my she-donkey was now trotting at the head of the caravan, leaving every mount far behind—no one could keep up with her. We reached our homes in the settled area of Banū Saʿd ibn Bakr, a region that was then the most barren land Allah had created. By Him in whose hand is my soul, whenever the people sent their sheep out to graze along with the man who herded mine, my flock would return at dusk with full stomachs and udders brimming with milk, while their sheep came back hungry. They would scold their shepherds: “Woe to you! Why do you not pasture where Ḥalīmah’s shepherd pastures?” They would then send their flocks to the very valley where our shepherd went, yet their sheep still returned hungry and dry, whereas mine came back heavy with milk.
The Splitting of the Chest
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to grow in a single day as other children grow in a month, and in a single month as other children grow in a year. Ḥalīmah said: “We went to his mother and told her, ‘Give our son back to us, for we fear the sickness that spreads in Mecca.’ In truth, we were more eager to keep him than anything else because of the blessing we had seen. She said, ‘Take him back.’
“He stayed with us for another two months. One day he and his foster brother were playing behind the houses among our lambs when his brother came running and cried, ‘Come quickly! Two men have taken my brother and split open his belly!’ We dashed out and found him standing there, his face pale. His foster father and I embraced him and asked, ‘What is the matter, my son?’ He replied, ‘Two men came to me, laid me down, and opened my belly. By Allah, I do not know what they did after that.’
“We brought him home, and his father kept saying, ‘O Ḥalīmah, I fear this boy has been struck; let us return him to his family.’ We took him back to his mother, who asked, ‘Why have you brought him?’ I said, ‘We nursed him and fulfilled our obligation, but we now fear accidents might befall him.’
“She responded, ‘By Allah, that is not the real reason. Tell me what has happened.’ She persisted until we related everything. She then said, ‘So you feared for him? Never! By Allah, my son has a great destiny. When I conceived him, no pregnancy was ever lighter or more blessed. At his birth I saw a light, like a shooting star, emerge from me and illuminate the necks of the camels in Busra. When he was born, he did not fall as other newborns do; rather, he came forth placing…’