The History of al-Tabari Muhammad at Mecca Muhammad at Mecca Volume VI Translated and Annotated by W. Montgomery Watt and M. V. McDonald The sixth volume of the translation of al-Taban s Hirtory deals with the ancestors of Muhammad, with his own early life, and then with his prophetic mission up to the time of his Hijrah or emigration to Medina. The topics covered mean that this volume is of great importance both for the career of Muhammad himself and for the early history of Islam. Al-Tabari was familiar with, and made use of,the main early source of these matters, the Sinb or life of Muhammad by Iba Ishiiq, a work which is still extant. Although his own treatment is briefer than that of lbn Isbiq, it complements the letter in important ways by making use of other sources. Where lbn lshiq gave only the version of an event which he preferred. al-Tabari includes any variants which he considered of value.Thus he mentions the dispute about the first male to become a Muslim - 'Ali or Abu Bakr or Zayd- and has also several variant accounts of the call to be a prophet. He has much material, too, about the hostility toward Muhammad from many of the leading Meccans and their attempts to put pressure on his family to stop his preaching.The negotiations with the men of Medina which eventually led to the Hijrah are fully described, and there is then an account of how Muhammad escaped an assassination attempt and arrived safely in Medina. A concluding section discusses some chronological questions. This volume does not merely give a straightforward account of the earlier career of Muhammad and the beginnings of Islam, but also contains valuable source-material not easily accessible otherwise. or not accessible at all. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies Said AmirArjomand, Editor ISBN 0-88706-707-7 90000 P R E S S State University of New York Press 9 780887 www.sunypress.edu THE HISTORY OF AL -TABARI AN ANNOTATED TRANSLATION VOLUME VI Muhammad at Mecca The History of al-Tabari Editorial Board Ihsan Abbas, University of Jordan, Amman C. E. Bosworth, The University of Manchester Jacob Lassner, Wayne State University, Detroit Franz Rosenthal, Yale University Ehsan Yar-Shater, Columbia University (General Editor) SUNY SERIES IN NEAR EASTERN STUDIES Said Amir Arjomand, Editor 0 The general editor acknowledges with gratitude the support received for the execution of this project from the Division of Research Programs,'Translations Division of the National En- dowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency. Bibliotheca Persica Edited by Ehsan Yar-Shater The History of al-Tabari (Ta'rikh al-rusul wa 'l-muluk) VOLUME VI Muhammad at Mecca translated and annotated by W. Montgomery Watt University of Edinburgh, Emeritus and M. V. McDonald University of Edinburgh State University of New York Press The preparation of this volume was made possible by a grant from the Division of Research Programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency. Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 1988 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N. Y. 12246 Library ofCongress Cataloging in Publication Data Tabari, 838?- 923. Muhammad at Mecca (The history of al-TabaribTa'rikh al-rusul wa'l- muluk; v. 6) (SUNY series in Near Eastern studies) (Bibliotheca Persica) Translation of extracts from: Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-al-muluk. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Muhammad, Prophet, d. 632. 2. Muslims-Saudi Arabia -Biography. I. Watt, W. Montgomery (William Montgomery) II. McDonald, M. V. (Michael V.) 111. Title. IV. Series: Tabari, 838?- 923. Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-al-muluk. English ; v. 6. V. Series: SUNY series in Near Eastern studies. VI. Series: Bibliotheca Persica (Albany, N.Y.) DS 38. 2.T 313 1985 vol. 6 (BP 77. 41909'- 1 s 87- 17949 ISBN o- 88706- 706- 9 ISBN o- 88706- 707- 7 (pbk.) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Preface THE HISTORY OF PROPHETS AND KINGS (Ta'rikh al-rusul wa'1- muluk)by Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari 1839-923), here rendered as the History of al-Tabari, is by common consent the most important universal history produced in the world of Islam. It has been translated here in its entirety for the first time for the benefit of the non-Arabists, with historical and philogical notes for those interested in the particulars of the text. Tabari's monumental work explores the history of the ancient nations, with special emphasis on biblical peoples and prophets, the legendary and factual history of ancient Iran, and, in great de- tail, the rise of Islam, the life of the Prophet Muhammad, and the history of the Islamic world down to the year 915. The first vol- ume of translation will contain a biography of al-Tabari and a dis- cussion of the method, scope, and value of his work. It will also provide information on some of the technical considerations that have guided the work of the translators. The History has been divided into 38 volumes, each of which covers about two hundred pages of the original Arabic text in the Leiden edition. An attempt has been made to draw the dividing lines between the individual volumes in such a way that each is to some degree independent and can be read as such. The page numbers of the original in the Leiden edition appear on the mar- gins of the translated volumes. Al-Tabari very often quotes his sources verbatim and traces the chain of transmission (isnad) to an original source. The chains of vi Preface transmitters are, for the sake of brevity, rendered by only a dash (-) between the individual links in the chain. Thus, according to Ibn Humayd-Salamah-Ibn Ishaq means that al-Tabari received the report from Ibn Humayd who said that he was told by Ibn Ishaq, and so on. The numerous subtle and important differences in the original Arabic wording have been disregarded. The table of contents at the beginning of each volume gives a brief survey of the topics dealt with in that particular volume. It also includes the headings and subheadings as they appear in al-Tabari's text, as well as those occasionally introduced by the translator. Well-known place-names, such as, for instance, Mecca, Bagh- dad, Jerusalem, Damascus, and the Yemen, are given in their Eng- lish spellings. Less-common place-names, which are the vast ma- jority, are transliterated. Biblical figures appear in the accepted English spelling. Iranian names are usually translated according to their Arabic forms, and the presumed Iranian forms are often discussed in the footnotes. Technical terms have been translated wherever possible, but some, such as dirham and imam, have been retained in Arabic forms. Others which cannot be translated with sufficient preci- sion have been retained and italicized as well as footnoted. The annotation aims chiefly at clarifying difficult passages, identifying individuals and place-names, and discussing textual difficulties. Much leeway has been left to the translators to include in the footnotes whatever they consider necessary and helpful. The bibliographies list all the sources mentioned in the anno- tation. The index in each volume contains all the names of persons and places referred to in the text, as well as those mentioned in the notes asfar as they refer to the medieval period. It does not include the names of modern scholars. A general index, it is hoped, will appear after all the volumes have been published. For further details concerning the series and acknowledgments, see Preface to Volume i. Ehsan Yar-Shater 16 Contents Preface / v Translator's Foreword / xi The Lineage of the Messenger of God / I 'Abdallah (His Father) / i 'Abd al-Muttalib (His Grandfather) / 9 Hashim / i6 'Abd Manaf / 18 Qusayy / x g Kilab / 26 Murrah / 26 Kab / 27 Lu'ayy / 27 Ghalib / 28 Fihr / 28 Malik / 29 Al-Nadr / 31 Kinanah / 32 Khuzaymah / 32 Mudrikah / 32 Ilyas / 33 Mudar / 34 Nizar / 36