for I fear they may imagine it to be a disfigurement brought on by my leaving their religion.’

The light thereupon shifted and settled on the tip of my whip. I can still picture myself riding my camel toward them while the light at the end of my whip shone like a hanging lamp.

My father came up to me and I said, ‘Stay away from me; I am no longer of you, nor you of me.’

He asked, ‘And why is that?’

I replied, ‘I have embraced Islam and followed the religion of Muhammad.’

He said, ‘My son, your religion is my religion—and the same with your mother.’ So both of them accepted Islam.

I then called the tribe of Daws to Islam, but they refused and were obstinate. Later I went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, ‘Fornication and usury have overtaken Daws; supplicate against them.’

He answered, ‘O Allah, guide Daws.’

I returned to them, and after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had emigrated I remained among them, inviting them to Islam until those whom Allah willed responded. By that time the battles of Badr, Uhud, and the Trench had already passed me by.

Subsequently I arrived with eighty—or ninety—households from Daws and stayed with the Prophet ﷺ until he conquered Mecca.

I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, send me to Dhū al-Kaffayn, the idol of ʿAmr ibn Ḥumamah, so that I may burn it.’

He said, ‘Yes—go to it.’

I went and kept fueling the fire against it.

Afterward I returned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and remained with him until he passed away. Then I set out for the expedition against Musaylimah, taking along the two sons of ʿAmr. While we were on the road I saw a dream: it was as though my head were shaved, a bird flew out of my mouth, a woman drew me into her womb, and my son was pursuing me earnestly, only for a barrier to come between us.

I told my people about the dream and they said, ‘It bodes well.’

I said, ‘As for me, I have interpreted it thus: the shaving of my head means its severance; the bird is my soul; the woman is the earth in which I shall be buried—so I fear I will be killed as a martyr. As for my son’s searching for me, I see nothing but that he will be excused in seeking martyrdom, yet I do not expect he will attain it on this campaign.’

Al-Tufayl was killed at the Battle of al-Yamamah, and his son was wounded; later the son was killed at Yarmuk. (1)