With the chain just mentioned that runs to al-Layth from Hishām (1) I possess a full transcript. Whoever questions what it contains, let him examine the following:

From his father ʿUrwah, who said:

“Waraqah ibn Nawfal once passed by Bilal while he was being tortured, his back pressed against the scorching ground, and Bilal kept saying, ‘One! One!’

Waraqah called out, ‘One! One! O Bilal. Be patient, O Bilal! Why are you tormenting him? By the One in whose hand is my soul, if you kill him I will make him a ḥanān.’

He meant: I will rub myself against him, seeking blessing.”

This report is mursal. Had Waraqah lived to witness the later events he would have been counted among the Companions; however, he died during the pause in revelation—after prophethood had been conferred but before the public commissioning with the Message—as stated in the Ṣaḥīḥ (2).

Yūnus ibn Bukayr narrated—from Ibn Isḥāq—who said: Hishām told me, from his father, from Asmāʾ:

“Waraqah used to say, ‘O Allah, if I knew which of the faces is dearest to You I would worship You by it, but I do not know.’ Then he would prostrate upon the palms of his hands (3).”

Yūnus ibn Bukayr—and several others—also transmitted: from al-Masʿūdī, from Nufayl ibn Hishām ibn Saʿīd ibn Zayd, from his father, from his grandfather, who said:

“Zayd ibn ʿAmr passed by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Zayd ibn Ḥārithah while they were eating from a food-spread. They invited him to join them, but he replied, ‘O son of my brother! I do not eat anything that has been sacrificed on the altars.’ From that day on, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was never again seen eating anything slaughtered on the altars.”

Al-Masʿūdī is not an authoritative proof.

Imām Aḥmad included the report in his Musnad through the chain of Yazīd from al-Masʿūdī, and he added at its end: Saʿīd said (4):

“I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! My father was as you have seen and as you have heard; had he reached your time he would have believed in you and followed you. So please ask forgiveness for him.’

He said, ‘Yes, I will ask forgiveness for him, for he—”