He did not come out of his house for many days -so much so...

He did not come out of his house for many days -so much so that Quraysh began ridiculing him and said: "Walid has given up the creed of his forefathers and has adopted the faith of Muhammad".[^1] Tabarsi says: "When Surah al-Ghafir was revealed to the Holy Prophet he recited it in a very attractive voice in order to communicate the Divine verses to the people.

By chance Walid was then sitting by his side and heard these verses without being attentive: This Book is revealed by Allah, the Mighty One, the All-Knowing, Who forgives sin and accepts repentance; the Bountiful One, Whose punishment is stern. There is no god but He. All shall return to Him. None but the unbelievers dispute the revelations of Allah. Don't be deceived by their activities in the land........... These verses impressed the sage of Arabia very much.

When Bani Makhzum came round him he commended the Holy Qur'an in these words: "Today I have heard from Muhammad a speech which does not belong to the category of the speeches of the human beings and the genii. It is very melodious and possesses a special beauty. Its branches are full of fruits and its roots abound with blessings.

It is an outstanding narration and no other narration is as outstanding as this." He uttered these sentences and went his way and Quraysh thought that he had begun to believe in Muhammad's religion.[^2] According to a great scholar [^3] this was the first commendation and praise of the Qur'an by a human being and a careful study of this speech makes the miraculous nature of the Holy Qur'an vis-a-vis Arab ignorance absolutely clear and it becomes evident that the reason of the Holy Qur'an being a miracle in their eyes was its unusual rapture, attraction, sweetness and melody, because they did not find such deliciousness and elegance in any other thing except the Qur'an.

Another Example 'Utbah bin Rabiyyah was one of the elders of Quraysh. At the time when Hamzah embraced Islam the entire assembly of Quraysh was stricken with sorrow and grief and their chiefs feared that the Islamic faith would expand further. At that stage 'Atbah said: "I shall go to Muhammad and shall make some offers to him. It is possible that he may accept one of them and abandon the new religion". The chiefs endorsed his view.

He, therefore, got up and went to the Prophet who was then sitting in the Masjid. He offered to him wealth, authority and medical treatment in very gentle words.