It is an extraordinarily rare experience on our age
to read a book--especially a biography--in which the author, like some master
craftsman of the Middle Ages, makes himself, as it were, anonymous in a work
that nonetheless bespeaks his impeccable scholarship and quite remarkable
narrative skill. If this sounds like a paradox, or an almost impossible literary
feat, it has nonetheless been achieved by Dr. Martin Lings in his long awaited
life on the Prophet of Islam, assembled from the traditional early accounts in
Arabic. Nothing remotely comparable exists in English, or any other European
language for that matter. --Studies in Comparative Religion

Martin Lings' biography of Muhammad, unlike any other,
is based on Arabic sources of the eighth and ninth centuries (of which some
important passages are translated here for the first time). It owes its
freshness and directness of approach to the words of the men and women who heard
Muhammad speak and witnessed the events of his life.

With an unusual gift for narrative, Lings has adopted a
style that reflects both the simplicity and the grandeur of the story he tells.
His book will be appreciated and enjoyed by those already familiar with
Muhammad's life as well as those approaching it for the first time.

Martin Lings completed degrees in English and Arabic at
Oxford University and London University. For twelve years he was a lecturer,
mainly on Shakespeare, at Cairo University. He served as Keeper of the Oriental
Manuscripts at the British Museum, consultant to the World of Islam Festival
Trust, and member of the Arts Council Committee for the exhibition "The Arts of
Islam." In 1977, at the invitation of King Abd al-Aziz University, he
participated in the Conference on Islamic Education held in Mecca.

In addition to his three works on Islamic mysticism,
which have been published in many languages, he is the author of The Secret
of Shakespeare, Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions, two volumes of
poetry, and the splendidly illustrated Koranic Arts of Calligraphy and
Illuminations. He has also written numerous articles for Studies in
Comparative Religion and The Islamic Quarterly, as well as for The
New Encyclopedia of Islam and for Encyclopedia Britannica.