ʿUtbah likewise departed with a company of men from Banū ʿAbd Manāf, taking Hind and several of her female relatives with them, and they set out for the land of Yemen. When they drew near the place where the soothsayer lived, they said, “Tomorrow we shall visit him.” On hearing this, Hind’s whole bearing changed: her face fell and she began to weep.

Her father said, “My daughter, I see how distressed you are and how often you weep. I can attribute this only to some offence you have committed, some act you have brought upon yourself. Could you not have told me before the matter spread among the people and word of our journey became public?”

She replied, “By Allah, father, what you see in me is not because of any wrong I have done; I am innocent. The grief and change you notice in me stem from my knowing that you are going to this soothsayer, and he is a human being who may be right or may err. I fear that he may err in my case with something whose shame would cling to me until the end of time (1). Nor do I feel safe lest he brand me with a mark (2) that would remain a lasting reproach among the Arabs.”

Her father said, “Do not be afraid, for I shall test him and examine him before he speaks about you and your affair. [If he fails the test I set for him, I will not allow him to speak regarding you.]” He then slipped away from the party—he was riding a muhr (young colt)—until he was hidden from them behind a small rise, and there he dismounted (3).

He whistled to the colt until its member descended, took a few grains of wheat, inserted them into the colt’s urethra, and bound the opening tightly with a strap. [He whistled again until the member retracted,] after which he returned to the group, who assumed that he had merely gone aside to relieve himself (4).

They then came to the soothsayer. When they arrived, he honoured them and slaughtered an animal for them. ʿUtbah said, “We have come to you concerning a certain matter, but I will not allow you to speak of it until you tell us what I have hidden for you. I have concealed something; look and tell us what it is.”

The soothsayer replied, “Thamara fī kamara” (a fruit inside a sheath) (5).

ʿUtbah said, “I want something clearer than that.” He answered, “Grains of wheat inside the urethra of a young colt.”

ʿUtbah said, “You have spoken the truth. Now consider the matter for which we came: look into the affair of these women.” [He seated the women behind him, with Hind among them, but the soothsayer did not recognise her] (6).

The soothsayer drew near to each woman in turn, tapped her on the shoulder, dismissed her, and said, “Rise.” When he reached Hind, he tapped her shoulder and said, “Rise—chaste and dignified, neither loose-tongued (7) nor unchaste; you shall bear a king who will be called Muʿāwiyah.”

At this al-Fākih leapt up and seized her hand. She snatched her hand from his grip and said, “Keep away from me! By Allah, never will your head and mine share one pillow. By Allah, I shall strive that this child be fathered by someone other than you.” Thereafter Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb married her, and she bore him this Muʿāwiyah.

In another narration it is said that her father was the one who made that statement to al-Fākih, and Allah knows best (8).