Thawr ibn Yazīd from Khālid ibn Maʿdān from the Companions of the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) that they said to him: Tell us about yourself. He said: Yes, I am... etc. Then he said: "And this is a good, strong isnād." I said: It appears that he transmitted it from "Sīrah Ibn Isḥāq" and al-Ḥākim narrated the beginning of it from this chain (2/600) and said: "Authentic isnād" and al-Dhahabī agreed with him. And al-Ṭabarī in "Tafsīr" (3/82/2070). This story has also come from the ḥadīth of Abū Dharr and Ubayy ibn Kaʿb. As for the first: it was recorded by al-Dārimī (1/9) narrated to us by ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿImrān, narrated to us by Abū Dāwūd, narrated to us by Jaʿfar ibn ʿUthmān al-Qurashī from ʿUthmān ibn ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr from his father from Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī who said: I said: O Messenger of Allāh, how did you know that you were a prophet when you were commissioned? He said: "O Abū Dharr! Two angels came to me while I was in some part of the desert of Mecca..." the ḥadīth. And it has been previously mentioned with commentary on it. As for the other: it was recorded by ʿAbd Allāh ibn Imām Aḥmad in "Zawāʾid al-Musnad" (5/139): narrated to us by Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Abū Yaḥyá al-Bazzār, narrated to us by Yūnus ibn Muḥammad, narrated to us by Muʿādh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, narrated to us by my father Muḥammad ibn Muʿādh ibn (the original: from, which is a scribal error) Muḥammad from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb. that Abū Hurayrah was bold enough to ask the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) about things that no one else would ask him. He said: O Messenger of Allāh! What was the first thing you saw in prophethood? The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) sat up straight and said: "You have asked, Abū Hurayrah! I was in the desert, ten years and some months old, and suddenly there was a voice above my head, and a man said to another man: Is it him? He said yes. They faced me with faces I had never seen on any creature, and spirits I had never found among any creature, and clothes I had never seen on anyone. They approached me, walking until each of them took hold of one of my arms, and I felt no touch from either of them. Then one of them said to his companion: Lay him down."