said, 'O Halima, knowest thou who thy nursling is? He is Mohammed, the Apostle of the Lord of heaven and earth, and the first of the sons of men.' (R.)

Ibn Ishak narrates, on the authority of Thaur Ibn Yezid, that when on one occasion some of his companions asked the Apostle of God for information concerning himself, he spoke to them in this wise, 'I am he to believe in whom men were already invited by my father Abraham, and whose coming was foretold by Isa (= Jesus). When my mother had conceived me, she saw a light proceeding from her, which illuminated the houses of Syria. I was nursed among the Beni Saad; and one day, when I tended the cattle behind our house, together with my brother, two men robed in white, and holding a golden laver filled with snow, came upon us, seized me, split open my body, took out my heart, split it open, and, after removing from it a black clot, washed it and my whole body quite clean with the snow, and then one of them said to the other, "Weigh him against ten of his people." He did so, and I outweighed them. Then he said, "Weigh him against a hundred of his people;" and when I outweighed them also, he said, "Weigh him against a thousand of his people;" and when I outweighed these likewise, he said, "Leave him now, for if thou wert to lay his entire people into the scale, he still would outweigh them all."' (I. I.)

(37.) Each of them was the greatest and best of all God's Messengers.

a. 'Behold, a greater than Jonas is here.... Behold, a greater than Solomon is here' (Matt. xii. 41).
'Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered,... Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am' (John viii. 53-58).
'Last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.... Did ye never read in the Scriptures,

The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?' (Matt. xxi. 37-42.)

b. Amina, Mohammed's mother, told the following story about her child: 'Afterwards another little cloud appeared, brighter and greater than the former, and I heard sounds like the neighing of horses, like the clapping of the wings of birds, and like the voice of the talking of men, proceeding from it; and a Caller called out, "Carry Mohammed about, all over the earth, and present him to all mankind, and to all the spirits; and honour him as possessing the purity of Adam, the tender compassion of Noah, the faithful friendship of Abraham, the circumcision of Isaac, the patience of Job, the eloquence of Ishmael, the beauty of Joseph, the voice of David, the austerity of John the Baptist, and the kindness of Jesus;" and according to another account, the Caller also called, "Plunge him into the sea of the qualities of the prophets and the apostles;" on which account it is said of him in poetry,

"Thou art the heir of all prophetic gifts,
Combining all the attributes of all Apostles."'

It is likewise reported that Amina said, 'When Mohammed was born, there appeared unto me three persons from the unseen world, with faces of such surpassing beauty that the sun took its rise from them. One of these, who by Ibn Abbas was declared to be the Treasurer of Paradise, after having washed the child seven times in a silver laver, and tied him up with a musk-scented band in a piece of silk, kept him for about one hour under his wings. Then he whispered many things into his ear, of which I understood nothing, and kissed him between his eyes, saying, "O Mohammed, hear thou this glad tidings, that thou hast been esteemed worthy to receive the knowledge of all the prophets, and thy knowledge and thy courage shall be more than all theirs; and the keys of victory shall accompany thee, and all hearts shall be so impressed with thy dread and majesty that no one shall be able to hear thy name without fear and trembling, though he have never seen thee, O thou loved one of God."' (R.)