Excellency said, "They were spirits from Nisibin, and as they asked provisions of me for themselves and the animals on which they rode, I decreed that bones and manure should be their provisions." I asked further, "O apostle of God, why are bones and manure sufficient for them?" His Excellency answered, "Because on every bone God causes as much meat to grow for them as there was originally meat upon it; and for the animals on which they ride, God causes so many grains of corns to grow in the manure as that manure contains old grains."' (Ibn Ishak.)

'Sehil Ibn Beiza narrates: "One day, during the expedition to Tabuk, his Excellency made me ride behind him on his camel, when we suddenly saw an enormous serpent on the road, so that the people ran away from fright. That serpent came and stood a considerable time opposite him, the people seeing it and wondering. Then it glided away and at a distance stood again on one side of the road. His Excellency now said to the people around him, 'Do you at all know what this serpent is?' They answered, 'God and His prophet know it best.' Thereupon his Excellency continued, 'This is part of those spirits who came to me in Mecca and listened to the Koran. Their abode being in these regions, they, as soon as God's apostle reached it, came to welcome and salute us, and to ask what were our difficulties; and after having received the answer, they stood again for a while and saluted you.' The companions replied, 'With it also be peace and God's mercy and blessing.' His Excellency added, 'Salute ye the servants of God, whoever they may be."' (Rawzat.)

(25.) Both of them received Visits from Good Angels.

a. 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man' (John i. 51).
'Behold, angels came and ministered unto him' (Matt. iv. 11).
'And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him' (Luke xxii. 43).

b. 'It is recorded that his Excellency said, "I was in the cave of Hira, when suddenly some one appeared to me and said, O Mohammed, to thee be the good news that God has sent me, Gabriel, to thee, and thou art God's apostle over His people."'

'Be it known that revelation was brought down to that Excellency by Gabriel, who sometimes came to him in the form of a beautiful man, visible now and then even to his friends; and sometimes appeared in his own original form, without assuming that of any one else.'

'In the year A.H. 10, Gabriel came to one of the Prophet's meetings, in the form of a man whose robes were exceedingly white and his hair extremely black, his scent superlatively fragrant and his face supremely beautiful, so that those who were present in the meeting saw him and wondered at him. For there was no appearance of travelling, that one might have taken him for a traveller; and not any one of those present knew him, so as to say, he belongs to such or such a country. On drawing near, he said, "Peace be on thee, O Mohammed," and sat himself down in such a way that his knees touched the knees of his Excellency. When his Excellency had returned his salutation, he put his hands upon his excellency's thighs and asked questions about faith, surrender, doing good, the resurrection, and the signs of the resurrection; but no sooner had his Excellency answered these questions, than he rose up again and went away. The Lord of the world said, "Go and bring this person back." His friends went out, but however much they searched, they could not find him. His Excellency said, "This was Gabriel: with this one exception, I always recognised him in whatever form he came; but as soon as he had disappeared, I knew that it was Gabriel." Another account states that, three days afterwards, the Prophet asked Omar Ibn Khattab, "O Omar, knowest thou who that person was who asked me those questions?" Omar answered, "God and His apostle know it better." His Excellency rejoined, "It was Gabriel: he came to teach you religion."' (Rawzat.)