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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

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The Mawaddah Association is pleased

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to present to you glimpses from the lives of the female Companions,

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by Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,

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may Allah have mercy upon him.

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Halimah al-Sa'diyyah,

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may Allah be pleased with her.

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This composed and dignified lady

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is dear to every Muslim,

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and cherished by every believer.

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For from her pure breast

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the blessed boy, Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah, peace be upon him, suckled.

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May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

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Upon her bosom, overflowing with love, he slumbered,

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and in her lap, brimming with tenderness, he grew.

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From her eloquence and the eloquence of her people, the Banu Sa'd, he drank,

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so he became the most eloquent of the eloquent in speech,

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and the most articulate of the articulate in expression.

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She is the noble lady, Halimah al-Sa'diyyah,

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the foster mother of our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

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The nursing of the blessed child by this lady of Sa'd,

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who filled the world with righteousness and mercy,

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and saturated it with goodness and guidance,

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and adorned it with character and virtue,

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is a story among the most wonderful of stories.

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Halimah al-Sa'diyyah recounted it with her bright, elegant, and captivating expression,

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and her brilliant, graceful, and delightful style.

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So come, let us listen to her.

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Her account of the noble Prophet, peace be upon him,

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is among the most wonderful of accounts.

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Halimah al-Sa'diyyah said:

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"I set out from our homes,

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along with my husband and a young son of ours,

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seeking infants to nurse in Makkah.

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With us were women from the tribe of Banu Sa'd,

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who had set out for the same purpose as I.

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That was during a year of drought and famine,

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which had scorched the crops and destroyed the livestock,

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leaving us with nothing.

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We had two old, emaciated she-camels with us,

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which did not yield a single drop of milk.

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I rode one of them with my young son,

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while my husband rode the other.

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His camel was even older and more exhausted.

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By Allah, we could not sleep at all during our nights,

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due to our child’s constant crying from hunger,

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for there was nothing in my breast to satisfy him,

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nor was there anything in the udders of our camels to nourish him.

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We were delayed in our journey

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because of our camel’s frailty and weakness,

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which caused our companions to become annoyed with us,

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and made the journey difficult for them because of us.

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When we reached Makkah

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and searched for infants to nurse,

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I encountered a situation I had not anticipated.

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Every woman was offered

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the young boy, Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah,

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but we all refused him because he was an orphan.

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We would say,

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'What benefit could we get from the mother of a boy who has no father?'

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'And what could his grandfather do for us?'

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Then, no more than two days passed,

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until every woman with us had secured a foster child.

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As for me,

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I had not secured anyone.

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When we prepared to depart, I said to my husband,

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'I hate to return to our homes

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and meet our people empty-handed,

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without having taken a foster child.'

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'There is not one of my companions who does not have a foster child.'

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'By Allah, I will go to that orphan

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and take him.'

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Her husband said to her,

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'There is no harm in that.'

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'Take him.'

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'Perhaps Allah will place goodness in him.'

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So I went to his mother and took him.

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By Allah, nothing compelled me to take him

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except that I found no other boy but him.

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When I returned with him to my tent,

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I placed him in my lap,

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and offered him my breast.

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Milk flowed from it as much as Allah willed,

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after it had been empty and dry.

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The boy drank until he was satisfied,

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and his foster brother drank until he was satisfied as well.

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Then they both slept.

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My husband and I lay down beside them to sleep,

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after we had only been able to sleep in snatches

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because of our young son.

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Then my husband happened to glance at our old, emaciated she-camel,

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and behold, her udders were full and overflowing.

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He stood up in astonishment,

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unable to believe his eyes,

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and milked her and drank.

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Then he milked for me, and I drank with him,

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until we were both full and satisfied.

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We spent the best of nights.

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When morning came, my husband said to me,

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'Do you realize, Halimah, that you have secured a blessed child?'

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I said to him, 'Indeed, that is so.'

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'And I truly hope for much goodness from him.'

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Then we left Makkah,

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and I rode our old she-camel,

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carrying him with me upon it.

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It moved with such vigor that it outpaced all the people's mounts,

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to the point that none of their animals could keep up with it.

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My companions began to say to me,

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'Woe to you, daughter of Abu Dhu'ayb!'

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'Slow down for us!'

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'Is this not your old she-camel that you set out on?'

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I would say to them,

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'Yes, by Allah, it is indeed her.'

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They would say,

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'By Allah, there is something special about her.'

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Then we arrived at our homes in the land of Banu Sa'd,

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and I know of no land of Allah more barren or more severe in drought.

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Yet, our sheep would go out to graze every morning,

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feed there, and return in the evening,

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and we would milk from them as much as Allah willed,

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and drink from their milk as much as we pleased.

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No one else among our people could milk a single drop from their sheep.

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My people began to say to their shepherds,

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'Woe to you!'

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'Graze your sheep where the shepherd of the daughter of Abu Dhu'ayb grazes.'

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So they began to graze their sheep behind ours,

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yet they would return with them hungry, not yielding a single drop.

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We continued to receive blessing and goodness from Allah,

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until the two years of the boy's nursing were completed,

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and he was weaned.

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During these two years,

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he grew in a way that did not resemble the growth of his peers.

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He had barely completed his two years with us

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when he became a strong, well-developed boy.

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At that point, we brought him to his mother,

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while we were most eager for him to stay with us

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and remain among us,

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because of the blessing we saw in him.

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When I met his mother, I reassured her about him and said,

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'I wish you would leave my son with me,'

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'until he grows stronger and more robust.'

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'For I fear for him the plague of Makkah.'

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I did not cease to persuade and entice her,

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until she let him return with us.

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So we returned with him, happy and rejoicing.

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Then, no more than a few months had passed since the boy's return with us,

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when an event occurred that frightened, alarmed, and shook us deeply.

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One morning, he went out with his brother to graze our small flock behind our houses.

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Only a short while later,

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his brother came running toward us,

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and said,

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'Catch up with my Qurayshi brother!'

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'For two men dressed in white garments have taken him, laid him down,'

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'and split open his belly.'

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My husband and I rushed toward the boy,

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and we found him with a pale face, trembling.

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My husband embraced him, and I pressed him to my chest,

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and I said to him, 'What is the matter, my son?'

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He said,

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'Two men in white garments came to me,'

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'they laid me down, split open my belly,'

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'and searched for something inside it; I do not know what it was.'

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'Then they left me and departed.'

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We returned with the boy, distressed and fearful.

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When we reached our tent,

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my husband turned to me with tears in his eyes,

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and said,

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'I fear that this blessed boy'

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'has been afflicted by something we cannot remedy.'

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'So take him back to his family,'

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'for they are more capable of caring for him than we are.'

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We carried the boy and traveled until we reached Makkah,

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and entered his mother's house.

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When she saw us, she stared at her son's face,

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then she immediately asked me,

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'Why have you brought Muhammad back, Halimah?'

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'You were so eager for him,'

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'and had such a strong desire for him to stay with you.'

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I said, 'He has grown strong,'

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'his constitution has matured,'

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'and I have fulfilled my duty toward him.'

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'I feared for him because of the circumstances,'

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'so I have returned him to you.'

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She said, 'Tell me the truth,'

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'for you are not one to be anxious about a boy for the reason you mentioned.'

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She persisted in asking me,

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and did not leave me until I told her what had happened to him.

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She calmed down and said,

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'Are you afraid that Satan has power over him, Halimah?'

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I said, 'Yes.'

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She said, 'Never!'

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'By Allah, Satan has no way to reach him.'

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'My son has a great destiny.'

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'Shall I tell you his story?'

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I said, 'Yes.'

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She said, 'When I was pregnant with him, I saw'

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'that a light emerged from me,'

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'a light that illuminated for me the palaces of Busra in the land of Sham.'

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Then, when I gave birth to him, he descended placing his hands upon the ground,

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raising his head toward the sky.

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Then she said,

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"Leave him be and go forth in peace,

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and may you be rewarded with goodness on our behalf and on his."

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So my husband and I departed, grieving with the deepest sorrow over his separation,

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and our young son was no less saddened than we were by his departure,

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and no less filled with anguish and longing for him.

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Furthermore,

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Halimah al-Sa'diyyah lived until she reached an advanced age,

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and then she saw the orphan child whom she had nursed

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had become a master for the Arabs,

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a guide for humanity,

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and a Prophet for all mankind.

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She came to visit him after she had believed in him,

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and affirmed the Book that was revealed to him.

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No sooner did he see her

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than he was overcome with joy,

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and he began to say,

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"My mother!"

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Then he took off his cloak and spread it out beneath her,

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and he honored her visit with the utmost generosity.

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The eyes of the Companions watched him and her with admiration and reverence.

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May the prayers and peace of Allah be upon Muhammad, the righteous and loyal,

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the possessor of noble character.

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And may the pleasure of Allah be upon the lady Halimah al-Sa'diyyah,

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the wet nurse of the great Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

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Halimah al-Sa'diyyah, may Allah be pleased with her,

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the mother of the greatest Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, through nursing.