~c. 615 CE
As the Quraysh sat cursing and mocking the Prophet ﷺ, Utbah ibn Rabi'ah proposed that someone actually try to negotiate with him, and volunteered himself as their representative. He went to the Prophet ﷺ, who was sitting in front of the Ka'bah, and opened by asking whether he considered himself better than his father Abdullah and grandfather Abdul Muttalib, a loaded question the Prophet ﷺ met with silence. Utbah then laid out the harm his message had caused Makkan society and offered him wealth, kingship, marriage to any woman he chose, or treatment if he believed himself unwell, in exchange for abandoning his call. When Utbah finished, the Prophet ﷺ recited the opening of Surah Fussilat to him. As the recitation reached the warning of a thunderbolt like that which struck Ad and Thamud [Quran, 41:13], Utbah, trembling, put his hand over the Prophet ﷺ's mouth and begged him, by their kinship, to stop. He returned to the Quraysh visibly shaken, urging them to leave the Prophet ﷺ alone, saying he had heard a speech unlike anything before and that Muhammad ﷺ would have a great matter ahead of him, and that if the Arabs dealt with him instead of the Quraysh having to, or if he prevailed, either way the Quraysh's hands would be clean or share in his victory. The Quraysh dismissed this, telling Utbah that Muhammad ﷺ had bewitched him as he had bewitched everyone else.
One of the most detailed accounts of the Qur'an's effect even on a hardened negotiator sent expressly to buy the Prophet ﷺ off.
Other events recorded around the same time. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
Have any of you actually tried to negotiate with him? ... Send me as your representative, and allow me to speak on your behalf. We know him to be a good man. I'm sure we can work something out.
Said to the Quraysh as they sat cursing and mocking the Prophet ﷺ, after they admitted none of them had tried to negotiate with him directly.
O my nephew, you know your status and lineage. But now you have come forth with a matter that has caused havoc in our society. O Muhammad ﷺ, are you better than your father Abdullah? Are you better than your grandfather Abdul Muttalib?
Said to the Prophet ﷺ, who was sitting in front of the Ka'bah, as Utbah opened the negotiation the Quraysh had sent him to carry out. The Prophet ﷺ did not answer, recognizing it as a loaded question he could not answer without either lying or seeming to insult his own forefathers.
We have never seen any young man as promising as you flip around and become so unpromising. The Arabs are all making fun of us, the people are mocking your call, and you have split us up. You are an intelligent man, so listen to me: if you wish for money, we will give you more money than anybody amongst us, and you shall be the richest of the Arabs. If you want power, we will make you our king. If you want women, choose any woman you wish and we will make sure she is married to you. And if you think you are unwell, we will hire doctors to cure you.
Are you done, ya Aba al-Walid? Now listen to me.
Utbah confirmed he had said all he had ('No, that is all I have'). The Prophet ﷺ then recited the opening of Surah Fussilat to him.
I beg you, by Allah and by the rights that I have over you as your blood relative, to stop! And do not send this punishment!
Said when the recitation reached the warning of a thunderbolt like that which struck 'Ad and Thamud [Quran, 41:13]; Utbah, trembling, put his hand over the Prophet ﷺ's mouth.
Listen to me. Leave this man alone. Because I have heard a speech from him that I have never heard before. I could not comprehend all of it; however, he is going to have a great matter ahead of him. If the Arabs get rid of him for us, then our hands are clean; but if he wins over the Arabs, then by Allah, his victory is our victory, and his power is our power.
Said upon returning to the Quraysh who had sent him as their representative, visibly shaken.
“But if they turn away, then say, 'I have warned you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt [that struck] Ad and Thamud.'”
This is the exact ayah, per the well-documented narration (and this event's own title), that the Prophet ﷺ recited to Utbah ibn Rabi'ah -- who turned pale at the mention of a "thunderbolt like that of Ad and Thamud."