action of the Quraish is recalled to mind and referred to in an early Madina
Sura:
And call to mind when the unbelievers plotted1 against thee, to
detain thee prisoner, or to kill thee, or to banish thee: they plotted, but God
plotted, and of plotters God is the best. Sura Al-Anfal (viii) 30.2
Abu Bakr and Muhammad took refuge in a cave for three days until the search
was over. Many years after the Qur'an alludes to the miraculous interposition of
God in protecting the Prophet:
God assisted him formerly, when the unbelievers drove him forth in company
with a second only, when they two were in the cave. God strengthened him with
hosts ye saw not, and made the words of those who believed not the abased, and
the word of God was the exalted. Sura At-Taubah (ix) 40.
The 'second of the two' thani athnain became one of the honourable
titles of Abu Bakr.3 Muhammadan