Khubayb ibn Adiy was a noble companion of the Messenger of Allah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, who was killed as by Quraish as a revenge for their losses in the Battle of Badr. He was lead to the place of his death by thousands of people. Once they arrived to the place, Khubayb asked his tormentors:
“If you would, leave me to pray two rakaats before my death.”
He was permitted to do so. After he finished he said:
“By God, if you thought that I asked to pray out of fear of death, I would think the prayer not worth the trouble”.
Then the Meccans set about dismembering Khubayb’s body while he was yet alive and taunting him in the process.
“Would you like Muhammad to be in your place while you go free?”
With his blood flowing, he replied:
“By God, I would not want to be safe and secure among my family while even a thorn hurts Muhammad.”
{The following poem titled, ‘In loving memory of Khubayb’, is reputedly composed by the Muslim poet Hassan Ibn Thabit, and is hailed in Arabic literature as a masterpiece. The charm of the original language and its lilt is impossible to convey in translation}
The enemy allies have converged on me,
incited their clansmen to muster strength;
They’ve invited their women and children to see,
and tied me to a solid trunk.
To Allah I complain of my loneliness and suffering;
Of enemies who surround me to rejoice at my death.
O Master of the Mighty Throne, grant me strength ,
To bear what they are doing to me;
Piercing my flesh and tearing my limbs.
They gave me a choice to turn away from Thee,
But death is preferrable to that;
That very thought of which brings tears to my eyes,
Not the pain they inflict on me.
I am not afraid of death, for some day everyone has to die;
But I shudder out of fear for the fire of Hell,
for the fury of its flames.
These limbs of mine are a sacrifice for Allah,
Hoping He’ll bless every limb offered in His way.
So long I die a Muslim, I don’t regret a thing,
For My death will occur in Allah’s way.
At every piercing stab of their sharp spears he chanted:
La ilaha illa Allah Muhammad arRasul Allah,
until his noble soul fled from his body in search of his Lord,
to complain of the tyranny of his tormentors.}
