trusts.
He then said to his interpreter, “Tell him:
‘I asked you about his lineage among you, and you asserted that he is of noble birth; such indeed is the case, for messengers are always sent from the nobility of their people. I asked whether anyone before him had ever made this claim, and you said no; had someone already said it, I would have concluded that he was simply following what had been said before. I asked whether you had ever accused him of lying prior to his present claim, and you said no; so I knew that a man who will not lie to people would never lie about Allah. I asked whether any of his forefathers was a king, and you said no; had there been a king among his forefathers I would have thought he sought to reclaim his ancestors’ kingdom.
I asked whether the elite or the weak follow him, and you said the weak follow him; they are indeed the followers of messengers. I asked whether their numbers are increasing or decreasing, and you said they are increasing; this is how faith grows until it is complete. I asked whether anyone apostatizes—out of displeasure with the religion—after embracing it, and you said no; likewise, once faith blends with the heart’s sweetness, no one detests it. I asked whether he betrays, and you said no; messengers do not betray. I asked whether you fight him and he fights you, and you replied that you have, and that the fortunes of war alternate between you; so too are messengers tested, yet the final outcome is theirs. Finally, I asked what he commands you, and you said that he bids you to worship Allah alone without associating anything with Him, forbids you to worship what your forefathers worshipped, and commands you to establish prayer, speak the truth, remain chaste, keep covenants, and discharge trusts.
Such are the signs of a prophet. I already knew that one was about to appear, but I did not imagine he would be from among you. If what you say is true, he will soon possess the very ground beneath these two feet of mine. Were I able to reach him, I would undergo any hardship to meet him, and were I with him, I would wash his feet.’
He then called for the letter of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ and had it read. It said:
‘In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.
From Muhammad, the servant of Allah and His Messenger, to Heraclius, the great one of Rome.
Peace be upon those who follow the guidance. To proceed: I invite you with the call of Islam. Accept Islam and you will be safe; accept Islam and Allah will grant you your reward twice. But if you turn away, then upon you rests the sin of the ʾarīsiyyīn (your common folk). And [Allah says]:
“Say, O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, that we shall associate nothing with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords instead of Allah. But if they turn away, then say, ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims.’” (Āl ʿImrān 3:64).’
Abū Sufyān said, ‘When he had finished speaking, the voices of the Byzantine grandees around him grew loud and their clamor increased; I do not know what they said. We were then ordered out. When I left with my companions and was alone with them, I said, “The affair of Ibn Abī Kabshah has become formidable—this king of the Byzantines fears him!”
By Allah,’ Abū Sufyān continued, ‘I remained humbled, fully certain that his cause would prevail, until Allah brought Islam into my heart even though I was reluctant.’
Both Imams (al-Bukhārī and Muslim) transmitted this through the narration of Ibrāhīm. They also transmitted it through the narration of Maʿmar, from az-Zuhri, from ʿUbayd Allah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, that Abū Sufyān told him, saying, ‘I set out during the truce that existed between me and…’