1414 — ‘Isa ibn ‘Ali informed us. He said: ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Baghawi informed us. He said: Dawud ibn ‘Amr narrated to us. He said: Ibn Abi al-Zinad narrated to us from his father, from Rabi‘ah ibn ‘Ibad. [Through another chain:]

1415 — ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Umar also informed us. ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hatim informed us. He said: Yunus ibn ‘Abd al-A‘la al-Misri narrated to us. He said: Ibn Wahb informed us. He said ⦗839⦘: Ibn Abi al-Zinad informed me from his father, who said: Rabi‘ah ibn ‘Ibad, a man of Banu al-Dil who had lived in the Age of Ignorance and then embraced Islam, informed me, saying:

“I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, during the Age of Ignorance in the market of Dhu al-Majaz. He was walking among the people and saying, ‘O people, say: There is no god worthy of worship but Allah, and you will prosper!’

“He repeated it over and over, while the people thronged around him, following him. Then there was a cross-eyed, handsome man with two locks of hair and a radiant face, saying, ‘He is a renegade and a liar!’ So I asked, ‘Who is this behind him?’ They told me, ‘This is his uncle, Abu Lahab.’

Rabi‘ah said to me, ‘At that time, I was only old enough to carry a water-skin for my family; that was the extent of my age then.’”