He did not regain consciousness until he was at Qarn al-Thaʿālib. A cloud then cast its shade over him; he raised his head, and in that cloud stood Gabriel, who said to him, “This is the Angel of the Mountains, conveying to you the greeting of peace.” The angel greeted him and added, “My Lord has sent me to you. If you wish, I will cause the two mountains to collapse upon them.”

But the Prophet ﷺ, out of forbearance, farsightedness, and deliberate restraint, replied, “No. I rather hope that Allah will bring forth from their loins people who will worship Allah alone, associating nothing with Him.”

And that is exactly what came to pass: from the very descendants of those idolaters who had so grievously harmed the Messenger ﷺ, Allah later produced servants who worshipped Him alone with no partner.

This makes clear that the Prophet ﷺ endured ordeals even harsher than ʾUḥud and suffered every kind of abuse, yet he remained steadfast.

One of the gravest incidents occurred when he was once prostrating beneath the Kaʿbah, praying to Allah—inside the Sacred Mosque, where a man would not strike down even his father’s killer. While he was prostrating, some of Quraysh’s insolent aggressors said, “Go to the slaughtered camel of the family of so-and-so, bring its offal and place it on Muhammad while he is prostrating.” They went and fetched the camel’s innards, and as the Messenger ﷺ remained in prostration beneath the Kaʿbah they dumped it on his back, humiliating and mocking him.

The Prophet ﷺ stayed in that posture until his daughter Fāṭimah—may Allah be pleased with her—came, removed the filth from his back, and he rose from prostration. When he had concluded the prayer, he raised his hands and called upon Allah