THE SUCKLING OF HIS LORDSHIP THE REFUGE OF PROPHECY —U. W. B.—HIS BEING CARRIED BY HALIMAH TO THE TRIBE BANI SA’AD, AND THE CURIOUS THINGS WHICH HAPPENED.

All the chief historians agree that first Aminah, and then Nubiah—the slave-girl of Abu Lahab and wet-nurse of his son Masruh, and before him of Hamzah, son of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb —suckled his lordship the prophet, and when the daughter of Hamzah was [afterwards] offered to him in marriage, he said: ‘She is not lawful for me, because she is the daughter of my [milk-] brother.’

With reference to the suckling, it is said that when the news of the birth of his lordship the refuge of prophecy had reached Abu Lahab he manumitted Nubiah, and on account of this act, and in conformity with the day of the week on which he performed it, the punishment of Abu Lahab* is alleviated every Monday night. There is a tradition that after the decease of the last-mentioned indi­vidual, A’bbâs, the son of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, once saw him in a dream, and asked him how he did, and that Abu Lahab replied: ‘I am being constantly tormented, except every Monday night, because I liberated Nubiah at that time; then my punishment is relented, and water is given me between two fingers—i.e., the index and the middle finger.’

It is recorded in chronicles that after his prophetic lord­ship —u. w. b.—had been married, Nubiah came to the house of Khodaijah, and was kindly treated by her, as well as by the prophet, who even sent her presents after his exile [from Mekkah]; but she died after the victory of Honain, and the U’lâma disagree whether she ever made her profession of Islâm or not.

After Nubiah had for some time suckled his lordship, Halimah, the daughter of Abu Duib, attained that happi­ness, and took him to the tribe of the Bani Sa’ad, which happened as follows: The nobles of the sanctuary and the Qoraish princes were accustomed, either on account of the heat of the climate of Mekkah, or for the purpose of keep­ing their wives entirely at their own disposal, to surrender their infants to nurses, and to send them into the country to be suckled in places distinguished for the pleasantness of the air and the salubrity of their water. As the advan­tages to be obtained in this manner from the Qoraish nobles were considerable, a number of women from the surrounding country made their appearance in Mekkah during every spring and autumn, took charge of the infants of wealthy and noble families, and carried them to their own homes. Before the arrival of the women of the Bani Sa’ad and of Halimah in Mekkah to receive children to be nursed in that tribe, a great dearth and famine was raging in it, so that no milk existed in the breasts of the women; all the grass had perished, and the people were enfeebled by hunger; even the camels ceased to give milk. Halimah says: ‘In that year we wandered about the desert eating grass, and thanking Allah for it. Once, how­ever, we had nothing to eat during three days, and con­torted ourselves from hunger. It happened that the pains which hunger caused to me were intensified by those of parturition, and I knew not which of the two complaints was greater. Occasionally I had fainting-fits, during which I was unable to discern the earth from the sky; I fell, however, into a slumber, and beheld during it a man, who took me up and plunged me into a water whiter than milk, saying: “Drink much that thy milk may increase.” I obeyed, but he encouraged me more and more to drink of that beverage, which tasted sweeter than honey. At last he said: “Halimah, knowest thou me?” and on my reply­ing in the negative, he continued: “I am that praise and gratitude which thou hast uttered in thy distress and misery. Halimah, go to Battha, where thou wilt meet with affluence and prosperity, and whence thou wilt bring with thee a shining light.” He enjoined secrecy on this subject, and placing his hands on my breast, continued: “May God augment thy milk, and give thee abundant food!” When I awoke I found my breasts full of milk, and my pangs of hunger had likewise ceased, though the young and the old of our tribe greatly suffered from them, and the following distich represents the state of affairs at that time:

Distich:

Besides the smoke of the afflicted No other smoke was seen on the hearths.

‘After that wonderful dream I was entirely changed, so that my face appeared quite blooming and handsome to the women of our tribe, and everyone who saw me exclaimed: “O Halimah, thy case is really wonderful, for yesterday we saw thee extremely weak and emaciated, but to-day thou lookest like a princess or the daughter of a king.” But as I had been ordered not to reveal what had happened, I remained silent. On this occasion we started with some men of our tribe to Battha and Mekkah, and as we were halting at or departing from various places, an invisible herald proclaimed the words: “The Lord has pro­hibited the women to bring girls this year, on account of the joyful advent of the infant who was born in the tribe of Qoraish; and blessed are the paps that will suckle him. O women of the tribe of Sa’ad, make haste, and let each of you take a boy!” Accordingly all the women proceeded to the sanctury, I and my husband accompanying them. I had an emaciated donkey, scarcely able to walk, and a weak she-camel, from which no stratagem could elicit a single drop of milk; thus we straggled after the caravan, which we were, in spite of all our efforts, unable to reach. Never­theless, as we slowly walked on, I experienced many strange things. Thus, for instance, wherever I passed, I heard a voice saying: “Blessed are thy breasts; for that shining light will drink their milk;” and I further beheld a white man of tall stature shouting to me from the top of a mountain: “O Halimah, make haste, because Allah the Most High has ordered me to keep off Satan from thee.”’ In some chronicles it is related that Halimah said: ‘In the gap of a mountain a person appeared to me, tall like a palm-tree, holding in his hand a dagger of light, who drew his hand over the abdomen of my donkey, and said: “O Halimah, the Lord has sent thee glad tidings, and has ordered me to ward off from thee devils and evil spirits.” I asked my husband whether he had seen anything; he, however, replied in the negative, and told me he thought that I was frightened; after this we hastened on, till we arrived at the distance of two Farsakhs from Mekkah.’ In other legends we read that Halimah said: ‘That night I dreamt that over my head there was a green tree with many branches, among which I also beheld a palm, heavy with various kinds of fresh dates. All the women of the tribe of Sa’ad assembled around me, and said: “Halimah, thou art our queen!” whereon suddenly a date fell from that tree into my lap. Taking it up, and tasting it, I found it to be more sweet than honey; nor did that sweetness depart from me till the time when Muhammad separated from me.’ Halimah also said: ‘On the Monday after the arrival of the women of the Bani Sa’ad we reached Mekkah. On that day my child neither drank milk nor moved, so that I informed my husband, telling him that it had perhaps died; that moment, however, it opened its eyes and laughed into my face. I was astonished, left my infant in that place, and went abroad to get hold of a baby to suckle; the more, however, I sought, the less I was able to find one, because the other women of my tribe had forestalled me and obtained the infants of the wealthy families of the Qoraish. In this emergency I became much distressed and grieved, repented of having come, and was venting my spleen, when I perceived all of a sudden a man, from whose forehead the signs of nobility were beaming, arrive and inquire whether any wet-nurses were yet here that had not taken infants to suckle.’ Halimah continued: ‘Inquiring for his name and position, I was told that he was A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, the prince of the Qoraish; accordingly I approached him and presented myself. He asked me who I was, whereon I informed him that I was of the tribe Bani Sa’ad and that my name was Halimah. He replied: “Felicity [Sa’ad] and meekness [Halam] are two sweet good qualities which cause eternal salvation.” Then he continued: “I have an infant orphan, Muhammad by name, whom I offered to all the women of the Bani Sa’ad, but they replied: ‘He has no father, and no profit results from an orphan;’ I hope, however, thou wilt take him.” I replied that I would go and consult my husband; A’bd-ul-Muttalleb consented, and when I explained the matter to my husband the Almighty filled his heart with joy, and he exclaimed: “Halimah, make haste and take the child, lest others should make away therewith.” But my cousin said: “Alas! the women of the Bani Sa’ad have taken the infants of noble and wealthy people, and have thus obtained riches and honours, and thou hast taken an orphan child, which will only become an occasion of more sorrow to you.”’ Halimah continued: ‘These words shook my firmness, but immediately the revelation dawned upon my mind: “If thou abandonest Muhammad thou wilt never be happy.” I therefore ran to A’bd-ul-Muttalleb and asked for the boy. He immediately prostrated himself, and after raising his head exclaimed: “O Lord, make this woman a blessing to Muhammad.” Then he took me to the house of Aminah, whose face I beheld shining like the moon. She smiled at me and showed me her infant, whose countenance was radiant like the world-illuminating sun. I was so excited by his beauty and attractiveness that milk began suddenly to flow in my veins. I placed the nipple of my right breast into his mouth, and he began immediately to suck it; but when I presented to him my left breast he refused to do so.’ Ebn A’bbâs says that even at that time the sense of justice was so great in his lordship that he left the other breast for the use of his partner. Halimah says: ‘During the whole time his lordship always took milk only from my right breast, and whenever I desired to wipe his blessed lips after he had done sucking, I was forestalled in that act from the invisible world; nor would my son take the nipple into his mouth until the prince of the world had finished. In short, my husband, having perceived the beauty of his lordship, fell on his face in adoration, and said: “O Halimah, I have never seen a more handsome boy among the children of men.” When the night set in, I perceived a light shining from his beauty; I also saw a man dressed in green standing at his pillow. Therefore I awakened my husband from sleep, who was greatly amazed at this sight, enjoined me not to reveal it to anyone, and said: “Because this infant was born, the Jewish priests and Christian U’lâma are day and night uneasy and disquieted; but we shall return wealthy to our home.” During the week we remained in Mekkah, we went every day to the house of Aminah, who entertained us with the narratives of the events that had taken place during her pregnancy, and at the time of her confinement. When we departed to our home we took leave of her; I mounted our donkey and took Muhammad in front of me. The donkey capered, raised his head skywards, placed it thrice on the ground, returned, and joyfully left Mekkah, so that he took in the journey the lead of all the others. The women of the Bani Sa’ad were astonished, and exclaimed: “O Halimah, is this the same donkey who had no strength to walk when we journeyed to Mekkah, and who was the hindmost of all? A secret is in this, and something great is in store for thee.” I over­heard the donkey saying to himself: “By Allah! it is a great matter that I have been revived, and have acquired strength. Ye women of the Bani Sa’ad, are you aware whom I am carrying? I am the bearer of Muhammad, the apostle of the Lord of the universe, upon whom the joy of this world and the light of the next depend!” During that journey I also heard the words: “O Halimah, thou hast been favoured in the latter part of thy life, and hast become the noblest among the women of the Bani Sa’ad.” We passed a flock of sheep, and on seeing me they approached me, whereon I heard a voice among them, saying: “May thy eye be bright, O Halimah! Knowest thou who thy suckling is? He is Muhammad, the apostle of the Lord of both worlds!”’ Halimah says: ‘In every stage we alighted we found plenty of water; grass and fruit-trees sprang into existence by the power of Allah, and during that journey I witnessed so many strange and wonderful events that the tongue of eloquence is unable to record them. When we arrived in the country of the Bani Sa’ad, it looked parched and without grass, other sheep returned home without milk, but ours, which had before been sickly and emaciated, had now grown healthy and fat; when they came home every evening from their pasturages they were replete with food and milk, whilst quite the contrary was the case with the sheep belonging to other people. When the men of the tribe became aware of this great difference, and saw our meadows full of water and grass, but theirs dry and parched, they complained to their chiefs that our cattle were grazing in their pasturages. It is related that for this reason the Lord blessed also the flocks of the whole tribe, and as long as Muhammad—u. w. b.—was among us, many benefits redounded on the tribe, because of the favour of his presence.’

Halimah says: ‘Muhammad never answered the calls of nature in his clothes, but had an evacuation every day at a fixed time, and whenever I intended to wash his body I found it pure and clean. Nor did that infant hate any­thing more than to have his limbs bared, but cried and became angry every time such a thing took place, until they were again covered. Otherwise he never wept, nor showed signs of bad humour, so that everyone who saw him fell in love with him. One night I awoke and heard him pronouncing the following words, better ones than which do not exist: “There is no God but Allah the Most Holy as long as eyes endure, the Merciful One who is not overtaken by slumber or sleep!” and these were his first words. From the time he began to speak he never handled anything without saying: “In the name of Allah.” Nor did he ever touch anything with his left hand. From reverence for his lordship I never performed my ablutions in his presence. In one day he grew as much as others in a week, and in a week as much as others in a month, and in a month as much as other children grew in a year; that is to say, his growth could not be compared with that of any other child. Every day a light resembling sunshine descended, covered, and again left him visible. By the blessing of his propitious advent the Lord and Bestower of all good gifts vouchsafed many favours to us. Our sheep and harvests were increased, and the people were in need of our help. When the boy was two years old and quite strong, I carried him to Aminah, and as we were most anxious to retain him, I said to his mother that, as I had no confidence in the climate of Mekkah, it would be better to allow us to take the child back again, and we insisted so much and long on this point that Aminah at last complied with our request. We joyfully returned with the boy to our home, and the Divine favours augmented from day to day, so that we were at the head of the whole tribe.’

The author observes that the events of his lordship’s life up to the time of the scission of his breast are narrated in voluminous books, composed by authors of former and of latter times down to our days; but Allah knows best what is correct.