435 — Al-Firyābī also informed us, saying: Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh narrated to us, saying: ⦗859⦘ Hakkām ibn Salm al-Rāzī informed us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī narrated to us, from al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, from Abū al-ʿĀliyah, from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, who said:

“Concerning Allah Most High’s words, ‘And when your Lord took from the children of Adam—from their loins—their descendants and made them testify concerning themselves’ [Al-Aʿrāf: 172], through His words—Mighty and Majestic is He—‘Would You then destroy us for what the falsifiers did?’ [Al-Aʿrāf: 173]: He gathered them all before Him that day—all who would exist until the Day of Resurrection. He then divided them into classes, fashioned them, and caused them to speak, and they spoke. He took from them the covenant and solemn pledge:

‘And He made them testify concerning themselves: “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes indeed; we testify”—lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, “We were unaware of this,” or say, “It was only our forefathers who associated others with Allah before, and we were merely their descendants after them. Would You then destroy us for what the falsifiers did?”’ [Al-Aʿrāf: 173]

“He said, ‘I call the seven heavens and the seven earths to witness against you, and I call your father Adam to witness against you, lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, “We were unaware of this.” Therefore, do not associate anything with Me. I shall send you My messengers to remind you of My covenant and solemn pledge, and I shall send down My Books to you.’

“They said, ‘We testify that You are our Lord ⦗860⦘ and our God. We have no lord other than You and no god other than You.’ Their father was then raised up before them, and he looked at them. He saw among them the rich and the poor, those of handsome appearance and those of lesser appearance. He said, ‘My Lord, if You had willed, You could have made Your servants equal.’ He replied, ‘I love to be thanked.’

“He saw the prophets among them like lamps. They were singled out by another covenant concerning messengership and prophethood. This is expressed in the words of Allah Most High: ‘And when We took from the prophets their covenant, and from you, and from Noah’ [Al-Ahzāb: 7], and so on to the end of the verse. It is also expressed in His words: ‘So devote yourself to the true religion—the natural disposition ordained by Allah, upon which He created mankind. There is no altering Allah’s creation’ [Al-Rūm: 30]; in His words, ‘This is a warner from among the warners of old’ [Al-Najm: 56]; and in His words Most High, ‘We found no covenant in most of them; indeed, We found most of them defiantly disobedient’ [Al-Aʿrāf: 102].

“Every good soul was in His right hand and every wicked soul in His other hand. He then mixed them together. This is expressed in the words of Allah Most High: ‘Then, after him, We sent messengers to their peoples, and they came to them with clear proofs. Yet they would not believe in what they had denied before.’ Thus, among them—as Allah Most High knew on the day they acknowledged Him—were those who would deny Him and those who would believe in Him.

“The spirit of Jesus, son of Mary (peace be upon him), was among those spirits from whom the covenant and solemn pledge were taken in the time of Adam (peace be upon him). He then sent that spirit to Mary (peace be upon her) when she withdrew from her family to an eastern place: ‘She took a screen apart from them, and We sent to her Our Spirit, who appeared before her as a well-formed man’ [Maryam: 17], through His words Most High, ‘and it was a matter ⦗861⦘ decreed. So she conceived him’ [Maryam: 21].”

He said, “She then conceived the spirit that had addressed her, namely the spirit of Jesus (peace be upon him).”

Ishāq said: Hakkām said: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī narrated to us, from al-Rabīʿ, from Abū al-ʿĀliyah, from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, who said: “That spirit entered through her mouth.”