Seventh: Ibn al-‘Ala, a famous Christian scholar, told of God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) before his mission, never having seen him. He later came, saw the Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), and said: “By the One who sent you in truth, I found your description in the Gospels, and the Son of Mary gave glad tidings of your coming.” [^365]
[^365]: ‘Alī al-Qārī, Sharḥ al-Shifā’, i, 744; Yūsuf Nabhānī, Ḥujjat Allāh ‘alā’l-‘Ālamīn, 121, 208.
Eighth: Mentioned above was the Negus of Abyssinia, who declared: “Would that I had been the servant of Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace), rather than a king. To serve him would have been far superior to this sovereignty.” [^366]
[^366]: Qāḍī Iyāḍ, al-Shifā’, i, 365; Yūsuf Nabhānī, Ḥujjat Allāh ‘alā’l-‘Ālamīn, 115; Bayhaqī, Dalā’il al-Nubūwwa, ii, 285.
In addition to these tidings given by these learned men through divine inspiration from the Unseen, soothsayers too gave news from the Unseen of the coming of God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), and of his prophethood, by means of jinn and spirit beings. These are numerous also, and we shall mention a few which are well-known, have reached the degree of ‘consensus in meaning,’ and are related in most of the books of history and the Prophet’s (UWBP) biography. Referring the lengthy accounts of them to those books, we shall give only a summary of them.
The First is the famous soothsayer, Shiqq, who had only one eye, one arm, and one leg; he was quite simply half a man. His repeated predictions concerning Muhammad’s (Upon whom be blessings and peace) messengership have passed into the history books, with the certainty of consensus in meaning. [^367]
[^367]: Qāḍī Iyāḍ, al-Shifā’, i, 364; ‘Alī al-Qārī, Sharḥ al-Shifā’, i, 747; Yūsuf Nabhānī, Ḥujjat Allāh ‘alā’l-‘Ālamīn, 168-72; Abū Nu‘aym, Dalā’il al-Nubūwwa, i, 123, 125.
The Second is the famous soothsayer of Damascus, Satīh, who was a monstrosity lacking bones, and even limbs, whose face was in his chest and who lived a very long time. He was highly reputed at that time for the correct information he gave concerning the Unseen. The Persian king, Chosroes, even, sent a learned envoy called Mubezan to ask Satih to interpret a strange dream he had at the time of Muhammad’s (UWBP) birth, in which the fourteen pinnacles of his palace collapsed. Satih said: “Fourteen men will rule over you, then your empire will be destroyed. Also someone will come who will announce a religion; he will abolish both your religion and your empire,” sending news of this to Chosroes. In this way, Satih expli-