THE THIRD PHASE CALLING UNTO ISLAM BEYOND MAKKAH
In Shawwal (in the last of May or in the beginning of June 619 A.D.), ten years after receiving his  mission from his Lord, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) set out towards At-Ta’if, about 60 kilometres  from Makkah, in the company of his freed slave Zaid bin Haritha inviting people to Islam. But contrary  to his expectations, the general atmosphere was terribly hostile. He approached the family of ‘Umair,  who were reckoned amongst the nobility of the town. But, to his disappointment, all of them turned  deaf ear to his message and used abusive language as regards the noble cause he had been striving  for. Three brothers from the chieftains of Thaqeef —‘Abd Yaleel, Mas‘ud and Habeeb — sons of ‘Amr  bin
‘Umair Ath-Thaqafy met the Prophet (Peace be upon him) , who invited them to embrace Islam and  worship Allâh, but they impudently jeered at him and refused his invitation. “He is tearing the cloths of
Al-Ka‘bah; is it true that Allâh has sent you as a Messenger?” said one of them. “Has not Allâh found  someone else to entrust him with His Message?” said the second. “I swear by Allâh that I will never  have any contact with you. If you are really the Messenger of Allâh, then you are too serious to retort  back; and if you are belying Allâh, then I feel it is imperative not to speak to.” said the third. The
Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) , finding that they were hopeless cases, stood up and left  them  saying: “Should you indulge in these practices of yours, never divulge them to me.”
For ten days he stayed there delivering his message to several people, one after another, but all to no  purpose. Stirred up to hasten the departure of the unwelcome visitor, the people hooted him through  the alley-ways, pelted him with stones and obliged him to flee from the city pursued by a relentless  rabble. Blood flowed down both his legs; and Zaid, endeavouring to shield him, was wounded in the  head. The mob did not desist until they had chased him two or three miles across the sandy plains to  the foot of the surrounding hills. There, wearied and exhausted, he took refuge in one of the  numerous  orchards, and rested against the wall of a vineyard. At a time when the whole world seemed to have  turned against him, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) turned to his Lord and betook himself to prayer  and the following touching words are still preserved as those through which his oppressed soul gave  vent to its distress. He was weary and wounded but confident of the help of his Lord:
“O Allâh! To You alone I make complaint of my helplessness, the paucity of my resources and my  insignificance before mankind. You are the most Merciful of the mercifuls. You are the Lord of the  helpless and the weak, O Lord of mine! Into whose hands would You abandon me: into the hands  of an unsympathetic distant relative who would sullenly frown at me, or to the enemy who has  been given control over my affairs? But if Your wrath does not fall on me, there is nothing for me  to worry about.”
“I seek protection in the light of Your Countenance, which illuminates the heavens and dispels  darkness, and which controls all affairs in this world as well as in the Hereafter. May it never be  that I should incur Your wrath, or that You should be wrathful to me. And there is no power nor  resource, but Yours alone.”
Seeing him in this helpless situation, Rabi‘a’s two sons, wealthy Makkans, were moved on grounds of  kinship and compassion, and sent to him one of their Christian servants with a tray of grapes. The
Prophet (Peace be upon him) accepted the fruit with pious invocation: “In the Name of the Allâh.” The
Christian servant ‘Addas was greatly impressed by these words and said: “These are words which  people in this land do not generally use.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) inquired of him whence he  came and what religion he professed. ‘Addas replied: “I am a Christian by faith and come from
Nineveh.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) then said: “You belong to the city of the righteous Jonah,  son of Matta.” ‘Addas asked him anxiously if he knew anything about Jonah. The Prophet (Peace be  upon him) significantly remarked: “He is my brother. He was a Prophet and so am I.” Thereupon
‘Addas  paid homage to Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and kissed his hands. His masters admonished him  at  this act but he replied: “None on the earth is better than he is. He has revealed to me a truth which  only a Prophet can do.” They again reprimanded him and said: “We forewarn you against the  consequences of abandoning the faith of your forefathers. The religion which you profess is far better  than the one you feel inclined to.”
Heart-broken and depressed, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) set out on the way back to Makkah.
When he reached Qarn Al-Manazil, Allâh, the Almighty sent him Gabriel together with the angel of  mountains. The latter asked the Prophet (Peace be upon him) for permission to bury Makkah between
Al–Akhshabain —Abu Qubais and Qu‘ayqa‘an mountains. Full narration of this event was given by