The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by Ibn Kathir - Volume 1 of 4

IMAM ABU AL-FID.&' ISMA'TL IBN KATH~R 345
"As he turned away, Abii T3ib called out to him, 'Come close, nephew!' So the
Messenger of God (SAAS) approached him and Abii Tdib told him, 'Go ahead,
nephew, and say whatever you wish. I will never give you up for any reason."'
Ibn Isbq stated, "When Qyaysh learned that Aha Talib had refused to abandon
the Messenger of God (SAAS) and was determined to break with them in
enmity because of this, they went to hi, bringing Wmaa b. al-Walid with
them. They told him, as I have heard, '0 Abn T%lib, this is 'Umm h. al-Walld,
the strongest and best-looking young man of Quraysh. Take him and use his
mind and strength and adopt him as your own son; he is yours. And hand over
to us this nephew of yours who has opposed your religion and that of your forefathers,
broken up the unity of your people and ridiculed our values, so that we
may kill him. It will be just one man for another!'
"Aha TZlib responded, 'By God, what evil is this you ask of me! Will you give
me your son to feed for you, while I give you mine for you to kill? This, by God,
will never happen!'
"Al-Mutcim b. 'Adi h. Nawfal b. 'Abd Mand b. Qusayy then said, 'By God,
Aha Talib, your people have been fair with you and have done their best to
avoid offending you. But I don't see you give them anything in return.'
"Abii Tdih replied to al-Mut4m, 'I swear by God they have not been fair
with me. You have agreed to ostracize me and turn the people against me. So do
what you think fit.' Or words to that effect.
"The situation worsened and the conflict became more heated, with the
people adopting different sides and expressing mutual hostility.
"Ahn Tdib spoke verses about all this criticizing al-MutCim h. 'Adi and those
of Banii 'Abd Manaf and the other Quraysh tribes who were hostile to him. In
these verses he made reference to their request to him and to their alienation:
'Tell Vmr, al-Walrd and Mut'i: "Instead of your (worthless) protection I'd
rather have a camel calf
That was sickly and ungainly, that moaned a lot, its urine dripping down its legs,
That was left behind the herd and couldn't keep up, one that looked more like a
stoat when climbing the dunes."
I see both our brothers, sons of our father and our mother, who reply when asked,
"It's someone else's prohiem."
No, it is their concern, though they disappeared with the speed of a rock dropping
from atop Mt. Dhii 'Alaq.
I single out 'Ahd Shams and Nawfal, both having dropped us like hot coals
They have slandered and insulted their brothers (in front of) the people; their
hands now hold nothing for them
They have shared their prestige with men whose fathers are unknown except for
being of low repute.