presented him with their gift and said, “Some people from our own tribe have abandoned our religion and have taken refuge in your land.” He therefore sent for them. Jaʿfar said to us, “Today I shall be your spokesman.”

They followed the royal messenger until they entered the presence of the Negus, but they did not prostrate before him. He asked, “Why did you not prostrate to the king?” Jaʿfar replied, “Allah has sent to us a Prophet who has commanded us not to prostrate to anyone but Allah.” The Negus said, “And what is that religion of yours?”

Amr interrupted, “They differ with you concerning Jesus.” The Negus asked, “What do you say about Jesus and his mother?” Jaʿfar answered, “We say exactly what Allah has said: he is the Spirit of Allah and His Word which He cast into the chaste virgin who had never been touched by man, nor had she ever borne a child.”

The Negus picked up a small stick and said, “O assembly of priests and monks, you do not add to what these men have said by even the weight of this stick. Welcome to you and to the one from whom you have come. I testify that he is a prophet, and I would love to be with him so that I might carry his sandals”—or he said, “serve him.” “So dwell wherever you wish in my land.”

Later Ibn Masʿud came and was present at Badr. This report was recorded by Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi in his Musnad, on the authority of Hudayj.

ʿUbayd Allah ibn Musa said: Israʾil narrated to us, from Abu Ishaq, from Abu Burdah, from his father, who said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered us to set out with Jaʿfar to Abyssinia,” and he continued with a narration similar to that of Hudayj.

It appears to me that Israʾil was mistaken here, for one report became mixed with another—after all, where was Abu Musa al-Ashʿari at that time?

We now return to the continuation of the account we cited from Umm Salama. She said: “There was not a single courtier of the Negus but that the two envoys first presented him with a gift before speaking to the Negus himself, telling that courtier of their purpose so that he would advise the king to hand the Muslims over to them. When they presented their gifts to the Negus and he accepted them, they addressed him, saying, ‘O King, some foolish youths from among us have arrived in your land; they have abandoned the religion of their people and have not entered into…’”