This book is a translation based on Khalid Muhammad Khalid's celebrated work in Arabic, Rijal Hawla al-Rasul. The sixty-four companions presented here are representative of that unique generation, a generation without parallel in history. They come from all walks of life and character. These are stories of real people which can be historically verified. These stories will touch the souls of the believers, for they will find in them yet another proof of that conviction that fills their hearts, though it may be denied and its signs effaced by wielders of power in the Muslim lands through treachery and cowardice.

While reading this book, we cannot help but be moved by the lives of the Companions herein depicted. How we long to have their awe and reverence for Allah! How we long to spend the same hours in worship as they! How we long to be as brave as they were in the face of danger! How we long to be as patient as they were under torture! This book fulfills the need for the English speaking Muslim to learn more about the first generation of Muslims. Indeed the companion—those men and women who were contempora-ries of the Prophet —inspire and encourage us. Read these stories and share them with your children, for these Companions are a past of our Islamic heritage that will, Allah willing, strengthen us as a nation if we try to follow their examples.