[Section]
Ibn Isḥāq (1) relates that Khadījah bint Khuwaylid once spoke with her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal ibn Asad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā ibn Quṣayy—who was a Christian, well versed in the Scriptures and knowledgeable of the lore of former peoples—about what her servant [Maysarah] had reported to her concerning the monk’s words and the marvels he had witnessed, namely that two angels shaded Muhammad. Waraqah replied, “If this is true, O Khadījah, then Muhammad is indeed the Prophet of this nation. I have long known that a prophet awaited by this community would appear, and this is his time.” Or words to that effect.

From that moment Waraqah grew impatient for the matter to be fulfilled and would say, “How much longer?” He then composed the following lines:

I have plunged—persistent in remembrance—
Driven by a grief that oft evokes my tears;
And one report from Khadījah after another—
Long has my waiting lasted, O Khadījah!
Within the twin valleys of Mecca I still hope
That your tidings will reveal his emergence (2);
Of the priestly words you told us—a monk’s report—
Which I would hate to find distorted or awry (3);
That Muḥammad shall hold sway over his people,
Silencing all who come to plead against him;
Across the lands a radiant light will shine,
Steadying creation lest it surge in chaos (4)(5);
Whoever wars against him shall meet with loss,
While he who seeks his peace shall surely triumph (6);
Oh, would that when that day arrives I witness it—
The very first of all to enter in!
To enter what Quraysh despise so fiercely,
Though Mecca raise its loudest protest;
In what they all abhor I place my hope—
To the Lord of the Throne I seek my upward way.
If you survive, and I survive, events will come
At which the unbelievers will howl in anguish (7);
But if I perish, every soul must face
Whatever fate decrees—destruction and undoing (8).