al-Wāqidī (1) said:
“Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar, and Ibrāhīm ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Ḥabībah related to me from Dāwud ibn al-Ḥuṣayn that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reached the age of twelve, his uncle Abū Ṭālib set out with him for Syria in the trade caravan he himself was accompanying. They stopped at the cell of the monk Baḥīrā, who spoke privately to Abū Ṭālib (2), advising him to safeguard the boy. Abū Ṭālib therefore brought him back to Mecca.

[The Messenger of Allah ﷺ grew up under Abū Ṭālib’s care while Allah watched over him, preserved him, and shielded him from the practices and blemishes of the Age of Ignorance in preparation for the honor destined for him. He matured into the most noble of his people in dignity, the finest in character, the most gracious in companionship, the best of neighbors, the most forbearing and trustworthy, the most truthful in speech, and the farthest from obscenity and harm.]

He was never seen quarrelling or arguing with anyone, so his people named him al-Amīn, “the Trustworthy,” because of the virtues Allah had gathered in him. Abū Ṭālib continued to protect, support, and assist him until the day he died.

Muḥammad ibn Saʿd (4) said:
“Khālid ibn Khidāsh (5) informed us, reporting from Maʿmar ibn Sulaymān: I heard my father narrate from Abū Mijlaz that ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib—or Abū Ṭālib (Khālid was unsure)—said: ‘After ʿAbd Allāh died I showed kindness to Muḥammad ﷺ so that he never undertook a journey without me. On one occasion we headed toward Syria and halted at a certain stop. A monk came to us and said, ‘Among you is a righteous man.’ We replied, ‘Among us are those who honor guests, free captives, and perform good deeds,’ or something similar. He then asked, ‘Who is the father of this lad?’ I replied, ‘Here I am, his guardian’—or it was said, ‘This is his guardian.’ He said, ‘Protect this boy and do not take him to Syria. The Jews are envious, and I fear for him because of them.’ I answered, ‘It is not you who says this; rather, Allah says it.’ So I turned back with him and prayed: ‘O Allah, I entrust Muḥammad to Your care.’ Shortly thereafter I passed away.’”

Al-Suhaylī (6) relates from al-Zuhrī’s Sīrah that Baḥīrā was a Jewish scholar. I say: What the context of the story suggests is that he was a Christian monk; Allah knows best.

Al-Masʿūdī reports that he was from the tribe of ʿAbd al-Qays and that his name was Jirjis (7).

In Ibn Qutaybah’s al-Maʿārif (8) it is recorded that, shortly before Islam, a voice was heard in the pre-Islamic era calling out: ‘Behold…’