and he instructed us to establish the prayer, give the alms, fast, and he went on to enumerate the other obligations of Islam.

“So we believed him and followed him. But when our people overpowered us, wronged us, and blocked our way to our religion, we emigrated to your land. We chose you above all others, sought your protection, and hoped that we would suffer no injustice under your rule.”

The Negus asked, “Do you have with you anything of what he has brought from God?”

“Yes,” Jaʿfar replied, and he recited: “Kaf, Ha, Ya, ʿAyn, Sad.”

Umm Salama said, “The Negus and his bishops wept until their beards were soaked when they heard the Quran.”

The Negus declared, “By God, this and what Moses brought both emerge from the same light. Go! By Allah, I will never surrender them to the two of you.”

When we left his presence, ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ said, “By Allah, tomorrow I will bring him something that will uproot their very roots.” Ibn Abī Rabīʿah—who was the more God-fearing of the two—said to him, “Do not do that. They are our kinsmen, even though they have opposed us.” But ʿAmr insisted, “I will certainly tell him that they claim Jesus is only a servant.”

The next morning he went to the Negus and said, “O King, they make a monstrous claim about Jesus.” So the king sent for us to question us, and nothing had ever weighed on us like that summons.

He asked, “What do you say about Jesus?”

Jaʿfar answered, “We say of him only what our Prophet has brought: he is the servant of Allah, His messenger, His spirit, and His word which He cast into Mary, the chaste virgin.”

The Negus struck the ground with his hand, picked up a small twig, and said, “Jesus son of Mary has not exceeded what you have said by even this twig.”

His courtiers grumbled at his words, but he said, “Even if you grumble….”