Having had several dialogues with those who claim to be the educated Atheists, I happen to know how difficult it is to present before them any "True Fact" that would be accepted as the "Incontrovertible True Fact", from their perspective. In my opinion ‘The Vision of Idumea’  written in Greek and relating to the two consecutive major "Twin-Events" from the annals of our history, does meet this criteria. 

           Nearly eight centuries before the occurrence of these historical events, the tangible details thereof were precisely recorded in a prestigious document. This document was produced more than twenty centuries ago, by a group of people who were neither associated nor to be directly affected with these events. The document was written in the Greek language at a geographical location totally different from the place where the events were going to take place. These twin events, an year apart, have changed the course of history for nearly 20% of the world population. 

        Whether this document is considered sacred, revered, spiritual or exactly opposite and contrary to that, does not change the fact that the "Vision" was recorded centuries before the events. Similarly, the person or persons who had physically written the document were trustworthy, honest or exactly opposite and contrary to that does not change the fact that the twin events were recorded ahead of their time. The Vision speaks of a "fugitive" and later on of the "fugitives" who had joined him. They all were being persecuted by the mighty "sons of Kedar" and had got the shelter in a new location. From here, in one year, the "fugitives" became powerful enough to diminish the glory of their enemies. These are the historical facts. It so happens that the "fugitive" was prophet Muhammad and the events are related to him. This does not mean that the study is undertaken to prove the preaching of Muhammad or his religion. The study is conducted to establish an irrefutable fact that what happened in the seventh century in Arabia as major "Twin-Events" was known nearly eight centuries before its time in Egypt, and was recorded by the Greek writers. A copy of the document was placed in the prestigious Royal Library of Alexandria. If the recorded details, the geographical locations and the time frame for the interval between the two events do tally, then the most important question is; 
Who could have possibly known or made known the details in advance?

The historical details of this document...

     A few centuries before the Christian era, during or immediately after the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 B.C.), this prestigious document was written in Alexandria, Egypt. A copy of this original historical document in Greek entitled septuaginta was preserved in the Royal Library of Alexandria. Since that time this document has been translated in many languages of the world. One can obtain a copy of the Greek document or its translated text from any major public library.

The "TWIN EVENTS" that are under our study...

        The knowledge and understanding of the following historical details which did take place in Arabia -- the declared location of the Vision, will help the readers to fully comprehend and appreciate the Message, at the end of the quoted passage.

1.  So prominent is the first event that one could find the historical details and the date of this event in any reputable pocket dictionary or a mini encyclopedia under the heading “Hegira" (also written as "Hejira" or "Hijrah"). The historical migration of prophet Muhammad from Makkah (also written as Mekkah or Mecca) to Yatrib, a location more than 200 miles north, is known as “Hijrah” (lit. "the migration"). The citizens of Yatrib and the neighbouring areas offered the shelter as well as all kinds of aid to this Messenger of God and his companions, when their lives were in extreme danger. Yatrib was later called  Madinat an-Nabi, the “City of the Prophet” or simply Medina. This historical  migration happened in the year 622 CE.  The so-called “fugitives” of the Vision -- Muhammad, his companion Abu Bakr and a Bedouin guide -- had to cover the tracks of their camels, leading out from the City of Mekkah, by a flock of sheep driven behind them. They did not take the well known direct trade route to Madina but had to go through indirect routes, to avoid being caught by the enemies. The journey took them about two weeks to reach the destination. During the nights they used to hide themselves in the caves and scrubs of the desert, as the Vision had stated.  The persecutors of Muhammad and his followers were the wealthy leaders of the idol worshippers and the proud custodians of the most prestigious place of pilgrimage in Arabia. The mission of prophet began in 614 CE. For the next eight years the persecutors had ridiculed, abused, socially boycotted, tortured and even killed the followers of the Prophet, as the Vision had fore-told. When the threats and violence increased, many of the prophet's followers migrated to Abyssinia with their families. The people who had settled in this particular location of the Arabian Peninsula called Hijaz were the descendants of Kedar - a grandson of Abraham. In the Vision they are identified as "the sons of Kedar". The year 622 CE is marked as the beginning of the Islamic State and the first year of the Islamic Lunar Calendar. We are presently living in  2000 C.E., and in the Islamic year 1420 A.H. (Anno Hijrah). 

2.  In 623 CE, nearly one year after the first event -- as it was pre-recorded in the Vision, the second of the "TWIN EVENTS" did take place. It was the first full military confrontation between the followers of Muhammad (Muslims) and the mighty Pagan Arabs. It is known in the history of Arabia as the Battle of Badr. The Prophet and his ill-equipped Muslim army, some of whom had no armors or swords, defeated the Pagan army, three times their size. These companions of the prophet who numbered 305 had only 70 camels and 2 horses. They traveled through the arid desert from Yatrib to Badr, a distance of nearly 90 miles, sharing the camels between them. This unqualified conclusive victory against such odds, established the fear of Muslim army not only in the hearts of the defeated idol worshippers but throughout the Arabian Peninsula. The age old glory of the mighty "sons of Kedar" who were Pagans, failed as the vision had predicted. In its place the glory of the "submitters to Allah" (Muslims) spread all over the Arabian Peninsula.  A Western research scholar says that before the Battle of Badr, Islam was merely a religion and a state but after the Battle it became the state religion, nay, the state itself. Today, there are 1.2 billion Muslims around the world who memorialize the journey of their prophet to Yatrib and each year millions of Muslims visit the "Prophet's Mosque" in Medina.

       The following passage from this ancient document has predictions for two separate tribes of the Arabs -- the Edomites and the Kedarites. The verses 11 and 12 are for the Edomites -- the descendants of Esau. Esau was the son of Isaac and the brother of Jacob (Israel). The geographical location connected with this prediction is called Idumea or Edom - an ancient region between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of 'Aqaba. Please see the maps below. The verses 13 to 17 are for the Kedarites, the descendants of Kedar. Our study is for the two predictions for the "sons of Kedar". Kedar was the son of prophet Ishmael and the grandson of prophet Abraham. I have reproduced below the Greek Text of verses 11 to 17 with their Sub-title. And, the English Translation of verses 13 to 17, as they do appear in The Septuagint, Zondervan Edition 1970, published by Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan. U.S.A. Published by special arrangement with Samuel, Bagster & Sons, Ltd., London, England. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 70-106440.

The following text is from the Septuagint Esaias XXI, i.e. Book of Isaiah Chapter 21 

     THE VISION OF IDUMEA 1

13. Thou 2  mayest lodge in the forest 3 in the evening, or in the way of D'edan. 4
14. Ye that dwell in the country of Th'eman 5, bring water to meet him  that is thirsty 6; 
15. meet the fugitives 7 with bread, because of the multitude of the slain, and because of the multitude of them that lose their way and because of the multitude of swords, and because of the multitude of bent bows, and because of the multitude of them that have fallen in war 8. 
16. For thus said the Lord to me 9, Yet a year, as the year of an hireling, and the glory of the sons of Kedar shall fail 10; 
17. and the remnant of the strong bows of the sons of Kedar shall be small: for the Lord God of Israel has spoken it. (Esaias XXI)

1. Idumea is the Greek word for Edom. The prophecy for Edom ends with verse 12.
2. "Thou" refers to a fugitive (singular) who is fleeing from his persecutor.
3. Lodging in the forest in the evening refers to his hiding in scrubs of the desert. 
4. The journey was upon the route (the way) to Dedan, which is North of Makkah.
5. Th'eman is the Greek name for Tema or the modern day Tayma. It speaks of
    the dwellers of the Country of Tema and not of the dwellers of the City of Tema. 
6. Him (singular) refers to a fugitive who is traveling with no provision or water.
7. Fugitives (plural) refers to the persecuted followers who later joined the fugitive.
8. Refers to the atrocities committed by the leaders of the Pagan idol worshippers.
9. Isaiah narrates what was foretold to him by God.
10. This refers to the Battle of Badr that took place one year after the migration.

Please Note:  A very important TEXT has been added after the maps... March 1

          A reader with a skeptical mind, after reading the above passage, may raise a very valid question; "The documented passage reads 'the glory of the sons of Kedar shall fail', why should I assume, presume or conclude that the passage does mean;

The following text is from the Septuagint Esaias XLII, i.e. Book of Isaiah Chapter 42

a. 'the glory of the sons of Kedar who worship the idols or images shall fail'. 
b. the failure of glory will be at the hands of their religious enemies and not political.
c. the victorious fugitives will be non idol worshippers and believers in Lord God?

Answer: Within the same ancient document appears another passage in Greek concerning the dwellers in the Land of Kedar. This passage given below clearly tells us that those dwellers who glorify the name of Lord God and praise Him shall rejoice. And, those dwellers who place their "trust in the graven images" and say to the molten images "You are our gods", will be "turned back and put utterly ashamed".

The English translation of the passage as it is published:

 8.  I am the Lord God: that is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praises to graven images. 
9.  Behold, the ancient things have come to pass, and so will the new things which I tell you: yea, before I tell them they are made known to you 1.

10.  Sing a new hymn to the Lord 2: ye who are his dominion, glorify his name from the end of the earth 3: ye that go down to the sea, and sail upon it 4; the islands, and they that dwell in them 5. 
11  Rejoice, thou wilderness, and the villages thereof, the hamlets, and the dwellers in Kedar: the inhabitants of the rock shall rejoice, they shall shout from the top of the mountains. 
12  They shall give glory to God, and shall  proclaim his praises in the islands.

13  The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, and crush the war 6: he shall stir up jealousy, and shall shout mightily against his enemies. 
14  I have been silent: shall I also always be silent and forbear? I have endured like a travailing woman: I will now amaze and wither at once.
15  I will make desolate mountains and hills, and will dry up all their grass; and I will make the rivers islands, and dry up the pools. 
16  And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not 7, and I will cause them to tread paths which they have not known: I will turn darkness into light them, and crooked things into straight 8. These things will I do, and will not forsake them 9. 
17  But they are turned back: be ye utterly ashamed that trust in graven images, who say to the molten images, Ye are our gods 10. (Esaias XLII)

1. God told prophet Isaiah what He is going to do in the future, where, why and how. 
2. God did Reveal a New Scripture (Qur'an) in Arabia as He had pre-planned.
3. Every year, millions of Muslims from around the world and also of Arabia come to
    Mekkah and glorify The Lord God, while Circumbulating the Sanctuary Kab'ah.
4. The Arabs were known to be very good sailors and navigators of their era.
5. Arabs prefer to call their Peninsula; "Jazirat al-Arab" (the island of Arabs).
6. This is a reference to the great victory at the "Battle of Badr", as seen earlier.
7. Before the advent of Islam the Kedarites were living in the "Age of ignorance".
8. The New Scripture - gave the Pagan Arabs the Spiritual Enlightenment and Law.
9. God gave "The Scripture" to those who had never before received any to follow.
10. This verse number 17 conclusively and convincingly answers the raised Question.

Think and Reflect; Who could have known these details, but Lord God?

A recent map of Arabia from an encyclopedia

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