English Translation

Abdullah told us, Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Zubali told us, al-Mu'tamir ibn Sulayman told us: I heard my father narrating from al-Rabi' ibn Anas, from Rufay' Abu al-Aliyah, from Ubayy ibn Ka'b, regarding the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, "And [mention] when your Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their descendants and made them testify concerning themselves," the verse — he said: He gathered them and made them spirits, then He shaped them and made them speak, so they spoke. Then He took from them the covenant and the pledge and made them testify concerning themselves, "Am I not your Lord?" He said, "I call to witness against you the seven heavens and the seven earths, and I call to witness against you your father Adam, upon him be peace, lest you say on the Day of Resurrection, 'We did not know this.' Know that there is no god but Me and no lord but Me, so do not associate anything with Me. I shall send to you My messengers who will remind you of My covenant and My pledge, and I shall send down to you My books." They said, "We testify that You are our Lord and our God; we have no lord but You." So they acknowledged that, and Adam was raised above them, looking at them, and he saw the rich and the poor, the handsome of form and less so. He said, "My Lord, if only You had made Your servants equal." He said, "I loved to be thanked." And he saw the prophets among them like lamps upon which was light; they were singled out with another covenant concerning the message and prophethood, and that is His saying, "And [mention] when We took from the prophets their covenant," up to His saying, "...and Jesus son of Mary." He was among those spirits, so He sent him to Mary, and it was narrated from Ubayy that he entered through her mouth.