It is reported on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas that when this verse was revealed:
And warn thy nearest kindred (and thy group of selected people among them) the Messenger of Allah ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) set off till he climbed Safa' and called loudly: Be on your guard! They said: Who is it calling aloud? They said: Muhammad. They gathered round him, and he said: O sons of so and so, O sons of so and so, O sons of 'Abd Manaf, O sons of 'Abd al-Muttalib, and they gathered around him. He (the Apostle) said: If I were to inform you that there were horsemen emerging out of the foot of this mountain, would you believe me? They said: We have not experienced any lie from you. He said: Well, I am a warner to you before a severe torment. He (the narrator) said that Abu Lahab then said: Destruction to you! Is it for this you have gathered us? He (the Holy Prophet) then stood up, and this verse was revealed: Perish the hands of Abu Lahab, and he indeed perished (cxi. 1). A'mash recited this to the end of the Sura.