The Prophet replied, “No, by Allah, not until you believe in Allah alone.” ʿĀmir retorted, “By Allah, I will swamp this land with cavalry and infantry against you.” When he turned away, the Prophet prayed, “O Allah, protect me from ʿĀmir.”

He then said to Arbad, “What became of the task I charged you with?” Arbad answered, “Woe to you! By Allah, every time I tried to carry out what you ordered, you kept coming between me and him—was I to strike you with the sword?”

While ʿĀmir was still on the road, Allah sent upon him a plague swelling in his neck, and he died in the house of a woman from the clan of Salūl. As for the other man, Allah sent a lightning bolt upon him and his camel, and it burned them both.

Hammām narrated from Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, who said that Anas reported: ʿĀmir ibn al-Ṭufayl was the leader of the idolaters. He came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, “I offer you three options: the nomads of the open country will be under your authority while the townspeople will be under mine; or I will be your successor after you; or I will attack you with Ghatafān, bringing a thousand chestnut stallions and a thousand chestnut mares.”

Anas continued: He was struck by a swelling in the house of a woman and kept saying, “A swelling like a young camel’s swelling, in the house of So-and-so! Bring me my horse.” He mounted it and died on its back. Al-Bukhārī recorded this.

The Envoy of Banū Saʿd

Ibn Isḥāq related, through Muḥammad ibn al-Walīd, from Kurayb, from Ibn ʿAbbās: Banū Saʿd ibn Bakr sent Ḍimām ibn Thaʿlabah as their envoy to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. He was a sturdy, hairy man with two braids. He came, stopped, and said, “Which of you is the son of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib?” The Prophet said, “I am.” He asked, “Are you Muhammad?” He replied, “Yes.” He said, “I am going to question you, and I will press hard, so do not take offense. I adjure you by Allah—your God, the God of those before you, and the God of those who will come after you—has Allah commanded you to order us to worship Him alone, not associating anything with Him, and to renounce these idols?” He answered, “Yes, by Allah.” He said, “Then I adjure you by Allah …”