CHAPTER SEVEN
The speech of Sahl Mawla Uthmah the Nazarene:
And ibn Sa’d said :
«On the authorities of Musa bin Ya’aqoob al-Zama’ee and Mawla Uthmah; Muhammad bin Sa’ed bin Isma’eel bin abi Fadyak narrated to us that he was a Nazarene, brought up an orphan in the guardianship of his uncle, and he used to read the Bible. He said :
“And I took a book belonging to my uncle and started reading it till I got to a page thicker than the rest of the pages; it was stuck to the next page. I separated them and read through and found in it the traits of Muhammad mentioned that he is’: (neither short nor tall, fair skinned, between his shoulders is the Seal of the prophethood. He appreciates gifts immensely but accepts n o charity. He rides both donkeys and camels, milks the ewes, wears a patched garment, and he is from the progeny of Ishmael, and his name is Ahmad). Then my uncle came in and saw the page. He beat me and said:
(What does it have to do with you opening this page!?)
(It contains the traits of the prophet Ahmad!), I said.
(He has not emerge, yet), my uncle said.»
And Wahab said:
God revealed to Isaiah:
” I am commissioning a prophet through whom I open deaf ears and closed hearts . I shall render peace of mind his clothing, reverence his watchword, devoutness his conscience , wisdom his reasoning, fidelity and truthfulness his nature, pardon, forgiveness, and fairness his natural disposition, justice his way of life , truth his law, right guidance his imam , Islam his religion , and Ahmad his name. Through him I shall guide (the people) after their straying from the right path, teach him after unlearnedness , increase (the number) of his followers after fewness, bring (the people ) together after separation, unite different hearts , dispersed desires, and different nations. I shall make his nation the best of the nations: they are the shepherds of the sun. Blessedness be upon their hearts. “
lbn abi al-Dunya mentioned an account on the authority of Uthman bin Abdul Rahman that a man from the Nazarene people of al-Shaam (Syria)went to Makkah . He came across a group of women celebrating one of their festive occasions in the absence of their husbands who were managing some of their affairs . He said:
«O women of Tayma! there will be a prophet in your midst called Ahmad. Anyone who can be a wife to him should not hesitate. »
Khadija kept what she heard in her mind.
The account of Wahab about the psalms ( al-Zaboor)
On the authority of his father, from Wahab; AbdulMun’im bin Idrees gave an account on the story of David and God ‘s Revelation to him in psalms . He said:
«O David! there will come a prophet after you called Ahmad and Muhammad, truthful and a master. I shall not be angry with him and he will never anger Me , for before he is to disobey Me, I have forgiven him: his former and latter wrong-doings . I have granted
mercy to his followers and have given them supererogatory performances ( Nawafil) as I gave the prophets (before), and bid them to do Divine precepts ( Furudhs) as I bid the prophets and the messengers (before) so that when they come to meet Me on the Day
of the Resurrection, their light (Muhammad’s followers) will be the glowing light of the prophets because I bid them to cleanse themselves before prayer as I bid the prophets before them, and I bid them to wash themselves clean a fter Janabah (a state of impurity
after engagement in sexual acts) as I bid the prophets before them , and bid them to perform the rites of pilgrimage (Hajj) as I bid the prophets before them , and bid them of Jihad as I bid the messengers before them. O David! I have favoured Muhammad and his followers overall the other nations, and I have given them six qualities I have not given to other nations:
1- I shall not take against them mistakes and forgetfulness or any wrongdoing they commit unintentionally if they ask Me to forgive them, and forgive them I shall.
2- Every good act they do willingly from the goodness of their hearts, a provision to the Hereafter, I shall double it for them many folds over and better.
3- I do hold for them many folds better than that: over calamities, if they stand patient and recalling, I have given them the power of prayer, mercy, and the right guidance.
4- When they call on Me, I shall respond and deliver.
5 – O David , he who comes to Me from the community of Muhammad professing that there is no god but Me alone , does not set up partners with Me, and he is sincere in his profession, he is with Me in My paradise, engulfed in My Munificence.
6-And he who comes to Me having disbelieved in Muhammad, or disbelieved in what he came with, and ridiculed My Book ; I shall pour forth My chatisment on him in his grave, and the angels will slap his face and his behind at the location of his fissure, and then I shall put him in the lowest abyss of Hellfire.»
The story of the stone found in the grave of Daniel
Affan said :
«On the authority of Qitadah, from Zararah bin abi Awfa, from Matraf bin Malik; Hammam narrated to us that he said:
I have witnessed the conquest of Tastur with al-Ash’ari, and we headed to the grave of Daniel in al-Suwayn where the people used to divine water (from his grave) when they fell short of it. They found with him (in his grave) a parchment. A Nazarene from al-Hira called Na’eem, asked for it and read it. At its lower part he found the following verse written:
“If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to God), Never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all Spiritual good).” (al-Imran: 85)
Thereon, forty two of their bishops embraced Islam. This took place during the caliphate of Mua-we-yah , and he rewarded them generously.»
Hammam said :
«And Bastam bin Muslim told me that Mua-we-yah bin Qurrah said:
While we were reciting to memory the Book and pondering over it, Shahr bin Howshad passed by. We invited him in. He said:
You happen to come across the expert: the Book was in the hand of Ka’b; while dying, he asked for a reliable man who would fulfil a wish for him . A cousin of mine called aba-Lubayd said : I will . He handed him the Book and said : (when you reach such-and-such a place, sail in a dinghy and toss it in the sea). He did; the water parted
and he tossed it in and returned to Ka’b and briefed him . Ka’b said: (You are telling the truth, it is the Torah that God, Most Exalted in Power, Most Sublime, sent down) .»
Similar to this are the news of Umayyah bin abi al-Sahlt al-Thaqari, and we here mention some.
Al-Zubayr bin Bakkar said :
«On the authority of Mus’ab bin Uthm an; my uncle Mus’ab narrated to me that Umayyah had pondered over the Books and read them all. He wore a haircloth frock in devoted worship . He was one of those who mentioned Abraham, Ishmael, and the true religion. He proclaimed wine and idols to be unlawful, and he went in quest of the
religion. He coveted the prophethood because he read in the Books that a prophet from among the Arabs will be sent out and he hoped it would be him. When God sent out Muhammad (peace be upon him) it was said to him : Here is the one whose coming you were foretokening and talking about him; but the enemy of God envied him, and he
said: I was hoping I would be him. Hence God , Most Exalted in Power, Most Sublime, sent down the following verses:
“Relate to them the story of the man to whom we sent Our Signs; but he passed them by: so Satan followed him up, and he went astray” (al-A’Araaf: 175)
Besides, it was he who used to say:
On Judgement Day any religion other than the true religion
(Hanifah) is false before God.»
Al-Zubayr said:
«And Umar bin abi Bakr al-Mu’neli told me:
Umayyah bin abi al-Sahlt used to seek out the religion and covet the prophethood. One day he went to al-Shaam (Syria) and passed by a church with the company of some Arabs from Quraysh . He asked them to wait for him while he went inside the church for something he needed to do. He went in and came out downcast and confused. He sat down worried-stricken . They looked after him till he felt better. Then they went to carry out what they came for. On their return they passed by the church . He asked them again to wait for him. He entered the church hesitatingly then came out worse than the first time. Abu Suryan said to him:
(You have given your companions a hard time!)
He said to them :
(I need to be on my own for I am reflecting on some matter within myself and trying to find out the time of my delegation . Here is a knowledgeable monk who told me that after Jesus there will be six tremors; five had already passed and there was one still to come . I took off covetously desiring to be a prophet, and I am afraid I may have been missed out, then you saw what happened to me . When I came back he told me that the sixth tremor took place and that a prophet from among the Arabs had been sent out. I lost hope of becoming a prophet, then you saw what happened to me: I missed out on what I was desiring to be).
Umar bin abi Bakr continued saying that al-Zuhri said that Umayyah took the road in a journey. He got into a place, and went up a prominent hill.
A church appeared to him, and he went to visit it . He found an old man sitting inside. When he saw Umayyah, he said to him:
(You are followed! where does your vision come from?)
(From my left side) , he replied
(What is the colour of your favourite clothes he likes to wear before you meet him?)
(Black), he said .
(You came close to becoming the Prophet of the Arabs; but you are not. This vision of yours is a whim from the jinn and not an inspiration from an angel. The Arabs prophet-to-be has the angel come to him from his right side, and he likes to meet him dressed in white.)
Al-Zubayr said that Umayyah went to see aha-Bakr. He said to him:
(O aba-Bakr! the news has spread out; did you have a gut feeling of anything?)
(By God! no), he replied.
(My intuition tells me he will be sent out this year.)»
Umar bin Shabbah said that he heard Khalid bin Yazeed saying that:
«Umayyah and Abu Sufyan accompanied me in a trade deal to al-Shaam (Syria) . He (Umayyah) talked about his story and added on to it. After seeing the monk he came out gloomy. Abu Sufyan said to him:
Is there anything bad that happened to you! What is the matter?!.
It is all right! Tell me of Otbah bin Rabee’a, how old is he?
He mentioned an age, then he said:
Tell me about his wealth.
He mentioned an amount. He said:
You made him humble?
On the contrary, I have raised his status! , Abu Sufyan said.
The prophet-to-be is neither old nor wealthy, he said.
The monk had made him lose hope, and he told him that this matter (the prophethood) is going to be for a man from Quraysh.»
Al-Zubayr said that on the authority of a man from al-Kufah, Umar bin abi Bakr al-Mu’meli told him that:
«While Umayyah was asleep, two birds hovered over his house.
One of the birds landed at the doorsteps , and the other entered the house, split his heart and returned it. The fallen bird at the doorstep asked the other bird:
Did he wake up?
Yes, it replied.
did it receive?, it asked.
No , it declined, it replied.
Al-Zuhri said:
«One day, Umayyah bin abi al-Sahlt called on his sister while she was preparing date fruit paste . Slumber overcame him, he slept on a bed in one of the corners of the house. She (his sister) said that a part of the ceiling split apart and two birds appeared . One of the birds fell on his chest, and the other stood still. The bird that fell on his chest split his chest, extracted his heart and cleaved it. The other bird said to the bird on Umayyah’s chest:
Did it wake up?.
Yes it did, it replied.
did it receive?, it asked.
It declined, it replied.
His heart was returned to its place . As it t o o k off, Umayyah followed it with his sight, he said:
Here I am, here I am, before you both here I am . If guilty I apologise, I belong to no clan to support me.
One bird returned and stood on his chest, split it apart, took his heart out and cleaved it. The bird above said to the bird below:
Did it wake up?,
Yes it did, the bird below replied.
Did it receive it?, the bird above asked.
No, it declined, the bird below replied.
As it took off, Umayyah followed them with his sight and said:
Here I a m , here I am before you both , here I am!. I have no money to make me rich, no clan to protect me.
One of the birds returned, stood on his chest, split it apart, took out his heart and cleaved it. The bird above asked the bird below:
Did it wake up?
Yes it did .
Did it receive it?
No, it declined, it replied.
As it took off, Umayyah followed them with his sight and said:
Here I am, here I am, before you both here I am! Surrounded with prosperity but fraught with guilt.
The bird returned, stood on his chest, split it apart, took out his heart and cleaved it. The bird above said to the bird below:
Did it wake up?
Yes it did, it replied.
Did it receive it?
No , it declined.
As it took off, Umayyah followed them with his sight and said:
Here I am, here I am, before you both here I am !
When you forgive O God
You forgive abundantly,
Which servant of Yours has not done wrong?!
Then the split- in ceiling closed up and Umayyah sat down wiping his chest. I asked him:
- O brother! Do you find something?
No, but I have a hot sensation in my chest, he said.
Then he started saying:
I wished I was living
Before that which appeared to me,
In the summits of the mountains
Tending goats.
Let death stand in front of your eyes,
And beware,
The calamities of time, for time
Strikes with adversities.»
On the authority of Mu’aweyah bin abi Sufyan, from abi Sufyan bin Harb; Murwan bin al-Hakam said:
«I took the road to al-Shaam (Syria) with Umayyah bin abi al-Sahlt as a merchant . Each time we reached a place, he looked for a book (from the Scriptures) to read. He kept doing this till we reached one of the Nazarenes villages . When they saw him they recognized him and gave him gifts, and he went with them in their business deals.
In the middle of the day he returned. He took of what he was wearing and put on two black garments and said:
O aba Sufyan ! Do you know o f any scholar from among the scholars of the Nazarenes who is deeply versed in the interpretation of the Book and whom you can ask what you wish?.
No, I said .
He went off, all alone, and returned to us at night time.
He took off his two garments and tugged himself tossing in his bed. By God! All night he did not sleep or leave his bed till the next morning where he became gloomy and sad, and would not talk to anyone of us or reply to anyone talking to him . Two nights passed and his mood did not change. I said to him:
I have never seen you in such a miserable state as I saw you when you returned after seeing your companion?.
It is my detesting after death, he said.
Are you going to be brought to life after death?.
Yes, by God ! I will die and I will be judged. , he said .
Would you accept my guarantee?, I asked.
Guarantee against what!?, he said.
That you are not going to be resurrected and judged? .
Yes indeed we will be resurrected and judged . A party will go to Paradise and the other to Hellfire, he said laughing.
Which party you belong to according to your companion?,
I asked.
My companion has no knowledge in this matter neither about me nor about himself.
We kept on this same tune: he, amazed at us, and we, laughing at him till we reached the fertile oasis of Damascus. We sold our goods , stayed over for two months, and then took off. We stopped over in one of the Nazarene villages . When they saw him, they recognized him and gave him gifts, and he went with them to their church . In the middle of the day he returned to us. He wore two black garments, went off, and came back during night-time . He took off his two garments and threw himself on his bed . By God! He did not sleep all night long and did not leave his bed till next morning, confused, sad, and would not talk to us; neither did we. We took off and journeyed
for several nights. Then he said:
O Sakhr! Tell me about Otbah bin Rabi’ah, does he stay away from unlawful things and wrong-doings?.
By God! indeed he does, I replied.
Does he keep kinship ties and preach likewise?, he asked.
Yes, I replied .
Is he of noble descent on both sides and respectful in his clan?, he asked.
Yes, I replied .
Do you know a man in Quraysh more honoured than he?
By God! no, I replied.
Is he needy? he asked .
No , I replied.
Is he a very rich man?
No, I replied.
How old is he?, he asked.
Seventy or so,
Age and honour have made him lose his chance?
By God! no, I replied . on the contrary, they added up goodness to him, I continued.
I believe so, he said.
Wondering about what happened to me after I saw this scholar, I asked him about the one he is waiting for. He said :
It is a man from among the Arabs , · from the people of a house that the Arabs journey to in pilgrimage.
I said : There is a house in our lands the Arabs come in pilgrimage to,
He said: He is from your brethren and neighbours from Quraysh and knowing that, something befell me the like of which I have never felt before, for the gain of this life and that of the Hereafter slipped off my hands. I was hoping I would be he,
Would you describe him to me?, I asked .
A young man, when he gets to middle age (he will receive the revelation) . The first o f his qualities i s that he keeps away from unlawful things and wrong-doings . He keeps kinship ties and bids others to do so. He treats people kindly and generously, and he is of noble descent on both sides and respected in the clan. The majority of his soldiers are from among the angels, he said.
What are the signs of that?, I asked.
Since the demise of Jesus son of Mary several tremors shook al-Shaam (Syria); each with a disaster. There is one general tremor left : a tremor with a disaster after which he will emerge, he said.
That is a falsehood! when God sends out a prophet He does not send him till he is advanced in years and crowned with honour, I said.
By God! He is as I told you, Umayyah said.
We took the road and when we were at a point two nights from Makkah we were overtaken by a rider travelling behind us. He said:
After you have left a tremor hit al- Shaam and hurried its people underneath the ruins , and through it many calamities befell its people.
Do you see O aha Sufyan!?, Ummayyah said.
I presume your companion is telling the truth, I said.
We arrived in Makkah and from there I took off till I reached the land of Habasha (Ethiopia, Abyssinia) as a merchant. I stayed in for five months, then I returned to Makkah. People came over welcoming me and the last of them was Muhammad and Hind who was playing with her children. He saluted and welcomed me and asked me about my trip and where I came from, then went off. I said to Hind:
How remarkable this lad is! Nobody from Quraysh came to see me given that I carry some goods for him without asking me first about them as soon as I have arrived. By God! I am carrying some goods for him and he is not as if he can do without them and yet he did not ask me about them!.
Don’t you know about him?, she said.
What about him?, I said apprehensively.
He alleges he is the Messenger of God ! , she said.
She remembered the saying of the Nazarene and my countenance became gloomy. Then I journeyed to al-Tai’f and visited Umayyah. I asked him:
Do you remember the saying of the Nazarene?,
Yes, he replied.
It happened, I said
Who is he?, he queried.
Muhammad bin Abdullah, I said. He started to sweat.
This is the matter with him, where do you stand a propos?, I continued.
By God! I shall never believe in any prophet who does not come from the tribe of Thaqif, he said.»
This is the saying of abu sufyan about Umayyah, and so is his saying about Heraclius: all are mentioned in the authoritative compendium of Al-Bukhari, and both are from the signs of prophethood quoted from the scholars of the people of the Book.
In an account rated as «trustworthy» al -Tirmizi and others mentioned a speech on the authority of Abdul Rahman bin Ghazwan. He said:
«Yunus bin abi Ishaq told us on the authority of abi Bakr bin abi Musa from his father that:
Abu Talib went to al-Shaam (Syria) and the Prophet (peace be upon him) went alongside with him with the chieftains of Quraysh. When they arrived in the vicinity of the monk’ s place, they made a stop . The monk went out to meet them, although before, when they used to pass by his place, he would not come out to meet them or even take notice of them . While they were unfastening their camel saddles, the monk was scouring in between them . When he reached the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) , he took him by the hand and said:
(This is the master of the worlds, this is the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds . He sends him out of mercy to the worlds.)
Some of the chieftains of Quraysh said to him:
(How do you know that?),
(When you showed up from al-Aqabah, no tree, no stone was left without falling down in prostration, and they did not prostrate to anybody other than a prophet. I know him from the Seal of the Prophethood located below the cartilage of his shoulders and looking like an apple).
He went home, prepared food for them, and returned. When he brought the food to them the prophet was minding the camels. He asked them to call him ; he came and above him a cloud shadowing him. When he came closer to join them, he found out that they had already sought after the shade of the tree . When he sat down the shade of the tree moved over him. He brought to their attention how the shade of the tree moved towards him. While he was still attending to them, he earnestly appealed to them not to take him along to the Romaeans for if they saw him they would recognize him through his traits and kill him . The sooner he said that seven Romaeans showed up. He welcomed them and asked them what brought them in. they said:
(Some news has reached us that this prophet is emerging during the current month . Emissaries from every place are being dispatched to meet him . We have received the news about him , and we have been asked to look for him in the area in your direction).
(Maybe there are other emissaries behind you coming this way as well and who are more suitable than you), I replied.
(We have been told to follow this way to find him), they said.
(If a matter is ordained by God to be fulfilled, can you see anyone who can frustrate it?), he said.
(No), they replied . They pledged allegiance to him and stayed with him.
(By God I ask you! who is his close associate among you?) , he asked.
(Abu Talib), they replied.
He kept appealing to them till they returned him.»
Muhammad bin Sa’ed narrated the same account in more details. He said:
«Muhammad bin Omar bin Waqid narrated to us a story on the authority of Muhammad bin Saleh, Abdullah bin Ja’efar al Zubayree, ibn abi Habibah, and Dawood bin al-Jusayn, that abu Talib went out to al-Shaam (Syria) alongside with the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) for the first time when he was twelve years old. The caravan arrived in Bosra in the land of al-Shaam (Syria) where there was a monk called Bahira living in a hermitage. The knowledgeable men of the Nazarenes frequented this hermitage from one generation to the other studying a book held inside. Many a times before, merchants used to pass by Bahira but he would not take notice of them ; but this time, when they took lodging in the same place they are accustomed to, close to his hermitage he prepared food for them and invited them in. What made him welcome them is that while he was watching their caravans approaching, a cloud was shading the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) but not the rest of them, and when they sought shade under a tree, the cloud shaded the tree branches and they became saturated with moistness and formed a canopy over the Messenger of God (peace be upon him ) and he shaded himself underneath it. When Bahira saw that, he descended
from his hermitage, prepared food for them, invited them in, and said:
(O men of Quraysh! I have prepared food for you, and I would like to invite you all to share it with me, every adult and youth, free or slave . I would be honoured if you would accept my invitation) .
One man said:
(O Bahira! you are doing this for a purpose! ; you have never done this before, so what is the matter?).
( I would like to be hospitable to you and this is your right) , Bahira said.
The crowd accepted his invitation, but the Messenger of God, due to his young age , stayed behind where they camped under a tree. When Bahira screened the crowd and did not see i n anyone present the traits he was looking for, and did not see the cloud above anyone, he said:
(O people of Quraysh! Did anybody absent himself from my food offering!? )
(No, nobody did except a lad who happens to be the youngest among us), they said.
(Invite him over to share the food; how inconsiderate it would be for you to attend and one single lad is left behind although he is one of you), he said.
(By God! He is midway in kinship to us, and he is the parental nephew to this man called Abu Talib, a descendant of Abdul-muttalib), they said.
And so, al-Hareth bin Abdulmuttalib said:
(It is ignoble to have the son of Abdulmuttalib stay behind).
He stood up, went toward him, hugged him, brought him to the eating place, and sat him, and the cloud above his head moving with him as he walked . Bahira kept watching him closely and throwing searching looks at his body, perhaps he could see some of the traits he knew about. When they finished eating and they dispersed, the
monk walked toward him and said:
(O lad! By al-Lat and al- Uzza [ two Arabs pagan gods] please answer what I am going to ask you about).
(Please d o not ask me anything in the names of al-Lat and al-Uzza; I have never abhorred anything more), the Messenger of God said.
(By God! then would you answer what I am going to ask you about?), Bahira said.
(Ask me what do you wish to know), the prophet replied.
The Messenger of God kept answering the monk’s questions, and everything he said kept agreeing with what the monk knew. The monk started looking between the lad ‘ s eyes, then he uncovered his back and saw the Seal of Prophethood between his shoulders with the description he already knew. He kissed the location of the Seal . The
assembly of Quraysh said:
(This monk regards Muhammad with great esteem!)
When Abu Talib saw the reverence the monk is treating his nephew with, he felt overprotective to him. The monk asked abu Talib:
(Is this lad yours?), he said
(He is my son), Abu Talib replied.
(but the father of this lad should not be alive!)
(He is my paternal nephew).
(What happened to his father?)
(He died while his mother was still pregnant with him)
(What about his mother?)
(She died recently), he said
(you have told the truth, take back your parental nephew to his country and watch over him from the Jews, for by God! If they find out about him from what I know about, they will chase him doggedly: the son of your brother is going to be a man of a great status; a matter mentioned in our Book . Please take notice that I did advise you about him).
As soon as they had concluded their trading, quickly he moved out with his nephew. Meanwhile, some men from the Jewish community saw the Messenger of God and recognized him from his trait, and they concocted to assassinate him . They went to Bahira and mentioned to him who he was going to be and what they planned to do. He rebuked them in the strongest possible terms and asked them:
(Do you know his traits?) .
(Yes), they said .
(There is no way you can get to him to harm him) .
They believed him and left . Abu Talib returned home and he never again took Muhammad (peace be upon him) with him in a journey out of fear for him.
Another story about Heraclius
Al-Hakeem , al-Baihaqi , and others mentioned a story on the authority of Abdullah bin Idris, from Sharabeel bin Muslim, from abi Omamah, from Hisham bin al-As, he said:
«I went with another man from Quraysh to Heraclius, the king of the Romaeans, calling upon him to embrace Islam. We took the road till we arrived in the fertile land of Damascus. We visited Jabalah bin al-Ayham al-Ghassani. He was lying on his bed. He sent us an emissary to talk to us. We said:
By God no, we do not want to talk to an emissary ; we are sent to talk to the king himself and not to his emissary, we said.
The emissary returned and briefed the king about our response. The king gave them an audience. He said:
Speak,
Hisham bin al-As addressed him and called upon him to embrace Islam. The king was wearing black clothes, Hisham said to him:
What is this black garment you are wearing?
I have sworn that I shall not take it off till I oust you from al-Shaam, he said.
By God ! we shall dethrone you and take the dominion of the greatest of the kings; our prophet told us that.
But you are not of them (Muslims) for they are people who fast during daytime and break their fast at night . How do you fast?, he said.
We told him how, his face sank . He said :
Off you go .
He sent with us an emissary to see the king. As we arrived close to the vicinity of the city, the emissary said to us:
Your riding animals shall not enter the city of the king. If you wish we would transport you on jades and mules.
By God! we shall not enter the city by any means of transport other than our own, we said .
He sent a message to the king telling him that we are refusing to do so. We entered the city riding our female camels and girded with our swords till we reached one of his chambers. We stood in the middle of it while he was looking at us. We said to him :
There is no god but God, and God is Great.
Only God knows how the chamber shook up and became like palm branches stripped of their fruits in the middle of a storm . He sent a message to us not to profess openly our religion in front of him and his people. Then he admitted us in and we entered his court . He was lying on a couch and his Romaean patriarchs were with him.
Everything in his court and around it was red in colour including his garment. We came closer to him, he laughed and said:
What would you have to lose if you had saluted us in the same way you salute each other?
He said through his translator, a talkative man well versed in Arabic. We said :
It is unlawful to us to salute you with the same salute we use among each other, and saluting us with the salute you use among yourselves is unlawful to us.
“How do you salute yourselves among yourselves?”
“peace be upon you, we said”
“How do you salute your king?”, he asked.
“In the same way”, we replied.
“How does he salute you back?,”
“In the same way”, we said.
What is the most important thing in your speech?, he asked.
There is on god but God, and God is Great, we said.
When we said so- God knows best – , the room shook. He raised his head and said:
It is this phrase you said that made the room shake . Do your houses shake each time you utter it indoors?
No, we have never seen this happening in any place other than
yours.
I wish every time you say it everything shakes over your heads, for I have already last half of my dominion, he replied.
Why? we said.
Because it would have been much easier if this happening was not connected with the prophethood and that it was one of the man-made tricks, he said.
Then he asked us about other matters and we replied to him.
Then he said:
How do you pray, and how do you fast?,
We told him, then he said:
Stand up,
We did and he gave orders for us to be well housed and hosted. We stayed for three days , in between which he summoned us at night-time . We attended . He asked us again the same questions; we gave him the same answers . Then he asked for something to be brought to him: a thing that looked like a huge square-shaped, gilded structure with small house-like chambers and doors. He opened a chamber and a lock, took out a black silky piece of cloth and spread it out. It contained a red picture : a picture of a man with huge eyes, enormous buttocks, and a long neck the likes of which I have never seen before. He had no beard, and had two of the nicest plaits of hair created by God. He said:
This is Adam, peace be upon him.
He was the hairiest man we have ever seen . Then he opened another door, took out a black silky piece of cloth that contained a white picture: a picture of a man with catty hair, red eyes, huge body, and a nice beard. He said:
Do you know who this is?, he said.
- No!, we replied.
- This is Noah, peace be upon him,
Then he opened another door, took out a black silky piece of cloth containing a picture of a man very white , with nice eyes , wide forehead, long cheeks, and a white beard. He said: - Do you know who this is?
No!, we said,
“This is Abraham” , “he said, peace be upon him”.
Then he opened another door, took out a silky piece of cloth containing a white picture. By God! It was a picture of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him). He said:
Do you know who this is?,
Yes, Muhammad the Messenger of God, we said and wept.
God knows that it is he, he said . He stood up, then he sat down and said: By God! Is it he!?.
Yes indeed, we replied, It is as if he is standing in front of us.
He kept away for an hour looking at the picture, then he said:
His picture was in the last chamber, but I opened it and showed it to you at this stage before another picture to find out what you had to say.
Then he opened another door and took out a black, silky piece of cloth containing a kind looking and tanned picture of a man with a catty and frizzy hair, sunken eyes, piercing looks, frowned , with overlapping set of teeth and shrunken lips, looking angry. He said:
Do you know who this is?
No!, we said.
This is Moses bin Imran, he said
Beside him there was a picture of another man with look-alike features but having a baldish shiny head, wide forehead, and looks betokening power and ability in his eyes. He said:
Do you know who this is?
No!, we said.
This is Aaron.
Then he opened another door, took out a white silky piece of cloth containing the picture of a white man with a tinge o f redness, bent with light shoulders and a nice looking face. He said:
Do you know who this is?.
No! , we said.
This is Isaiah.
Then he opened another door, took out a white silky piece of cloth containing the picture of a man who looks like Isaiah but has a mole on his lower lip. He said:
Do you know who this is?.
No!, we said.
This is Jacob, he said.
Then he opened another door, took out a black, silky piece of cloth containing the picture of a white man with a nice looking face, curved nose, nice looking stature, his light flowing from his face: a face tinged with redness and betokening humility. He said:
Do you know who this is?.
No!, we said.
This is Ishmael, he said, the grand-father of your prophet .
Then he opened another door, took out a white, silky piece of cloth containing a picture that looked very much like the picture of Adam with a face like the sun. He said:
Do you know who this is?.
No! , we said.
This is Joseph, he said.
Then he opened another door, took out a white, silky piece of cloth containing the picture of a man red in complexion with rough legs, weak-sighted, having a square huge belly, and adorning himself with a sword. He said:
Do you know who this is?.
No!, we said.
This is David, he said.
He opened another door, took out a white, silky piece of cloth containing the picture of a man with enormous buttocks and long legs , and rode a horse. He said:
Do you know who this is?.
No!, we said.
This is Solomon, the son of David.
Then he opened another door, took out a black, silky piece of cloth containing a white picture of a young man with a pitch black beard, smooth hair, and nice eyes. He said:
Do you know who this is?.
No!, we said.
This is Jesus, he said .
Where did you get these pictures from?, we said, because we know that they are made in the likeness of the prophets and we have seen in one of them the likeness of our prophet?, we said.
Adam asked the Lord to show him the portraits of the prophets of his lineage, so He sent down to him their pictures. They were in the closet of Adam at the place of sunset. The two-Horned (Alexander the great) took them out and they ended in the hands of Daniel. Then he said:
By God ! my soul is entertaining within me a pleasant feeling to relinquish my dominion, and declare myself a servant to the most gifted one among you.
Then he rewarded us generously, and bid us farewell. When we returned to abu Bakr al-Siddeeq and told him about what we had seen and what he told us, and how he rewarded us and bid us kind farewell, abu Bakr wept and said:
If God wills goodness in him he does what he said he would do.» This has been an account about his prophethood in the recorded news that the Muslims received directly from the mouths of the knowledgeable men of the people of the Book and from the true believers among them . The first set of accounts is taken from what they wrote and circulated in their books, and their knowledgeable men agree that he (the Prophet) is mentioned in their Books. The evidence in the first aspect of the discussion is raised against them through their Books. This aspect also confirms the evidence through the testimony of those whose integrity is beyond blemish because they are among the greatest of their men , or among those who gave up their chieftainships, their wealth and prestige, and chose the faithful belief against disbelief, and guidance against misguidance. As such, they bear witness that their knowledgeable men know the truth and agree to it; but they do not make it available to the rest of the people.
By Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziah
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