It is narrated from Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When Adam (peace be upon him) committed the slip, he supplicated: O my Lord, I ask You by the right of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) to forgive me. Allah Almighty said: O Adam, how did you recognise Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) when I have not yet even created him? Adam (peace be upon him) said: O my Lord, because when You created me with Your Hand and breathed into me of Your spirit, I raised my head and saw written upon the pillars of the Throne: 'La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah' (There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah), so I knew that You would not join to Your name anyone except the one who is the most beloved of all creation to You. Allah Almighty said: You have spoken the truth, O Adam; he is indeed the most beloved of all creation to Me. And since you have asked Me by his right, I have forgiven you; and had it not been for Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), I would not have created you either." This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain, and it is the first hadith I have mentioned in this book from the narration of Abd al-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) that Abu Talib set out for Syria with some elders of Quraysh, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was with them. When they were about to pass by the monk, they dismounted and unfastened their saddles. The monk came out to them, although they used to pass by there before as well, and he never came out nor paid any attention to them. He said: While they were still unfastening their saddles, the monk came walking among them until he took hold of the hand of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "This is the leader of all the worlds; this is the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds; Allah will send him as a mercy to all the worlds." The elders of Quraysh asked him: How do you know this? He said: When you were coming down from the pass, there was no tree or stone that did not fall down in prostration, and these things prostrate only to a Prophet. And I recognise him by the Seal of Prophethood, like an apple, below the cartilage of his shoulder. Then he went back and prepared food for them and brought it to them. At that time the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was pasturing the camels. He said: Send for him. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) came, and a cloud was shading him. He said: Look at him; a cloud is shading him. When he came near the people, he found that they had already taken the shade of the tree, but when he (peace and blessings be upon him) sat down, the shade of the tree leaned towards him. He said: Look at the shade of the tree; it has leaned towards him. While he was standing before them, he kept adjuring them not to take him to the Romans, for if the Romans saw him, they would recognise him by his description and kill him. Then he turned and saw that seven Romans had arrived. He received them and asked: Why have you come here? They said: We have come because this Prophet is to emerge in this very month, so there is no road left to which people have not been sent, and we have been sent to this road of yours. The monk asked them: Is there anyone behind you who is better than you? They said: No. They said: We were only told his news; we have been sent to this road of yours. He said: What do you think, if Allah decides upon a matter, can any human being prevent it? They said: No. He said: Then pledge allegiance to him. So they pledged allegiance to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and stayed there. The monk came to them and asked: I ask you by Allah, who is his guardian? The people said: Abu Talib. He kept adjuring him until Abu Talib sent him back, and Abu Bakr sent Bilal with him, and the monk gave him some ka'k (biscuits) and oil as provision for the journey. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.