Allah, exalted is He, says:

“And when We directed toward you a group of jinn, listening to the Quran, then, when they were present for it, they said, ‘Listen attentively.’ When it was concluded, they returned to their people as warners. (29)”

Concerning His saying, “And when We directed toward you a group of jinn, listening to the Quran,” the exegetes said: When Abu Talib died, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, went alone to Ta’if, seeking from Thaqif support and protection against his own people. Muhammad ibn Ishaq narrated from Yazid ibn Ziyad, from Muhammad ibn Ka‘b al-Qurazi, who said:

When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, came to Ta’if, he went to a group of men from Thaqif. At that time, they were the leaders and nobles of Thaqif, and they were three brothers: ‘Abd Yalil, Mas‘ud, and Habib, the sons of [‘Amr ibn] Umayr (1). One of them had with him a woman from Quraysh, of the clan of Banu Jumah. The Messenger of Allah sat with them, called them to Allah, and spoke to them about the purpose for which he had come: that they support Islam and stand with him against those of his people who opposed him.

One of them said to him, “May he tear away the coverings of the Ka‘bah if Allah has sent you!” Another said, “Could Allah find no one other than you to send?” The third said, “By Allah, I shall never speak another word to you. If you are truly a messenger from Allah, as you claim, then you are far too consequential for me to answer you; and if you are lying about Allah, then it is not fitting for me to speak to you.”

So the Messenger of Allah rose from among them, having despaired of any good from Thaqif. He said to them, “Since you have done what you have done, then keep my matter secret (2).” The Messenger of Allah disliked that his people should hear of this, for it would only make them more emboldened against him. But they did not keep it secret. Instead, they incited their rabble and slaves against him, abusing him and shouting at him until people gathered around him. They forced him to take refuge in an orchard belonging to ‘Utbah and Shaybah, the sons of Rabi‘ah, who were there. The rabble of Thaqif and those who had followed them then left him.

He made his way to the shade of a grapevine and sat there, while the two sons of Rabi‘ah watched him and saw what he had suffered at the hands of the rabble of Thaqif. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, encountered that woman from Banu Jumah and said to her, “What we have suffered at the hands of your kinsmen!”

When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had found some calm, he said: “O Allah, I complain to You of my weakness, my lack of means, and the humiliation I suffer before people. You are the Most Merciful of those who show mercy; You are the Lord of the oppressed, and You are my Lord. To whom will You entrust me? To a distant stranger who meets me with hostility, or to an enemy to whom You have given power over my affair? If You are not angry with me, then I do not mind; yet Your protection is more ample for me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face, by which all darkness is illuminated and through which the affairs of this world and the Hereafter are set right, from Your wrath descending upon me or Your displeasure befalling me. To You belongs the right to reproach until You are pleased. There is no power and no might except through You.”

When the two sons of Rabi‘ah saw what he had suffered, their compassion for him was stirred. They called for a Christian servant named Addas and said to him, “Take a cluster of grapes, place it on that tray, then take it to that man and tell him to eat