The News Reaches Makkah

The news was delivered to Makkah by a man called al-Ḥaysumān al-Khuzāʿī. Al-Ḥaysumān al-Khuzāʿī rushes into Makkah and says: Abū al-Ḥakam was killed, ʿUtbah was killed, Shaybah was killed, al-Walīd was killed — and it's going down the list — and Umayyah was killed. Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah was listening, and he said: this man has lost his mind — ask him about me, to make sure he isn't crazy. So they asked him: what about Ṣafwān, what happened to him? He said: Ṣafwān is sitting right there, and I have seen the death of his father and his brother with my own eyes. And for the people of Makkah, it was too bad to be true. How could Abū Jahl be killed, and Umayyah be killed, and ʿUtbah be killed? It's impossible. But surely the news was sinking in.