Abū Ṣāliḥ expressed the same view, as did al-Kalbī, and Qatādah reported it on the authority of certain transmitters.¹

Al-Ṭabarānī² relates: ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shabīb al-Rabʿī narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Maslamah ibn Hishām al-Makhzūmī narrated to us; Ismāʿīl ibn al-Ṭurayḥ ibn Ismāʿīl al-Thaqafī narrated to us; my father told me, on the authority of his father, from Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam, from Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān, from his father, who said:

“I set out with Umayyah ibn Abī al-Ṣalt al-Thaqafī as merchants bound for Syria. Whenever we stopped at a way-station, Umayyah would take out a scripture he possessed and read it to us. We continued thus until we reached a Christian village. Its people came to him, presented gifts, and honoured him, taking him into their homes. He returned at midday, threw off his two garments, put on two black ones, and said to me:

‘Abū Sufyān, would you like to visit a scholar among the Christian scholars—the one to whom the knowledge of the Scripture ultimately returns—so that you may question him?’

I replied, ‘I have no desire for that. By Allah, if he tells me something I like I still would not trust him, and if he tells me something I dislike I would become wary of him.’³

He then left, and an elderly Christian came by another route. He entered and said to me, ‘What prevents you from going to that elder?’

I said, ‘I am not upon his religion.’

He said, ‘So what? You will hear from him and see things that will astonish you.’ Then he asked, ‘Are you from Thaqīf?’

I answered, ‘No, I am Qurayshī.’

He said, ‘Then what keeps you from the elder? By Allah, he loves you people and commends you.’ He left us, and Umayyah remained away until, after a portion of the night had passed, he returned, cast off his garments and collapsed on his bedding. By Allah, he neither slept nor rose until morning, gloomy and sorrowful, his evening drink running into his morning one; he spoke not to us, nor we to him.

Later he said, ‘Shall we not depart?’

I asked, ‘Do you feel like travelling?’

He replied, ‘Yes,’ so we set out. We travelled in that condition for two nights because of his anxiety. On the third night he said, ‘Will you not converse, Abū Sufyān?’

I said, ‘Is there anything you wish to say? By Allah, I have never seen anything like what you returned with from your companion.’

He said, ‘The matter that troubles me is not something I control; it is something that struck fear in me about my ultimate return.’

I asked, ‘Do you really expect a return?’

He said, ‘Indeed, by Allah! I shall die and then be brought back to life.’

I said, ‘Will you accept a pledge from me?’

He asked, ‘Concerning what?’

I said, ‘That you will neither be resurrected nor called to account.’

He laughed and then said, ‘Yes indeed! By Allah, Abū Sufyān, we shall surely be resurrected and we shall surely be judged; one group will enter Paradise and another will enter the Fire.’

I asked, ‘In which of the two will you be? Did your companion tell you?’

He replied, ‘My companion has no knowledge of that—neither concerning me nor concerning himself.’

So we spent two nights discussing the matter, he marvelling at me and I laughing at him, until we arrived