—after listing their mothers in detail—until he concluded:
He is the most eminent of Adam’s offspring in lineage, the noblest of them in ancestry through both his father and his mother; upon him be the unceasing blessings and peace of Allah until the Day of Judgment (1).

We have already cited the ḥadīth of al-Awzāʿī, transmitted by Shaddād Abū ʿAmmār from Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ, in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Indeed Allah chose Kinānah from the descendants of Ishmael, He chose Quraysh from Kinānah, He chose Hāshim from Quraysh, and He chose me from the descendants of Hāshim.” Muslim narrated it (2).

A fuller discussion of his blessed birth and the reports concerning it will follow. When we set out the noble genealogy we shall add other benefits not mentioned here, if Allah Most High so wills. In Him we place our confidence, and upon Him we rely.

An outline of certain events that occurred during the Age of Ignorance (3)

We have already related how Jurhum seized the custodianship of the Sacred House from the children of Ishmael, taking advantage of them because they were their grandsons through the female line; how Khuzāʿah then rose up against Jurhum and wrested that custodianship from them; and how it later returned to Quṣayy and his sons, remaining in their hands until Allah sent His Messenger ﷺ, who confirmed those offices exactly as they had been.

Chapter: Mention of notable persons who lived in the pre-Islamic era (4)

The account (5) of Khālid ibn Sinān al-ʿAbsī, who lived during the interval between prophets; some have claimed that he was himself a prophet (6)—and Allah knows best.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Qāsim al-Ṭabarānī said: “Aḥmad ibn Zuhayr al-Tustarī (7) narrated to us; he said: ‘Yahyā ibn al-Maʿallā ibn …’”