Abū Ghuziyyah Muḥammad ibn Mūsā related to us, through al-ʿAṭṭāf ibn Khālid al-Wābiṣī, from Khālid ibn Saʿīd, from his father, who said:
I heard Tamīm al-Dārī say: “I was in Syria when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was sent. I set out on an errand, night overtook me, and I said, ‘Tonight I place myself under the protection of the mighty one of this valley.’
“As soon as I lay down, an unseen caller cried out: ‘Seek refuge with Allah, for the jinn can grant no protection against Him.’
“I said, ‘By Allah, is that what you are saying?’
“He replied, ‘The Messenger of the Unlettered—Allah’s Messenger—has emerged. We prayed behind him at al-Ḥajūn; we embraced Islam and followed him. The plots of the jinn have come to nothing and we are pelted with shooting stars. Go to Muḥammad, the Messenger of the Lord of all worlds, and submit.’
“When morning came,” Tamīm continued, “I went to the Monastery of Ayyūb, questioned a monk, and told him what had happened. The monk said, ‘They have spoken the truth. He will arise from the Sacred Sanctuary and his place of emigration will likewise be the Sanctuary. He is the best of the prophets; do not let anyone reach him before you do.’ So I made every effort until I reached the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—and I accepted Islam.”
Ḥātim ibn Ismāʿīl also reported, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd al-Hudhalī, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sāʿidah al-Hudhalī, from his father, who said:
“We were beside our idol Suwāʿ, having brought it two hundred sheep of ours that were afflicted with mange, hoping for its blessing. A voice from inside the idol suddenly cried out: ‘The schemes of the jinn have vanished and we are struck with meteors, because of a Prophet whose name is Aḥmad.’
“I exclaimed, ‘By Allah, I am undone!’ and quickly drove my flock back toward my family, and I was informed of the appearance of the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him.”
Abū Nuʿaym cited this in such an abridged form, and then said:
“ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar narrated to us; Ibrāhīm ibn al-Sindī narrated to us; al-Naḍr ibn Salamah narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Salamah al-Makhzūmī narrated to us; Yaḥyā ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, from Ḥakīm ibn ʿAṭāʾ al-Ẓafarī—of Banū Sulaym, a descendant of Rāshid ibn ʿAbd Rabbih—from his father, from his grandfather, from Rāshid ibn ʿAbd Rabbih, who said:
‘The idol known as Suwāʿ stood in the upper quarter of Ruhāṭ. Hudhayl and the clan of Ẓafar of Sulaym used to venerate it. The Banū Ẓafar dispatched Rāshid ibn ʿAbd Rabbih with an offering of …’”