Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

158 The Life of Muhammad
between himself and Syria. His stance was between the black stone and
the southern corner. When I saw him I thought it would be a good
thing if I could listen to Muhammad so as to hear what he s~id. If I came
near to listen to him I should scare him, so I came from the dlrectlOn of the
lziJr and got underneath its coverings and began to walk gent,Jy. 1\1ean:whi~e
the prophet was standing in prayer reciting the Quran until I st~od In hIS
qibla facing him, there being nothing between us but the covenng of the
Kaba. When I heard the Quran my heart was softened and I wept, and
Islam entered into me; but I ceased not to stand in my place until the
apostle had finished his prayer. Then he went away. When he went
away he used to go past the house of the son of Abu I:Iusayn, whIch was
on his way, so that he crossed the path where the pilgrims fun. Then he
went between the house of 'Abbas and Ibn Azhar b. 'Abdu 'Auf al-Zuhri;
then by the house of AI-Akhnas b. Shariq until he entered his own house.
His dwelling was in aI-Dar al-Raq~a', \vhich was in the hands of Mu'awiya
b. Abu Sufyan. I continued to follow him, until when he got between the
house of 'Abbas and Ibn Azhar I overtook him, and when he heard my
voice he recognized me and supposed that I had followed him only to
ill-treat him, so he repelled me, saying, "What has brought you at thIS
hour?" I replied that I had come to believe in God and His apostle and
what he had brought from God. He gave thanks to God and said,. "God
229 has guided you." Then he rubbed my breast and prayed that I mIght be
steadfast. Afterwards I left him. He went into his house.' But God knows
what the truth was.
Nafi' freedman of 'Abdullah b. 'Umar on the authority of Ibn 'Umar
said: When my father 'Vmar became a :Muslim he said, '\Vhich of the
Quraysh is best at spreading reports?' and was told that it was Jamll b.
Ma