he would turn away from me. When the estrangement of the Muslims had dragged on, I walked until I climbed over the wall of the orchard belonging to Abū Qatādah—my cousin and the dearest of people to me. I greeted him with salām, but, by Allah, he did not return the greeting. I said, “O Abū Qatādah, I adjure you by Allah: do you know that I love Allah and His Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace)?” He remained silent. I repeated the adjuration, and he stayed silent. I asked a third time, and he replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” My eyes overflowed with tears, and I turned away, climbing back over the wall.

While I was walking in the market of Madinah, a Nabataean man—one of the Syrians who had come to sell food—was calling out, “Who will direct me to Kaʿb ibn Mālik?” The people pointed him toward me until he reached me and handed me a letter from the King of Ghassān; I was literate, so I read it. It said: “To proceed: news has reached us that your companion has abandoned you. Allah has not placed you in a land of humiliation or neglect. Come to us, and we will honor you.” When I finished reading, I said, “This too is part of the trial.” I went straight to the oven and burned the letter in it.

When forty of the fifty nights had passed and no revelation had yet come, a messenger from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) arrived and said, “The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) commands you to keep away from your wife.” I asked, “Should I divorce her, or what should I do?” He said, “No—just keep away from her and do not go near her.” The same message was sent to my two companions.

So I said to my wife, “Go to your family and stay with them until Allah decides concerning this matter.” The wife of Hilāl ibn Umayyah then came to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said, “O Messenger of Allah, Hilāl ibn Umayyah is an old, helpless man who has no servant. Do you object if I serve him?” He replied, “No, but do not—”