This unnamed man was a slave in the Makkan household of al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, who was then a prisoner in Madinah after Badr in 2 AH. When Abu Sufyan returned and, at al-Abbas's house, described the defeat to Abu Lahab, including the men in white on piebald horses whom no one could withstand, the slave, who was listening, jumped up with joy and exclaimed, "By Allah! Those were the angels helping the Muslims!" Abu Lahab lost his temper, threw him to the ground and beat him almost to death. Umm al-Fadl, al-Abbas's wife, tried to stop him, and when Abu Lahab turned on her too, she rebuked him for attacking the household of its master in his absence.
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