held unlawful among the vilest things. But when they overpowered us, wronged us, made life unbearable for us (1), and came between us and our faith, we fled to your land, chose you above all others, sought the shelter of your protection, and hoped, O King, that we would not be treated unjustly in your realm.

She said: The Negus then asked, “Do you have with you anything of what he has brought from Allah?”

“Yes,” Jaʿfar replied.

“Then recite it to me,” said the Negus.

So Jaʿfar recited to him the opening of: “Kaf-Ha-Ya-ʿAyn-Sad.” By Allah, the Negus wept until his beard was soaked, and his bishops wept until their scrolls were drenched with tears when they heard what was recited to them.

The Negus then said, “This and what Moses brought issue from the same lamp. Go, for by Allah I shall never hand them over to you, nor even contemplate it.”

When the two envoys departed, ʿAmr said, “By Allah, tomorrow I will expose their fault and then (2) uproot them completely.”

ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Rabiʿah—who was the more God-fearing of the two—said, “Do not do that, for they are our kinsfolk, even though they have opposed us.”

ʿAmr retorted, “By Allah, I will inform him that they claim Jesus is only a servant.”

The next morning he went to the king and said, “O King, they make a grave statement about Jesus son of Mary. Summon them and ask what they say concerning him.”

So he sent for them.

She said: Nothing had ever descended upon us like that crisis. The group gathered and said, “By Allah, we will say about him only what Allah the Exalted has said, whatever may come.”

When they entered before the Negus he asked, “What do you say about Jesus?”

Jaʿfar replied, “We say of him what our Prophet (3) brought: he is the servant of Allah, His messenger, His spirit, and His word which He cast into Mary the virgin, the pure.”

The Negus struck his hand on the ground, picked up a twig, and said, “Jesus did not exceed what you have just said by so much as this twig.”

At this his courtiers around him snorted in protest,