Hadith #71

Arabic Text

English Translation

ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ narrated directly: When we returned from the Battle of the Trench, I gathered some men of Quraysh who valued my opinion and listened to me, and I said: 'By Allah, I see that the affair of Muḥammad is rising above all affairs in a mighty way. I have formed an opinion — what do you think?' They said: 'What is it?' I said: 'I think we should go to the Negus and stay with him. If Muḥammad prevails over our people, we would be under the Negus — and being under his hand is more preferable to us than being under Muḥammad's. And if our people prevail, they know us and will treat us well.' They agreed. I said: 'Gather gifts for him' — and the most beloved gift from our land to him was leather. We gathered a great deal of leather and went to him. By Allah, while we were with him, ʿAmr ibn Umayyah al-Ḍamrī arrived — the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had sent him regarding Jaʿfar and his companions. He entered upon the Negus and then left. I said to my companions: 'This is ʿAmr ibn Umayyah al-Ḍamrī. If I enter upon the Negus and ask him for this man, and he gives him to me, and I strike his neck, Quraysh will see that I have avenged them by killing Muḥammad's envoy.' So I entered upon the Negus, prostrated to him as I used to do, and he said: 'Welcome, my friend! Have you brought me a gift from your land?' I said: 'Yes, O King, I have brought you much leather.' I presented it to him and he was pleased. Then I said: 'O King, I saw a man leave your presence who is the envoy of a man who is our enemy. Give him to me so I may kill him.' The Negus became furious, struck his own nose with his hand so hard that I thought he had broken it. If the earth had split open, I would have entered it out of fear. I said: 'O King, by Allah, had I known you would dislike this, I would not have asked.' He said: 'You ask me to hand over the envoy of a man to whom the Great Nāmūs (Angel) comes — the one who used to come to Mūsā — so you can kill him?!' I said: 'O King, is that really so?' He said: 'Woe to you, O ʿAmr! Obey me and follow him, for by Allah, he is upon the truth, and he will prevail over all who oppose him, just as Mūsā prevailed over Pharaoh and his soldiers.' I said: 'Then accept my pledge of allegiance to him upon Islam.' He said: 'Yes.' So he extended his hand and I pledged allegiance to Islam. Then I left to my companions with my views completely changed, but I concealed my Islam from them. I set out intending to go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to embrace Islam. I met Khālid ibn al-Walīd — this was shortly before the Conquest — coming from Makkah. I said: 'Where are you headed, O Abū Sulaymān?' He said: 'By Allah, the evidence has become clear, and the man is truly a prophet. By Allah, I am going to embrace Islam — how long shall I delay?' I said: 'By Allah, I have come for the same purpose.' We arrived at the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Khālid ibn al-Walīd came forward, embraced Islam, and pledged allegiance. Then I approached and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I pledge allegiance to you on condition that you forgive me my past sins — and I shall not mention what came after.' the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 'O ʿAmr, pledge allegiance, for Islam erases what came before it, and hijrah erases what came before it.' So I pledged allegiance and departed. Ibn Isḥāq added: I have been told by a reliable source that ʿUthmān ibn Ṭalḥah ibn Abī Ṭalḥah was also with them and embraced Islam when they did.