''That Which That Orphan Saw'' () is a novel by Iranian author Mohammad Reza Sarshar about the life of

Mohammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Mose ...

, the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. ''That Which That Orphan Saw'' has received numerous awards and has been reprinted many times in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The idea for writing the novel came to Sarshar in 1980 because he believed that there were no valuable life stories about Mohammad available for teenagers.

Narrative

The first part of ''That Which That Orphan Saw'' starts with a dream of

Abdul-Muttalib Shayba ibn Hāshim (; ), better known as ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, () was the fourth chief of the Quraysh tribal confederation and grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Early life His father was Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf,Muhammad ibn Sa ...

in which he is ordered to dig the

Zamzam Well The Zamzam Well ( ) is a Water well, well located within the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is located east of the Kaaba, the holiest place in Islam. In the Islamic teachings, the well is a miraculously generated source of water, ...

. He finds the place to dig near

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

. The

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

are against digging the well and ask Abdul-Muttalib not to do this. Finally, they agree to visit a priest and accept his judgement. Some of the Quraysh head towards the place of the priest along with Abdul-Muttalib. They miss the way and come across a difficult situation so that they let Abdul-Muttalib dig the well. Abdul-Muttalib finds a treasure while digging the well. The Quraysh tribe believe that the treasure belongs to all of them and so they decide to equitably share each part of the treasure. Abdul-Muttalib wished to have many sons in order to protect himself from the invasions. When his dream comes true, he decides to sacrifice one of his sons based on his covenant with God. His dearest son, Abdullah is chosen by chance to be sacrificed. When he tries to sacrifice his son they prohibit him and advise him to visit a priestess, as a neutral person, and accept her judgement. The priestess tells them to choose the sacrifice between Abdullah and certain number of

camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

s by chance and increase the number of the camels by ten if Abdullah is chosen firstly. "Repeat this up to the time the camels are chosen", the priestess says. Abdul-Muttalib acts on the recommendation of the priestess and finally kills 300 camels and Abdullah survives. Abdullah marries a woman and she gives birth to a son, Muhammad. He moves towards

Sham Sham may refer to: Arabic use * Al-Sham or Shām (شام), the Arabic term for the Greater Syria region, known in English as the Levant or the eastern Mediterranean, which includes the modern countries of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Cyprus ...

and becomes sick and dies near

Yathrib Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

Release

The book was translated to English by James C. Klark. The book has also been published in Urdu, Arabic, and Turkish. The 8th reprinting was published in May 2013.

References

{{Reflist, 30em * 2000 children's books 2000 novels Children's books set in the Middle Ages Works set in the 6th century Children's books set in Saudi Arabia Children's novels Iranian biographies Iranian children's literature Persian-language novels 20th-century Iranian novels

Narrative

Release

See also

References