Sirah

The Monk at Busra

The journey to Sham and the monk Bahira, c. 583 CE

c. 583 CE

Imagined 360° reconstruction of The Monk at Busra

Educational historical reconstruction

Where

Busra (Bosra) in the Hawran, southern Syria

32.5180, 36.4820 · View on OpenStreetMap

Background

While still a boy in the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have travelled with a Quraysh trading caravan north to Sham (greater Syria), the regular commercial journey of the Makkans to the markets of the Roman Levant. At Busra (Bosra) in the Hawran, a town of black basalt at the southern edge of Syria and the first great Roman-built city the caravans reached, a Christian monk whom the sources call Bahira observed the boy and recognized in him, by the report, signs that he knew from the scriptures as the marks of a coming prophet, among them that a cloud seemed to shade him and that the trees and stones inclined toward him; the monk questioned him, found the signs confirmed, and counselled Abu Talib to guard the boy and to take him home before the Romans or others should harm him. The narrative is given by Ibn Ishaq in the Sira, and a version of the journey is recorded in Jami' al-Tirmidhi; the tradition discusses the chains and details of the Bahira report, and the episode is received as part of the chain of early signs of prophethood rather than as a point of law. Busra itself was a real and important station of the northern caravan trade, with its Roman theatre, its colonnaded streets and, in later centuries, a place in Muslim memory and pilgrimage routes. This scene depicts the place and the meeting only: the black basalt town and its Roman theatre, a small monk's cell and chapel at the margin, and a halted caravan of laden camels with its waterskins and bundles. In keeping with the Sirah tier no person is shown, neither the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as a boy, nor Abu Talib, nor the monk.

What you see

A town of black basalt at the southern edge of Syria, on the trade road up from the Hijaz, the first great Roman-built city the Makkan caravans reached on the way to Sham; volcanic stone, dark and hard, everywhere in its walls.

A great Roman theatre and colonnaded streets of black basalt stand on the edge of the town, and at its margin a small Christian monk's cell and chapel; this is Busra in the Hawran, a station of the northern caravan trade.

Here, by the Sira, the monk Bahira saw signs in a boy travelling with a Quraysh caravan that he knew from his books as the marks of a coming prophet, and warned his uncle to guard him; the boy was Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), then about twelve, with his uncle Abu Talib.

A halted trade caravan of laden camels rests by the monk's cell, waterskins and bundles set down; the meeting of the desert caravan and the settled Christian Hawran, told through place and objects only.

An early recognition, by a man of an earlier scripture, of what the boy would become; the scene marks the meeting of the caravan and the monk without showing any face.

The boyhood journey to Sham and the monk Bahira at Busra are recorded by Ibn Ishaq, and a narration of the journey is in Jami' al-Tirmidhi; the details of the Bahira report are discussed in the tradition. In the Sirah tier no person is depicted.

Primary sources

Ibn Ishaq via Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya: The principal narrative of the boyhood journey to Sham and the monk Bahira at Busra.

Jami' al-Tirmidhi (the report of the journey): A narration of the journey to Sham and the monk; the chains and details of the Bahira material are discussed in the tradition.

Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra and al-Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa: Sunni collections of the early signs of prophethood, including this journey.

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