Part 1 · Page 183
The Messenger’s Account of Allah’s Protection in Childhood
English rendering of the source section
Local English translation from the Arabic text; not an official published English edition. The editor’s comparison with the authenticated rebuilding-of-the-Ka‘bah report is kept distinct from Ibn Ishaq’s account.
This local English rendering may condense the Arabic narration and editorial notes. It is not a complete published English edition. Consult the Arabic source for exact wording and context.
Read the corresponding Arabic sectionThe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to speak—as I was told—about how Allah protected him in his childhood and during the pre-Islamic period. He said: “I remember being among Qurayshi boys, carrying stones for one of the games boys played. We had all taken off our clothes, each one placing his garment around his neck to carry stones on it. I was going back and forth with them like that when someone I could not see struck me painfully and said, ‘Tie your garment around yourself.’ I took it and fastened it around me, then continued carrying stones on my neck with my garment on, unlike my companions.”
Al-Suhayli comments that this story is reported in an authenticated hadith in connection with the rebuilding of the Ka‘bah. The Messenger of Allah was carrying stones with his people, who placed their garments over their shoulders to protect them from the stones. He carried stones on his shoulder with his garment fastened around him. Al-‘Abbas said, “Son of my brother, put your garment on your shoulder.” When he did so, he fell unconscious. Then he said, “My garment, my garment,” fastened it around himself, and resumed carrying the stones.