and Abū Bakr had become the caliph. Abū Muslim tethered his camel at the door of the Mosque, then went inside and began to pray beside one of its columns. ʿUmar noticed him, approached, and asked, “Who is this man?”

He replied, “I am from the people of Yemen.”

ʿUmar said, “What became of the man whom the liar tried to burn?”

He answered, “That was ʿAbdullāh ibn Thawb.”

ʿUmar said, “I adjure you by Allah—are you really he?”

He replied, “O Allah, yes.” ʿUmar embraced him, wept, and then led him over to seat him between himself and Abū Bakr, saying, “Praise be to Allah, who did not cause me to die before letting me see, within the Ummah of Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—a man for whom Allah has done what He did for Abraham, the intimate friend of the All-Merciful.”