RECORD OF SOME OF THE QUALITIES BY WHICH A’BD-UL-MUTTALLEB WAS DISTINGUISHED IN THE FAMILY OF A’BD MUNÂF.

It is related that during the time of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb the victory of the Qoraish over any tribe with whom they happened to be at war must be attributed to the fact that the light of prophecy manifested itself on his countenance in the circular form, which is the most perfect of figures.* No one of the inhabitants of Mekkah doubted of its efficacy, and whenever the dwellers in the mother of cities were afflicted with any calamity they lifted their hands in prayer, and constituted him their intercessor with the Almighty; in consequence whereof their difficulties were mitigated. In confirmation of this fact it may be adduced that once famine and dearth had risen to such a height as to make the people—who were starving for want of bread— forget to covet paradise:

Distich:

Dearth was so great in Damascus That lovers forgot their love.

The princes of the Qoraish and the chiefs of the Arabs went with A’bd-ul-Muttalleb to the mountain, elected him their mediator, submissively and humbly prayed to the bountiful Giver to send them a gift [of rain], which is by itself a cause of life to the inhabitants of the world. The request of that company was most quickly responded to, so that the prairies of hope of the inhabitants of the sanctuary were gladdened and refreshed with so much rain as to revive the meadows of their aspirations with verdure and beauty. These joyful events, however, took place by the blessing of the proximity of the advent of the prince of inspired messengers and seal of prophets—u. w. b. One of the consequences of Divine favour towards A’bd-ul-Muttalleb was his being gladdened by the possession of ten sons and six daughters. The first of his sons was Hâreth, who helped him to excavate the well Zamzam. Hâreth begat Abu Sofiân, Moghairah and Naufil, the first of whom became a Moslem when Mekkah was conquered, and with reference to him the prince of the world [Muhammad] said: ‘Abu Sofiân will be the president of those who dwell in paradise’; and if it pleaseth Allah the Most High, his affairs and circumstances will be narrated; he, however, is not the Abu Sofiân who was the father of Moa’viah. The second son was Abu Lahab, also called Abu O’tbah, and was one of the thieves who stole the fawns of the Ka’bah. The occasion for this theft was that one night Abu Lahab was drinking wine with a party of the Qoraish, and dancing girls were singing, till their joy was complete; but as they knew of no money more ready than the two little golden fawns brought by A’bd-ul-Muttalleb from the well Zamzam, they stole and sold them. A’bd-ul-Muttalleb happened to pass near the house where the carousal was taking place, and to overhear the girls singing that they had performed the culpable act. He then informed the Qoraish, who took the whole company prisoners, and punished each individual of it according to his deserts. Abu Lahab, or Abu O’tbah, was married to Omm Jamil, the daughter of Harb, the sister of Abu Sofiân and the aunt of Moa’viah, to whom the verse ‘and his wife also bearing wood’* alludes. The third was A’bd, who on account of his good qualities was surnamed Hajab [modesty]; he left no progeny. The fourth was Qawam, the son of one mother with Hamzah the prince of martyrs; besides this, however, nothing is known of the circumstances of Qawam. The fifth, Zurâr, was an Arab poet; his epithet is Abu Tâher, and he left no posterity. Zobeir, the sixth son, was likewise one of the Arab poets. The seventh was Abu Tâleb, who had six children; four sons, i.e., A’li, O’qail, Ja’far, and Tâleb, and two daughters, namely, Omm Hâni and Hâmi, whose mother was Fâttimah, daughter of the son of Asad, son of Hâshem; she was one of the believing refugee [muhâjer] women. The affairs, however, of Abu Tâleb will be narrated in these pages in connection with those of his lordship the best of creatures, if it pleaseth Allah the Most High. The eighth son, A’bdullah, was the most beautiful man of the tribe, and left no offspring except the prince of existences [Muhammad]:

Verses:

Say Muhammad, and thou art saved, For he is the boast of the country and of the religion. What epithets is his name in need of?

The ninth son was Hamzah, who was the principal hero among the Arabs. His epithet is Abu O’mârah, which was also the name of his only son; and his daughter was called Omm Almahâ. The tenth was Abbâs, surnamed Ab-ul-Fazl, born three years before the year of the elephant,* and who departed this life in Madinah during the Khalifate of O’thmân, after having passed through eighty-six stages [i.e., years] of the journey of existence, and O’thmân officiated in the prayers of his funeral. A’bbâs left six children, i.e., A’bdullah, Fazl, Qâsem, Moa’ved, Hâreth, and one daughter named Omm Sofiah Habshiah. Their mother was Omm Fazl, the daughter of Hâreth, daughter of Maimunah, who was one of the mothers of the believers.*

The names of the daughters of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb are as follows: Sofiah, A’atikah, Baizâ, Barrah, Aminah, and Arovi. These sixteen children were born to A’bd-ul-Muttalleb from numerous ladies. Some of his sons remained in ignorance, whilst some professed Islâm, and belonged to the company of the noble and the eminent. Six of them died before the mission, but of the four sons who lived till the time of Muhammad’s prophetship, one was A’bbâs, whose descendants are the ornaments of pulpits. The second was Abu Lahab, with reference to whom all agree that he remained an infidel; and the fourth [third (?)] was Abu Tâleb, about whose religion there is a difference of opinion, because some of the Motazzelite U’lâma and Emâmians believe that he entered into the monotheistic religion, but a number of Sunnis think that he remained to the end of his life in the religion of his fathers, and the supporters of both these opinions adduce arguments in their own favour, but Allah the Most High knows best.

It is related that A’bd-ul-Muttalleb so loved his lordship the asylum of prophecy that he preferred him to his own children, and used occasionally to say that a high destiny was in store for the boy, and that he would soon reach the acme of eminence, and attain the zenith of prosperity. It is said that in the shade of the Ka’bah a mat was spread and covered with bedding for A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, and that his children were accustomed to sit there. The prophet— u. w. b.—used to come to the bedding and squat on it with great composure. His uncles prohibited him from doing so, but A’bd-ul-Muttalleb ordered his sons not to interfere with him, and when A’bd-ul-Muttalleb was asleep no one dared to awaken him except his lordship, nor could anyone else follow him when he went to his private apartment. A’bd-ul-Muttalleb always saw in his blessed motions and rests the signs of eminence, superiority, and glory from on high, and was accustomed to boast of them to acquaintances and to strangers, and when the death of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb approached he confided his lordship to the care of Abu Tâleb.