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22<br />
<strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Muhammad</strong> sa<br />
impressed and said, "God be with you." There was<br />
emotion in his voice. This silent scene had upset him.<br />
When the Meccans got to know <strong>of</strong> it, they sent a party in<br />
chase. This party went as far as the sea but found that<br />
the Muslims had already embarked. Not being able to<br />
overtake them, they decided to send a delegation to<br />
Abyssinia to excite the king against the refugees and to<br />
persuade him to hand them over again to Meccans. One<br />
<strong>of</strong> the delegates was ‘Amr bin al-‘As ra , who later joined<br />
Islam and conquered Egypt. The delegation went to<br />
Abyssinia, met the king and intrigued with his court.<br />
But the king proved very firm and, in spite <strong>of</strong> the<br />
pressure which the Meccan delegation and his own<br />
courtiers were able to put upon him, he refused to hand<br />
over the Muslim refugees to their persecutors. The<br />
delegation returned disappointed, but in Mecca they<br />
soon thought <strong>of</strong> another plan to force the return <strong>of</strong><br />
Muslims from Abyssinia. Among the caravans going to<br />
Abyssinia they set afloat the rumour that all Mecca had<br />
accepted Islam. When the rumour reached Abyssinia,<br />
many Muslim refugees joyfully returned to Mecca but<br />
found on arrival that the rumour which had reached<br />
them was a fabrication. Some Muslims went back again<br />
to Abyssinia but some decided to stay. Among the latter<br />
was ‘Uthman bin Maz‘un ra , son <strong>of</strong> a leading Meccan<br />
chief. ‘Uthman ra received protection from a friend <strong>of</strong> his<br />
father, Walid bin Mughira, and began to live in peace.<br />
But he saw that other Muslims continued to suffer<br />
brutal persecution. It made him very unhappy. He went<br />
to Walid and renounced his protection. He felt he should<br />
not have such protection while other Muslims continued<br />
to suffer. Walid announced this to the Meccans.<br />
One day, Labid, poet-laureate <strong>of</strong> Arabia, sat among<br />
the chiefs <strong>of</strong> Mecca, reciting his verse. He read a line<br />
which meant that all graces must ultimately come to an<br />
end. ‘Uthman ra boldly contradicted him and said, "The<br />
graces <strong>of</strong> Paradise will be everlasting." Labid, not used to<br />
such contradictions, lost his temper and said, "Quraish,<br />
your guests were not insulted like this before. Whence
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