it—the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, related it to us as a lesson. Hence, if the fornicator does not dispute the child’s paternity and formally acknowledges him, the child is affiliated to him. A small group of scholars hold this view.

The majority of scholars, however, maintain that a child born through fornication is not affiliated to the fornicator, relying on the Prophet’s saying: “The child belongs to the marital bed, while the adulterer receives nothing but stones.” Those who permit affiliation respond that this ḥadith applies only when there is a rival claimant, namely the lawful husband, for in that case the child belongs to the husband. But if no one else claims the child and the fornicator seeks to affiliate him, then the child is linked to him, for—by divine decree—he is undeniably his offspring, created from the fornicator’s own seed, and no legitimate father contends with him. Accordingly, the child is ascribed to him. They argue that this is preferable to allowing the child’s lineage to be lost, for without a father his lineage would vanish and he would be known only by his mother’s name.

This narration also points to the patience of Jurayj: he did not avenge himself, nor did he burden the people with an unreasonable demand that they rebuild his hermitage in gold. Instead, he accepted, as he had from the start, that it be rebuilt from simple clay, satisfied with what sufficed him.

As for the third infant who spoke from the cradle, he is the boy nursing at his mother’s breast. A distinguished nobleman rode past on a sleek horse, dressed in fine attire. The boy’s mother prayed, “O Allah, make my son like him.” The child let go of the breast, looked at the man, then turned to his mother and said, “O Allah, do not make me…"