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

266 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
perished! And the ummi prophet has been horn, he from Mecca, from the sacred
quarter. Whoever responds to hi will be glad; whoever scorns him will be sad."
He then entered the earth and was gone. I tried to scream, but couldn't say a
word. I then tried to get up, hut could not do so. I struck the pavilion with my
hand and my family heard this and came to me. I told them, "Keep the
Abyssinians away from me." They did so. And then I regained use of my tongue
and feet."'
If God Almighty wills it, I will now give accounts, in the stories relating to the
birth, concerning the visions of Chosroe of the collapse of 14 balconies of his
palace, of the extinguishing of his fires, of the visions of his soothsayer, and
Saci$'s interpretation of these through the help of 'Abd d-Masih.
The hzfiz Abii al-@sim b. 'Aszkir related in his history work dealing with the
life of al-Haith h. Hmi' b. al-Mudlij b. Ihn al-Miqdad h. Zamal b. 'Amr
al-Wdhri, from his father, from his grandfather, from his father, from Zamal b.
'Arnr al-Wdhri, who said, "The Bana Wdhra had an idol called Sam- whom
they venerated. And it was kept with Bana Hind b. Him b. I?abba b. 'Abd b.
Kabir b. Wdhra, its guardian being a man called TZriq. People used to make
sacrifice near it. When the Messenger of God (SAAS) came forth we heard a
voice that said, '0 Banii Hind b. Hirsm, the truth has come forth and Samhas
gone; Islam has done away with idol worship.' We were very alarmed and
awed by this. Nothing more happened for several days, but then we heard a
voice saying, '0 Tariq; the truth-telling Prophet has been sent with spoken
inspiration. A man has emerged in the land of Tihma announcing the trurh,
those who support him will live secure, while those who desert him will regret it.
This now is my farewell until Judgement Day.'
"'At that', Zamal said, 'the idol fell forward on its face. So I bought a riding
camel and rode off to the Messenger of God (SAAS) along with a group of my
tribesmen. I recited to him the following verses:
'To you, 0 Messenger of God, I directed (my mount), driving it hard over high
rough ground and sandy lowlands
To give strong help to the best of men, to tie a rope of yours to my own,
And I testify that there is nothing besides God, and that I will worship Him so long
as my shoes weigh down my feet.'
"'So I accepted Islam and pledged my allegiance to him. We told him what
we had heard, and he responded, "That was demon-spirit talk."'
"He then said, '0 you Arabs, I am the Messenger of God to you and to all
mankind. I call upon you to worship God alone. I tell you I am his Messenger
and his servant and that you must make pilgrimage to the ka'ba, fast for one
month out of twelve, that being Ramadan. Those of you who respond to me
shall have paradise as your abode. Whoever opposes me will have hellare as his
final destiny.'