I never heard Umar say of anything, "I think it is such-and-such," without it turning out exactly as he thought.While Umar was sitting, a handsome man passed by him, and he said, "Either my judgment has failed me, or this man still follows his religion from the days of ignorance, or else he was their soothsayer."The man was called over, and Umar said this to him. The man replied, "I have never seen a Muslim man received the way I have been received today."Umar said, "I insist that you tell me."The man said, "I was their soothsayer in the days of ignorance."Umar asked, "What was the most astonishing thing your jinn-companion ever brought to you?"He said, "One day while I was in the marketplace, she came to me, and I could see terror in her face. She said, 'Do you not see the jinn, and their despair, and their hopelessness after being overthrown, and how they cling to young she-camels and their saddle-blankets?'"Umar said, "He has spoken the truth. I was once near their idols when a man came with a calf and slaughtered it. Then a voice cried out, and I have never heard a voice louder, saying, 'Jaleeh, a successful matter, an eloquent man, saying, There is no god but You.' The people leapt up. I said, 'I will not leave until I know what is behind this.' Then the voice called again, 'Jaleeh, a successful matter, an eloquent man, saying, There is no god but Allah.' So I stood up. It was not long before it was said, 'This is a prophet.'"
ما سمعت عمر لشيء قط يقول: إني لأظنه كذا، إلا كان كما يظن، بينما عمر جالس إذ مر به رجل جميل، فقال: لقد أخطأ ظني، أو إن هذا على دينه في الجاهلية، أو لقد كان كاهنهم على الرجل، فدعي له، فقال له ذلك، فقال: ما رأيت كاليوم استقبل به رجل مسلم، قال: فإني أعزم عليك إلا ما أخبرتني، قال: كنت كاهنهم في الجاهلية، قال: فما أعجب ما جاءتك به جنيتك؟ قال: بينما أنا يوما في السوق، جاءتني أعرف فيها الفزع، فقالت: ألم تر الجن وإبلاسها، ويأسها من بعد إنكاسها، ولحوقها بالقلاص وأحلاسها. قال عمر: صدق، بينما أنا عند آلهتهم إذ جاء رجل بعجل فذبحه، فصرخ به صارخ، لم أسمع صارخا قط أشد صوتا منه يقول: يا جليح، أمر نجيح، رجل فصيح. يقول: لا إله إلا أنت، فوثب القوم، قلت: لا أبرح حتى أعلم ما وراء هذا، ثم نادى: يا جليح أمر نجيح رجل فصيح يقول: لا إله إلا الله، فقمت، فما نشبنا أن قيل: هذا نبي.
Bukhari narrated it in the Merits of the Ansar chapter (3866), from Yahya bin Sulayman, who said, Ibn Wahb narrated to me, who said, Umar narrated to me, that Salim narrated to him from Abdullah bin Umar, and he mentioned it. The Umar who is Ibn Wahb's teacher here is Umar bin Muhammad bin Zayd.As for the statement, "A handsome man passed by him," this refers to Sawad bin Qarib Sadusi, as found in the narration of Ibn Abu Khaythama and others, transmitted through Abu Jafar Baqir, who said, "A man called Sawad bin Qarib Sadusi came to Umar, and Umar said, 'O Sawad, I ask you by Allah, do you still recall anything from your soothsaying?'" and he then related the story. See Fath al-Bari (7/179).Ibn Ishaq said, "Yaqub bin Utba bin Mughira bin Akhnas narrated to me, relating that the Arabs were first alarmed by the shooting of the stars when they were struck down. This clan from Thaqif, they came to a man of theirs called Amr bin Umaya, one of the Banu Ilaj, who was the shrewdest of the Arabs and the sharpest in judgment. They said to him, 'O Amr, have you not seen what has happened in the sky, this hurling of these stars?' He said, 'Yes indeed. So consider, if it is the fixed stars by which guidance is taken on land and sea, and by which the seasonal changes of summer and winter are known, matters by which people order their livelihoods, if it is these that are being hurled down, then, by Allah, that is the folding up of the world and the destruction of this creation that dwells in it. But if it is other stars, while these fixed ones remain in their places, then this matter is something Allah intends for this creation, but what could it be?'" End of quote.