He said to Umayyah when he saw him, “You are accompanied by a spirit. From which side does your rīʾ (familiar spirit) come to you?” “From my left side,” he replied. “And what color of clothing does he prefer you to wear when you meet him?” “Black,” Umayyah answered. The old man said, “You were on the verge of becoming the prophet of the Arabs, yet you are not. What reaches you is a prompting from the jinn, not an angel. The prophet of the Arabs—the one to whom this mission belongs—is visited by the angel from his right side, and the clothing the angel prefers to find him in is white.”

Al-Zuhrī said: Later Umayyah went to Abū Bakr and asked, “Abū Bakr, matters have become obscure—have you sensed anything?” “By Allah, no,” he replied. “I have discovered,” said Umayyah, “that he will appear this very year.”

ʿUmar b. Shabbah said: I heard Khālid b. Yazīd relate that Umayyah and Abū Sufyān b. Ḥarb were my companions on a trading journey to Syria. He reported something similar to the first account and added: When Umayyah left the monk he was weighed down (1). Abū Sufyān said to him, “Some evil has befallen you—what is wrong?” “All is well,” he replied. “Tell me: how old is ʿUtbah b. Rabīʿah?” Abū Sufyān mentioned an age. “Then tell me about his wealth.” He mentioned an amount, whereupon Umayyah said, “You have understated it” (2). Abū Sufyān retorted, “On the contrary, I have exaggerated it.” Umayyah concluded, “The man entrusted with this affair is neither elderly nor rich.” The monk, he added, had dashed his hopes and informed him that the matter belonged to a man of Quraysh.

Al-Zubayr said: ʿUmar b. Abī Bakr al-Muʾammilī told me—on the authority of a man from Kūfa—that while Umayyah was asleep two birds came; one settled on the door of the house, the other entered, split open his chest, and then restored it. The bird outside called, “Has he understood (awʿā)?” “Yes,” answered the other. “Has he been purified (azkā)?” “He refused,” came the reply.

Al-Zuhrī also said: One day Umayyah b. Abī al-Ṣalt came in to his sister (3) while she was applying ointment