Thawr ibn Yazid, from Khalid ibn Ma‘dan, from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, who said to him: “Tell us about yourself.” He replied: “Yes, I am...” and so forth.’” He then said: “This is a sound and strong chain of transmission.”

I say: It appears that he transmitted it from Ibn Ishaq’s biography of the Prophet. Al-Hakim also narrated its beginning through this route (2/600) and said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic,” and al-Dhahabi concurred with him. Al-Tabari also recorded it in his exegesis (3/82/2070). This account has also been related in the hadith of Abu Dharr and Ubayy ibn Ka‘b.

As for the first, al-Darimi recorded it (1/9): ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Imran narrated to us; Abu Dawud narrated to us; Ja‘far ibn ‘Uthman al-Qurashi narrated to us, from ‘Uthman ibn ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, from his father, from Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, who said: I said, “O Messenger of Allah, how did you know that you were a prophet when you were commissioned with Prophethood?” He replied: “O Abu Dharr, two angels came to me while I was in one of the open valleys of Mecca...” The hadith. It has preceded, along with discussion of it.

As for the other, ‘Abd Allah, the son of Imam Ahmad, recorded it in Zawa’id al-Musnad (5/139): Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahim Abu Yahya al-Bazzar narrated to us; Yunus ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Mu‘adh ibn Muhammad ibn Ubayy ibn Ka‘b narrated to us; my father, Muhammad ibn Mu‘adh ibn [the original reads “from,” which is a scribal error] Muhammad, narrated to me, from Ubayy ibn Ka‘b: Abu Hurayrah was bold in asking the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, about matters which no one else would ask him. He said: “O Messenger of Allah, what was the first thing you saw in connection with Prophethood?” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, sat upright and said: “You have asked, O Abu Hurayrah! I was in the desert, ten years and some months old, when I heard speech above my head. One man said to another, ‘Is it he?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ They came toward me with faces unlike any I had ever seen on a creature, fragrances unlike any I had ever perceived from a creature, and garments unlike any I had ever seen on anyone. They walked toward me until each of them took hold of one of my upper arms, though I could feel neither of them touching me. One said to his companion: ‘Lay him down.’