Blast Of Silence

We were told by al-‘Anazi abu-‘Ali that ‘Ali ibn-al-Sabbah had told him that he himself was informed by abu-al-Mundhir, who reported that his father had related to him on the authority of abu-Salih that ibn-‘Abbas said: Al-‘Uzza was a she-devil which used to frequent three trees in the valley of Nakhlah. When the Prophet captured Mecca, he dispatched Khalid ibn-al-Walid saying, “Go to the valley of Nakhlah; there you will find three trees. Cut down the first one.” Khalid went and cut it down. On his return to report, the Prophet asked him saying, “Have you seen anything there?” Khalid replied and said, “No.” The Prophet ordered him to return and cut down the second tree. He went and cut it down. On his return to report the Prophet asked him a second time, “Have you seen anything there?” Khalid answered, “No.” Thereupon the Prophet ordered him to go back and cut down the third tree. When Khalid arrived on the scene he found an Abyssinian woman with dishevelled hair and her hands placed on her shoulder[s], gnashing and grating her teeth. Behind her stood Dubayyah al-Sulami who was then the custodian of al-‘Uzza. When Dubayyah saw Khalid approaching, he said:

“O thou al-‘Uzza! Remove thy veil and tuck up thy sleeves;
Summon up thy strength and deal Khalid an unmistakable blow.
For unless thou killest him this very day,
Thou shalt be doomed to ignominy and shame.”

Thereupon Khalid replied:

“O al-‘Uzza! May thou be blasphemed, not exalted!
Verily I see that God hath abased thee.”

Turning to the woman, he dealt her a blow which severed her head in twain, and lo, she crumbled into ashes. He then cut down the tree and killed Dubayyah the custodian, after which he returned to the Prophet and reported to him his exploit. Thereupon the Prophet said, “That was al-‘Uzza. But she is no more. The Arabs shall have none after her. Verily she shall never be worshipped again.” Consequently abu-Khirash composed the preceding verses in lamentation of Dubayyah.