that statement only to sound you out and see how steadfast you are in your religion; and I have seen from you what pleases me.” They all fell down before him in prostration; then the doors were opened and they left.
Ibn Luhayʿah related: Abū al-Aswad told us, from ʿUrwah, who said: Abū Sufyān went out on a trading journey, and the news of the Prophet ﷺ reached Heraclius. Abū Sufyān was brought in to him with thirty men while Heraclius was in the Church of Aelia. He questioned them, and they answered, “A sorcerer and a liar.” He said, “Tell me who among you knows him best and is nearest to him in kinship.” They replied, “This man is his cousin.” He then narrated something similar to the report of al-Zuhrī.
Al-Bukhārī said: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Bukayr narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to us, from Yūnus, from Ibn Shihāb, who said: ʿUbayd Allah narrated to me, from Ibn ʿAbbās, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent his letter to Chosroes and instructed that it be handed first to the ruler of Bahrain, who would then deliver it to Chosroes. When Chosroes read it he tore it up. I think Ibn al-Musayyib added: so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ invoked against them that they be torn utterly apart.
Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Dhuhli said: Aḥmad ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to us; Ibn Wahb narrated to us; Yūnus informed me, from Ibn Shihāb, who said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Qārīʾ reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ once stood upon the pulpit to preach, praised and extolled Allah, bore witness, and then said: “To proceed: I intend to send some of you to the kings of the non-Arabs; do not differ with me as the Children of Israel differed concerning Jesus.” The Emigrants said, “By Allah, we will not differ with you in anything; so command us and send us.” He therefore dispatched Shujāʿ ibn Wahb to Chosroes. Shujāʿ set out until he reached Chosroes, who was then in al-Madāʾin, and requested permission to enter.
Chosroes ordered that his audience hall be adorned, then admitted the Persian nobles, and afterward allowed Shujāʿ ibn Wahb to come in. When Shujāʿ entered, Chosroes commanded that the letter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ be taken from him. Shujāʿ said, “No—I will hand it over myself…”