Table of Contents

Chapters I-LXXXV Map of Arabia (by Steven W. Johnson) Quraysh of the Hollow (genealogical tree) Note on Pronunciation of Arabic Names Key to References Index

About the Author

The late Dr Martin Lings, formerly Keeper of Oriental Manuscript in the British Museum and the British Library, is the author of three works on Islamic mysticism, A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century, What is Sufism?, and The Book of Certainty, all published by the Islamic Texts Society.

Reviews

‘Despite the vastness of the subject, this biography makes an easy and absorbing reading for anyone interested in religion as such. For those interested in Islam one way or another it is mesmerising.’
*S. H. Nasr*

‘An enthralling story that combines impeccable scholarship with a rare sense of the sacred worthy of his subject.’

‘Before the appearance of this book, Western languages lacked almost entirely a comprehensive and authentic account of the life of the Prophet Muhammad…  Lings has produced a superb narrative that in its sobriety and dignity of style, and its scrupulous and exhaustive fidelity to authentic and reliable sources, constitutes a major addition to Islamic literature in English. Highly recommended.’
*Hamid Alhar*

'Muhammad is a true work of art, as enthralling and engrossing as the best of novels with the difference that this is no fiction but fact. With the magic of his pen, the author makes all the historical personalities of his book come alive... The skill of narration is enhanced throughout the book with the most regal and dignified English, inspiring the sense of majestic grandeur essential for any literary work dealing with Divine and Eternal Truths.'

'This great book is a classic.'
*Frithjof Schuon*

'There is a freshness, clarity and gripping suspense throughout the book... As a text in the how and the why and the when of various revelations—both Koranic and Prophetic traditions—it is enlightening and authoritative... Our author's familiarity with all the complicated inter-family links of tribal Arabia gives us the certainty that he knows his material thoroughly... This work should be translated into Arabic so that the whole Arab world may drink from it.'

'An excellent introduction to the subject and very well written.'
*Annemarie Schimmel*

'I read it straight through, then re-read it, almost in its entirety, fascinated.'
*Titus Burckhardt*