my past sins be forgiven?”

He answered, “Indeed, Islam and the hijrah (emigration) erase everything that came before them.”

ʿAmr continued, “By Allah, I was the most modest of people before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; I never dared look at him full in the face, nor did I ever dispute with him (1).

Ibn Saʿd reports: Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar told us—ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaʿfar narrated, from Abū ʿUmayr al-Ṭāʾī, from al-Zuhrī—who said:

When ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ saw the Prophet’s ﷺ cause prevailing, he set out to the Negus and presented him with gifts. There he encountered ʿAmr ibn Umayyah, who had come to arrange the Prophet’s marriage to Umm Ḥabībah. ʿAmr (ibn al-ʿĀṣ) met ʿAmr (ibn Umayyah), struck him, and tried to throttle him.

He then entered upon the Negus and informed him of what had happened. The Negus grew angry and said, “By Allah, had you killed him I would not have spared a single one of you. Would you kill the envoy of the Messenger of Allah?”

I said, “Do you testify that he is the Messenger of Allah?”

He replied, “Yes.”

I said, “And I also testify. Extend your hand so that I may pledge allegiance to you.”

I then left for ʿAmr ibn Umayyah; we embraced, and I hastened to Medina. I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and pledged allegiance to him on condition that my past sins be forgiven (2).

Al-Naḍr ibn Shumayl relates: Ibn ʿAwn informed us, from ʿUmayr ibn Isḥāq:

Jaʿfar sought permission from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, saying, “Allow me to go to a land where I can worship Allah without fearing anyone.” He granted him permission, so Jaʿfar departed for the Negus.

ʿUmayr said: ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ told me, “When I saw the rank he held there, I envied him and said to the Negus, ‘In your realm there is a man whose cousin is with us, and he claims that people have no deity but one God. By Allah, if you do not…’”