NOTICES FROM THE INSPIRED BOOKS, AND PREDICTIONS CONCERNING THE BLESSED OF BOTH WORLDS ABOUT THE EPITHETS AND PROPERTIES OF THE SEAL OF PROPHETS AND PRINCE OF APOSTLES—U. W. B.
In the second part of the fifth book of the Torathah,76 on the correctness whereof seventy Jewish priests have agreed, there is an authentic prediction about the advent of a prophet distinguished by two characteristics, both of which refer to the lord of apostleship—u. w. b. The one is that he will be of the sons of Esrâil; and the second that this prophet will be like Mûsa [Moses], meaning that he will found a religion, and that he will be endued with power. No one possessing these qualities received a mission except the prince of prophets. The objection of the Christians that this prophet might be I’sa is refuted by the words of the latter in the Evangel: ‘I have not come to change the law of Mûsa.”77 This objection may also be raised in another manner, which, however, is not worth recording in this place. In the Torathah it is also mentioned that the sun of prophecy will rise in the east of Qârân, which is a mountain near Mekkah belonging to the destitute among the descendants of Esma’il. The inhabitants of the world believe that the descendant of Esma’il who was, according to the revelation in the Torathah, invested with the robe of prophecy and ennobled with the honour of apostleship was our prophet.
Ka’b-ullâkhbâr78 says: ‘I have read in the Torathah that Muhammad, the apostle of Allah, will be neither ill-humoured nor hard-hearted, that he will not raise his voice in public places, nor requite evil with evil; but that he will forgive those [who offend him]. That those who adhere to his religion will praise Allah and will shout the Takbir79 on the tops of houses; will wear loin-cloths down to their legs; will perform the religious ablutions on four limbs, i.e., the head, face, hands, and feet; that their herald, i.e., Muezzin, will exclaim in the air, i.e., on roofs; that their position in prayer and battle will be the same, and that the voice of their prayer during the night will resemble the buzzing of bees; that the prophet will be born in Mekkah and will flee to Madinah, and that the length and breadth of his kingdom will extend to Syria.’
A’bdullah, the son of Sullâm, says: ‘I have found him described in the Torathah as follows: “I have sent thee as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings, and as an admonisher. Muhammad is my servant and my apostle; I have named him Motawakkal.80 He will not depart from the world until he has straightened the crooked religion, and invited the people to monotheism. By his blessing blind eyes, deaf ears, and closed hearts will be opened.”’ The same individual says: ‘I have read in the Torathah that the Most High has sent the Torathah to Mûsa on Mount Sina, and the Evangel to I’sa in Nassrah, which is a village, wherefrom Christians are called Nassari, and the Qurân will be brought to Muhammad at Mekkah.’ When the son of Sullâm had seen the verses of the Torathah, and had beheld the characteristics of truth on the august forehead of prophecy, he attained the nobility of Islâm. The confirmation of his case occurs in the blessed verse: ‘And those to whom We gave the book know, etc.’ Farûq [i.e., Omar] asked him about the seal [i.e., about Muhammad], and received the following answer: ‘The prophetship of Muhammad is more certain than my descent or that of my son.’ O’mar—u. w. b. —replied: ‘How could that be?’ The son of Sullâm continued: ‘Suspicions arise in pedigrees on account of the possibility of fraud in the mother and her offspring, but about the veracity of Muhammad’s claim there is not the least doubt.’ Farûq then kissed the hand of the son of Sullâm, and approved of what he had said.
It is written in the Evangel [Gospel] that I’sa had said to his people: ‘If you love me you will keep my commandments, until the arrival of the prophet who will separate the true from the false religion; for his religion will endure for ever.’ This points to the mission of the prophet of the latter times, whose religion abrogates all others. It is likewise written in the Evangel: ‘When the Bâraqlittâ [Paraclete], namely, Muhammad, is sent, he will bear witness of the truth of my mission.’ The ancient nations always accused the adherents of I’sa of falsehood, especially the Jews, who uttered calumnies about them; but when his lordship the prophet—u. w. b.—was sent, he testified that what I’sa had spoken, and his followers had preserved, is nothing but the truth, and that the stories of the Jews current about them are only falsehoods and slanders.
It is said that Allah the Most High and Glorious sent a revelation to I’sa to consider the prophetship of Muhammad as true, and to believe therein. Allah the Most High has said: ‘An apostle who shall come after me, and whose name shall be Ahmed.??81
Distich: I’sa gave tidings of the approach of my friend,
And by the blessing of thy advent his breath gave life to corpses.
It is written in the Zubûr of Dâud82: ‘Our mercy has been shed upon thee with every prosperity, namely, our favour has been commingled with thy words. Therefore, I, who am the Lord, have caused success and blessings to accompany thee for ever. Therefore, gird the sword, and attack the enemies, for thou wilt conquer them. Make the word of Allah thy vehicle; for we have started the glory of the law by thy hand and arm. Other nations will humbly place their foreheads on the ground before thee.’ And there is no doubt that all people must follow him except his lordship the elect—u. w. b.
In the book of the prophet Shoa’ib83 the Most High has said: ‘I have a servant with whom I am well pleased, and to whom I shall send a revelation to establish justice among all people. By his blessing blind eyes, deaf ears, and closed hearts will be opened, and through My praise he will become the praised of the world. From the four quarters of the world fresh and renewed laudation will accrue to him, because the Takbir will be shouted on the housetops; Allah will be remembered and the light of truth will shine among the people, and will not be quenchable by anyone; and the seal of prophecy will be between his two shoulders.’ All these are characteristics of his lordship, the refuge of prophecy.
A’bd-ur-rahman Zaid, the Anssâri [auxiliary], relates that Adam said: ‘In the resurrection I shall be the chief of all mankind, except one individual, a prophet of the name of Muhammad, who will excel me in two things. Firstly, that his spouse Khodaijah will aid him in repelling Satan; secondly, that Allah will allow him to make a Musalmân of Satan, whilst my Satan remained an unbeliever and a sinner.’ Wuhub, the son of Muniah, narrates that Allah the Most High sent a revelation of the following purport to Adam: ‘I am the God who is the proprietor of Mekkah; its inhabitants are My neighbours, and the pilgrims to the Ka’bah are My guests. I shall exalt this house by a prophet of thy progeny of the name of Ebrâhim, who will build it, and all succeeding generations will keep it in a state of repair until the time of the prophecy of one of thy children, Muhammad by name, who is the seal of the prophets, and whom I shall make one of the inhabitants of the sanctuary, of the governors of the Ka’bah, and of the purveyors for the pilgrims.’ The U’lâma have related that Ka’b, the son of Lowa, had found a description of the prophet in the pages of Ebrâhim, and had therefore on a Friday, which was at that time called A’runah, assembled his people, and had, after offering praises and laudations to the Most High, spoken to them as follows: ‘Know ye that the day is bright, and dark the night, that the earth is a bed, and the sky a roof, and the mountains the nails of the earth, and that the stars direct the wayfarer? The former and the latter commandment is the same—that males should couple with females. Therefore cherish each other, and educate your children, because after all no one who has died came back, and no one who went away has retraced his steps. You have the house of the Ka’bah; keep it, adorn it, and devote yourselves to this noble country, because a day will arrive when the sanctuary will become very celebrated and a prophet of the name of Muhammad will be sent, who will bring veracious informations;’ and he concluded by saying: ‘Alas! If I could live then, that I might assist him.’ Wuhub, the son of Muniah, also says: ‘In the celestial books which have come down to some of the inspired prophets, I have read that the Most High had said: “I have chosen the children of Esrâil in My bounty, and have cherished them with miracles. They were like sheep without a shepherd; I have brought them back, and I have gathered their scattered ones, until they became puffed up by the insolence of prosperity, and the rams among those sheep have knocked their heads against each other. Woe to this rebellious and disobedient nation. I am the Lord, and have, on the day when I created heaven and earth, determined to establish a religion which shall vanquish all others, and have appointed a time thereto. If the children of Esrâil possess any knowledge of futurity, let them say when this will take place? My prophet will be an illiterate Arab of meek and gentle character, who will not raise his voice in market-places, and will not speak on trifles. I shall aid him in every good thing, and bestow on him noble manners, grave elocution, and make piety his motto. Truth, justice, and patience will be his chief qualities; his religion will be sublime and blessed. For his sake I shall cause various opinions to unite in one, and will make his people the best, who will constantly obey and praise Me, will for My sake abandon their families and riches, and will wage religious wars against infidels. Their ranks will be the same in prayer as in battle; they will turn night into day by vigils and orisons, and will fight their enemies like lions. These are favours and benefits which I vouchsafe to whomsoever I please, for I am the Lord of great excellence.”’ Such is the favour of Allah, who bestoweth it upon whom He listeth, for He is Almighty.
All the properties of his lordship are recorded in the celestial books. Some of his names are written in Divine books, and his epithets are recorded by the tongues of prophets, as well as in the chronicles composed by the worthies of former and of latter times. These pages cannot, however, embrace all the traditions, and therefore here the reins of the pleasantly ambling pen are turned towards the descriptions of other histories concerning the glad tidings originating from those who were connoisseurs of arcana and seers. But protection and favour come from Allah!
RECORD OF THE ARRIVAL OF TOBA’ IN THE NOBLE CITY OF MEKKAH, AND HIS BEING MADE HAPPY WITH THE BLESSING OF THE FAITH BEFORE THE MISSION [OF MUHAMMAD].
The arrangers of the jewels of historical events have strung the pearls of eloquence upon the thread of order as follows: The prosperous and victorious king, the lord of conquest and of the two conjunctions,84 surnamed Toba’ and called Wara’, who was distinguished above the sovereigns contemporaneous to him by his dignity, by the extent of his dominions, and by the multitude of his slaves, marched bent on conquest with an army, numerous as locusts, or drops of rain, from the residence of sovereignty and of the government of the world and passed through the country. When his victorious banners arrived in the neighbourhood of Mekkah, none of the inhabitants of the mother of cities came to wait upon him, or showed him civility by going to meet him. Therefore his royal temper became offended with their conceit and arrogance, whereon he determined to demolish the house of Allah, i.e., the Ka’bah; but in consequence of this intention the Omnipotent Sovereign afflicted him with a disease, the cure whereof baffled the skill of physicians, and being overpowered by suffering, Toba’ reached the boundaries of non-existence. By the persuasion, however, of one devoted to the Courts of Self-existence [i.e., to God] he had been made aware of the wickedness of his intention, abandoned it, repented, and recovered his health, whereon he made the greatest efforts to magnify and to honour the house of Allah. He ordered seven fine cloths and costly garments to be presented to the Ka’bah, and this custom of dressing the house of Allah has since that time become an established and approved rite among exalted personages and kings. After some days, Toba’ struck the drum of departure from Mekkah, and went to Madinah. It is well known that during the said journey he was accompanied by four thousand distinguished and learned men. When he arrived in Madinah, four hundred individuals, who were sages of theology, with the Jew Shamûl at their head as chief and leader, examined the site, the breadth and the length of the city, and said to each other: ‘We have been informed by the principal U’lâma, and by excellent philosophers, that this blessed locality will become the abode of exile of the seal of prophets, and that his holy spirit will also, from this delightful country, be received into the mausoleum of the heavenly spheres. It is our intention to establish in this land our furniture of permanency, because thus some of our offspring may enjoy the honour of kissing his feet and meeting him.’ After Shamûl had consulted and obtained the approval of Toba’, they all agreed to leave him and to settle in Madinah. When the king had become certain of the intention of those who were to remain, and of the propriety of their aspirations, he likewise desired to be of their number, lest he should be deprived of the great blessing [to wait for the advent of Muhammad, and possibly to meet him]. But the multitude of his victorious army, his auxiliary troops and allies, dissuaded him, therefore he issued orders to build a house for every one of that happy company, and to provide it with all necessaries. He also left a description of his own affairs, wherein he manifested his anxious desire to contemplate the beauty of the seal of prophets. This document he left with Shamûl, ordered him to guard it, and said: ‘In case the happiness of becoming acquainted with that founder of religion should fall to my lot, surrender this petition to his attendants; but if not, leave it to thy children, and order them to take care of it from generation to generation, until the time when it may be presented to his lordship the best of men.’ After this injunction Toba’ took leave of the dwellers in the city of love, and departed from Madinah. Those who had become aware of the secrets foreordained by Divine activity settled in that country, and the said letter was in the due course of the vicissitudes of time inherited by their descendants, until it became the property of Abu Aiub, the auxiliary who was the twenty-first descendant of Shamûl, the Jew. When the news of the advent, and the intention of his lordship, the best of existences, to proceed to Yathreb [Madinah] had become public, an individual, Abu Laili by name, was sent to him with the letter, and having met his lordship in the tribe of the Beni Salîm, the letter met with the noble acquiescence and exaltation of being accepted by the prophet, whose miraculously eloquent tongue thrice uttered the words: ‘Welcome, thou pious brother!’
The object of describing the above event was, to make it plain to the world that one thousand years and more before the mission Shamûl and Toba’ had predicted the advent of the seal of the prophets. Toba’ had been anxious to become a follower of his lordship, was ennobled by professing Islâm, and departed from this perishable world with a good reputation. Some have described the arrival of Toba’ at Madinah in another manner, which they consigned to their chronicles, but Allah knows best the true state of things.
RECORD OF THE DREAM OF MURTAD, SON OF A’BD KALLÂB,
AND THE INTERPRETATION OF U’FIRA.
It has been rumoured by men, and noted on the surface of the sun by Mercury,85 that Murtad, the son of A’bd Kallâb, was a powerful king in Arabia, and that he dreamt on a certain night a fearful dream, which frightened him. On awakening he found that he was unable to remember his dream, but, as he was still greatly distressed, he made a confidant of his mother, who had some knowledge of soothsaying, and he requested her to give him an explanation, which, however, she was unable to do, on account of his forgetfulness; therefore, she assembled all the Arab soothsayers, and narrated to them what had happened. They unanimously informed her that if she had told them the dream they would have attempted to interpret it, but, as its contents were forgotten, they were just as helpless as herself. Then they dispersed; but this matter weighed heavily on the mind of Murtad. One day he left the city for the purpose of hunting and suddenly beheld a fawn in the desert, which he pursued so ardently that he left his companions far behind, became greatly fatigued, and sought a shade where he might rest himself. He succeeded in reaching a mountain slope, where he perceived two or three huts built near a cave. He approached the place, halted in front of a house mounted as he was, whereon an old woman came out saying:
Distich: The portico of my eyes is thy nest.
Condescend, alight; for this house is thine.
In consequence of the invitation of this woman, Murtad, the son of A’bd Kallâb, dismounted, rested himself on the couch of ease, fell asleep, and thus refreshed himself after the fatigue of the journey and the heat of the chase. When he awoke and opened his eyes, he beheld at his cushion a maiden sitting, the freshness of whose countenance eclipsed the uppermost paradise in beauty, and the perfume of whose amber ringlets excelled the fragrance of the vernal breezes. This virgin addressed Murtad as follows: ‘O prince worthy of exaltation! mayest thou be preserved and guarded from the causes of separation! Wishest thou for some food?’ Murtad was distressed by these words, which implied an acquaintance with his circumstances, and he became apprehensive lest an enemy might overcome and precipitate him from the zenith of power into the abyss of misery; therefore, he refused to answer, and looked in another direction. The maiden continued: ‘O king! let nothing dismay your noble mind, and do not give way to sorrow! The luminary of your high destiny is in the ascendant, and the star of your enemy’s horoscope is humbled. May the inhabitants of the world be your ransom, and may the evil eye never injure your dignity! We entertain firm confidence that we shall be distinguished and profited by your precious favours.’ After delivering sentiments of this kind she produced various dishes, and when the prince had done eating the maiden gave him a cup of pure milk to drink. Murtad, being highly pleased with the agreeable manners and attractive beauty of the maiden, resolved to wed her; he asked for her name, and she said that it was U’fira. Then Murtad asked: ‘Knowest thou him whom thou hast addressed as the king of the world?’ The maiden replied: ‘Thou art the autocrat who had assembled all the Arab soothsayers and interpreters on account of a difficulty he had, but they could not solve it.’ Murtad queried: ‘Has anything been revealed to thee about that important affair?’ U’fira replied: ‘The dream thou hast dreamt was terrible enough, and has so overwhelmed your majesty that you have forgotten it; but if you will command, I shall narrate some of it.’ Murtad was delighted with this proposal, manifested acquiescence therewith, and U’fira continued: ‘O king! thou hast dreamt that whirlwinds arose and pursued each other to the summit of the firmament; within them fires shone, and from them smoke issued. Then thou hast seen a stream of water, limpid as the minds of sages, and a voice was heard inviting the people to drink therefrom in the following terms: “Whoever drinks with moderation, i.e., deals equitably, will be refreshed; but whoever places his mouth upon the water, i.e., drinks immoderately, and takes greediness for his motto, will partake of loss and misery.”’ Murtad said: ‘This happened as thou hast narrated; and now give me a true interpretation of the dream.’ U’fira continued: ‘The whirlwinds mean kings, but smoke and fire imply their enmities and friendships. The river of water is the source of the bright religion, and he who invited the people to drink was an interceding prophet, who will be sent to call all mankind to the fountain of the law. Whoever is addicted to equity and justice will obey him and will be liberated from the thirst of the desert of misery, and whoever exceeds their bounds will disobey him and will sink into the vortex of folly.’ Murtad asked: ‘Will this prophet be sent in peace or in war?’ U’fira replied: ‘I swear by the exalted majesty of heaven that he will put a stop to all bloodshed which is against the Divine command; he will make princesses captives like bondmaids and reduce them to slavery, and whoever opposes him will become mean and despicable.’ Murtad queried: ‘What will he call mankind to?’ U’fira continued: ‘To fasting, to prayer, to intercourse with relatives, to break idols, to do the will of the Merciful, to abstain from image-worship, and to avoid all prohibited and wanton amusements.’ Murtad further asked: ‘Of what tribe will he be?’ She said: ‘He will be of the progeny of Nasser, the son of Nazâr, and will fight his own people until he subjugates them.’ Murtad continued: ‘If he attempts to extirpate and to annihilate his own people who will aid him?’ U’fira rejoined: ‘The noblest and the most valiant of men, whose vision will be illuminated by the light of knowledge.’ After the termination of this dialogue Murtad considered how he might wed U’fira, but she forestalled him by her penetration, saying: ‘O prince! my suitor is jealous and fearless! further proceedings in this matter will only entail sorrow, and bring destruction upon thee.’ Fear for his life overpowered Murtad, and caused him to renounce all aspirations to her hand; therefore he quickly mounted his courser, rejoined his army, and sent one hundred noble dromedaries as a gift to U’fira; and this narrative having been consigned to writing by authors of high dignity, has thus survived on the pages of memory.
RECORD OF THE DREAM OF RABIA’H, THE SON OF NASSER, AND THE INTERPRETATION OF SATTIH, THE SOOTHSAYER, AND OF WASHAQ.
It is current among the people and extant in the texts of books that Rabia’h, the son of Nasser, who was one of the governors of the country of Yaman, had dreamt a fearful dream, had assembled the interpreters of his province without telling them the contents, and had asked them for the interpretation of the dream. They replied: ‘It is beyond our ability and power to interpret an unknown dream.’ Hereon Rabia’h, becoming incensed with wrath, exclaimed: ‘It is your duty to solve any difficulty that may occur, and if this affair remains in abeyance I shall punish you.’ One of them pointed out to him Sattih and Washaq, saying: ‘These two men are the most learned in our times.’ Accordingly, Rabia’h first addressed Sattih, who replied: ‘Thou hast seen in thy sleep a black fire; its colour was darkish, and it burnt up all the inhabitants of Yaman.’ Others relate that Sattih answered: ‘O king! thou hast seen something burnt like ashes, coming from the darkness, and all the inhabitants of the country were eating of it.’ Others, again, say that the reply of Sattih was this: ‘Thou hast seen a back coal issuing from the darkness, and fire fell from it on the province of Tahamah, i.e., Yaman, and it burnt up the skulls of all who dwelt therein.’ In short, after Sattih had told Rabia’h what the latter had seen in his dream, Rabia’h said: ‘Thou hast spoken the truth; now tell me the interpretation.’ Sattih swore that an army would come from Abyssinia, and would take possession of the country. The king, being distressed by this news, asked whether this catastrophe was to happen during or after his reign. Sattih replied: ‘Sixty years after thy decease Saif Zu Yazan will conquer Yaman.’ Rabia’h continued: ‘Will the Abyssinians retain the kingdom or not?’ Sattih continued: ‘During seventy and a few years over, the sway of Saif Zu Yazan will last, and some years after his reign the kingdom of Yaman will obey a prophet belonging to a great family.’ Rabia’h asked: ‘Of what nation will that prophet be?’ Sattih replied: ‘Of the children of Ghâleb, the son of Qahar, the son of Mâlek. The government will devolve upon him and his people till the day of the resurrection.’ As Rabia’h was a stranger to the orthodox religion and did not believe in the resurrection, he was astonished at these words, and said: ‘Perhaps there will be a resurrection?’ Sattih continued: ‘Yes; the resurrection will be a day on which all the people of former and of latter times will be assembled, and will have to give an account of their actions. The good will be, for their reward, translated to the gardens of A’den, and evildoers will, as a punishment for their crimes, be removed to the abyss of Jahannum.’86 Hereon Rabia’h made Sattih swear an oath, by the redness of the twilight and by the blackness of the commencement of the night, that the existence of paradise and of hell was real, and that what he had said was true.
After the conversation between Sattih and the king had terminated, the latter called for Washaq, who interpreted the dream in the same way as Sattih had done, and gave some explanation about the day of judgment. Thus the king, having obtained information, wept much, believed in the coming of the prophet of the latter days, and all the circumstances of the day of requital. He sent his children to Persia with a message to one of the descendants of Sûsân, at the time King of Persia, who favourably received the new settlers and established them in a pleasant locality on the banks of the Euphrates. It is said that No’mân, the son of Munzer, was one of the descendants of Rabia’h, and in the ‘Rauzat-ul-Ahbâb’ this dream is attributed to Nassar, the son of Rabia’h.
RECORD OF SATTIH, THE SOOTHSAYER.
As Sattih was strange in form, and celebrated for soothsaying, some of his sayings have just been narrated, but a further notice of him will not be unacceptable. Accordingly, we state that chroniclers inform us of the birth of the soothsayer Sattih having taken place during the time of the inundation of A’rem,87 and that he lived till the rising of the star of prophecy, the length of his existence amounting to six hundred years. Some say that A’rem was the name of the dam erected by Balqis,88 the spouse of Suleimân—u. w. b.—in the country of Saba, which information is authentic. The Bountiful Giver had looked with a favourable eye on the inhabitants of Saba, and had blessed them with pleasant habitations, delightful gardens, and the most varied fruits. He also sent to them inspired messengers, but they were unable to appreciate Divine grace and rejected the instructions of apostles, wherefore they incurred the wrath of God, in consequence of which the inundation of A’rem overtook them, destroyed the people, and eradicated the trees, the roots whereof had been firm and the branches whereof grew skywards. Sattih had abandoned that country with a select company and had gone to Syria. According to tradition, there were no bones in his stature except the skull, the hands, and fingers. Some say that his face was on his breast, and that he had no power to rise nor to sit down except when he expanded himself and thus squatted down. When he was required to prophesy, or to give information about hidden things, he was shaken like a skin full of oil, folded up like a garment, and thus carried into the assembly. It is related of him that he said: ‘One of the genii who, at the time when the Lord —who knows all secrets—was conversing with Mûsa on Mount Tûr, had stealthily listened and thus obtained information about secret matters, is giving me notice of concealed events, and I am conveying them to men.’ It is written in some books that after Sattih’s death the science of soothsaying ceased to exist; this is, however, contrary to the assertion of historians. It is, nevertheless, plain that at the mission of the chief of creatures the soothsayers were unable to give information about hidden matters.89
RECORD OF ABU A’AMER, THE MONK, AND HIS HEARING
TRUE ACCOUNTS FROM THE GENII.
It is related by Hozaimah, the son of Thâber, that Abu A’amer, the monk, had renounced idolatry before the advent of his lordship, had adopted the religion of Ebrâhim, had dressed in sackcloth, and had been roaming about everywhere. He asked Jewish priests and Christian U’lâma about the particulars of the religion of the Friend of the Merciful, until they gave him information concerning the mission of the prophet of latter times and the revival of the religion of Ebrâhim. After hearing this news, Abu A’amer was constantly praising the best and greatest member of the family of A’bd Munâf. One day he happened to be in the company of Sarân Aws and of Khozraj engaged in praising his lordship. Ab-ul-Hâshem, who was also one of the monotheists, said: ‘O A’amer, when thou beholdest this prophet thou wilt become more acquainted with him, and describe him better.’ Abu A’amer replied: ‘I heard him so much spoken of by men and fairies that I fancy I see him now, or that I have seen him before.’ Ab-ul-Hâshem, being astonished hereat, said: ‘Learned men have possibly acquired some knowledge about him from inspired books, but to hear the promised prophet described by fairies is rather strange; you must therefore relate to us what the genii have said.’ Abu A’amer continued: ‘I heard that in Yaman there was a soothsayer without an equal in his profession, and the anxiety to meet him had so engrossed my mind that I started to that country in the holy month of Rajab when the Arabs keep their swords in the scabbards and pluck off the points from their lances. During that journey I travelled in moonlit nights, and was once overpowered by sleep. When I awoke I found myself in a fearful desert; I looked about and beheld several fires in the distance shining like so many stars. Therefore I went towards them, and when I came near I saw around each of them terrible forms entirely different from human beings, so that not only I, but also my camel, were much afraid and knelt down, and we both trembled. I threw myself on the ground, but several of them ran towards me. I pleaded for mercy: some warded off those who had approached me, and four of these strange beings sat down near me. One of them said to me: “Of what nation art thou?” I replied: “Of the tribe of Ghasân.” He continued: “From what subdivision?” I replied: “From that of Qiblah the mother of the [tribes of] Aws and Hazraj.” The questioner continued: “I shall arise and shed thy blood, as thou wilt see.” I expostulated: “Have I not taken refuge with you?” After these words they examined me; I informed them of my circumstances, and said: “Concerning invisible things we trust to soothsayers, who receive information from you; and as I have now got the opportunity, I desire to be informed about events to come without the intervention of mediators.” Hereon three of them pointed to the fourth, who was the wisest, and at my request he spoke as follows: “O Abu A’amer, receive information which is not from a book! I swear by Him who exalts the poor and the needy, and who pours down the drops of rain! Verily the time is approaching when lean camels will arrive and will incite men to war. Verily a man full of knowledge will come down from heaven, who will bridle every wicked person and will silence the base. Indeed, a man will arise who will vanquish Greece and Persia.”’ Abu A’amer said: ‘I asked whether this man would be a king. He replied: “No; he will be a prophet of the Beni Hâshem—noble, powerful, and generous.” I requested a further description, and he continued: “His countenance will be refulgent, his stature middling, his glance will be tranquil, but sometimes unsteady. When provoked he will be patient and slow to revenge himself. His eyes will be of a pleasing blackness; the seal of prophecy will appear between his two shoulders, and he will be illiterate. He will found a good religion, and he will be blessed who follows it. These words were heard from angels, who are recording the deeds of the servants of God.” After this explanation the speaker arose and departed with his three companions. During that night I remained in the place, but in the morning I returned to my country.’
Some chroniclers have narrated the above event in another manner, but the author is of opinion that after it Abu A’amer ought immediately to have hastened to Madinah, where the lord of prophecy was at that time dwelling and proselytising, and to have followed him; but as Abu A’amer was predestined to eternal misery, his envy did not allow him to profess the religion, but impelled him to encourage the unbelievers to wage war, in consequence whereof he was surnamed Abu A’amer, the wicked [fâsaq], as shall be detailed by-and-by, if it pleaseth Allah the Most High!
RECORD OF THE PORTRAITS OF PROPHETS, TO WHOM BE
GREETING AND PRAISES.
Heshâm, the son of Abu A’ass, says: ‘Siddîq90 —u. w. b. —had sent me with one of the Qoraish and a message to Harqal91 to invite him to profess Islâm. When we arrived in Damascus at the foot of the throne of Hilah Bin Abham, Ghasâni, who was the last king of Syria tributary to the Qaissar,92 we found him sitting on a throne like a great sovereign. He sent a man to us to make inquiries and to ascertain our wishes; but as we had sworn that we would speak only to Hilah himself, or that we would return, he was under the necessity of conversing with us. We began the interview with our good wishes and greetings, which he accepted. As we saw him dressed entirely in black we asked for the reason, and he replied: “You see what garments I wear? I have sworn an oath not to put them away until I have removed you beyond the limits of Syria.” But we rejoined: “A strange fancy has taken hold of thy mind; for, if it pleaseth Allah, we shall not only deprive thee of this country, but also dispose of the realm of thy king, because our prophet has given us good news with reference to this matter.” Hilah rejoined: “You cannot subjugate this kingdom, because those who are to do it keep the fast during the day, and break it in the night.” We retorted: “We fast in this manner.” After we had uttered these words the colour fled from his countenance and he exclaimed: “Arise, and go about your business!” and giving us a man for a companion he sent us to Harqal. When we arrived in the metropolis of the Qaissar our Syrian companion said: “It is not meet for you to make your entrance into the city mounted on camels.” Accordingly he kept us without the town and reported our arrival to the Qaissar, telling him also that Arab envoys do not change their beasts; and Harqal replied that we might act as we liked. Therefore we again mounted our camels and entered the city, with our swords dangling by our sides. When we had reached the gate of the Qaissar’s palace we made our camels kneel down and exclaimed: “No god but Allah!” and “Allah the greatest!” there is a tradition that on this occasion the whole palace of the Qaissar shook and trembled like a young date-tree agitated by a tempest. At that time the Qaissar was looking from an apartment towards the road and sent a person out to invite us to make known our religion and our requests; but we replied that Siddîq had given us no permission to converse with anyone except the Qaissar. Then we received orders to meet him, and when we entered the audience-hall we beheld the Qaissar sitting on a throne with a number of able-bodied men standing at the foot thereof. The Qaissar was, like all his grandees, dressed in red. When his eyes alighted on us he smiled, and asked us, through an interpreter, why we did not salute him according to the usage. We replied: “It is illicit for us to greet you, in the same way as you are prohibited to salute us.” He asked: “What is your salutation to a king?” We answered: “Greeting to thee!” He queried: “What does he answer?” We replied: “The same words.” He again asked: “What are your greatest words?” We said: “No god but Allah, and Allah greatest.” When we pronounced these words the apartment and the palace again shook, and Harqal continued: “Does the same thing happen whenever you utter these words in your own houses?” We replied: “We have never seen anything like this in our dwellings.” He continued: “Would to God that when you pronounced these words the house had tumbled down on your heads, and I had lost one-half of my kingdom.” We asked: “Why?” He replied: “The loss of the moiety of my empire would be more bearable to me than the appearance of the prophetship of Muhammad.”’
It is related in the Kazrâni chronicle that the Qaissar said: ‘If at the pronunciation of these words my house or apartments had shook, I would rather have given you the moiety of my kingdom, because the universality of this circumstance would imply prophecy, but its speciality points only to fraud.’
Heshâm reports: ‘After this conversation Harqal still further discoursed with us; at last he asked us about our fast and prayers, and we informed him about the manner in which we practised them. Then he issued orders to his people to assign to us a pleasant mansion, and to provide everything necessary for our convenience. After three days had elapsed we were again called to his presence and asked many questions. When we had answered them he ordered a large box of wood which was gilded to be brought forward. It had a door, and was divided into compartments, each of which had one likewise. He opened the door of a compartment, and having drawn from it a piece of black silk-cloth, unfolded it, and we beheld thereon the picture of a man with a red complexion, large eyes, and long neck. He had no moustache, and his hair was plaited on two sides. He was beautiful to look at, dignified and grave. Harqal asked: “Do you know whose portrait this is?” We replied: “No.” He said: “This is the lord Adam.” Then he opened another door, and again took out a black piece of silk-cloth, representing a white man, with curled hair, red eyes, big head and a beautiful moustache. He asked: “Do you know whose portrait this is?” We replied: “No.” He said: “This is Nûh [Noah] the prophet.” In this manner he continued to open the doors and to explain, till he came to a man with an extremely white countenance, black eyes, wide eyebrows, broad forehead, high nose, his face being fresh as if beaming with a smile. He said: “This is the picture of Ebrâhim [Abraham], the Friend.” Then he opened another door and took out a piece of white silk which contained the portrait of our prophet. He asked: “Do you know whose picture this is?” We replied: “Yes; this is the portrait of Muhammad the apostle of Allah!” Then we began to weep, and when he perceived this he rose, in token of respect and honour to that picture, sat down again, and continued: “I adjure you by God to tell me whether this is the portrait of Muhammad.” We rejoined: “By God, it is; and we fancy we see him present!” Then he looked awhile at us, and said: “These are the images of prophets, and I took them out to try you.” Thereon he opened another door, from which he took a black piece of silk-cloth, containing the figure of a man with a brownish complexion, having black hair, good sharp eyes, an austere countenance, clenched teeth, and compressed lips, as if he were angry. He said: “This is the portrait of Mûsa [Moses].” By the side of Mûsa there was another figure, but dim, as if varnish had been passed over it. He said: “This is the image of Esahâq [Isaac].” He then produced a figure like that of Esahâq, and said: “This is the prophet Ya’qûb [Jacob].” After that he showed us an image which was white, but somewhat reddish, with a beautiful shining face, the whole figure representing humility. He said: “This is the picture of Esma’il [Ishmael], the ancestor of your prophet.” After that he showed a portrait resembling that of Adam, and said: “This is the image of Yusuf [Joseph].” Then he drew out a white piece of silk representing a man with a red face, small nose, sleepy eyes, great abdomen, well-proportioned feet, and girded with a sword. He said: “This is the picture of Dâud [David].” After that he produced a white piece of silk containing a large-headed man riding on a horse. He said: “This is the image of Suleimân [Solomon].” Then he showed the figure of a man on black silk, who had a white face, black eyes, luxuriant hair, and beautiful moustache. He said: “This is I’sa [Jesus].”93
‘After we had seen these figures of the prophets, we inquired from the Qaissar how he had obtained these pictures, and how they had fallen into his hands, because we had concluded from the portrait of our prophet that all of them resembled their originals. Thereon Harqal informed us that Adam had prayed to the Bestower of forms to show him the figures of his descendants, who would be ennobled by the honour of becoming prophets, and that the Most High complied with the request by sending him the portraits of the prophets, which had been kept in the treasury of Adam in the Maghrab94 country until Eskandar Zulqarnîn arrived there and took possession of them. After that they fell into the hands of Dâniâl, the prophet, who painted them on these pieces of silk. Then they were removed and kept in the treasuries of sovereigns till he had inherited them. He further informed us that his mind was now at ease, and that he had obtained certainty of the authenticity of our prophet’s likeness, and exclaimed: ‘I wish that God the Most High had conferred the grace upon me to abdicate my throne, and that I might have become as devout as one of the meanest of yourselves, until the time when the bailiff of destiny knocks for admission at the door of the casket of life.”’
Heshâm says: ‘At the audience of leave-taking Harqal distinguished us with royal favours, and when we returned we waited on Siddîq—u. w. b.—to make our report. He wept and said: “Poor Harqal! Had Allah the Most High wished to do him good, he would have been blessed by professing Islâm.” He also informed us that the lord of prophecy—u. w. b—had said: “Those who possess the revealed books have read about my qualities, because the Lord of Glory had foretold them in the Torathah and in the Enjil [Evangel].”’
Ka’b-ul-âkhbâr says that the Friend of the Merciful [i.e. Abraham] assembled his children in his last agony, and that, according to one tradition, he ordered the ark of the covenant, but according to another a chest, to be produced, which he opened, and said: ‘Look into this ark.’ When they did so, they beheld compartments therein equal in number to that of the prophets, the last division containing the lord of prophecy—u. w. b.—made of red sapphire, with Siddîq at his right side, and the words on his forehead: ‘This is the first individual who will listen to the religion of this prophet.’ In front of that prince was A’li the select, girded with a sword, and having the inscription on his forehead: ‘This is the brother95 of the apostle, and the son of his uncle; he is strengthened by Divine power.’ Around his lordship the prophet were his principal companions mounted on horses, and from the forehead of each of them rays issued, resembling the light of the sun in the expanse of the atmosphere. These words may, however, be reconciled—as will be shown afterwards—with the assertion of the U’lâma, who relate that the first person who professed the Faith was Khodaijah, and after her A’li, the son of Abu Tâleb—u. w. b.— then Zaid, the son of Hâreth, and lastly Siddîq; but if those who are accustomed to the highest assembly [the court of the author’s patron?] find discrepancies among the figures of the prophets given in this place, and the descriptions recorded in the first volume, it is hoped they will attribute them to the difference of the traditions.
RECORD OF SOME OF THE EVENTS AND SIGNS THAT OCCURRED BEFORE THE BIRTH OF HIM WHO SITS IN THE CHIEF LITTER OF THE CARAVAN OF PROPHETS.
It is related after Ebn A’bbâs, that when the reality of Muhammad’s light—u. w. b.—was transferred to the person of Aminah, all the Arab soothsayers became aware thereof, and communicated the information to each other. In the East and in the West of the world the wild beasts and the birds congratulated each other, and said: ‘The time is at hand when the world will become illuminated by the presence of the father of Qâsim.’96 And the cattle of the Qoraish tribe began to speak, saying: ‘The mother of Muhammad is pregnant with Muhammad, who will be the Amîn97 of the earth and the luminary of the age.’
It is related that on the morning of the conception the idols in all the inhabited quarter of the earth98 were overturned, the throne of Satan fell, and the couches of sovereigns were prostrated upside down. Jebrâil [Gabriel] brought the green Muhammadan standard and erected it on the top of the Ka’bah. Angels proclaimed the news, saying: ‘Glad tidings to you, because the light of Muhammad —u. w. b.—has become fixed in the womb of Aminah, and will, after having been transmuted into the best of creatures, receive a mission in the most appropriate manner.’ During the whole time of pregnancy the embryo had not suffered the least injury, and there is a tradition of Aminah that from the beginning of the conception no sign whatever of her pregnancy manifested itself during six months, except the cessation of her courses. She further relates that after the expiration of that time a man once asked her, at a time when she was half asleep and half awake, whether she was aware of her pregnancy, and she replied in the negative, and that she became conscious thereof only after having been informed by him that she would give birth to the prophet of the Arabs. When the time of her confinement approached, the same individual made his appearance and instructed her to pronounce the words: ‘I take refuge with the Self-Existent and Only One, from the evil [machinations] of every envious person.’ Then he enjoined her to name the infant Muhammad as soon as he was born. She repeated the name, remembered it, and narrated to other women all that had taken place; and by their advice she put two iron hoops on her arm and neck, which a man some time afterwards removed from her, telling her no longer to keep them near her. It is also related that Aminah said: ‘When I was asleep that night, I dreamt that a light issued from me, by the reflection whereof I beheld the Kiosk at Bassiri in Syria.’ The interest of this tradition is chiefly centred in the circumstance that when the holy prophet honoured Bassiri— which is a town in Syria—with his presence during a journey, he passed by the just-mentioned spot.
THE HAPPY BIRTH OF THE INTERCESSOR ON THE DAY OF THE RESURRECTION, AND EXPLANATION OF SOME OF THE EVENTS WHICH TOOK PLACE DURING THAT NIGHT.
Although, according to a tradition, nearly eight hundred years had elapsed since the mission of I’sa, the Uvlula’zm99
had not been sent to resuscitate dead hearts as had been done by the blessing of his Messianic breath, until the licentiousness, idolatry, and corruption of the people had reached their maximum. Everybody neglected the worship of God. In Arabia only idols were adored, and in Persia Satan alone was followed, so that the light of [Divine] knowledge was turned into darkness by transgression, and the times of prosperity were changed to the afflictions of misery. Then the breeze of mercy began to waft from the throne of grace, the dawn of felicity commenced to breathe from the orient of supremacy, the shining moon rose on the horizon of magnificence, and the world-conquering sun radiated in the east of [Divine] favour. It is not hidden and veiled to the intelligent that these parables and metaphors are used as figures of speech by eloquent authors. The profoundly learned are, however, certain that a luminary had projected a ray upon the upper and the nether world, by the blessing of whose advent the sun, moon, planets and their satellites were, from the convexity of the sphere of spheres to the centre of the globe, and from the space of the exalted throne to the surface of the amber-coloured stratum [i.e. the earth], called forth from the darkness of non-existence, and were blessed with the light of creation.100
In fine, the chief of created beings, the mediator of existing creatures, and bestower of the essence of individuality, Muhammad the chosen—u. w. b.—was born of Aminah, the daughter of A’bd Munâf Zohri, during the year of the elephant,101 at the end of the eighty-second of the Alexandrian era, and manifested his world-adorning countenance to the denizens of the earth. Concerning the place of his birth all agree, but there are differences of opinion as to the time thereof. The U’lâma who wrote chronicles unanimously state that he was born in the honourable city of Mekkah in one of the dwellings of the people of the Beni Hâshem, and that afterwards, when he inherited the house, he presented it to O’qail, the son of Abu Tâleb, whose sons sold it after their father’s death to Muhammad Bin Yusuf, brother of Hajjaj Thaqfi, and that blessed place became afterwards known by the name of the Sarâi of Muhammad Bin Yusuf. This last-mentioned individual placed the house in which his lordship [the prophet] was born within the so-called ‘white castle.’ After the fall of the dynasty of the Ommiades [Beni Ommayya], Jauzar, the mother of Harûn-ur-rashid, came on a pilgrimage, and having separated the house from the castle, built a mosque so that the pious might perform their five daily prayers in that blessed locality. But with reference to the birth of his lordship the emblem of distinction, many opinions are current. Some say this propitious event took place on the very day when the companions of the elephant were approaching, and the impending catastrophe was averted—as has been recorded in these pages—on account of his proximate birth, which was consequently a miracle. Other opinions are that he was born fifty-five or forty days, or two years and two days, and even thirty or forty years, after the just-mentioned calamity. Most probably, however, his lordship the apostle—u. w. b.—was during that very year invested with the robe of existence by the clothier of destiny. There is, moreover, an uninterrupted tradition that his blessed birth took place during the month Rabi’ the first.102 It is related by Muhammad Bâqer that it happened ten days after the just-named month had elapsed, and by Muhammad Bin Hasan, that the eighth day of it had expired; namely on the seventh day of the year of the upper conjunction,103 agreeing with the twentieth Nisân104 and the seventeenth of Di-Mah,105 which day is in the Syriac language called Sarûsh. Others adduce the seventeenth or the twelfth of the above-mentioned month, but for further dates we refer the reader to the Rauzat-ul-ahbâb.
The following are some of the [miraculous] events of that night, which became to everybody as plain as daylight: The disappearance of the water from the lake Sadah; the overflowing of the river Samâvah, which is one of the watercourses of Syria, and had been dry during one thousand years. But possibly when the water of the lake Sadah was absorbed by the earth, it bubbled forth again in the Wâdi Samâvah, as Shekh Kamâl-ud-din, that model of piety—may his secret be sanctified—has said:
Distich: The Greek dug a mine in the country of Beran,
And again came out in the country of Khojand.
During that night also the palace of Naushirvân, the strength of which will be mentioned106 in the record of the Khalifate of Abu Ja’far Manssûr the Abbaside, so trembled that fourteen of its pinnacles fell to the ground. This event filled the mind of Kesra with terror and apprehension, which, however, he did not communicate to anyone, until at last he one day convoked his intimate friends and courtiers, and wished to do so, when all of a sudden news arrived from Estakhar107 that the fire of the chief temple of Persia, which had been burning for a thousand years, had become extinguished. Having searched their historical books for the meaning of this sign, they found that it portended ‘decline of power.’ At this information the smoke of amazement ascended into the receptacle of the brains of Naushirvân, and his dismay was much augmented. On that occasion the Mobed of Mobeds—i.e., the chief ecclesiastical dignitary of the Magi—represented that he had during that night seen fleet and obstinate camels in a dream, which were leading Arab horses until they had crossed the Tigris and dispersed in Persia. Naushirvân asked for the interpretation of this vision, and the Mobed replied that according to his opinion some catastrophe must have happened in Arabia. Kesra then despatched a courier to No’mân Munzer, who had been appointed by him governor of the country, and asked him to procure a learned man able to solve any questions that might be proposed to him on a certain subject. Accordingly No’mân sent a man called A’bd-ul-Masih,108 whose utterances were looked upon with great confidence by the Arabs. When this individual arrived, he was asked by Naushirvân whether he would be able to answer a question, and he replied that he would try to do so; but in case he should himself be unable, he would point out a man who could give information on that important affair. After the question had been stated to A’bd-ul-Masih, he rejoined that only Sattih, who lived in Syria, could answer this inquiry. Accordingly he was ordered by Naushirvân to depart to that country for the purpose of uplifting the veil of mystery from the countenance of the Kesra’s wishes, and arrived, after terminating his journey, at the dwelling of Sattih, whose bedside he approached, but found him in the agony of death, so that he received no answer to the numerous salutations and greetings sent by Naushirvân. Then A’bd-ul-Masih recited a few distichs to the effect that he had been sent by Naushirvân, but could not obtain a reply to solve various difficult queries. When Sattih had heard these verses of A’bd-ul-Masih he raised his head and said: ‘A’bd-ul-Masih has come to my bedside at a time when I am about to enter the grave, O A’bd-ul-Masih! The king of the Beni Sâsân—i.e., Naushirvân—has sent thee on account of the trembling of the palace, the decline of power, the extinction of the fires of Persia, and the dream of the Mobed of Mobeds!’ He further said: ‘As soon as Muhammad the elect—u. w. b.—is sent, and the recital— i.e., reading of the Qurân—begins, the river Samavah will flow, and the lake Savah will become exsiccated; the fire of the chief temple of Persia will be extinguished, the dignity of the Persians, of the Syrians, and of Sattih will cease, i.e., the government of Persia will be destroyed, and Sattih, taking leave from the perishable, will hasten to the eternal abode. According to the fourteen pinnacles that fell from the Kesra’s palace, fourteen individuals of the Sasanians, some of whom will be females, shall be encircled with the garlands of royalty, and will hereafter undergo great sufferings and hardships.’ After uttering these words Sattih ceased to speak and his soul was severed from his body. A’bd-ul-Masih then returned from Syria with the above information to Naushirvân, who was greatly comforted thereby, and said: ‘I dreaded that some event or calamity would take place suddenly during my lifetime, but a long period must elapse whilst fourteen individuals of our dynasty are reigning.’ He said this not suspecting that within the space of four years the government of ten of them would terminate. But the last of the fourteen was King Yazdejerd, whose affairs will be discussed in the proper place during the Khalifate of O’mar.
Another event of the night of the [prophet’s] nativity was that it took place when the Qoraish were holding a festival in honour of one of their idols, in whose temple they had at that time assembled, and were engaged in eating and drinking. They found, however, that their god had fallen to the ground, and set him up again; but as he was, a short time afterwards, again found prostrate on his face, the idolaters were much dismayed, and erected him again. When they had done so the third time, a voice was heard from the cavity of that idol saying:
Verses: All the regions of the earth, in the east and west,
Respond to the nativity, whom its light strikes;
Idolatry decreases, and the hearts of all
The kings of the earth tremble for fear.
STRANGE SIGNS WITNESSED BY AMINAH AND OTHERS DURING THE NIGHT OF THE NATIVITY, AND SOME EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THE SECOND DAY AFTER THE BIRTH OF THAT BLESSED INDIVIDUAL.
Aminah related that just before her confinement her whole body trembled for a very short time, and after that she saw the house excessively illuminated, so that fright and terror overcame her, and she felt a white bird rubbing its wings against her. When her apprehensions vanished she felt very thirsty; then an extremely white beverage was given her, which she imagined was milk, but drinking thereof she found it more sweet than honey. After that she beheld a number of women of tall stature, whom she considered to be maidens of the Beni A’bd Munâf. She took confidence in them and wondered whence they had come, but they calmed her mind. Hereon she saw a piece of long white brocade, and heard the allocution: ‘Keep her concealed from the eyes of the people.’ She perceived a company of men, standing in the air with vases of silver in their hands. Then perspiration was dripping from her, which had the odour of musk, and she exclaimed: ‘I wish A’bd-ul-Muttalleb were here!’ She beheld, as it were, the whole world in a blaze of light; a legion of birds with emerald beaks and ruby wings had entered the house, and the Lord Most High having raised the veils, she bodily saw the eastern and western regions of the world. On the roof of the Ka’bah and in other places banners had been erected, and many shocks were felt in the house without seeing the movers. The moment Muhammad—u. w. b.— was born he prostrated himself in adoration, and raised his head towards the sky, as if in the act of supplication and prayer. All of a sudden a hand appeared from above, which covered and snatched him up into a cloud out of sight, and the words were heard: ‘Receive him in the series of prophets, invest him with the robe of honour of the orthodox religion, show him to his ancestor Ebrâhim, and take him to the ocean that the inhabitants of the sea may know that in his time unbelief and idolatry will be abolished.’ After that, upon a folded woollen cloth, a piece of silk was spread under him for a couch. He had keys in his hands, and a voice was heard saying: ‘This is Muhammad, who holds in his hands the keys of prophecy, victory, and confirmation.’ After a short time another cloud descended, which was more luminous than the first, from which the neighing of horses and the flapping of the wings of birds was heard, and when Muhammad had for a long time remained concealed from the sight of his mother, she heard a voice saying: ‘Take him round the earth! Present him to the saints among genii and men,’ and exclaiming: ‘Endow him with the purity of Adam, with the strength of Nûh, with the friendship of Ebrâhim, with the nature of Esahâq, with the eloquence of Esma’il, with the glad tidings of Ya’qûb, with the beauty of Yusuf, with the voice of Dâud, with the abstinence of Yahia, and with the kindness of I’sa. Immerse him into the sea of the morals of the prophets and inspired messengers.’ A considerable time afterwards she again beheld him with a piece of white silk in his hand, and the water of [Divine?] succour distilling from him, and heard a voice saying: ‘Muhammad having the whole world in his grasp, every creature will obey and revere him.’
It is also related of Aminah that after the presence and disappearance of Muhammad she saw three men, whose countenances were shining like the sun. One of these three individuals had in one hand a silver pitcher, exhaling the odour of musk; in the other a dish of emerald, with two handles of mother-of-pearl, and at the same time the following expressions were heard from the other world: ‘As he has selected the Ka’bah, we have there made the Qiblah and his habitation.’ The third man held a piece of white silk in his hand, which contained his [Muhammad’s] seal. Then the holder of the dish placed Muhammad into it, poured water on him, and washed him seven times. These three men then kissed his feet. He who held the piece of silk was the gardener of paradise; he wrapped him into the piece of silk, perfumed him with very fragrant musk, and took him under his wings. When he again took him out from beneath his wings, he spoke many words to Muhammad, which his mother could not understand. He also pronounced an incantation over him, rubbing his hand over the back and the head of the infant, saying: ‘O Muhammad! glad tidings to thee, for the sciences of the prophets have been deposited in thy heart. Thou hast become the most learned and valiant among them. The keys of paradise are in thy hands, and awe of thee has so taken hold of the hearts of men that, hearing only thy voice, they will be subject to fear and trembling.’ Suddenly a man appeared, who placed his mouth on the infant, in the same way as a bird feeds its little one, and Muhammad asked with his finger for more. Then this man said: ‘O Muhammad! glad tidings to thee, for every good quality has been bestowed upon thee.’ Then he rubbed oil on his head and face, combed his hair, inserted collyrium into his eyes, and, taking him up in his arms, removed him out of sight. At that time Aminah became much distressed, amazed, and said: ‘Where are my people? It seems that they have become annihilated in this emergency, because I have been several nights in this place, suffering from the labour of parturition, and no one comes near me!’ At that time the same man [whose countenance shone like the moon, and who smelt like musk] brought back Muhammad, and said: ‘I have carried him about the earth, and have presented him also to Adam, who took him on his breast, pronounced a blessing upon him, and said: “Good news to thee, Muhammad! for thou wilt be the prince of my children of former and of latter times.”’ After these words that man disappeared from her sight, but first surrendered Muhammad to his mother, and said: ‘O Lord and Prince of the East and of the West of the World, glad tidings to thee! Whoever firmly adheres to thy religion and obeys thee will be resuscitated in thy company on the day of judgment!’ At that time A’bd-ul-Muttalleb entered, and Aminah informed him of everything that had taken place. He, in his turn, said: ‘This night I was engaged in prayer in the house of the Ka’bah, and I suddenly perceived that it inclined itself towards the place of Ebrâhim,109 again recovered its former position, and exclaimed: “Allah is greatest! O Lord Muhammad, purify me from the idolaters!” I also beheld Habal, the chief idol, prostrate on its face, and heard the announcement: “Aminah has given birth to a son, over whom a Divine cloud has alighted, and a plate has been brought from the Sanctum in which to wash him. Muhammad will lead out the people from darkness into the light of guidance. He will obtain a mission, and will be as a shining light. He will be an apostle, inviting and addressing all mankind. O ye angels! witness that we have presented to him the keys of the treasuries of prophecy. Rejoice ye, therefore, at his nativity!”’ A’bd-ul-Muttalleb further said to Aminah that, on hearing these words, his tongue became benumbed in his palate, and that he thought he had been dreaming. But on rubbing his hands over his eyes he found himself awake, and proceeded from the gate of the Beni Shaibah towards Battha. He beheld Safa exalted and Merva abased,110 and heard a voice exclaiming: ‘O Prince of the Qoraish! why do I see thee in fear and trembling?’ Then he went to the house of Aminah111 to see Muhammad, but when he reached the door he saw thereon a white bird with spread wings, the light whereof illuminated the mountains around Mekkah. Over the house there was a white cloud, which hindered him from entering. He therefore sat down awhile, and said to himself: “I wonder whether I was awake or asleep when I saw all these things?’ The odour of musk issuing from the house was so strong that he could not enter it; at last, however, he mustered courage, went in, and found her in the condition above described.
It is related that when A’bd-ul-Muttalleb entered the house and shook the ring of the door, Aminah replied in a feeble voice, and said: ‘Open quickly, for my heart is well-nigh breaking!’ When she let him in he could not see the holy light of prophecy on her countenance, and, ready to tear his garments, exclaimed: ‘Woe to me! Where has that light from thy face departed to? For I cannot see it!’ She replied that she had been delivered of a child, and informed him of everything in detail that had happened on the occasion. But he retorted that he disbelieved her allegation, as he perceived no traces of child-birth upon her. Aminah continued: ‘By Allah! I speak the truth, and the white bird which thou hast seen is quarrelling with me when I give milk to Muhammad, and desires to suckle him alone.’ A’bd-ul-Muttalleb exclaimed: ‘Then show me the new-born infant.’ But she rejoined: ‘Alas! how couldst thou see him, since a man had brought a dish of emerald and washed him therein, and told me not to show my babe to anyone during three days?’ He continued: ‘Show him to me, or else one of us two must die at my hands.’ When she perceived how incensed A’bd-ul-Muttalleb was, she directed him to a certain house, and told him that he would there find the child, swaddled in woollen cloth. But when he entered and wished to behold the world-adoring beauty of the lord of creatures, he perceived a man of terrible aspect approaching him with a sabre, and exclaiming: ‘Return! for no one can see him until all the angels have finished their visits!’ Hereon A’bd-ul-Muttalleb began to tremble, and wished to leave the house. When, however, he departed, he became mute, and it is said that he was unable to utter a single word during seven days.
It is related that the excellent Fattimah said: ‘I was present with Aminah on the night of her confinement, and beheld stars moving towards us as if about to fall on the ground.112 After the birth had taken place, a light detached itself from Aminah which illuminated the apartment in such a manner that I could see nothing except brightness.
It is related of Shafâi, the mother of A’bd-ur-rahman, who was the midwife of Aminah, that when Muhammad the elect—u. w. b.—was born, the exclamation ‘May the Lord have mercy on thee!’ was heard, and the horizon was so lit up from east to west that she was able to perceive several castles of Syria. But all the strange things witnessed by Shafâi on that night are recorded in chronicles.
There is also a tradition that on the day after the birth of his prophetic lordship, the Jewish priests asked A’bd-ul-Muttalleb whether an infant had been born in his tribe during the past night, and that he replied: ‘There is a case of pregnancy among us, but I cannot tell whether the birth has taken place or not.’ They continued: ‘We have found in the Torathah that last night was the nativity of the prince of former and of latter times in the sacred valley, which will become the place of pilgrimage to Arabs and to foreigners; and verily that high banner and shining light has entered existence last night.’ Hereon A’bd-ul-Muttalleb despatched someone to Aminah to make inquiries, and she replied: ‘Last night I gave birth to an infant, circumcised, with his umbilical string cut, looking as if he had been washed of the impurities adhering to infants. A light shone from him which illuminated the world, as I had seen in my sleep. He came to the ground without my feeling any pain or distress, and pointed with his finger to heaven; whereon I received the injunction from above to keep him concealed for three days.’ When this news was brought to A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, the Jewish U’lâma exclaimed: ‘God is great! the prediction of the Torathah has been fulfilled!’ Hereon A’bd-ul-Muttalleb entered the house, renewed his inquiries, obtained the same information, sat down in a room to receive the congratulations of his friends, and slaughtered several camels for the purpose of feasting his guests. Being asked what name his grandson was to receive, he said: ‘Muhammad.’113 And being told that none of his ancestors bore that name, he replied: ‘I wanted him to be praised in heaven and on earth.’ After three days he went to the house of Aminah, took possession of the lord of prophecy, carried him to the Ka’bah, and, prostrating him in front of it, on the palms of his hands, said:
Verses: Praise be to Allah, who gave me
This nice and handsome boy;
I take refuge in the house with buttresses
Against the followers of Satan,
Against the evils of sorcerers,
Against envious disturbers and rebels.
After reciting these verses A’bd-ul-Muttalleb took the lord of prophecy back to Aminah’s house, recommended him to her care, and said: ‘A high destiny is in store for this child.’
A’li, son of Ebrâhim, son of Hâshem, relates that there was a Jewish priest in Mekkah called Yusuf, who entered the assembly of the Qoraish on the day after the prophet’s birth, and asked whether a child had been born last night to anyone among them, and was told that such had been the case with A’bd-ul-Muttalleb. Hereon Yusuf wanted to see the infant, was taken to the house of Aminah, and his lordship was shown to him, wrapped in swaddling clothes. The Jew looked at his blessed eyes and between his shoulders, fell suddenly to the ground, and was entirely changed in appearance. The Qoraish present laughed at him, but Yusuf replied: ‘You rail at me, O men of the Qoraish! But I swear by God that this is the prophet, endued with the scimitar, who will destroy you; and the fame of his having vanquished you will spread to the eastern and western regions of the world; now also the privilege of having prophets will be removed from the children of Esrâil.’ And this news spread in Mekkah.
Hasân, the son of Thâbet, said: ‘I was seven or eight years old, when one morning a Jew shouted in Madinah: “Assemble, O ye Jews!” Whereon all congregated, and said: “Woe to thee, what is the matter?” He exclaimed: “The star of Ahmed, who was born last night, has risen!”’ Hasân further reported that this Jew lived to enjoy the honour of seeing the prophet, but never professed the faith on account of his [predestined] misery:
Verses: Who can acquire luck by force?
Who can cure blindness with collyrium?
A mirror can be cleansed of rust,
But who will make a mirror of a stone?
Hasân also narrates that one morning he stood on a hillock and heard a voice, louder than any which had ever struck his ears; and that, looking more attentively, he perceived a Jew with a fire-brand in his hand and shouting. The people gathered around him and inquired for the cause of his doing this, whereon he exclaimed: ‘The luminary of Ahmed has arisen, which is a star, the reason for the appearance whereof is no other than the birth of a prophet, none of whom is to come hereafter except Ahmed!’ Hasân, however, also narrates that at these words the people burst our laughing. When this news reached Abu Qais, son of A’da, who had abandoned idolatry, he said: ‘He has spoken the truth, because the time of the promulgation of Ahmed’s religion is at hand, on account of which I am wearing these garments.’ This he said because, after he had left off worshipping images, he always wore a black dress. He further said: ‘I hope I shall live to become acquainted with his lordship, and believe in him.’ Accordingly, when his lordship the apostle—u. w. b.— commenced to propagate his religion in Mekkah, Abu Qais heard of it in Madinah, and became a believer; but when that prince came there, Abu Qais had become very decrepit.
It is related that a Jew said to A’bd-ul-Muttalleb: ‘O prince of Battha, has the infant about whom I spoke formerly been born last night?’ Receiving an affirmative reply, he asked what name had been given to the child, and was told that it was Muhammad. Then the Jew said: ‘There are three signs of his prophecy: first, the rising of the Muhammadan star; second, that his name is Muhammad; and third, that he is a member of the most noble family—i.e., your own.’
EXPLANATION OF THE EQUALIZATION OF THE MANSIONS, AND OF THE AUGUST HOROSCOPE OF HIM WHO IS BELOVED BY THE EVERLASTING IMMORTAL ONE.
As it will be recorded in the description of the horoscope of the prince of beings in what mansions various stars were situated at that time, it will be proper in this place to premise that the sphere of spheres has been divided into twelve equal portions, called mansions, each of which in its turn consists of thirty degrees. Any degree rising in the east at the moment of a man’s birth on the horizon of the place of his birth is called the degree of his ascendant, and the mansion wherein this degree is goes by the name of the mansion of the ascendant of his nativity, used in casting his horoscope. The ecliptic is divided into twelve signs [of the zodiac].
The other division is into six great circles, one of which is the horizon, and the other the meridian; the remaining ones are inclined, and each of them is from half the eastern nocturnal arc in the ascendant divided into three equal parts, which is a well-known method. All circles passing through the north and south pole intersect also on the meridian. The horizon and the meridian are each divided into twelve equal parts, which method is called ‘Markaz mukhaffifah’ [lightened centre].
The import of the twelve houses [mansions] is as follows: The first refers to the body, soul, and life of the infant. The second to his property, means, and auxiliaries. The third to sect, religion, to short journeys, to brothers and sisters, and to all relatives. The fourth to the termination of affairs, to landed property, and houses. The fifth to children, loved ones, to gifts, messages, and embassies. The sixth to slaves and servants, and to the maladies of his cattle. The seventh to wives, partners, and enemies turning up against him. The eighth to death, inheritance, fever, danger, and to lost property. The ninth to a distant journey, to science, to stories, to dreams, and to his house. The tenth to dignity, nobility, and exquisite circumstances. The eleventh is the mansion of hopes and friends. The twelfth is the mansion of great quadrupeds and of enemies harbouring guile in their hearts; lastly of fetters and poison.
It is well known to astrologers that the position of a star may be singular, according to its mansion. Thus, for instance, it may be in the tenth mansion, but according to the equalization in the ninth or eleventh house. The author has cast the horoscope of an individual, some of the stars being in the eleventh mansion, but according to the equalization in the ninth; this, however, is a rare case. That cruel man’s name was A’bd-ul-Fattâh, who accordingly suffered, during the reign of the present monarch of Islâm—may Allah perpetuate his sway—capital punishment for a crime he had committed. Some persons of this class still survive, and it is hoped that the same fate will overtake them.
The object of this preamble having been accomplished, we here state that several astronomical observers well acquainted with the niceties of such calculations have, after authenticating them, ascertained that the joy-bringing ascendant of his lordship the refuge of prophecy—u. w. b. —was in the twentieth degree of Capricorn, and that from the position of this mansion on the horizon, the evidence whereof suffers no contradiction, the place of nativity and the fact became known that his powerful religion will from day to day, till the last judgment, increase, and be confirmed in its high dignity. The position of the regent of the ascendant—i.e., of Saturn or of Jupiter, who is the source of happiness—in the mansion of the Scorpion—i.e., the eleventh, wherein the august ascendant was situated— means that every material or spiritual advantage, or imaginary and real felicity, covered by the possessor of this nativity, will be easily and readily obtained without the trouble of expectation. The world-illuminating sun had taken its noblest position in Aries, which is the fourth ascendant, in order to promulge the situation of his high prospects to the Arabs and to foreigners; the being of Mars in that place with the sun was a sign that whoever disobeys his prophetic lordship will be laid low by the scimitar of wrath. The lovely Venus was in Pisces, its mansion of honour with Mercury—known to astronomers as the patron of rhetorics—embracing each other, and announcing in eloquent strains that the possessor of this ascendant will become the noblest blessing of religions and beliefs. The moon, by whose means114 memorable events take place in the upper and the nether worlds, had taken her position in the first degree of the Balance, which is the tenth mansion [or sign of the zodiac], as an evidence that the memorials of his religion and institutions will fill the length and breadth of the earth. The head [of the moon?], which means augmentation, was in Gemini, its noblest place—i.e., the sixth mansion, which, as has already been stated, refers to servants and slaves—to indicate that the nations will become obedient to him; and the tail [of the moon?], which portends loss and misery, selected the twelfth place, so that no land may be left in the inhabited quarter of the earth for the enemies of the founder of the illustrious religion to dwell in.
Some chroniclers ascribe the just-mentioned astronomical data to Abu Moa’shar, who was, during the reigns of several Khalifahs of the Abbasside dynasty, one of their astronomers. The same chroniclers, though they relate that the blessed ascendant of his lordship the prophet was in the constellation of Capricorn, nevertheless maintain in their writings that his august birth took place when the the Mountain-goat [sic] was rising.115 This, however, is an evident mistake, because, according to the universal consensus of mathematical scholars, the Mountain-goat, which is one of the lucky mansions of the moon, pertains to the Balance, and not to Capricorn; therefore this error may, perhaps, be attributed to the transcriber, but Allah knows best!
Other astronomers relate that the sign of the Balance was the joyful ascendant of his lordship, and that the Sun, Venus, and Mercury were in Scorpio according to the equalization of the ascendant; and Mars in Cancer, and the moon in Leo. The author has been informed by an excellent individual celebrated for his knowledge of astronomy, that the horoscope of his prophetic lordship— u. w. b.—has been rectified as a model because only the night, and not the precise time of the birth, was known, which agreed with the twentieth degree of Capricorn, as stated above. Saturn and Jupiter were in the third degree of Scorpio, Mars in the twentieth of Cancer, and the moon in the eighteenth of the same sign. The sun and Venus were in Taurus, and Mercury in Aries.
It is plain to the mind of every unprejudiced reader that whatever has been here related concerning the observations on the horoscope of the holy individual to whom the allocution Lao lâkâ116 was addressed, is based on the axioms of those who consider the destinies of all human beings to depend upon the positions of the celestial bodies. Those who have acquired certainty in spiritual matters say that:
Distich: He who from old enjoyed the favour of the Lord
Has all the celestial bodies to obey his behests.
The author is in possession of a distich pertaining to the replica of the ballad called ‘The Sea of the Righteous,’ which he considers proper to insert in this place.
| Distich: | Whoever can prognosticate from the upper bodies good or evil, Though he be Abu Moa’shar, is himself unlucky and evil. |
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 Lahab117 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.
SCISSION OF THE BREAST OF THAT PRINCE OF EXALTED
DIGNITY.
Halimah said that he had two milk-brothers who went every day into the desert to pasture the sheep, and that when his lordship was three years old he said to her: ‘How is it that I have not seen my brothers these two days?’ She replied: ‘During the day they are engaged in pasturing the sheep.’ He queried further: ‘Why sendest thou not me with them?’ She answered: ‘No doubt thou wishest to be in their company.’ Accordingly, she combed his hair next morning, inserted collyrium into his blessed eyes, dressed him in a robe, and tied a string of Yaman shells round his blessed neck to avert the evil eye; but he immediately tore it off, threw it away, and said: ‘He who is my guardian will be with me!’ Sending him away with his [milk-] brothers, she enjoined them to take care of him, but about noon her son Zobeir came running in great distress and bathed in perspiration, exclaiming: ‘O mother, rescue Muhammad—u. w. b.—but I believe thou wilt not be able to reach him.’ She asked what had happened, and he continued: ‘Two men, dressed in green, came from the sky, took him away from us to the top of the mountain, ripped open his abdomen, and they are still with him.’ Halimah says: ‘I, my husband, and several women of my tribe, ran helter-skelter to the meadow, and saw him standing on the top of the mountain, looking towards heaven. My husband asked him what had happened, and he replied as follows: “Two men alighted from the atmosphere, brought a vase full of snow-water, laid me down, opened my abdomen, and ripped up my breast. They took from it a small black grain, washed it with snow-water, and filled it with light. Then they passed their hands over my body, whereon it became again as it was before.”’ With reference to this matter there is also a tradition that Halimah said: ‘When my son Zobeir informed me that two men had borne Muhammad to the mountain, and had opened his breast, I immediately ran with my husband to the spot, where we beheld him sitting and looking around, and when his eyes alighted on me he smiled. I kissed his head and eyes, saying: “May my life be sacrificed for thee; tell me what has happened.” He rejoined: “I was standing with my brothers, when all of a sudden three”’—but according to another tradition two— ‘“men made their appearance, dressed in white garments. One of them had a silver pitcher, and the other a plate of green emerald in his hand. They took me away from my brethren and carried me to the top of the mountain. One of them ripped open my breast down to the abdomen, without my feeling any pain. Then he introduced his hands into the cavity and extracted my bowels, washed them with snow-water, and again replaced them. After this the second individual arose, and said to his companion: ‘Go away, for thou hast done thy duty.’ Then the second person took out my heart, halved it, and removed therefrom a black point enveloped in gore, which he threw away, and said: ‘This is the writing of Satan.’ Thereupon he filled my heart with something he had brought, and I had never seen anything more tender or fragrant than that substance.”’
Halimah reports that the prince of this world said: ‘They weighed me first against ten men, but I preponderated; then with five hundred, and I preponderated; then with five thousand, and I again preponderated. Then one of them said to the other: “Let him alone. If he be balanced with the whole nation he will preponderate.” Hereon they left me, flew away, and went to heaven.’ Halimah says: ‘When I brought Muhammad back to the house, the people said: “He ought to be taken to a soothsayer, because he is touched by the genii.”118 But Muhammad replied: “I am free, and safe from what you imagine, nor has anything befallen me.” The people, nevertheless, insisted so much that we were obliged to comply. After we had stated the circumstances to the sorcerer, he desired the boy himself to explain them, as he was more familiar with them [than we could be]. When Muhammad—u. w. b.—had narrated the event, the soothsayer jumped up, pressed him to his breast, and exclaimed: “O Arab people, put him to death and me also. For if he remains alive he will consider your wise men to be fools, and will abolish your religion. He will invite you to worship a God whom you do not know, and to profess a religion contrary to your own.”’ Halimah says: ‘When I heard these words I snatched Muhammad from his arms, and said: “Thou art a fool! Had I known that thou wouldst utter such sentiments I would not have brought the child. Find a man to kill thee, for we shall not slay Muhammad.” Accordingly, I took him home; nor did we pass any house of the Bani Sa’ad which did not exhale the odour of musk. After this strange event the father of my children [i.e., my husband] and all my relatives advised me to return with Muhammad to A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, lest a misfortune should befall him.’
‘When we had determined to go to Mekkah, I heard a voice exclaiming every night: “Prosperity, blessings, and security are departing from the country of the Bani Sa’ad! Hail to you, Battha and Mekkah, as long as an individual like thee, O Muhammad, sojourneth there! O best of men, as soon as Mekkah becomes thy abode, the inhabitants of the sanctuary will be preserved and protected from calamities!”’ Halimah said further: ‘I mounted a beast, and seating Muhammad—u. w. b.—in front of me, watched him incessantly whilst I heard awful voices on all sides. When I arrived at the gate of Mekkah I alighted, and necessarily likewise took down Muhammad—u. w. b., etc.; on that occasion a small white cloud descended and I heard wonderful sounds. When I had terminated my business, I looked around, but could not see Muhammad, whereon I began to lament so bitterly that young and old took pity on me. An old man asked me for the cause of my grief, and I swore by the God of Ebrâhim that if I could not see Muhammad I would precipitate myself down from the mountain; but the old man replied: “Weep not, but enter the idol-temple and beseech Hobal to restore thy child,” but I replied: “O decrepit old man, hast thou not heard what happened to Lât and to U’zza on the night of his birth?
Hemistich: “U’zza had no honour, and Lât no power.”
‘The old man continued: “Woman, thy great distress makes thee speak nonsense! I shall enter and intercede, that he may again restore thy child.” The foolish old man went to Hobal, and after praising him as is the fashion of idolaters, he continued: “This woman of the Bani Sa’ad says that she lost Muhammad, the son of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb;119 restore him to her if it so pleaseth thee; for she bemoans him as lost.” As soon as that misguided individual had pronounced these words Hobal fell prostrate on his face, and from the cavity of his statue the words were heard: “What have I to do with Muhammad, who will be the cause of our destruction? and Allah the Most High and Glorious, who alone is to be worshipped, will not abandon him. Tell the idolaters that he is the great sacrifice; that is to say, he will kill all, except those who will be so fortunate as to follow him.”’ Halimah says: ‘When the little old man came out from the temple he exclaimed: “I have never experienced anything like this from Hobal! Call thy son, for a great destiny is in store for him.” When I despaired of finding Muhammad, I was forsooth compelled to disclose the circumstance to A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, who immediately ascended Mount Safa and assembled the Qoraish, but they were unable to find the child, although they searched all the places in and around Mekkah. After being thus disappointed, A’bd-ul-Muttalleb entered the mosque of the sanctuary alone, circumambulated it seven times, and heard the following words: “Muhammad—u. w. b.—has a God who will not cause him to be lost.” A’bd-ul-Muttalleb answered: “O herald, where is Muhammad?” Whereon he heard the reply: “He is sitting under a tree in the Wâdi Tahamah.” A’bd-ul-Muttalleb immediately armed himself, proceeded in that direction, and met on his road Waraqah Bin Naufil, who joined him in the search after Muhammad, and they discovered his lordship reclining under a myrtle-tree.’ There is another tradition that Masu’d Thaqfi and A’mru Bin Naufil found his lordship the seal of prophecy sitting under a myrtle-tree gathering the leaves thereof, and that A’mru asked him: “Who art thou?” And he received the answer: “I am Muhammad, the son of A’bdullah, the son of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb.” When they had taken him back, and the eyes of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb were illuminated by the aspect of the prince of creatures—u. w. b.—he bestowed much gold and innumerable camels on deserving persons, and presented Halimah with many gifts, whereon she returned joyfully to her home.
It is necessary to remind the reader that numerous legends exist concerning the scission of the breast, as well as about the time and manner in which Halimah restored his lordship to Aminah, all of which are recorded in chronicles, but could find no place in this abridgment, wherefore only that which the ancient U’lâma have related on these subjects has been here inserted.
EVENTS FROM THE FOURTH TILL THE THIRTEENTH YEAR
AFTER THE BIRTH OF HIS PROPHETIC LORDSHIP—U. W. B.
There is a tradition that his lordship remained four years before his weaning, and after it in the tribe of the Bani Sa’ad Bin Bakar, and that when Halimah returned with him in his fourth year to Aminah, the latter said: ‘Take him back to thy tribe; for I dread the climate of Mekkah.’ Halimah, being highly pleased with this proposal on account of the benefits connected with his blessed presence, assented. When he was four years old, the scission of the breast took place, Halimah again brought his lordship the refuge of prophecy—u. w. b.—to Mekkah, related the event to Aminah, and returned with that prince to her tribe. After she had attended upon him about one year more, his lordship occasionally disappeared from her sight, and Halimah, getting frightened by this circumstance, carried him to Mekkah, where she restored him to his mother.
Abu Hâzum says that when his lordship was in his fifth year, Halimah took him to Mekkah on a visit to A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, and that when one of the sorcerers saw him there he said: ‘O Arab people, kill this boy, for on his attaining manhood he will disperse and destroy you all.’ A’bd-ul-Muttalleb kept him concealed from the people, because all the Qoraish were afraid of and on their guard against him. In the sixth year of his age Aminah took his prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—with Omm Aiman to Madinah to visit her father and relatives, and they spent one month in the place called Dâr-un-nâba’ah. When the party had returned from Madinah to the just-mentioned place, Aminah departed from this perishable world and was buried there. When Omm Aiman arrived in Mekkah with his lordship, A’bd-ul-Muttalleb took him in his arms, greatly deplored the loss of Aminah, and took him under his own care. Whether the boy was awake or asleep, he often looked at him and said: ‘This child will become a governor and a commander.’
In the seventh year of his age some individuals of the Bani Madih, who excelled in the art of predicting future events from external appearances, said to A’bd-ul-Muttalleb: ‘Take proper care of this boy, for we have seen no footmark more resembling that which is in the place of Ebrâhim120 than his own.’ Hereon A’bd-ul-Muttalleb said to Abu Tâleb: ‘Listen to what these people are saying!’ He also enjoined Omm Aiman to guard Muhammad—u. w. b.— carefully, telling her that the Jews and Christians considered him to be the future prophet of Arabia. During this year A’bd-ul-Muttalleb took him with himself to supplicate for rain, and by the blessing of his advent the desires of the Qoraish were gratified. This event took place as follows, according to the tradition of Raqiah, the daughter of Abu Sana’i, the cousin of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb: ‘During consecutive years such a great scarcity had continued among the rich and the poor inhabitants of Mekkah, that of harvests, only the name, and of breasts only the marks, remained.121 When distress and misery were at their extremity, and I was in a state between sleep and wakefulness, I heard the following words pronounced by an invisible herald: “O tribe of the Qoraish, the time is at hand when the prophet of the latter days will make his appearance. On his account you will be provided with salubrious food and fertilizing showers. Look out among yourselves for a great man of tall stature, white limbs, high nose, open forehead, long eyelashes, and of noble descent. Tell him to take his son from among the people, and a man from each tribe; all of them having washed and perfumed themselves, they must together circumambulate the Ka’bah seven times, and go in the company of the just-described individual to Mount Abuqbis, where he must offer prayers, his associates saying ‘Amen,’ till the rain arrives.”’ Raqiah continues: ‘In the morning I arose with fear and trembling, and everyone to whom I related what I had heard, said: “By the holiness of the sanctuary, that man is A’bd-ul-Muttalleb.” When this news spread the people surrounded the last-named individual, and a man from each tribe having purified himself, they performed the circumambulation together. Then A’bd-ul-Muttalleb took his lordship on his back, raised his hands in prayer, and said: “O Granter of requests, Remover of difficulties, and Restrainer of grief, this assembly consists of Thy male and female servants who are the guardians of Thy sanctuary. They are complaining of the famine and distress which have reduced their sheep and camels to the verge of starvation, and to the extremity of annihilation. O Allah, send rain which will make grass grow, and cause us to remain alive.” The person to whom this tradition is ascribed further says: “I swear by the Almighty that we had not yet thought of returning, when the rain began to pour in such a manner that all the rivers commenced to flow. The princes of the Qoraish, such as A’bdullah Bin Juda’an, Shehâb Bin Moghairah, and others, all turned to A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, saying: “O father of Battha, thanks to thee for this blessing!”’
During the seventh year of the age of the lord of prophecy —u. w. b.—A’bd-ul-Muttalleb died, as also Naushirvân the just, and Hâtim Tâi, who need not be described. After the decease of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, Abu Tâleb took charge of his lordship, and for the great love he bore towards him he could not be without him for a single moment. During the night he made him sleep by his side, and in the day he fed him on delicious victuals. Whenever the family and relatives of Abu Tâleb dined in the company of his lordship the prophet—u. w. b.—they satisfied their hunger, and the food nevertheless superabounded; but when they had a repast without him the food was all consumed; they, however, remained hungry as before. Abu Tâleb considered his existence as a blessing, and preferred him to his own offspring. The great attachment of Abu Tâleb for, and his close connection with, his lordship before the prophecy and after the mission had begun will, however, become evident during the course of the present work, if it pleaseth Allah the Most High.
EVENTS FROM THE THIRTEENTH TILL THE TWENTY-FIFTH
YEAR AFTER THE AUGUST BIRTH.
Historians have related that in the beginning of the thirteenth year after the august birth of his prophetic lordship —u. w. b.—Abu Tâleb intended to depart on a mercantile journey to Syria, without informing the prince of the world. According to a tradition, his lordship took hold of the bridle of Abu Tâleb’s camel on the day of his departure, and said: ‘O uncle, leavest thou me in Mekkah, and I have neither father nor mother?’ Abu Tâleb, moved by these words, replied: ‘By Allah! I shall take him with me, and do not consider it proper to separate from him.’ There is another tradition that he saw on that day Muhammad weeping, and asked the cause of it, but the prince of existences—u. w. b.—remaining silent, Abu Tâleb continued: ‘This crying is probably because I am not taking thee?’ His lordship the prophet replied in the affirmative, whereon Abu Tâleb swore an oath that he would never abandon him. Accordingly, they started together with the caravan of the Qoraish, and travelled till they were but two farsakhs distant from Missr, and alighted in the vicinity of the cell of the hermit Bahira,122 who was one of the Christian U’lâma, much respected for his asceticism and piety. He had ascertained from the heavenly books that the seal of prophets—u. w. b.—would be known by certain signs, and would, on a certain occasion, by his blessed arrival in that region, cause it to be envied by the denizens of paradise. In a village, Kufr by name, there was a hermitage, wherein he who was the most excellent of the monks of the period used to offer prayers. Bahira was the model of the ascetics of that epoch, and had, with a view of being honoured by an acquaintance with the seal of prophets, made that hermitage his chapel. On account of the absence of the signs announcing the advent of the prophet of latter times, he took no notice of caravans and of travellers, and on account of his perfect absorption in his devotions at the Court of Unity he had no intercourse with strangers, but was constantly engaged in watching for the signs, in order to be made happy by waiting upon his lordship. On the day when the propitious caravan was coming up from the rear of the hill, Bahira threw a glance on it from the roof of his cell, and perceived that on account of the intense heat of the sun a cloud was overshadowing the caravan, and was simultaneously travelling therewith, and also that a tree and block of clay which were on the road made prostrations to a certain individual of the caravan.
There is a tradition that when the caravan emerged from behind the hill, Bahira heard the trees and stones saying with a loud voice: ‘Salutation to thee, O apostle of Allah!’ When the caravan arrived in the vicinity of the hermitage and halted there, Abu Tâleb also alighted with his lordship, sat down under a tree, which became green and flourishing as soon as the cloud overshadowed it. When Bahira perceived what was taking place he was convinced that his prophetic lordship was in that company. Accordingly, he prepared a meal in haste, without allowing any one of the rich or the poor to enter the hermitage, but nevertheless invited the whole caravan to partake of the repast, and would not accept the refusal of anyone. Therefore, all the Qoraish assembled in the company of the monk, except the paragon of the family of A’bd Munâf, who had, on account of his youth, remained, by the advice of Abu Tâleb, on the spot where the caravan had halted. Bahira scrutinized the countenances of his guests and met with disappointment; but, ascending to the roof of the hermitage and looking at the above-mentioned clump of trees, he ascertained that the cloud was overshadowing the same tree as before. Therefore he came down and addressed the Qoraish as follows: ‘I had requested the whole caravan to honour me with their presence, but I think some have refused to come.’ They replied, however, that they had left no one behind except a youth of tender age, for the purpose of watching the goods. The monk continued: ‘I beseech you to bring him also.’
| Distich: | The host laid a hundred covers for foes, Hoping that one friend would come to the meal. |
H??areth, the son of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, then hastened to call that ornament of the sphere of prophecy—u. w. b.— and when the sun of his joyful stature began to shine in that hermitage, all the surrounding places were illuminated by his august light. Bahira looked with great composure at his holy and prophetic individuality, whereon he perceived that the signs foretold in ancient books were realized in his person. When the whole caravan had finished the meal and wished to rise, Bahira requested Abu Tâleb to remain, on account of the resemblance he had discovered, and asked: ‘What is thy connection with this youth?’
Abu Tâleb: ‘He is my son.’
Bahira: ‘His father and mother must be dead.’
Abu Tâleb: ‘He is my brother’s son.’
Bahira: ‘Thou hast spoken the truth.’
Then Bahira approached the best of existences, to examine and to try him, for the purpose of becoming acquainted with him, and of obtaining greater certainty.
Bahira: ‘I adjure thee by Lât, and by U’zza, to answer truly every question I shall ask thee.’
Muhammad: ‘Do not adjure me by these; for I hate nothing more than them.’
Bahira: ‘I ask thee by Allah!’
After this, Bahira questioned his prophetic lordship, and found all the replies agreeing with what he had learnt before [from the revealed books]. On asking him about sleeping, his lordship replied: ‘My eyes sleep, but not my heart.’ Then he looked at his blessed eyes, and asked Abu Tâleb, as well as some other intimate friends who were sitting near him, whether this redness of his eyes ever disappeared or not? But they said that they had never seen them without it. After this he desired for his own consolation to behold the seal of prophecy, which had in ancient books been designated as a characteristic sign of the last of prophets—u. w. b. Therefore he requested his holy prophetic lordship to bare the spot between his shoulders, but he refused on account of his great bashfulness. At last, however, after Bahira had much pressed him, and Abu Tâleb had interceded for the hermit, his lordship allowed his garment to be taken off; and when the monk beheld the seal of prophecy between the august shoulders of that prince, all the hair of his body bristled up from awe, and he was honoured by being allowed to kiss the spot of the seal, and said: ‘This is the prince of the inhabitants of the worlds, who was given by Allah as a mercy to them.’ When the Qoraish heard these words they said that the monk appears to entertain a very high opinion of Muhammad.
It is related that after the above conversation Bahira said to Abu Tâleb: ‘This youth is the last of prophets, the surface of whose law will be spread over the whole world, and whose solid religion will abrogate all former ones. Therefore thou must not take him to Syria, because the Jews are his enemies, and if they ascertain that he is the promised manifester [of the new religion] they will probably injure his person.’ These words disquieted Abu Tâleb, and therefore he returned to Mekkah after he had sold his goods profitably in Missr. There is, however, a tradition that Abu Tâleb sent only his sacred and prophetic lordship back to Mekkah, and that he himself travelled on to Syria for the purpose of completing his mercantile transactions. It is also said that a company of Jews from Rûm,123 who entertained the intention of murdering his sacred and prophetic lordship, had arrived at the hermitage of Bahira on the very day when he was feasting the caravan of the Qoraish, and had secretly said to Bahira: ‘We have ascertained from celestial books that Muhammad will to-day alight in this place with a Qoraish caravan, and as we now intend to execute our design, thou must aid us therein.’ Bahira, however, replied: ‘If he be the individual described in the celestial books, you will not be able to kill him; and if he be another, there will be no use in doing so.’ The Jews, having perceived the justness of this remark, gave up their intention.
It is said that after this journey to Missr, Abu Tâleb no more took his lordship the refuge of prophecy on any of his travels. Others, however, assert that when his lordship was in his seventeenth year Zobeir, the son of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, and according to another tradition A’bbàs, the son of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, intended to trade in Yaman, and said to Abu Tâleb: ‘We wish the blessing of Muhammad— u. w. b.—to redound also upon our enterprise, and therefore we beseech thee to allow him to accompany us in this journey.’ Abu Tâleb complied with the request of his brothers, and sent the princely descendant of Adam, with his uncle, to Yaman, where innumerable miracles were witnessed during the journey in connection with the person of the chief of prophets and greatest of saints.
During this year Hormuz, the son of Naushirvân, was dethroned, and his world-embracing eyes were lanced.124 In the nineteenth year after the propitious birth [of Muhammad], Khosru Parviz, the son of Hormuz, was installed on the throne. In the twentieth year Sidiq-Akbar125 started on a mercantile journey to Syria with his prophetic lordship, and in the company of many other persons. When they reached a certain halting-place, the prophet sat down under a lote-tree, and Abu Bakr went to Bahira, the hermit of that locality, to bring food. The monk asked for the individual sitting at the foot of the tree, and being told that he was Muhammad, the son of A’bdullah, the son of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, Bahira exclaimed: ‘By Allah! he is not only a prophet, but the seal of prophets, and I have heard that after I’sa [Jesus] no one will sit at the foot of this tree, except the prophet of the latter times.’ Therefore on that very day the truth of his lordship’s—u. w. b.—prophetship became evident to Sidiq. Some chroniclers relate that this journey was the same with the one in which Abu Tâleb had been present with the prophet.
One of the events which took place during that year was the ‘Covenant of the Factions.’ At that time the Qoraish were oppressing each other, and for the purpose of relieving the oppressed, Zobeir, the son of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, and A’bdullah, the son of Juda’an, assembled the Qoraish princes, all of whom entered into a covenant, by oath, to put an end to the tyranny, as had been done long ere this time, when assemblies congregated in this manner in the sanctuary and entered into a confederacy.
During this year angels began to appear to his lordship, and one day he said to Abu Tâleb: ‘Uncle, several nights ago three men came to me, looked at me acutely, and said: “This is he, but the time of his appearance has not yet come.” I was frightened at this sight.’ Abu Tâleb replied: ‘Do not be dismayed; such things may be the sport of imagination or dreams.’ On another occasion he said: ‘Uncle, one of those three men came and attacked me, and introduced his hand into my abdomen, so that I experienced freshness and tranquillity.’ This made Abu Tâleb apprehensive, lest some disease might have invaded his blessed body, and he took him to a physician somewhat acquainted with soothsaying, explained the matter, and asked for a medicine. The soothsaying doctor felt his noble pulse and fully investigated his limbs, but, after catching sight of the seal of prophecy, exclaimed: ‘Abu Tâleb, thy son is free from every blemish, as well as from the machinations of devils. The individuals who are appearing to him are noble angels, who look after him on account of his prophetship; but if the Jews learn anything about it, they will endeavour to slay him.’ A short time afterwards his lordship said that in his sleep he had seen a portion of the ceiling of the house raised, and two individuals descending on a long ladder. One of them sat down at a distance, but the other approached him [i.e. Muhammad], opened his side, took out his heart, and said: ‘It is a good heart, the heart of a pious man and of a prophet.’ Then he again replaced it, and he [Muhammad] awoke.
EVENTS OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR AFTER THE BIRTH OF THAT LORD OF FELICITY; HIS GOING TO SYRIA ON COMMERCIAL AFFAIRS, AND KHODAIJAH’S BEING EXALTED BY BECOMING ASSOCIATED WITH HIS LORDSHIP—U. W. B.
Khodaijah, the daughter of Khoilad126 —may Allah reward her—was distinguished, and stood alone among the Qoraish ladies by the extent of her property, the adornments of her beauty, and her high perfection. She was accustomed to entrust men with goods to trade with, and afterwards shared with them the profits, which kind of partnership is by lawyers called Sharkat mazârabah.127 During this year Abu Tâleb complained about the scantiness of his property and about the extension of his family to the lord of this world—u. w. b.—saying: ‘Khodaijah, the daughter of Khoilad, gives her wares, on condition of sharing in half the profit, to several individuals. If thou requestest her to send thee to trade, she will, considering thy great honesty, probably not refuse thee.’ His holy and prophetic lordship, whose enlightened mind was a treasury of the secrets of the invisible world, and whose wonderful tongue was the interpreter of sacred truths, replied: ‘She will receive the message, and send word on this matter.’ Abu Tâleb continued: ‘I fear lest she prefer another man to thee, and appoint him to this business.’ When the conversation and intention of Abu Tâleb, and of the prince of the victorious family [of Musalmân nations], had been brought to the notice of Khodaijah, she sent the following message to the apostle—u. w. b.: ‘I have heard that thou art inclined for commerce, and on account of thy truthfulness, good behaviour, uprightness, and perfect honesty, I shall give thee double the property which I entrust to other men of the Qoraish to trade with.’ His lordship the apostle communicated on this subject with Abu Tâleb, who exclaimed: ‘Verily this is a provision which Allah has made for thee.’ Accordingly his sacred and prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—made arrangements for the journey, and Khodaijah sent one of her slaves, Misarah by name, with him. Some books have it that Khodaijah despatched one of her own relatives, called Khozaimah, the son of Hakim, in the company of the leader of the caravan of Law [i.e., Muhammad]. In short, when they started to Missr, the camels of Khodaijah, unable to bear the load of prophecy, halted. Khozaimah informed his lordship of this misfortune, whereon the latter, having placed his blessed hand upon the feet of one of the animals, and uttered a supplication; they all began to move, and took the lead of all the riding camels of the caravan. When Khozaimah had witnessed this strange event, he said that Muhammad would find a great friend. Arriving at the frontiers of Missr, the people alighted near the hermitage of the monk Nasttûr, who was also called Nasttûz. His lordship sat down under a tree, which became immediately green and flourishing, throwing its shadow upon that river of prophecy. Nasttûr, seeing what had taken place, descended from the roof of the hermitage, and said to the apostle of Allah: ‘I adjure thee by Lût and U’zza to tell me what thy name is.’ His holy and prophetic lordship replied: ‘May thy mother be childless! Begone from me; for the Arabs have not uttered any words more disagreeable to me than thine.’ Nasttûr had a piece of white silk cloth in his hand, at which he looked occasionally, and also at the face of the apostle—u. w. b. After having cautiously finished his observation, he exclaimed: ‘I swear by him who sent the Enjil [Gospel] to I’sa [Jesus] that this is he!’ Khozaimah, whom friendship for his lordship the last of prophets had overpowered, imagined that the hermit was meditating some treachery; he accordingly drew his sword and shouted for his companions. When the people arrived running, the monk retired to his cell, locked it, and, having ascended to the roof, exclaimed: ‘Why do you mistrust me? I swear by Allah that no caravan dearer to me than yours has ever halted at this place. I find it on this silk, that the individual who had alighted at the foot of this tree is a prophet of Allah and the last of seers. Whoever obeys him will be saved, and who opposes him will perish.’ He further asked Khozaimah in what connection they stood to each other, and the latter replied: ‘I am his servant,’ and narrating how the camels had stopped, he mentioned how they had obtained strength. The monk continued: ‘I shall confide a secret to thee, and hope thou wilt keep it.’ Khozaimah assented, and Nasttûr said: ‘I find on this silk that this man will prevail over all countries, and will conquer all servants [of God?], nor will anyone be able to resist him; neither does anyone know how great he will be. Know thou that the Jews will be most inimical to him; guard him, therefore, from their evil intentions.’ After Khozaimah had heard these words he hastened to wait upon the prince of the world, and said: ‘I perceive in thee several characteristics not discernible in others, and I think thou art the prophet who will be sent from Tahamah. I see the people bear a wonderful affection for thee; I also shall consider thy friends as mine, and thy enemies as mine.’
It is related that during this journey his sacred and prophetic lordship had, on account of some transaction, a dispute with a Jew, who said: ‘I adjure thee by Lût and U’zza.’
Muhammad: ‘Whenever I pass near [the statues of] Lût and U’zza I turn away my face from them.’
Jew: ‘Thou art right, and thy words are true!’
Then the Jew left off quarrelling, and said to Khozaimah: ‘I swear by Allah that this is the prophet whose description our U’lâma have found in the Torathah.’
In fine, after profitably terminating the commercial journey they returned, and having on a hot day arrived in Mekkah, that guide of the companions of the right side was riding on a camel, and Misarah128 on another. Two birds overshadowed the favourite of the Almighty to ward off the ardour of the sun, and when Khodaijah, who was with a number of women sitting in an apartment, beheld the scene, she pointed it out to her companions, all of whom were amazed thereat. When Misarah came in to Khodaijah and complained of the hardships of the journey, she asked him about the circumstance of the birds projecting their shadow [over Muhammad]. He informed her, however, that from the time they had left the exalted threshold they had always been present, whether the caravan was resting or starting. He further related the strange and wonderful events he had witnessed in connection with his sacred and prophetic lordship from the time of their departure till their return, and narrated also the conversations with the Jew, and of Nasttûr the monk.
Khodaijah, who was a most intelligent woman, wished, after she had heard everything that had taken place, to become the spouse of the Prince of Beings; and it is on record that on account of her excellent character, high intellect, and great wealth, most of the Qoraish princes had at that time been making to her offers of marriage, and had presented her with gifts of various kinds, but that she manifested no desire to become the wife of any one of the rich and noble Arabs. When she had obtained information concerning all the circumstances of his apostolic lordship —u. w. b.—and the desire to marry him had overpowered her mind, she confided her secret to a woman called Nafisah, who was extremely handsome and intelligent; she concurred with the opinion of Khodaijah, went to his lordship the apostle—u. w. b.—and elicited from him with much dexterity a favourable reply to her question whether he would be inclined to ally himself to Khodaijah, and, returning to that happy lady, brought her the glad tidings. Hereon Khodaijah selected a propitious hour and assembled in her house her uncle A’mru Bin Asad, with Waraqah, the son of Naufil, who was her near relative and a Christian theologian. On the other hand, his holy and prophetic lordship had, with Abu Tâleb and several others of his uncles, arrived during the same hour at her invitation. On that occasion Abu Tâleb delivered the following elegant and eloquent speech: ‘Praise and adoration to Allah, who has made us the children of Ebrâhim and of Esma’il, brought us forth from the family of Moa’d and Mazar, has made us the guardians of His house, the princes of His sanctuary, and has presented us with the Ka’bah, which is the place of circumambulation and the Qiblah of mankind, and the safe asylum of everyone who flees to it for refuge. But after [the preliminary remarks I state that] my brother’s son Muhammad, son of A’bdullah, son of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, is a man who preponderates over every one of the Qoraish with whom he may be compared, and though his property is slender, it matters not, because possessions may decrease and vanish. Muhammad is an individual whose relationship to me is well known to you. Now he weds Khodaijah, the daughter of Khoilad with a wedding gift of twenty camels of my property, which is the marriage settlement, including all claims. By Allah! a high destiny and great events are awaiting Muhammad.’ When Abu Tâleb had terminated this discourse, Waraqah Bin Naufil also delivered a speech, beginning with praise and adoration to the Most High, confirming what Abu Tâleb had said, and stating that he gave away Khodaijah for a wife to Muhammad with a dowry of four hundred mithqâls of gold. Then Abu Tâleb said to Waraqah: ‘I request A’mru Bin Asad, the uncle of Khodaijah, to give his consent likewise.’ A’mru therefore replied: ‘I also give away Khodaijah to be the wife of Muhammad.’ According to a correct tradition, the father of Khodaijah was no longer alive, and [at the completion of the just-mentioned meeting] she ordered her female slaves to beat drums and to sing songs. On the same day the lovely Venus was in conjunction with Jupiter of sunlike aspect. One of the best authors of later times relates in one of his books that, as it appears from the speech of Abu Tâleb, Khodaijah’s dowry consisted of twenty camels, and from that of Waraqah, the son of Naufil, that it amounted to four hundred mithqâls of gold; but according to some chroniclers the dowry consisted of five hundred dirhems. All the three statements may be reconciled with each other if we assume them to have existed in separate traditions, and to have been thus copied by several writers, because at that time twenty camels, five hundred dirhems, or four hundred mithqâls may have represented one and the same value, and that consequently the traditions have rendered it, and not the special sums and articles constituting it. The author of these pages objects, however, to this equalization, on the ground that the three traditions may be reconciled to each other only with reference to a period of time during which five hundred dirhems, the value whereof amounts to three hundred and fifty mithqâls of silver, were equal in price to four hundred mithqâls of gold, which is most improbable, and therefore the equalization can by no means hold good.
EVENTS OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH YEAR AFTER THE BIRTH OF HIS SACRED AND PROPHETIC LORDSHIP—U. W. B.—WITH AN EPITOME OF THE EVENTS WHICH TOOK PLACE AFTER IT TILL THE MISSION.
During the thirty-fifth year after the august birth of his sacred and prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—the Qoraish demolished the house of the Ka’bah, and after again raising its walls, they covered them with a roof. There are two reasons on account of which it is said to have been destroyed and renovated. The first is that the walls of the Ka’bah were not higher than a man’s stature, and that it had no roof. Once a torrent of water had made a breach in the walls, the people feared that the house of Allah might suddenly fall, wherefore they demolished the old walls and rebuilt them. The second is that the Ka’bah contained a treasury in the shape of a well, into which the property belonging to the Ka’bah was placed and offerings were thrown; one night, however, a company of thieves had stolen the whole contents of the well. At that time a ship, arriving from Rûm, had been wrecked at Jiddhah;129 the captain of the vessel happened to be an able architect, and was called Yâqûm. When the Qoraish heard of the wreck they despatched Walid Bin Moghairah, with several Qoraish princes, to Jiddhah, where they purchased the timbers of the ship, and at their request Yâqûm came with his crew to Mekkah to build the house of Allah. He ordered stones to be collected, whereon the Qoraish began the work, undressed themselves, and dragged the stones, his lordship the refuge of prophecy—u. w. b.—likewise assisting them. On this occasion A’bbâs kindly said to the latter: ‘Muhammad, do thou likewise throw thy Izâr130 on thy neck, and drag stones therewith.’ His lordship obeyed this injunction, but as soon as he exposed his parts [which modesty requires to be covered] he fainted, and when he again regained his senses he said: ‘My Izâr is my Azâr!’131 and the narrator states that after this occasion no one had ever seen him in a state of nudity.
There is a tradition that in building the four sides of the Ka’bah the work was divided, and lots were thrown, according to which the space from the buttress [i.e., corner] of the black stone to that of E’râq was assigned to the [descendants of] A’bd Munâf and to the Bani Zohrah; from the buttress of E’râq to that of Syria to the Bani Asad Bin A’bd-ul-U’zza and to the Bani A’bdullah; from the buttress of Syria to that of Yaman to the Bani Tamim; and from the buttress of Yaman to the black stone to the Bani Baham and Bani A’zâi. When the walls had been raised to the height of the black stone132 the Qoraish began to dispute with each other, and each clan asserted that one of their own number should fix that blessed stone in its place. This affair ended well-nigh in bloodshed; whereon they agreed that the individual first arriving by the gate of the Bani Shaibah, which was one of the portals of the sanctuary, should be constituted arbiter, whose decision was not to be infringed. Just at that moment his sacred and prophetic lordship came in by the said gate, which event the Qoraish took for a propitious sign, and exclaimed: ‘Muhammad, the faithful one, has arrived, and whatever he may say in this matter is to be obeyed.’ As soon as this affair had been explained to his world-adoring mind, he spread his blessed Redâ133 out on the ground, placed the black stone into the middle of it, and called for a man from each tribe. O’tbah Bin Shaibah, Abu Rafa’ah, Abu Khozaiqah Bin Moghairah, and A’da Bin Qais quickly responded to the invitation, and at a signal from his lordship each of them laid hold of one corner of the Redâ, thus taking up and raising the black stone; but his sacred and prophetic lordship fixed it in its place.
When the walls had attained the height of twenty cubits they made a roof and fixed it on six pillars, but in such a manner that a portion of the corner with the black stone, which would have required a circular wall [it is not said why], remained uncovered. This building of the Ka’bah was evidently against the laws of Ebrâhim; wherefore his holy and prophetic lordship said on a certain occasion to A’aishah: ‘Had not the people recently allied themselves with infidels I would have demolished the Ka’bah, and would have rebuilt it according to the laws of Ebrâhim, with an eastern and a western door.’ When A’bdullah Bin Zobeir heard this tradition he destroyed the building of the Qoraish whilst he held sway, and rebuilt the Ka’bah according to the intentions of his lordship the last of the prophets. When, however, Hajjâj Bin Yusuf undertook, by order of A’bd-ul-Malik Merwân,134 a campaign against A’bdullah Bin Zobeir and vanquished him, he destroyed the edifice built by the latter, at the command of the same Khalifah, and re-erected it as the Qoraish had built it during the lifetime of his holy and prophetic lordship— u. w. b. When Harûn-ur-Rashid became Khalifah he desired to annihilate the edifice of Merwân, and to rebuild the Ka’bah according to the model of A’bdullah Bin Zobeir. On this subject he consulted the Emâm Mâlek, but the latter replied: ‘O commander of the faithful, let the Ka’bah alone, lest thou [it?] become the sport of kings.’ Accordingly, Harûn renounced his intention.
Some chroniclers relate that during this year Fattimah Zohrâ—may Allah reward her—was born. In his thirty-eighth year his sacred and prophetic lordship heard voices and saw lights. There is a tradition of A’aishah that she said the first revelation the apostle of Allah received was a true vision, and he had not had one before like the ‘Daybreak.’135
It is related that near the time of the mission and of the revelations his lordship had left Mekkah on some business, and that from every stone and tree near which he passed he heard the words: ‘Greeting to thee, O apostle of Allah!’ In the same manner, also before he had received revelations, he was once walking alone on the road, and heard a man calling out to him: ‘O Muhammad!’ Though his lordship glanced right and left he could perceive nothing, and was so overpowered by terror that he fled. At that time the Divine rays likewise prevailed in such a manner in the casket of his heart as to blot out from his mind everything except Allah, whose love took such possession of his august nature that no traces of anything else remained on the pages of his lucid mind.
Distich: Whoever speaks not of Thee, is silent better;
Whatever does not record Thee, is forgotten better.
He abstained from commingling or having any intercourse with the people, to such a degree that intelligent Arabs said: ‘Verily, Muhammad loves his Lord most.’ Muhammad having thus thrown the fire of abstinence into the granary of association with mankind, and wiped out the forms of all created beings from the tablet of his heart with the water of disparagement, turned the reins of his intention towards the Ka’bah of Divine contemplation, made Mount Hira the castle of his intentions and adorations. At that time he was, in the furtherance of his design, occasionally seen to enter the apartment of Khodaijah, to take some food, and again to return to his place of worship on Mount Hira. In this manner he kept the garden of adorations for a long time blooming with the water of sincerity, and the lamp of his meditations ceased not to burn during the long periods of bright days or the darkness of nights, a small portion only of the latter excepted. His illuminated mind having thus become the receptacle of the Divine verses136 and the depository of royal secrets, the Faithful Spirit137 filled his whole essence and adorned it with the pearl-like words of the Qurân, so that he became in Divine knowledge and in celestial secrets the doctor of doctors, and his breast was imbued with the contents of the Preserved Table.138 Thus the sun of prophecy rose in the east of Battha, the luminary of apostleship radiated from the grove of Mount Hira, the blessed finger of Muhammad was adorned with the seal, and his stature with the robe of prophecy.
EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE DURING THE MISSION, AND SHORTLY
BEFORE, AND AFTER THE REVELATIONS.
Solmah, one of the Anssâr [helpers], relates: ‘One day a Jewish priest was in the assembly of the Bani A’bd-ul-Ashab speaking about the mission, the resurrection, and the last judgment. The people asked him: “What will be the sign of the truth of these words?” He replied: “A prophet will be sent from the sanctuary.” They continued: “At what time will that be?” And he pointed to me saying: “This boy will be living, and will be honoured by attending upon him.”’
Solmah says: ‘By Allah! I was waiting day and night until I entered the society of the prince of beings—upon whom be the most excellent benedictions and salutations— was rejoiced by, and participated in, the blessing of the religion. The Jew, however, would not believe, and I told him that, strangely enough, he had himself foretold the coming of the Emâm and apostle, and had not been disinclined to place faith in his words. But he replied that the promised individual was not this one:
Distich: Though the lamp of religion has no smoke,
It is of no use when the eye is blind.
A’assum Bin A’mru-uz-zâri says: ‘The reason of our tribe professing Islâm was as follows: Before the mission the possessors of the book139 bore enmity towards us; wherefore we quarrelled and fought with them; but they informed us by way of a threat that a prophet would shortly appear, in whom they would believe, would gird their loins, and would revenge themselves upon us. When, however, the mission of his lordship had reached our people, we believed, but they refused, and persisted in their infidelity and heresy; and the blessed verse, “When a book came to them from Allah,” etc., has been revealed with reference to them and us.’
An old man of the Bani Quraittah [Jews] has said: ‘The reason why I and a number of the Bani Dhahil—the relatives of the Bani Quraittah dwelling with them—made a profession of Islâm was that ten years before the mission one of the Jewish U’lâma had come among us and had fallen sick. When he was dying, he said: “O people, the occasion of my leaving our country and coming to dwell here was that I knew for a certainty of the speedy mission of a prophet, the place of whose exile and mansion of refuge would be in the blessed and pleasant locality, namely, in the city of Madinah. I came into this neighbourhood in order to become ennobled by waiting upon him, and becoming enrolled among the number of his servants; but as fortune is adverse to my aspirations, it is my last advice to you to hasten to that blessed individual, so that none may precede you in professing his religion; for he will be commanded to shed the blood of those who oppose his religion, and to make captives of their women and children.” When his sacred and prophetic lordship— u. w. b.—besieged the Bani Quraittah after the war of the confederates,140 I and the company of the Dhahil who had heard the just-mentioned words of the old man said: “By Allah! this is the prophet, the promise of whose advent we have heard.” Therefore we ascended from the fort and became Moslems, whereon the property and families of all of us were spared.’
Tolhah Bin A’bdullah says: ‘I was engaged in buying and selling in the bazâr of Bossrah, when a monk living in that place inquired whether any man of the inhabitants of the sanctuary was present, and I replied: “I am one of them, and have come from the Ka’bah.” Thereon he further asked whether Ahmed had appeared in Mekkah, and on my questioning him who Ahmed was, he said: “The son of A’bdullah, son of A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, who will receive his mission during this month; he is the seal of prophets, and he will remove to a district the stones whereof are white, and the earth salsuginous, but it contains many date-trees.” I remembered these words, and on my return to Mekkah I asked whether anything had happened during my absence, and was told that Muhammad, the son of A’bdullah, had asserted his claims to prophetship and had convinced Abu Bakr Bin Quhâfah of the truth thereof. Accordingly I went to the latter, conversed with him, and became a Musalmân.’
Abu Harirah141 says: ‘On a certain occasion the Bani Khasha’m were sitting near an idol and addressing petitions to it, when they all of a sudden heard a voice saying: “O ye men, you ask idols for aid and protection; you are not aware of what I see, and are careless to learn what I know. I behold a light which will abolish the darkness of night, and that light is a prophet, the chief of men of the highest degree, and belonging to the tribe Bani Hâsham, who is manifesting his prophetship in Mekkah and substituting Islâm for infidelity.142 The Most High loves him, because he is a worthy chief and an appropriate guide.” We heard these words well enough to remember them. Then the people dispersed, and after the expiration of one month we heard the news of the mission, and the invitation of his lordship the apostle—u. w. b.’ Abu Harirah, having been asked whether he had himself also worshipped the idol, replied: ‘Yes; and praise and glory be to Allah that I was delivered from that misery by the blessing of Muhammad, the apostle of Allah—u. w. b.’
There is a tradition that one day a man waited upon O’mar, and that another introduced him as follows: ‘O’mar, this man is Sowâd Bin Ghârab from Yaman, distinguished by nobility, power, and renown. One of the genii, who was his twin-brother,143 has informed him of the arrival of the prophet of the latter days.’ Hereon Farûq [i.e. O’mar] asked Sowâd whether he was the man whom his twin-brother had informed of the coming of the prophet of the latter times, and he replied: ‘Yes, O Amir; but no twin-brother had appeared to me before I became a Musalmân.’ O’mar wished to know the details, and Sowâd continued: ‘One night I was asleep, when all of a sudden a man struck me with his foot, and said: “Arise, and mount thy horse; arrange any affair thou mayest have, because the apostle from the Bani Hâsham and Lowa Bin Ghâleb has arrived. The breeze of prosperity is wafting; he will invite the people to the worship of Allah, and explain His religions to them.” After that he recited several distichs to me.’ The writer of these lines says that some chroniclers have translated the contents of those verses as follows:
Verses: I wonder in my heart at the genii,
That the way to the Ka’bah is their souls’ desire.
Be aware that all the genii are not good;
Fairies and men are not of one kind,
But all covet the road of guidance,
That they may prevail over the erring.
Thou also, if thou hastenest to the prophet,
Wilt attain the goal thou art bound for.
Sowâd continued: ‘I placed no trust in these words, and told him to let me alone, as I had not slept last night; but he again returned during the next, and recited verses. I, however, could not believe him until he again came the third night and repeated his conversation, so that the love of Islâm at last took root in my heart, and I started the next morning. On my way I heard that his sacred and prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—had taken refuge in Madinah. Accordingly I hastened to that city, where I met his lordship the apostle—u. w. b.—in the mosque, sitting with his companions, and said: “O apostle of Allah, listen to my words!” Abu Bakr said: “Come nearer;” and they placed me so close that I touched with my knee that of the prophet—u. w. b.—whereon his lordship the refuge of prophecy—u. w. b.—said: “Come, tell us what news thy twin-brother has given thee.” Then I recited the whole occurrence in poetry.’ Some chroniclers have rendered the verses of Sowâd Bin Ghârab as follows:
Verses: Verily I had a dream last night,
Sarush144 coming to tell me
That a prophet had been sent,
Descended from Lowa Bin Ghâleb Bin Fehr.
The second night the same he related,
The third again he it stated;
As these words were so clear,
I came to his lordship here,
To testify that God is One,
And is to be adored alone.
Allah’s prophet to the people art thou!
The noblest of apostles art thou!
Guide me, O Emâm, in the true way,
And keep me from going astray;
On my part I promise to obey thee,
For at the resurrection thou wilt protect me.
Sowâd says: ‘When his holy and prophetic lordship— u. w. b.—and his noble companions—Allah reward them —heard these words from me they rejoiced at my professing Islâm.’ It is related that after Farûq had witnessed everything that took place he embraced Sowâd, saying: ‘I was always desirous of hearing thee narrate this occurrence.’ Traditions of this kind are numerous in chronicles, and we have therefore related some of them in this place.