They answered, “No.”
He asked, “Then are you upon the religion of your people?”
They replied, “No.”
He said, “What, then, is your religion?”
They replied, “Islam.”
He asked, “And what is Islam?”
They said, “We worship Allah alone and ascribe no partner to Him.”
He said, “Who brought you this message?”
They replied, “A man from among us whose face and lineage we know well. Allah sent him just as He sent the messengers before us. He commanded us to show kindness, give charity, keep our promises, and fulfill trusts. He forbade us to worship idols and ordered us to devote ourselves to Allah alone. We believed him and recognized in his words the speech of Allah. Our people then turned against us and against him, branded him a liar, and tried to force us back to idol-worship. So we fled to you, seeking refuge for our religion and our lives from the oppression of our people.”
The Negus said, “By Allah, this matter has emerged from the very niche from which the affair of Jesus emerged.”
They continued, “As for our greeting, our Messenger informed us that the greeting of the people of Paradise is peace, so we greeted you with it. As for Jesus, he is a servant of Allah and His messenger, His word which He cast to Mary, a spirit from Him, and the son of the chaste virgin.”
The Negus then lowered his hand to the ground, picked up a twig, and said, “By Allah, the son of Mary has not exceeded what you have said by the weight of this twig.”
The Abyssinian nobles exclaimed, “By Allah, if the Abyssinians hear you say this, they will depose you!”
He replied, “By Allah, I will never say anything else about Jesus. When Allah restored my kingdom to me, the people did not oppose Him concerning me; shall I now obey the people in matters of Allah’s religion? Allah forbid!”
The Negus’s father had ruled Abyssinia, but he died while the Negus was still a child. He entrusted the kingdom to his brother, saying, “Rule our people until my son comes of age; when he reaches maturity, he is to have the throne.” The brother coveted the kingship, so he sold the young Negus to a merchant and hurried him onto a ship. Allah then afflicted his uncle with a seizure, and he died. The Abyssinians brought the merchant back, recovered the Negus, and installed him as king. They say the merchant demanded, “I must have either my slave or my money.” The Negus said, “He speaks the truth; give him his money.”
When Jaʿfar spoke with him, the Negus said, “Return this man’s gift”—meaning ʿAmr—“for by Allah, even if they offered me a dabr of gold” (and in their language dabr means mountain), “I would not accept it.” Then he said to Jaʿfar and his companions, “Remain here in safety,” and he ordered that they be provided with whatever would sustain them