I hitched up the hem of my robe, migrating to you—
crossing the barren wastes after their rugged ridges;
To keep company with the best of men in soul and lineage,
the Messenger of the Sovereign of mankind above the highest heavens.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Welcome, ʿAmr ibn Murrah.”
I replied, “Messenger of God, send me to my people. Perhaps God will grant them favor through me as He has granted me favor through you.” So he dispatched me and said:
“Be gentle, speak rightly, and do not be harsh, arrogant, or envious.”
He reports that he reached his tribe, called them to what the Messenger of God ﷺ had called him, and they all embraced Islam except for one man. He then brought them as a delegation to the Messenger of God ﷺ; the Prophet welcomed and greeted them, and wrote for them a document whose text was as follows:
“In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. This is a writ from God, conveyed by the tongue of the Messenger of God ﷺ, a true document and a manifest right, made with ʿAmr ibn Murrah al-Juhani for Juhaynah ibn Zayd:
To you belong the valley bottoms and their plains, the gullies and the heights of the wadis; you may cultivate their crops and drink their clear water, on condition that you acknowledge the khums (one-fifth) and perform the five prayers. Concerning the tieʿah and the ṣuraymah—[two sheep] when together, and if separated then one sheep each. No alms is due on the musīrah, and the wardah is not subject to the labaqah.
Witnessed for our Prophet ﷺ by those Muslims who were present. Written by Qays ibn Shammās.”
(1) In manuscripts H and T it reads thus; the correct reading is saqi (with ya), as will be shown (p. 180).
(2) Al-Nihaya and al-Lisan read 'ilayka ujub al-qur ba‘da al-dakdak', and later (p. 180) 'ilayhi adab al-ghur'. In Ibn Sa‘d’s Tabaqat it appears as 'al-da‘th after al-dakdak', as do al-Wafa and Majma‘ al-Zawa’id. Al-qur (pl. of qara) means mountain; some say it refers to the smaller ones, like a hillock. Al-ghur denotes any depression of the land; al-dakdak (pl. of dakdak) refers to sand deposits that do not rise much above the ground. See al-Nihaya (2/128 for dakdak; 4/120 for qur) and al-Lisan (s.v. 'ghur').
(3) Al-haba’iq means ‘the roads’ (sing. habika), here referring to the heavens because they are the paths of the stars. Cf. al-Nihaya (1/332, s.v. 'habk'). The verses are found in Ibn Sa‘d’s Tabaqat (1/333).
(4) In al-Wafa (1/83) the title appears as Kitab Aman min Allah (“The Book of Safety from Allah”).
(5) In al-Wafa (1/83), al-Jami‘ and Hayat al-Sahaba it reads tar‘un, which is nearer the correct reading.
(6) In manuscript T it appears as al-tali‘a; in al-Majma‘ as wa al-sa‘a; and in Hayat al-Sahaba as al-ghunayma. The reading confirmed by manuscript H and al-Nihaya (3/27, s.v. 'sarm') features the doubled tā’ with a fatha according to Qalam’s vocalization. The correction is found in al-Nihaya and al-Lisan (s.v. 'ti‘'): in both it appears as al-taya‘a (with kasra), denoting the minimum number of livestock liable to zakat. The phrase indicating ‘what the carriers (sa‘at) are entitled to’ derives from the root t-’-y (‘to go to’), analogous to the one-fifth levy on camels and the forty-head levy on sheep.
(7) Al-surayma is the diminutive of sirma, denoting a herd of camels or sheep. It is said to range from twenty up to thirty or forty; when it reaches this size it becomes independent and is separated by the owner from the main flock. In the hadith it refers to a flock of 121–200 sheep: when combined there are two sheep due; if belonging to two men and kept distinct, each is liable for one sheep. Cf. al-Nihaya (3/27, s.v. 'sarm') and the bracketed gloss there.
(8) Manuscripts H and T read al-mīra. The reading is attested in Majma‘ al-Zawa’id. In al-Nihaya (1/229, s.v. 'thur') the hadith states: “He wrote for the people of Jursh concerning the hima what it had protected for them for horses, pack animals, and the muthīra.” Here muthīra refers to livestock grazing on cultivated land, as they turn over the soil.
(9) In manuscript T—and also in H—it reads 'laysa lil-warda al-labqa', and I have not ascertained its meaning or correct reading. In al-Dala’il (1/123): …