Moreover, the historians of the military expeditions and the prophetic biography report that the delegation of Najrān concluded a pact with the Prophet on the basis of paying jizyah, and that they were the first people ever to render it. This makes it clear that their arrival took place after the revelation of the verse that prescribes the jizyah. Since that verse was revealed after the Conquest of Mecca, it follows that the coming of the Najrān delegation occurred subsequent to the “verse of the sword,” namely the jizyah verse itself.

Al-Zuhrī said, “The people of Najrān were the first to pay the jizyah.”

Concerning the Almighty’s words, “Come to a word that is equitable between us and you” [Āl ʿImrān: 64], the verses that follow it were in fact revealed earlier, such as: “People of the Scripture, why do you disbelieve in the signs of Allah while you yourselves are witnesses? People of the Scripture, why do you mix the truth with falsehood and conceal the truth while you know?” [Āl ʿImrān: 70-71]. Thus one group of verses had been revealed first and the other later, yet they were brought together