the qualities of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. The Prophet himself was delighted by that and wished his Companions to hear it.

Al-Mughira said, “I used to relate those descriptions to them, and this is a matter well known to the scholars and dignitaries of the People of the Scripture.

“Abu Hatim reports in his Sahih, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs, that he said:

‘An army of Muslims—of which I was the commander—set out until we encamped at Alexandria. One of their great leaders said, “Send out to me a man so that I may speak with him and he with me.”

‘I said, “No one shall go to him but me.” So I went out to him with my interpreter, and he had his interpreter with him.

‘He asked, “Who are you people?”

‘I replied, “We are the Arabs, a people of valor and arms, the custodians of God’s Sacred House. We once lived in the narrowest land and endured the harshest living: we ate carrion and blood, and one of us would raid the other, until a man rose among us—he was neither the most prominent of us that day nor the wealthiest—and said, ‘I am the messenger of God to you.’ He commanded us to do things we had never known and forbade us from what we had been upon—the way of our forefathers. We denounced him and rejected his words, until people other than ourselves joined him; they fought us, overcame us, and subjugated us. He then turned to the neighboring Arab tribes and fought them until he prevailed over them as well. If the Arabs behind me knew of the ease of life you now enjoy, not one of them would remain without coming to you to share in that ease.”

‘He laughed and then said, “Your Messenger has spoken the truth. Our own messengers came to us with the same message your Messenger has brought. If you hold fast to the command of your Prophet, no one who fights you will defeat you, and anyone who tries to share what you possess you will overcome. But if you do as we did and abandon the command of your Prophet, you will be neither more numerous than we are nor stronger in might.”’