Haleemah Radi Allahu anha herself related this narration:
And the way in which the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) grew was very different
from the way in which all other children grow: “He grew in a
single day the normal growth of an entire year. When he was fully
two years old, both his father (i.e., his father from breast-feeding)
and I took him to Makkah. We said, ‘By Allah, as long as we are
able to keep him, we will never part from him.
When we met with his mother, we said, ‘By Allah, we have never seen a boy
who is more blessed than he is, and we fear upon him the plague
and diseases that are rampant in Makkah (Aaminah herself was
sick at the time), so let us take him back with us, at least until you
are cured from your sickness. We continued to persist until she
finally gave her permission.
(in our homeland) for 3 or 4 months. While he and his brother (i.e.,
her son, and his brother from breast-feeding) were playing behind
the houses (in the area) among a group of small goats and sheep
that belonged to us, his brother suddenly (left him and) came
racing back to us, and said, ‘Verily, (something has happened to)
my brother from the Quraish! Two men, both wearing white
garments, came to him, took him, and made him lie down. Then,
they split open his stomach.
His father and I went racing outside, and when we reached him,
we found him to be standing up; the colour of his face had
completely changed. When he saw us, he raced towards us,
crying. Both his father and I embraced him, and tightly held him
close to us. (One of us said,) ‘What is the matter with you, may my
mother and father be sacrificed for you?’ He said, ‘Two men came
to me and made me lie down; they split open my stomach, put
something with (or in) it, and then returned it as it was before/
His father said, ‘By Allah, I am sure that my son has become
afflicted (with madness or something similar); let us return to his
family, and give him back to them, before something we really
fear happens to him
And so we took him back to his mother,
who, upon seeing us, reproached us for what we were doing and
said, ‘What made you bring him back before I asked you to do so?
Before, you were indeed bent upon restraining him among
yourselves
We said, ‘Nothing is the matter. Allah has decreed an
end to his breast-feeding, and we are happy with what we see (in
terms of his health, etc.)
She said, ‘Something has happened with
you, so tell me about it?’ She did not leave us alone until we told
her what had happened.
She then said, ‘No! By Allah, Allah
would not do that with him. Indeed, my son has a great purpose
ahead of him. Shall I not inform you about him? I carried him (in
my womb), and by Allah, I never carried a load that was lighter
and easier upon me than he was.
Then, when I carried him, I was
made to see light come out of me, light that illuminated the necks
of camels in Basra (or she said, ‘illuminated the castles of Basra’).
Then I delivered him and by Allah, he did not come out as other
children do; he came out, supporting himself with his hands on
the ground; and his head was raised towards the sky. She took
him, and we departed.”
