in Homs. He was my neighbour, an elderly man who had reached dotage, or nearly so. I asked him, “Will you not tell me what happened?” He replied, “Indeed. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived at Tabūk, I set out with Heraclius’s letter and made my way there. I found him sitting in the midst of his Companions, knees drawn up beside a water-skin. He called, ‘Brother of Tanūkh!’ I hurried toward him until I stood before him. He then loosened the cloak with which he had been hugging his knees, bared his back and said, ‘Here—carry out what you have been commanded to do.’ I examined his back and saw the Seal in the fleshy part near the shoulder-blade, the size of a large cupping mark.”