can, on certain occasions, be overridden; for the plea this woman uttered was momentous indeed—she invoked that her son should not die until he had looked upon the faces of prostitutes. Yet the vehemence of her anger—Allah’s refuge is sought—drove her to pronounce such a supplication.

Among the further lessons in his story is that whoever acquaints himself with Allah during ease will find that Allah recognizes him during hardship. This man was a devoted worshipper, constantly engaged in acts of worship, and when an overwhelming trial befell him Allah delivered him.

When those who had plotted so grievously against him approached, the woman went to Jurayj intending to seduce him, but he ignored her. Nearby was a shepherd who grazed his flock and would sometimes rest at Jurayj’s hermitage; she turned to that shepherd and—God protect us—committed fornication with him, becoming pregnant.

They then alleged, “This child is the illegitimate son of Jurayj,” charging him with that grave immorality. The people converged on him, beat him, dragged him from his cell, and razed it to the ground. Jurayj asked them to bring the infant—the shepherd’s child. When they brought the baby, Jurayj tapped the infant’s abdomen and asked, while the child was still in the cradle, “Who is your father?” The infant replied, “My father is so-and-so,” meaning the shepherd.

The people turned toward Jurayj, kissing him and seeking blessing through him, and said, “Shall we rebuild your hermitage in gold?”—for they had demolished it unjustly. He answered, “No. Restore it as it was, of clay.” So they rebuilt it for him.

Thus the story relates that the infant spoke while in the cradle and declared that the shepherd was his father. Some scholars have taken this hadith as proof that a child conceived through fornication may be attributed to the biological father, for Jurayj asked, “Who is your father?” and the child replied, “My father is so-and-so, the shepherd.” The narrator has recounted