from Muzaynah and Sulaym, with contingents and converts from every tribe. All the Muhājirūn and the Anṣār accompanied the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; not one of them remained behind.
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ encamped at Marr al-Ẓahrān, all news had been cut off from Quraysh: no report concerning the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had reached them, and they did not know what he intended to do.
That night, Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb, Ḥakīm ibn Ḥizām, and Budayl ibn Warqāʾ went out to scout and look about, in hopes of finding or hearing some news. Al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib had met the Messenger of Allah ﷺ partway along the road.
Abū Sufyān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Umayyah ibn al-Mughīrah had likewise met the Messenger of Allah ﷺ somewhere between Mecca and Medina. They sought permission to enter upon him, and Umm Salamah spoke to him on their behalf. She said: “O Messenger of Allah, they are your cousin, your maternal cousin, and your son-in-law.”
He said: “I have no need of either of them. As for my cousin, he maligned my honour (2); and as for my maternal cousin and son-in-law, he is the one who said to me in Mecca the things he said (3).”
When she conveyed this to them—and Abū Sufyān had a young son with him—he said: “By Allah...”