the leadership devolved upon another. The new chief would place his own seal upon those writings alongside the seals of his predecessors, without breaking a single one.

Now, the chief who held office in the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—once went out walking. He stumbled, whereupon his son cried, “May the far-removed one perish!”—meaning the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. His father rebuked him, saying, “Do not say that. He is a prophet, and his name is recorded in al-waḍāʾiʿ (the deposited scriptures).”

When the father died, the son’s only thought was to rush, break the seals, and read the book. There he found mention of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him; so he embraced Islam, and his Islam was excellent. He even performed the pilgrimage, chanting:

To You she hastens at dawn, her girth trembling with distress,
while the unborn within her belly shifts from side to side;
her creed now opposed to the creed of the Christians.

Ibn Isḥāq said: Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr related to me that when the delegation reached the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in Medina, they entered his mosque after he had performed the ʿAṣr prayer, wearing garments of fine striped cloth—tunics and cloaks—in the full splendor of the men of Banū