The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by Ibn Kathir - Volume 1 of 4

88 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
"Late in the morning he came back, threw off his two garments and took out
two black ones he had and dressed in them. He then asked me: 'Abii Sufym, do
you have access to any Christian scholar well versed in the Bible you could ask a
question?' I replied, 'I've no interest in that; if such a person were to tell me
something I wanted, I'd not trust him. And if he told me something I disliked,
I'd certainly be very angry with him."'
He went on, "So he went away and a Christian sheikh disputed with him.
Then Umayya came in to me and said: 'What prevents you from going to this
sheikh?' I replied that I was not of his religion, but Umayya responded, 'So
what? You'd hear and see wonderful things from hi.' Then he said: 'You're of
Thaqif, aren't you?' 'No,' I replied, 'but I am of Quraysh.' LWell,' he asked, 'so
what prevents you from going to the sheikh? He likes you, I swear it, and he'd
counsel you.'
"Umayya then left and remained with them till he returned to us later that
night; he undressed and lay down on his bed. But I swear he was restless!
"Next morning he was sad and depressed, his 'evening drink dropping on his
morning draught' (as the saying goes) not speaking to us, nor we to him.
Eventually he said, 'Won't you ride?' I responded: 'You want to leave then?' He
replied, 'Yes.'
"So we rode away and travelled for two nights. Then on the third night he
said: 'Wouldn't you like to talk, Aha Sufym?' I replied, 'There's something you
want to tell? I swear, I never saw anything like the way you came back from your
friend.'
'"Well that's something you've nothing to do with; but it's to do with something
that scared me about my munqalab (hereafter).'
"'Do you have a mungalab then?' I asked.
"'Yes, by God,' he replied, 'I'm to die then be brought back to life.'
'"Want to take my wager?' I asked.
"'What about?'
"'That you'll not he brought back nor be called to account.'
"He laughed, then said, 'Oh but yes, by God, Abii Sufysn; we certainly will
be brought back, and then called to account so that one group can enter heaven
and another hell-fire.'
"'And which group are you in according to what your friend told you?'
"'He has no knowledge of that, either in my case or his own.'
"We journeyed on for two more nights, with him wondering at me and me
laughing at hi, until we reached the Damascus valley. There we sold our
goods, remaining there two months.
"Then we again journeyed on until we reached a Christian village, where we
made a stop. When they saw him they came to hi, gave him gifts and he went
with them to their houses. He came back in the afternoon, put on his two garments