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

152 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
of God (SAAS) was born, the man addressed a gathering of Quraysh with the
words, '0 Quraysh, did a birth occur among you this night?' They replied that
they did not know. He then exclaimed, 'Well, God is very great; if that should
have missed you, then no matter. Do look, and remember what I am telling you.
This night a prophet has been born to this last nation; between his shoulders
there is a mark consisting of successive lines of hair looking like a horse's mane.
He will not suckle for two nights and this is because a spirit will have put his
finger into his mouth and prevented him from suckling.'
"The gathering broke up at this with all amazed at what he had told them.
When they returned to their homes each one told his family. And they
responded, 'By God, a child was born to 'Abd AUah, son of 'Abd al-Mutr;llib, a
boy they named "Muhammad".' The people then gathered and asked one
another, 'Did you hear what the Jew said, and have you heard of the birth of the
boy?' They then hurried off to the Jew and told him the news. He asked them to
go with hi, so that he could see the boy. They left together and took him in to
Amina, saying, 'Bring out your son for us.' She did so and they uncovered his
back. There they saw the mark and the Jew fell down in a faint. When he came
to, they asked him what was the matter with him. He replied, 'By God,
prophecy has left Israel's tribe; are you glad with it, 0 Quraysh? He will so
empower you that news of it will spread from east and west!'"
Muhammad h. Ishaq said that Sdih h. Ibraim b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf
related to him, from Yahya h. 'Abd All& h. 'Ahd al-Wman b. Sa'd b. Zur*a,
as follows, "Certain trussworthy men of my mhe told me that Hassm b. Tkbit
once said, 'I was a mature lad of seven or eight, capable of understanding all I
saw and heard, when one morning a Jew in Yathrih began shouting for the attention
of his people. When they gathered about him - I heard all that myself- they
asked him what the matter was. He replied, "The star has risen beneath which
'Abad' will he born this night."'"
The hrtj? Ahii Nu'ayrn related in the book, Dal2rl al-Nubuwwa (Signs of the
Prophethood), from a tradition of Aha Bakr b. 'Abd All& al-'Amiri, from
Sulaymm b. Suhaym and Dhurayh h. 'Abd al-Wmm, both of their accounts
coming from 'Ahd al-Raban b. Abn Sacid, from his father, who said that he
heard Abn Mdik h. Sinan say: "I came one day to talk with Bma 'Abd
at-Ashhal, with whom we then had a truce, and heard the Jew Ynshu' say, 'The
time approaches for the coming of a prophet named Abad who will arise from
the sanctuary.' Khalifa b. Tha'laha al-Ashhali asked him, sarcastically, 'How
might you describe him?' He responded, 'A man neither short nor tall, with
fine, light eyes; he wears a full cloak and rides a donkey, carries his sword over
his shoulder and to this land will he migrate."'
Abn Maik went on, "When I returned to my own people and expressed at
that time my surprise at what Yiishuc had been saying, I heard one of our own