The Caretaker of al-Lat

This unnamed man was the custodian of the idol al-Lat in Ta'if when Thaqif accepted Islam in 9 AH and the Prophet ﷺ sent al-Mughira ibn Shu'bah RA and Abu Sufyan to destroy it. According to al-Rawd al-Unuf and later books of seerah, the people gathered in tense silence, the women weeping. Al-Mughira struck the idol, then, as a joke, cried out and fell on his face, and the crowd rejoiced that al-Lat had struck him down. Then he jumped up and told them he had done it to show them how foolish their belief was. The furious custodian warned him, "When you get to the base of the idol, you will see the earth will swallow you up." Al-Mughira said he would not stop until he had leveled it to the ground, and he tore down al-Lat until nothing of it remained.