more God-fearing of the two, said to him, “Do not do that; they are connected to us by ties of kinship.” ʿAmr retorted, “By Allah, I will tell him that they claim Jesus is no more than a servant!”

The next morning he returned to the Negus and said exactly that. The king thereupon sent for us. Umm Salamah recalled, “Nothing had ever come upon us that weighed on us as heavily as that summons. The Muslims gathered together and said to one another, ‘What will you say about Jesus son of Mary when he questions you?’ They answered, ‘By Allah, we shall say exactly what Allah has said about him, come what may.’

“When they entered the audience hall the Negus asked, ‘What do you say about Jesus son of Mary?’ Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib replied, ‘We say that he is the servant of Allah and His Messenger, a spirit from Him, and His Word which He cast into Mary, the chaste, ever-virgin.’

“The Negus picked up a twig and said, ‘By Allah, Jesus did not exceed what you have said by so much as this twig.’ His bishops snorted in disapproval around him, but he said, ‘Even if you snort! By Allah, go—you are siyūm in my land—meaning, you are safe. Whoever insults you shall pay a penalty. I would not trade for a mountain of gold the fact that I might harm a single one of you. Return the two envoys’ gifts; I have no need of them. By Allah, when God restored my kingdom to me He did not take a bribe from me—shall I now accept a bribe on His behalf? People did not obey me in defiance of God, so shall I obey them in defiance of Him?’”

Umm Salamah continued, “So the two men left his presence disgraced, with everything they had brought returned to them.

“We were still living in that state of security when a man from Abyssinia rose up to contest the Negus for his throne. By Allah, we had never known sorrow like the sorrow that overtook us then: we feared that the challenger might defeat the Negus, and that someone would rule who did not recognise the rights toward us that the Negus had shown.

“The Negus marched out to meet him, and the width of the Nile lay between the two armies. The Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Who will go out, witness the battle, and bring us news?’ Al-Zubayr said, ‘I will.’ They inflated a waterskin for him, tied it to his chest, and he swam across until he reached the bank where the two forces would meet. He stayed there until the battle was decided while we prayed to Allah the Exalted for the Negus.

“While we were still in prayer, Zubayr suddenly appeared, running toward us, waving his garment and shouting, ‘Rejoice! The Negus has prevailed—Allah has destroyed his enemy and established him firmly in his land!’”