of Banū al-Hārith ibn Kaʿb.

He said: Some of the Prophet’s Companions who saw them that day remarked, “Since their visit we have never seen another delegation like them.”

When the time for their own prayer arrived, they stood up inside the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He said, “Leave them alone,” and they prayed facing east.

Ibn Isḥāq said: The fourteen men in whose hands their leadership rested were: al-ʿĀqib, whose name was ʿAbd al-Masīḥ; al-Sayyid, whose name was al-Ayham; Abū Ḥāritha ibn ʿAlqama, a member of the tribe of Bakr ibn Wāʾil; Aws; al-Ḥārith; Zayd; Qays; Yazīd; Nubayh; Khuwaylid; ʿUmar; Khālid; ʿAbd Allah; and Yuḥannas. They were among sixty riders. The ones who spoke with the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—were Abū Ḥāritha ibn ʿAlqama, al-ʿĀqib ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, and al-Ayham al-Sayyid.

They were Christians following the religion of the emperor, yet among themselves they differed: some said, “He is Allah”; others said, “He is the son of Allah”; and still others said, “He is the third of three.” Such are the assertions of the Christians.

They support their claim that “He is Allah” by saying that he revived the dead, healed the sick, disclosed the unseen, and fashioned from clay the shape of a bird, then breathed into it so that it became a living bird—all by Allah’s permission, that He might make him a sign for mankind.

They also contend, in support of their statement that he is the son of Allah, that he had no father