Translation from Classical Arabic

In the narration of Ya'qub: "The palaces of Syria were lit from it." It was followed by Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi, from Muawiya bin Saleh. It was also narrated by Abu Bakr ibn Abi Maryam al-Ghassani, from Sa'id ibn Suwayd.

Proclamation of Prophethood

And his saying, peace be upon him: "I am a servant of Allah and the seal of the prophets, and indeed Adam was still in his clay." He meant that this was the case in the divine decree and the predestination of Allah, even before the father of mankind and the first of the prophets, peace be upon them, existed.

Prayer of Abraham

And his saying: "I'm going to tell you about it: The prayer of my father Ibrahim [Peace be upon him]" He meant that when Ibrahim, peace be upon him, while constructing the house of worship, he made a prayer to Allah, his dignified Lord, to make this land safe, magnetic to the human hearts, and provide them with fruits and good things. Then he said, "Raise among them a messenger from them who will recite upon them Your verses and teach them the Book and wisdom and purify them. Indeed, You are the Mighty, the Wise". Allah, the Exalted, accepted his prayer in our Prophet, peace be upon him, and made him the Messenger who Ibrahim, peace be upon him, asked Allah to manifest for the people of Mecca.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "I am the prayer of my father Ibrahim," meaning: Allah the Exalted, when He decreed to make Muhammad, peace be upon him, the seal of the prophets, and confirmed this in the Mother of the Book, He fulfilled this decree by assigning Ibrahim, peace be upon him, to make the prayer we mentioned, so his mission to him would be through his prayer just as his succession would be from his loins to the loins of his offspring.

Glad Tidings of Jesus

As for his saying, "And the glad tidings of Jesus about me", it is that Allah the Exalted, commanded Jesus, peace be upon him, to convey...

[Notes: Footnote (52) was dropped from (H) and (S). Footnote (53) was dropped from (H). Footnote (54) refers to the Noble Verse (129) from Surah Al-Baqarah. Footnote (55) in (H): "his transfer".]

Translation

Peace - He gave his people glad tidings about it. The Children of Israel recognized it before it was created. Regarding His saying: "And the vision my mother saw", He meant - and God knows best:

Abu Abdullah the Hafiz told us; Abu Al-Abbas said: Muhammad bin Ya'qub reported to us; Ahmad bin Abdul Jabbar said: Yunus bin Bukayr told us, on the authority of Ibn Ishaq. He said:

Amina bint Wahb, the mother of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used to narrate that when she was pregnant with Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, she was visited and told: "You have indeed carried the leader of this nation; when he falls to the ground, say: 'I seek protection for him with The One...from the evil of every envious one, from every good maker of covenants...and every slave [who is] astray, he returns... other than the astray. For indeed, he is a slave of the Praised, the Majestic... until I see him...coming to the scenes.

The sign of that is that a light will come out with him that will fill the palaces of Busra in the land of Sham. When he falls, name him Muhammad, for his name in the Torah is Ahmed, praising him people of the sky and people of the earth, and his name in the Gospel is Ahmed, praising him are the people of the sky and the people of the earth."

Annotations:

• [56] In (H): "And it was".
• [57] To: It dropped from a copy (H), and occurred in (S): In.
• [58] In (S): He provisions.
• [59] In (S): Until I see him leading. He has come to the scenes.
• [60] Its chain of narration is very weak, and Al-Hafiz Al-Iraqi said: "Some storytellers have inserted it".
• [61] Dropped from (H).

Translation: The Beginning of the Prophet's Call

Bosra is in the land of Sham [66]. It was narrated from Abu Umama, from the Prophet, peace be upon him, that:

"Abu Bakr narrated to us: Muhammad bin Hasan bin Furak, who said that Abdullah bin Ja'far told him that he heard from Yunus bin Habib, who said that he heard from Abu Dawood, and al-Faraj bin Fazalah [67].

Ali bin Ahmad bin Abdan told us, Ahmad bin Ubaid the Saffar told us, he said: Muhammad bin al-Fadl bin Jabir told me, he said: Muhammad bin Bakkar told me, he said: Faraj bin Fadalah told me from Luqman bin Amir from Abu Umamah who said: When the messenger of Allah was asked: What was the beginning of your affair? He said: The call of my father Abraham, and the good tidings of Jesus son of Mary, and my mother saw that a light appeared from her which illuminated the palaces of Sham [68]. In the narration of Abu Dawood: [69] appeared from me.

Abu al-Husayn bin Bishran narrated to us in Baghdad, he said: Abu Ja'far, Muhammad bin Amr al-Razzaz, told us, saying that Ahmad bin Ishaq bin Saleh told him, saying that Muhammad bin Sinan the AUki [70], told him, saying that Ibrahim bin Tihman heard from Budail bin Maisarah, from Abdullah bin Shaqiq, from Maisarah al-Fajr, he said:

References: [66] The Life of Ibn Hisham (1: 170), Tabaqat Ibn Sa'ad (1: 102), authenticated by al-Hakim in "Al-Mustadrak" (2: 600), and agreed by Dhahabi.[67] Indicating the shift from one chain of narration to another, it dropped from (h) and (h), and it was proven from (s). [68] Imam Ahmad released it in "his musnad" (5: 262), and al-Haythami in "Majma ‘Al-Zawa’id" (8: 222). [69] Abu Dawood al-Tayalisi. [70] In (s) Al-Awfi: correction.

The Blood and the Crow

The blood was sought by the crow in the village of ants, [76] facing the red idols. As Abdul Muttalib stood and walked, he sat in the Holy Mosque, waiting for what was promised to him in revelations. A cow was slaughtered at Hazwara [77], it struggled violently as life was taken from her, inside the Mosque, at the place of Zamzam. The cow was then slaughtered where it lay until its meat was carried. A crow swooped down and settled in the dung, searching for the ant's village.

Discovery of the Well

Abdul Muttalib stood again and began to dig there. The Quraysh came to him [78] and asked Abdul Muttalib: "What are you doing? We didn't mark you as ignorant, why are you digging in our Mosque?" Abdul Muttalib replied: "I'm digging this well, and I will resist anyone who opposes me." He and his son Harith, who was his only child at that time, started digging. People from Quraysh ridiculed them and started a quarrel, even a fight [80].

The Preservation of the Well

However, some Quraysh men defended him for they knew of his noble lineage, his truthfulness, and his diligence in their religion [81] at that time. As the dig advanced, and the situation became difficult for him, he made a pledge that if he were to have ten children, he would sacrifice one of them. He kept digging until he found some swords that had been buried in Zamzam [83].

The Claim of Quraysh

When Quraysh saw that he had found the swords, they said: "Abdul Muttalib, grant us a share of what you found." Abdul Muttalib replied: "I will not give [84] from what I found."

The Early Life of The Messenger of Allah

Abdul-Muttalib sent his son, Abdullah bin Abdul-Muttalib, to purchase dates in Yathrib. Tragically, Abdullah passed away during this journey. Amina, his wife, then gave birth to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.

A Childhood Miraculous Event

Under the guardianship of his grandfather, Abdul-Muttalib, the Prophet peace be upon him was nursed by a woman from the tribe of Bani Saad bin Bakr. Once, while the Prophet and his nursing mother were at the marketplace of 'Ukadh, a soothsayer spotted him and warned the people, "Kill this boy, for he will possess great authority." Frightened by this prediction, his nursing mother whisked him away, and God Almighty protected him.

A Startling Vision

As the Prophet grew older, a strange incident occurred. His foster sister had a vision of men who took their Qurayshi brother and split his belly. Distressed, she relayed this vision to her mother, who quickly ran to check on him. She found him sitting alone, looking somewhat different, but no one else was around.

A Mother's Premonition

Upon returning him to his real mother Amina, she warned her to look after her son as she feared for his safety. Amina replied, "No, by Allah, there is nothing to fear for my son. When he was in my womb, I saw a vision that he emerged leaning on his hands and raising his head to the sky."

Bereavement and Guardianship

His mother Amina and his grandfather Abdul-Muttalib took care of him. Upon the death of his mother, he became an orphan under the protectorship of Abdul-Muttalib. Even as a young boy, he would settle on his grandfather's cushion. His grandfather, who was old and attended to by a servant girl, would often say, "Let my son be, for he senses goodness."

The Early Life of Muhammad

It is said that after the death of his grandfather, the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) who was then a young boy, was taken under the guardianship of his uncle, Abu Talib, the brother of his father Abdullah. As the boy approached puberty, Abu Talib took him on a business journey towards Syria.

When they stopped at a place called 'Tayma', a scholar from the Jews of Tayma noticed him and asked Abu Talib if this was his son. Abu Talib replied: "He is my brother's son." The scholar urged: "You have affection for him, don't you?" To which he affirmed. The scholar then warned sternly: "By Allah, if you take him to Syria, you will never return with him safely. The Jews will certainly kill him because he is their enemy." Taking heed of this warning, Abu Talib promptly returned with him to Makkah from Tayma.

The Incident at the Kaaba

When the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) reached the age of puberty, a woman from Quraysh accidentally set the Kaaba on fire causing considerable damage. The Quraysh debated reconstructing the Kaaba; they were hesitant about demolishing it fearing that this act may bring about divine punishment. Al-Walid ibn Al-Mughirah asked them: "Do you intend to repair or vandalize it?" They replied: "We wish to repair it." To this he confidently announced that God would not destroy those who intend to do good.

He then bravely volunteered himself for the task of demolishing the damaged structure. Mounting the building with his pickaxe, he voiced: “O Allah, indeed we desire nothing but reform." Upon witnessing his successful demolition without any divine retribution, the Quraysh joined him in this endeavor.

Once the structure had been rebuilt, an argument arose amongst the Quraysh about who amongst the tribes would have the honor of repositioning the Black Stone (Al-Rukn). The quarrel nearly escalated into a fight, and it was suggested that they should appoint the first person who entered from a particular path as an arbitrator. They agreed and awaited the arrival of this person, who happened to be Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) who, as a young man, was highly respected. They accepted his judgement. He asked that the Black Stone be placed on a piece of cloth so that representatives of each tribe could together carry this cloth, and consequently, the Black Stone, and place it in its designated position - a solution that satisfied all parties.

Building a Trustworthy Reputation and a Flourishing Trade

He ordered the chief of every tribe and gave them a corner of the garment, then he himself ascended and ordered them [99] to lift it up to him. So, they raised the Corner (a part of Kaaba) for him to place it. Then he started to exude such trust amongst them, they began to call him 'The Trustworthy', even before the revelation was sent down to him.

He said: "They never used to slaughter a camel for trade except they invited him to invoke blessings upon their venture. When he reached his prime, although he did not have much wealth, Khadijah, the daughter of Khuwaylid, hired him for the market-place of Habasha (present day Ethiopia and Eritrea), a market in Tihama, and along with him, a man from Quraysh was engaged."

Praising Khadijah’s Generosity

The Messenger of Allah [may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him] while narrating about her said: "I did not see a woman more generous than Khadijah. We and my colleague would not return but find a gift of food that she had stored [100] for us"

A Warm Gathering at Khadijah's House

He said: "When we returned from the market-place of Habasha, the Messenger of Allah [may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him] said, 'I told my companion: Let's go and have a talk together [101] at Khadijah’s place. We went to her. While we were at her house, a midwife from the women of Quraysh entered to see us. According to a narration, the midwife [102] was a fortune-teller amongst the women of Quraysh. She queried: 'Is this Muhammad?' She swore by the one she made oaths to that he was here for a marriage proposal."

Hint Towards a Proposal

He said, "I said: 'No way.' He said, 'When my colleague and I left, he said to me, 'Are you shy about proposing to Khadijah? By Allah, there is not a woman of Quraysh but that would consider you [103] a good match for her.' He said, 'So my companion and I returned again.' He said, 'That midwife entered on us again and said '....''

[99] In certain scripts: 'commanded him'.

[100] In some aspects: 'concealed it'.

[101] In some reports: without 'together'.

[102] In some reports 'the midwife', the fortune-teller.

[103] In certain scripts: 'we consider you.'

Is This Muhammad?

Khadijah approached a suitor with modesty in her heart and asked, "Is this Muhammad?" Swearing in affirmation, she responded, "Yes." She further stated, "Khadijah and her sister have never disobeyed me." She then went to her father, Khuwaylid bin Asad, who was inebriated.

Khadijah Speaks to Her Father

She told him, "This is Muhammad, son of your brother Abdullah, who has come to seek the hand of Khadijah, whom Khadijah has willingly offered." He called him, asked about the matter, it was proposed, and he married them off.

Marital Appearances

Khadijah decorated her father, and draped him in a garment. The Prophet entered upon him, clad in his distinct attire. Once her father sobered up, he asked, "What is this attire and what is this outfit?" Khadijah's sister answered, "This outfit was provided by Muhammad. He married Khadijah and built a family with her."

Raising Concern

The man denied it initially but then acknowledged it and felt shy. A chant from Quraysh followed, stating, "Do not hold back, Khadijah, from Muhammad... He shines brightly like a star."

The Prophet's Offspring

The Prophet, peace be upon him, stayed with Khadijah until she bore him some of his daughters. They had a son named Qasim. Some scholars asserted she had another son named al-Tahir. Some others argued that she only had one son, Qasim, and four daughters: Zainab, Fatimah, Ruqayyah, and Umm Kulthum.

Translations:

1. (١٠٤) To consent or agree.
2. (١٠٥) To perfume or sweeten.
3. (١٠٨) Boy or young man.