and the watering of pilgrims and even prophethood—what, then, will be left for the rest of Quraysh (1)?!

As for the Jews, their scholars recognized him (2) as plainly as they recognized their own sons. Ibn Ishaq (3) reports: ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah told me, on the authority of an elder from the clan of Qurayzah, that he was once asked, “Do you know how Asad and Thaʿlabah, the two sons of Saʿyah, and Asad ibn ʿUbayd came to accept Islam? They did not belong to Qurayzah or al-Naḍīr; their lineage was above that.” I replied, “No, I do not.”

He said: “A Jewish man from Syria named Ibn al-Hayyabān arrived and settled among us. By Allah, we had never seen anyone who prayed more devoutly than he did. He came two years before Allah’s Messenger ﷺ was commissioned. Whenever we were stricken by drought and the rain was scarce, we would say, ‘Ibn al-Hayyabān, go out and pray for rain for us.’ He would answer, ‘By Allah, not until you first give charity.’ We would ask, ‘How much?’ and he would say, ‘A sâʿ of dates or two mudd of barley.’ We would bring the amount, and then he would go to the outskirts of our lava-field while we accompanied him to seek rain. By Allah, he would not rise from where he sat before the clouds would gather and we would be drenched. He did this not once, not twice, but many times.

“When death approached him and we gathered round, he said, ‘Community of the Jews! Do you know what made me leave the land of wine and plenty for this land of hardship and hunger?