52 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMADmatter with him, he replied, "I was told that what I had spoiled would never be
restored." When al-Tufayl told this story to the Messenger of God (SAAS) he
prayed for him in the words, ''0 God, do forgive him for his hands." That is,
"Do restore of them whatever was damaged."
What is certain is that God did respond to the Messenger of God (SAAS)
concerning the companion of al-Tufayl b. 'Amr.The Story of Acsha b. Qays.
Ibn Hishnm stated, "Khallzd b. Qurra b. Khalid al-Sudnsi, and other sheikhs
of Bakr b. W2il told me, from certain scholars, that AcshZ b. Qays b. Tha'laba
b.Wkxba h. Sa'b b. 'Ali b. Bakr b. Ws'il went to see the Messenger of God
(SAAS) intending to accept Islam. He spoke the following verses in praise of the
Messenger of God (SAAS),
'Did your eyes not close that night, 0 bleary-eyed one? You lay awake all night
through restlessness.
And the sleeplessness was not for love of a woman, for before that you had forgotten
your lover of Mahdad,
But I see that fate, that traitor, spoils what my hands restore.
I have thus lost age, youth and wealth, for by God this fate, how it changes!
I have constantly pursued wealth throughout my progression from childhood to
youth to maturity to old age.
Daily I raced fast red-grey camels across the distance between at-Nujayr and
Sarkhada.
0 you enquiring where she has gone, she has an appointment with the people of
Yathrib.
And if you enquire about me, then (know that) there are many kind-hearted ones
who ask about A'sha, enquiring where he went.
My mount stretches her swift legs and draws them back, carefully turning out her
hooves, not splaying them.
Sprightly she is, even in noonday heat, when you would imagine even the afternoon
chameleon bending its neck.
I swore I'd not assuage her fatigue nor her sore feet until she reached Muhammad.
When she should kneel at Ibn Hashim's door, only then would it rest and receive,
through his munificence, some generosity.
(He is) a prophet who sees what you do not, whose fame, I swear, has spread high
and low in the land.
He has gifts and favours that do not end, and his giving today does not prevent him
giving tomorrow.
Did you not, I repeat, hear the advice of Muhammad, the Prophet of God, when he
preached and testified?
If you did not travel with cargo of piety and after death met with others who have
done so,
You will surely regret not being like them; so, therefore, prepare for a fate that is
definitely arranged.