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

240 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
while those of evil-doers shall perish.' The document then recounted another
story. The Messenger of God (SAAS) was astonished at what was read to hi
from it."
We recounted, regarding the verse in swat al-A+af; "whom they fmd written
down along with them in the Torah and the Gospel" (VII, v.157) the story of
Hishiim h. alLCA$ al-Umawi when (Aba Bakr) al-Siddiq sent him with a group of
men to Heraclius, calling upon him to worship God, Almighty and Glorious is
He. He related how Heraclius brought out for them pictures of the prophets in a
piece of cloth, from Adam to Muhammad (SAAS). It showed how they had all
looked. Then he related how, when he brought out the picture of Muhammad
(SAAS) Heraclius stood up to show his respect for him. He then sat down again
and gazed at it, contemplating it closely. The group then asked hi where he
had obtained the picture and he responded, "Adam asked his Lord to show him
all the prophets he had produced. And God did reveal their pictures to hi.
They were kept in the treasury of Adam, peace be upon him, where the sun sets.
And Dha al-Qprnayn (Alexander) took them out and gave them to Daniel."
The account continues, "Heraclius then stated, '0 how I wish I could leave
my kingdom and were a slave to the worst of your kings till I die.' He then
dismissed us, giving us generous gifts, and we left."
When the group returned to Aba Bakr and related to him what they had seen,
how he had rewarded them, and what he had said, he wept and said, "Poor man!
If God had wished good for him, He would have done so." Then he said, "The
Messenger of God (SAAS) related to us that they and the Jews would find
among them the description of Muhammad (SAAS)."
Al-HZkim related this tradition in full. It is written down here from the
exegesis. Al-Bayhaqi related it in Dalz'il al-Nubuwwa (Scgns ofthe Prophethood).
Al-Umawi stated that 'Abd AllZh b. Ziyiid related to him from Ibn Ishaq who
said that Ya'qab b. 'Ahd Alliih h. Jacfar h. 'Amr h. Umayya related to hi, from
his father, from his grandfather 'Amr h. Umayya, who said, "I brought in some
slaves from the Negus who had given them to me. They said, '0 CAmr, if we saw
the Messenger of God, we would recognize him without you telling us.' Abti
Bakr passed by, so I asked them, 'Is that he?' 'No,' they replied. Wmar went by
and I asked, 'Is that he?' 'No,' they responded.
"We went inside the house and the Messenger of God (SAAS) went by and
then they called out to me, '0 CAmr that is the Messenger of God (SAAS).'
When I looked I saw it was he, yet no one had told them so. They recognized
him from the writings they had."
We previously recounted the warning made by Saha' to his people, and how
he had announced to them the coming of the Messenger of God (SAAS) in
poetry we gave earlier in his biography. So there is no need to repeat it. Also we