- ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā narrated to us; ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Miṣrī narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr narrated to us; Abū Ṣāliḥ narrated to us; al-Layth related to me, from ʿUmar, the freedman of Ghufrah, that:
ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān once entered one of the churches of Syria. He saw a collection of painted images and asked about them. He was told, “These are depictions of the prophets,” and they proceeded to name each prophet for him, beginning with the earliest and ending with Jesus son of Mary.
He then asked, “Where is the image of Muḥammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace?”
They replied, “His image is not kept in our churches.”
While looking around the area dedicated to Jesus, he noticed a closed casket. ʿAbd al-Malik asked, “What is beneath this casket?” They said, “We do not know.” He therefore ordered the casket to be broken open, and beneath it appeared two figures, each clothed in an izār (waist-wrapper) and a ridāʾ (cloak).
He asked, “Who are these two?” They replied, “We do not know them.”
He said, “Who does know them?” They informed him of one of their leading dignitaries, so he summoned the man and questioned him. The man laughed, whereupon ʿAbd al-Malik made him swear an oath and pressed him. He said, “This is the image of Muḥammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—the Prophet of the Arabs, and this beside him is his companion. We used to dislike your discovering this.”
ʿAbd al-Malik asked, “Who is his companion in your scripture?” He answered, “Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq.”
There was writing above their heads, so ʿAbd al-Malik called someone to read it, and it was found ⦗1472⦘ exactly as the man had said. ʿAbd al-Malik then asked, “What made you cover them up and not display them like the others?”
He replied, “Envy toward you, O company of Arabs.”