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

IMAM ABU AL-FIDA' ISMA'IL IBN KATHIR 265
This is a curious anecdote.
It is obvious that the sheikh was a demon spirit, one of those that adopted
Islam and learned the Qur'a, one thing he used being the invocation "In the
name of God the most Merciful, the most Beneficent." He would seek protection
by speaking it.
Al-Khara'iti stated that 'Abd Allah b. Muhammad al-Balawi related to him,
quoting 'Umara b. Zayd, saying that 'Abd All& b. alLCAla' related to hi, from
Hishzm b. 'Urwa, from his father, from his grandmother Asma', daughter of
Aba Bakr, who said, "Zayd b. 'Amr b. Nufayl and Waraqa b. Nawfal used to tell
how they went to the Negus after the retreat of Abraha from Mecca. They
would say, 'When we went in to hi, he told us, "0 you two men of Quraysh,
tell me truthfully. Was there born among you a boy whose father wanted to
sacrifice him and who had divining arrows cast about him, but who was saved
and had many camels sacrificed for him?"
"'Yes,' we replied. 'Do you have knowledge of him then, and of what became
of hi?' We replied, 'He married a woman named Amina, daughter of Wahb; he
left her pregnant then went away.' 'Do you know if a child was born or not?'
"Waraqa b. Nawfal replied, 'I will tell you, 0 King. I had spent a night at an
idol of ours around which we used to circumambulate and worship. Suddenly I
heard a voice emanating from its belly that said, "The Prophet is born and so the
kings are abased, falsehood is averted and polytheism is dead."
"'The idol therupon tipped over on to its face.'
"Zayd b. 'Amr b. Nufayl then spoke, 'I had a similar experience, 0 King.'
'Let's hear it,' he was told. He related as follows, 'On just such a night as he told
of, I left my people, who were talking about Amina's being pregnant, and went
to Mt. Aba Qubays, wanting to be alone there because of something that was
bothering me. Suddenly I saw a man descend from the skies who had two green
wings. He stood atop Mt. Aba Qubays, then looked down over Mecca and said,
'Satan is humiliated and the idols are cast down. The 'Trustworthy One' is
born.' He then spread out a cloth he had with him and floated away on it to the
east and west. 1 saw that he had lit up all beneath the sky and a light was s hig
so brightly that it almost blinded me. I was awed by what I had seen. The man
who had called out flapped his wings and flew down to the kacba, a light shining
from him that illuminated all T iba. He then spoke, "The earth is aflame and
has reached its springtime." He then gestured towards the idols that were in the
kacba and they all fell down.'
"The Negus said, 'Let me tell you now what happened to me. I was asleep
that same night you mentioned, alone in a pavilion, when out from the ground
came a neck and a head which said, "Woe has befallen the warriors with elephants!
flocks of birds cast clay stones at them. The criminal aggressor al-Ashram has