Al-Matalib al-'Aliyah 4233 — The ancients acknowledging the signs

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) that one day the people of Quraysh gathered and said: "Find from among yourselves the person who is the greatest expert in magic, soothsaying and poetry, and let him go to this man (the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him) who has split our community, scattered our affairs and found fault with our religion; let him speak to him and see what reply he gives." They all said: "We find no one suitable for this task other than Utbah bin Rabi'ah." So they said: "O Abu al-Walid, you go." Utbah came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Muhammad, are you better, or Abdullah (your father)?" The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent. Utbah then said: "If you claim that they (your forefathers) were better than you, then they worshipped the very gods that you speak ill of; and if you think you are better than them, then speak (with proofs) so that we may hear your words. By Allah, we have never seen among our people a child more ill-omened than you. You have scattered our unity, dispersed our affairs, found fault with our religion and disgraced us among the Arabs, until it has spread among them that a magician and a soothsayer have appeared among Quraysh. By Allah, we are now only waiting for some great disaster, like the cry of a woman in labour, when we will draw swords against one another and all of us will be wiped out. O wise man, if it is need that afflicts you through this mission, we will gather so much wealth for you that you become the richest man of Quraysh; and if you desire marriage, choose whichever of the women of Quraysh you like, and we will marry you to ten such women." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him: "Have you finished what you have to say?" He said: "Yes." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recited «Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim» "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful," and then recited: {Ha Mim. A revelation from the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful} [Surah Fussilat: 1-2] until he (peace and blessings be upon him) reached this verse: {But if they turn away, then say: I have warned you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt of Ad and Thamud} [Surah Fussilat: 13]. Utbah (alarmed on hearing this) began saying: "Enough! Enough! Do you have anything other than this?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No." He went back to Quraysh, and they asked: "What news have you brought?" He said: "Whatever things you could have said to him, I have said them all." They asked: "Did he give you any reply?" He said: "Yes! By the One who built the Ka'bah, I understood nothing of what he said, except that he warned you of a thundering punishment like the thunderbolt of Ad and Thamud." The people said: "Woe to you! A man speaks to you in the Arabic language and you do not understand what he said?" Utbah said: "By Allah, apart from the mention of that thunderbolt of punishment, I understood nothing of his speech."
Imam Abd bin Humayd and Imam Abu Ya'la narrated this hadith, both of them transmitting it from Abu Bakr (Ibn Abi Shaybah), and Imam al-Hakim declared it sahih (authentic) through the chain of Ja'far bin Awn from al-Ajlah.