Abū Righāl was a pre-Islamic figure identified in differing traditions either as a member of the Thamūd tribe who survived divine punishment or as a man of the Thaqīf who guided Abraha's expedition towards Mecca but died before reaching his destination. In the tradition that identifies him as a man of the Thamūd, he is said to have survived briefly the divine punishment that destroyed the people who rejected Ṣāliḥ's preaching. He was saved only because he was in Mecca at the time, but as soon as