Sunan ad-Darimi

Sayyiduna Utbah bin Abdus-Sulami, may Allah be pleased with him, who was among the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), narrates that a man asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "O Messenger of Allah! What was your initial state?" The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: "My nursing mother was from the tribe of Banu Sa'd bin Bakr. I went out with her son along with their sheep. We had nothing to eat or drink. I said (to my foster brother): O brother, go and bring some food from mother. So my brother went, and I remained alone with the flock (when I saw) two white birds, like vultures. One of them said to his companion: Is this the one? The other replied: Yes, this is the one. Then both rushed towards me, seized me, and laid me down on my back. They split open my belly, took out my heart, split it open, and removed two black clots from it. Then one of them said to his companion: Bring water of snow, and with it he washed my belly. Then he said: Bring water of hail, and with it he washed my heart. Then he said: Bring tranquility (sakinah) to me, and he sprinkled it over my heart. Then one said to the other: Place him in one pan of the scale and a thousand people from his Ummah in the other pan. Then one said to the other: Stitch him up, so they stitched me and sealed it with the seal of Prophethood."

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When I see those thousand above me, I become afraid that one of them might fall from that pan. After this incident, I became very frightened and went to my mother and told her the whole story, and she became afraid that perhaps I had been possessed. She said: I seek Allah's protection for you. Then she took her camel, made me sit in front, and she sat behind, until we reached my (biological) mother. She said to her: I have fulfilled my trust and responsibility, and then the nursing mother narrated to her what had happened to me. But my mother was not at all frightened; rather, she said: When he was born, I saw such a light emanate from within me that it illuminated the palaces of Syria."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) that I asked: O Messenger of Allah! How did you come to know and then become certain that you are a Prophet? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu Dharr! Two angels came to me while I was on the stony ground of Makkah. One of them was coming down to the earth, but the other remained between the earth and the sky. One of them said to his companion: Is he the one? He replied: Yes, he is the one. Then he said: Weigh him against one man. So I was weighed against him and I was heavier. Then the angel said: Now weigh him against ten men. I was weighed against them and I was still heavier. Then he said: Weigh him against a hundred men. So I was weighed against those hundred men and I was heavier than them as well. Then he said: Now weigh him against a thousand men. So I was weighed against them and I was still heavier than them, as if I am seeing them falling from the scale pan." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "One of them said to the other: If you weigh him against his entire Ummah, he will still be heavier than them."

It is narrated from Abu Salih that the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) used to call out to them, saying: "O people! I am the mercy that has been gifted."