their marshal.’ He then asked, ‘What do you see now?’ She replied, ‘I see the dark mass spreading out.’ He said, ‘By Allah, then the cavalry have moved off—hurry and take me home.’ She set off quickly, and when she had brought him down to al-Abṭaḥ the horsemen met her. Around her neck she was wearing a necklace fashioned from gold leaf, and someone cut it off and took it.

When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered the Mosque, Abū Bakr went out and led his father in by the hand. When the Prophet ﷺ saw him he said, ‘Why did you not leave the old man in his house so that I could come to him?’ Abū Bakr answered, ‘Messenger of Allah, it is more fitting that he walk to you than that you walk to him.’ The Prophet seated him in front of him, ran his hand over his chest and said, ‘Embrace Islam and you will be safe.’ So he embraced Islam.

Abū Bakr then rose, took his sister’s hand and said, ‘I adjure you by Allah and by Islam—my sister’s necklace!’ By Allah, no one answered him. He repeated the plea a second time, and still no one answered. He said, ‘Sister of mine, count your necklace lost, for by Allah honesty is scarce among people today.’

Abū al-Zubayr related from Jābir that ʿUmar took Abū Quḥāfah by the hand and brought him to the Prophet ﷺ, who said, ‘Change this white hair, but avoid black dye.’

Zayd ibn Aslam said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ congratulated Abū Bakr on his father’s acceptance of Islam. (Mursal)

Mālik narrated from Ibn Shihāb that he had been informed that, in the Prophet’s lifetime, there were women who embraced Islam while remaining in their own lands. Among them was the daughter of al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah, the wife of Safwān ibn Umayya; she accepted Islam on the day of the Conquest while Safwān fled. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent his cousin ʿUmayr ibn Wahb with his cloak as a pledge of safety for Safwān, inviting him to embrace Islam and to come to him. If Safwān found the matter agreeable, he could accept it; otherwise, he would be granted two months’ respite.

Safwān arrived and proclaimed before the people, ‘O Muḥammad, this ʿUmayr ibn Wahb has brought me your cloak and claims that you have invited me to come to you. If there is some matter you are pleased with, I will accept it,’