in Syria; he is neither foul-mouthed nor clamorous in the marketplaces, nor does he repay evil with evil; rather, he overlooks and forgives." (1)

ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dārimī said: “Al-Ḥasan ibn al-Rabīʿ narrated to us, Abū al-Aḥwaṣ narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, who said: Kaʿb said: We find written in the Torah (2): ‘Muḥammad, the Messenger of God, is neither coarse nor hard-hearted, nor does he raise his voice in the marketplaces. He does not requite evil with evil, but pardons and forgives. His community are the ḥammādūn: they magnify God on every hilltop and praise Him at every stopping place. They gird their garments to mid-leg and wash their extremities in ablution; their caller proclaims in the span of heaven; their ranks in battle and their ranks in prayer are equal for them (3), producing a humming like the humming of bees. His birth is in Mecca, his migration to Tāba (Medina), and his dominion in Syria.’” (4)

Al-Dārimī said: “Zayd ibn ʿAwf narrated to us; Abū ʿAwāna narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, from Dhakwān Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Kaʿb, who said: In the first line it reads: ‘Muḥammad, the Messenger of God, My chosen servant: he is neither harsh nor hard-hearted, nor does he raise his voice in the marketplaces. He does not retaliate evil with evil, but pardons and forgives. His birth is in Mecca, his migration in Ṭayba, and his dominion in Syria.’

And in the second line: ‘Muḥammad, the Messenger of God; his community are the ḥammādūn: they praise God in every circumstance and at every station, and they magnify Him upon every elevation; they are watchers of the sun,