ABU BAKR SIDIQ—M. A. R. H.—PROFESSES ISLÂM.

There are various narratives recording the circumstances under which the sun of eternal grace first threw a ray of grace upon the heart of this happy man; one of these is the account contained as follows in the chronicle of Ebn Ahmed: After Zaid Bin Alhâreth had professed Islâm, Sidiq met the apostle of Allah on the road, and addressed him thus: ‘Is it true what I have heard about thee—that thou hast interdicted the worship of our gods, hast accounted our wise men to be fools, and hast occupied thyself with uttering declarations that the religion of our fathers and ancestors is a false one?’ His sacred and prophetic lord­ship answered: ‘O Abu Bakr, I am the apostle of Allah and a prophet. He has sent me to promulge His message. I invite thee to believe in the God who is one and has no partner, and, by Allah! these words are true.’ Hereon he recited with his wonderfully eloquent tongue several verses of the Qurân, whereon Sidiq made his profession of the religion. It is related in the Mostaqassa of Qâsim Bin Muhammad that the apostle of Allah—u. w. b.—said: ‘I never proposed Islâm to anyone but he had some excuse, repugnance, or procrastination [to plead] except Abu Bakr, for he did not study—i.e., hesitate in his readiness to accept the Faith.’ Sidiq being famous for his noble manners, good works, and laudable qualities, there was no one in Mekkah equal to him also in hospitality and the entertain­ment of strangers. The Qoraish were his intimate friends, associated constantly with him, and consulted him in their greatest difficulties. He was most learned in the knowledge of genealogies and of histories; scholars waited upon him and derived instruction from him; therefore he guided his friends and associates in the right way after he had been ennobled by professing Islâm, and explained to them the truthfulness, as well as the acceptability, of the words and signs of his prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—so that by the blessing of his successful efforts many Qoraish grandees and Arab princes were by him led from the desert of aberration to the fountain-head of guidance, and their names have been recorded above.