wealth of Tihāmah on condition that he withdraw and not demolish the House, but he refused. Allah knows best whether this actually occurred.

When they withdrew, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib returned to Quraysh, informed them of what had happened, and ordered them to leave Mecca and seek refuge on the mountain tops. Then he went to the Kaʿbah, grasped the ring of its door, and a number of Quraysh stood with him.