Ibn Ishaq said—and Ibn Shihab likewise reported:

The bishop of the Christians in the days of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan related to me, asserting that he had fully grasped that affair concerning the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and Heraclius and had understood it well. He said:

When the letter of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, reached Heraclius with Dihyah, he took it and set it at his side. He then wrote to a man in Rome who was able to read the Hebrew scriptures, informing him of the letter, describing the Prophet’s matter, and recounting what had been conveyed.

The man in Rome wrote back, saying: “He is without doubt the Prophet we have been awaiting; follow him and affirm his truth.”

Heraclius thereupon ordered the Roman patricians to be summoned. They were gathered for him in the fortress-palace of his realm, and he gave instructions that its doors be securely locked. Next he looked down upon them from an upper chamber, fearing for his own safety, and said:

“O people of Rome, I have assembled you for something good. A letter has reached me from this man calling me to…"