Bahira then addressed Abu Talib about the Prophet—may Allah grant him peace and blessings—saying what he said and urging him to take special care of the boy. Abu Talib therefore brought him back to Mecca. The Messenger of Allah grew up under Abu Talib’s guardianship while Allah Himself watched over him, preserved him, and shielded him from the ways and blemishes of pagan ignorance in preparation for the honor He had decreed for him. When he reached manhood, he was the most distinguished of his people in dignity, the finest in character, the noblest in social dealings, the greatest in forbearance and trustworthiness, the most truthful in speech, and the furthest removed from indecency and harm. Never was he seen to quarrel or argue with anyone. Because of the many righteous qualities combined in him, his people came to call him al-Amīn, “the Trustworthy.”

Ibn al-Jawzī said: Abu Talib set out for al-Shām with the Messenger of Allah—may Allah grant him peace and blessings—when the latter was twelve years, two months, and ten days old. The caravan halted at Busra, where there was a monk named Bahira who lived in a cell. He possessed considerable knowledge of Christianity, and that cell had always been occupied by a monk to whom the learning of Christianity was passed down, generation after generation; it contained books that they studied. Caravans often passed by, yet he never spoke to them—until, in that particular year, the caravan camped near the cell. The monk prepared food for them and invited them, prompted to do so by something he had observed. When Bahira witnessed that sign, he descended from his cell, ordered that the food be set out, and sent word to the travelers, saying: “O company of Quraysh, I would like…"