We have seen no other man of Arabia, who has brought so great a calamity to a nation, as you have  done. You have outraged our gods and religion and taxed our forefathers and wise men with impiety  and error and created strife amongst us. You have left no stone unturned to estrange the relations  with  us. If you are doing all this with a view to getting wealth, we will join together to give you greater  riches than any Quraishite has possessed. If ambition moves you, we will make you our chief. If you  desire kingship we will readily offer you that. If you are under the power of an evil spirit which seems  to  haunt and dominate you so that you cannot shake off its yoke, then we shall call in skilful physicians  to  cure you.
"Have you said all?" asked Muhammad (Peace be upon him); and then hearing that all had been said,  he spoke forth, and said:
"In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. Hâ-Mîm. These letters are one of  the miracles of the Qur'ân, and none but Allâh (Alone) knows their meanings. A revelation from
Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. A Book whereof the verses are explained in detail;
— a Qur'ân in Arabic for people who know. Giving glad tidings of Paradise to the one who  believes in the Oneness of Allâh (i.e. Islamic Monotheism) and fears Allâh much (abstains from  all kinds of sins and evil deeds.) and loves Allâh much (performing all kinds of good deeds which
He has ordained), and warning (of punishment in the Hell-fire to the one who disbelieves in the
Oneness of Allâh), but most of them turn away, so they listen not. And they say: Our hearts are  under coverings (screened) from that to which you invite us …" 41: 1-5
The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) went on reciting the Chapter while U ' tbah sitting and  listening attentively with his hand behind his back to support him. When the Messenger reached the  verse that required prostration, he immediately prostrated himself. After that, he turned to U ' tbah  saying: "Well Abu Al-Waleed! You have heard my reply, you are now free to do whatever you please."
U ' tbah then retired to his company to apprise them of the Pro phets  ' attitude. When his compatriots  saw  him, they swore that he had returned to them with a countenance unlike the one he had before  meeting the Prophet (Peace be upon him) . He immediately communicated to them the details of the  talk he gave and the reply he received, and appended saying: "I have never heard words similar to  those ones he recited. They definitely relate neither to poetry nor to witchcraft nor do they derive  from  soothsaying. O people of Quraish! I request you to heed my advice and grant the man full freedom to  pursue his goals, in which case you could safely detach yourselves from him. I swear that his words  bear a supreme Message. Should the other Arabs rid you of him, they will then spare you the trouble,  on the other hand if he accedes to power over the Arabs, then you will bask in his kingship and share  him his might." These words of course fell on deaf ears, and did not appeal to the infidels, who jeered  at U ' tbah and claimed that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had bewitched him.
In another version of the same event, it is related that U ' tbah went on attentively listening to the
Prophet (Peace be upon him) until the latter began to recite Allâhs  ' Words:
"But if they turn away, they say O Muhammad (Peace be upon him) : "I have warned you of a
Sa'iqa (a destructive awful cry, torment, hit, a thunder-bolt) like the Sa'iqa which overtook A ' d  and Thamûd (people)." 41:13
Here U ' tbah stood up panicked and stunned putting his hand on the Prophets  ' mouth beseeching him:
"I beg you in the Name of Allâh and uterine ties to stop lest the calamity should befall the people of
Quraish." He then hurriedly returned to his compatriots and informed them of what he had heard.
ABU TALIB ASSEMBLES BANI HASHIM ND BANI AL-MUTTALIB: The new and welcome changes  notwithstanding, Abu Talib still had a deep sensation of fear over his nephew. He deliberated on the  previous series of incidents including the barter affair of A ' marah bin Al -Waleed, Abu Jahls  ' rock,
U ' qbahs  ' attempt to choke the P rophet (Peace be upon him) , and finally U ' mar's (before conversion)  intention to kill Muhammad (Peace be upon him). The wise man understood that all of these  unequivocally smacked of a serious plot being hatched to disregard his status as a custodian of the
Prophet (Peace be upon him), and kill the latter publicly. In the event of such a thing, Abu Talib  deeply  believed, neither U ' mar nor Hamzah would be of any avail, socially powerful though they were.
Abu Talib was right. The polytheists had laid a carefully-studied plan to kill the Prophet (Peace be upon  him), and banded together to put their plan into effect. He, therefore, assembled his kinsfolk of Bani
Hashim and Bani Al-Muttalib, sons of A ' bd Munaf and exhorted them to immunize and defend his