“This is Solomon, peace be upon him.”

He then opened another compartment, took out an image, and there appeared a fair-skinned youth with an intensely black beard, abundant hair, bright eyes, and a handsome face. He said, “This is Jesus, peace be upon him.”

We asked, “Where did you get these portraits? We know they are accurate, for we have seen our own Prophet—Allah bless him and grant him peace—and his likeness matches the image exactly.” He replied, “Adam asked his Lord, exalted be He, to let him see the prophets who would descend from him, so their images were sent down to him. They remained in Adam’s treasury at the place where the sun sets. Dhu al-Qarnayn later retrieved them from the West and handed them to Daniel, peace be upon him, and Daniel copied them onto pieces of silk. These are the very copies Daniel made.”

He then added, “By Allah, I wish my soul would reconcile itself to my leaving this kingdom, and that I might live as a servant to the least of your rulers until I die.” After that he presented us with the finest gifts and allowed us to depart.

When we returned to Abu Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—we related what we had seen and what the man had said. Abu Bakr wept and remarked, “Poor soul! Had Allah willed good for him, He would have granted it.” He then said, “The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, informed us that they and the Jews have the description of Muhammad—Allah bless him and grant him peace—among them.”

Abu ʿAbd Allah Ibn Mandah narrated this account from Ismaʿil ibn Yaʿqub, and Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Hakim transmitted it from ʿAbd Allah ibn Ishaq al-Khurāsānī; both relate it from al-Baladi, from ʿAbd al-ʿAziz. In al-Hakim’s version the chain is exactly as I have just mentioned, whereas Ibn Mandah adds: “ʿUbayd Allah narrated it from Sharḥabīl”—a singular chain.

This story was also reported by al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār from his uncle Muṣʿab ibn ʿAbd Allah, from his father, from his grandfather, from his father Muṣʿab, from ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit: Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq dispatched me, together with a group of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah—blessings and peace be upon him—to Heraclius, emperor of the Romans, to invite him to Islam. We set out on our mounts until we reached Damascus, and he recounted the matter in the same terms.