When Muhammad was around two years old he spent time as a foster child with Bedouins in the desert.* One day his foster brother saw angels dressed all in white appear, remove Muhammad’s heart, clean it with snow, and return it, now purified, to his body.16 After this, throughout his youth, mystics and monks would predict that Muhammad was destined for greatness—or at least, these were the stories they later told, once greatness had descended upon him.
