his lap. He then asked for a piece of Madinan ʿajwah date, chewed it in his blessed mouth until it softened, and placed it in the baby’s mouth. The child started smacking his lips at the sweetness, whereupon the Prophet wiped the boy’s face with his noble hand and named him ʿAbd Allah. From that child’s loins there later arose ten righteous scholars of Islam.

Umm Sulaym’s case is remarkable: she loved the Messenger of Allah—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—with a devotion that penetrated her very flesh and bone and settled in the core of her heart.

Anas, her son, related how far that love went: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was once sleeping in our house during a sweltering day. Beads of sweat began to trickle from his forehead. My mother brought a small vial and started to collect his sweat in it. The Prophet ﷺ awoke and said, ‘What are you doing, O Umm Sulaym?!’”