When Abû Tâlib died, Quraysh harmed the Prophet ﷺ as they never had while his uncle lived.
Khadîja (may Allah be pleased with her) had died too. That year is told in the book The Year of Sorrow.
So he went out to Tâ'if, to seek support from Thaqîf, the tribe of that town.
He hoped for two things: their protection against his people, and that they accept what he brought.
Tâ'if was a walled town, with its gardens, its wells and its vines.
And they said, “Why was this Qur'an not sent down upon a great man from [one of] the two cities?”
The two cities, the commentators say, are Mecca and Tâ'if. Its great men were counted beside those of Mecca.
It was to those great men that he ﷺ was now walking.
Zayd ibn Hâritha (may Allah be pleased with him) went with him, it is said; some say he went alone.
It was the end of Shawwâl, in the tenth year of the mission.
He stayed ten days. He left none of their notables without going to him and speaking to him.
In Tâ'if he went to three brothers, the chiefs and nobles of Thaqîf at that time.
Their names: 'Abd Yâlîl, Mas'ûd and Habîb, the sons of 'Amr ibn 'Umayr.
He sat with them and called them to Allah. He asked them to help him for Islam, and to stand with him.
The first said he would tear the cloth of the Ka'ba if Allah had really sent him.
The second asked whether Allah had found no one else to send but him.
The third swore never to speak to him: a true messenger would be too great to answer, a liar not worth a word.
Three men, three ways of closing a door: mockery, contempt, and silence.
He rose and left them, with no hope left of any good from Thaqîf.
He asked them, it is said, to keep his visit quiet: he did not want Quraysh to hear of it and grow bolder.
After his uncle's death, Quraysh grew bolder. The Prophet ﷺ walked to another town to ask for help.
Why Tâ'if? And what did its three leaders answer him?
He knocked on the door he hoped most from, and it closed three times. He had still gone, and still asked.
Tonight, think of one thing you no longer dare ask for, out of fear of a no. Ask Allah first, then ask.