949 — Abū Abd Allāh ibn Shāhīn narrated to us, saying: Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Hammād al-Muqri narrated to us, saying: Khalaf narrated to us, saying: Saīd ibn Rāshid narrated to us, saying: I asked Atā, “Was the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—a prophet before he was created?” He replied, “Yes, by Allah. Ahmad had already been written down two thousand years before the world was created.”