English Translation

Abdullah narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Abd ar-Rahim Abu Yahya al-Bazzaz narrated to us: Yunus ibn Muhammad narrated to us: Mu'adh ibn Muhammad ibn Mu'adh ibn Ubayy ibn Ka'b narrated to us: my father Muhammad ibn Mu'adh narrated to me, from Mu'adh, from Muhammad, from Ubayy ibn Ka'b, that Abu Hurayrah was bold enough to ask the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, about matters that no one else asked him about. He said: "O Messenger of Allah, what was the first thing you saw regarding the matter of prophethood?" The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, sat up straight and said: "You have indeed asked, Abu Hurayrah. I was in an open plain, a boy of about ten years and some months, when suddenly there was speech above my head, and there was a man saying to another man, 'Is it he?' He said, 'Yes.' They came before me with faces I had never seen on any created being, with a fragrance I had never found in any created being, and with garments I had never seen on anyone. They came toward me walking until each of them took hold of my upper arm, and I did not feel either of their touch at all. One of them said to his companion, 'Lay him down,' so they laid me down without force or violence. One of them said to his companion, 'Open his chest,' so one of them bent down over my chest and opened it, as I saw, without any blood or pain. He said to him, 'Remove the rancor and envy,' so he brought out something like a clot of blood, then he cast it away and threw it down. He said to him, 'Put in its place tenderness and mercy,' and there appeared something resembling silver in place of what had been removed. Then he shook the big toe of my right foot and said, 'Go forth and be safe.' So I went back with it, going forth with tenderness toward the young and mercy toward the old."