al-‘Uzzā, Khadījah’s cousin. He had embraced Christianity during the pre-Islamic era. He could write in Hebrew and would write out passages from the Gospel in Arabic, as much as Allah willed him to write. He was an elderly man who had become blind.

Khadījah said to him, ‘Cousin, listen to your nephew.’

Waraqah asked him, ‘My nephew, what do you see?’ The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, told him what he had seen.

Waraqah said to him, ‘This is the bearer of revelation who was sent down to Moses. If only I were a young man then! If only I were alive when your people drive you out!’

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked, ‘Will they drive me out?’

He replied, ‘Yes. No one has ever brought anything like what you have brought without being met with hostility. If I live to see that day of yours, I will give you steadfast support.’”

Soon afterward, Waraqah died, and revelation ceased for a time. Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī said, ‘I heard Abū Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmān say that Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allāh had told him that he heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, speaking