On the night of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)’s birth, a tremor struck the palace of Chosroes causing all fourteen towers of the palace to collapse. The fire that had perpetually blazed in the Persian fire-temple for a thousand years was abruptly extinguished. Lake Saawah also unexpectedly dried up. Chosroes was in a state of anxiety and distress the following morning. However, his royal dignity prevented him from revealing his despair. He eventually convened court by assembling his ministers and other pillars of state.

During the course of this assembly, he was informed that the fire in the fire-temple had extinguished. This fuelled the anguish of Chosroes even further. One of the Zoroastrian priests thereafter stood before him in court and said, “I saw a dream last night in which powerful camels were dragging some Arabian horses. I then witnessed them crossing over the Tigris River and fanning out to each and every country in the world.” “What is the interpretation of this dream?” asked Chosroes. The priest replied, “Perhaps a momentous incident is about to occur from the direction of Arabia.”

In order to investigate further and to put his mind at ease, Chosroes sent a message to Nu’maan bin Munzir instructing him to send him an eminent scholar who would be able to answer all his questions adequately.

(Extracted from Seeratul Mustafa 1/55)