ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿImrān transmitted it from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar, from Abū ʿAwn, from al-Miswar ibn Makhramah, from Ibn ʿAbbās who said:

“During the winter caravan ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib travelled to Yemen and stayed with a Jewish scholar. A man from among the dwellers of the monasteries—one of the People of the Book—said to him, ‘O ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, will you permit me to look at a part of your body?’ He replied, ‘Yes, provided it is not a private part.’

“The man opened one of my nostrils and examined it, then the other, after which he declared, ‘I bear witness that one of your hands carries kingship and the other prophethood. We find this written concerning the descendants of Zuhrah. How, then, is that fulfilled?’ I answered, ‘I do not know.’

“He asked, ‘Do you have a shāʿah?’ I said, ‘What is a shāʿah?’ He replied, ‘A wife.’ I said, ‘At present I have none.’ He said, ‘When you return home, marry among them.’

“Upon returning, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib married Hālah bint Wahb ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Zuhrah, who bore him Ḥamzah and Ṣafiyyah. Later, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib married Āminah bint Wahb, and she bore the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. When Quraysh heard that ʿAbd Allāh had married Āminah they exclaimed, ‘Falaj!’—meaning that ʿAbd Allāh had prevailed and surpassed his father ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib.