Then, while he was still living among us and the moment of death approached him, he realized that his end was near and said:

“O community of Jews! What do you think drove me to leave the land of wine and leavened bread for a land of distress and hunger?”

We replied, “You know best.”

He said, “I came to this town solely in anticipation (1) of a Prophet whose time is now imminent. This very town will be his place of emigration. I hoped he would be raised during my lifetime so that I might follow him. His era has overtaken you, so, O Jews, do not let anyone outstrip you in hastening to him. He will be sent with the shedding of blood and the taking captive of the offspring (2) of those who oppose him—do not let that deter you from following him.”

When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was indeed sent and laid siege to Banū Qurayzah, those young men—still in the first bloom of youth—said, “O Banū Qurayzah, by Allah, this is the very Prophet about whom Ibn al-Hayyabān charged you.”

They replied, “He is not.”

The youths insisted, “Indeed, by Allah, it is he, exactly as described.” They therefore came down, embraced Islam, and secured their lives, their property, and their families.

Ibn Isḥāq said: “This is what has reached us from the Jewish rabbis.” (3)

I (the author) say: We have already mentioned the arrival of Tubbaʿ the Yemeni (4)—Abū Karib Tubban Asʿad—at Madinah, his siege of it, and how two Jewish scholars came out and said to him, “You have no way over it; it is the place of emigration for a Prophet who will come at the end of time.” Their words caused him to desist.

Abū Nuʿaym has likewise related in Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah (5), through the route of al-Walīd ibn Muslim, who said: Muḥammad ibn Ḥamzah ibn Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām narrated to us from his father, from his grandfather. He said:

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām reported: “When Allah willed to guide Zayd ibn Saʿnah (6), Zayd said, ‘Not a single sign of prophethood remained unknown to me once I looked at Muḥammad’s ﷺ face—save two that I had not yet tested: that his forbearance surpasses his anger, and that the more rude ignorance is shown him, the greater his forbearance becomes.’

“So I sought a gentle means to approach him, mix with him, and test his forbearance and his response to ignorance. I then narrated the incident of my advancing him a loan against a harvest. When the term fell due (7), I went to him, seized him by the collar of his shirt and cloak—while he was attending a funeral with his Companions—fixed him with a harsh stare and said, ‘O Muḥammad, will you not pay me my due? By Allah, I have never known the descendants of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib to be anything but procrastinators (8).’

“At that, ʿUmar glared at me, his eyes revolving in his face like two orbs…"