They snatched the boy from my hands and never returned my money.

The very first proof of the Negus’s resolute justice was his order: “Either you return this man’s money to him, or you place the slave’s hand in his and let him take him wherever he wishes.”

They replied, “We shall give him back his money,” and they did so. It was on that occasion that he said, “God did not accept a bribe from me when He restored my kingdom to me—so how could I now accept bribes in it? Nor did people obey me contrary to His will—so how could I now obey people contrary to His will?”

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah (d. …) said: The Negus’s father was king of Abyssinia, but he died while the Negus was still a small boy. Before dying he entrusted the realm to his brother, saying, “The rule of your people is yours until my son comes of age; when he does, the kingdom is his.” The brother coveted the throne and sold the young Negus to a group of merchants. That very night the uncle died, whereupon the Abyssinians brought the Negus back, placed the crown upon his head, and made him king.

Thus Mūsā relates the story in brief, whereas Ibn Isḥāq’s version is fuller and more detailed—God knows best.

In Ibn Isḥāq’s account the two envoys were ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Rabīʿah, whereas Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, al-Umawī and others name them as ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ and ʿUmārah ibn al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah. ʿUmārah was one of the seven men against whom the Messenger of God—peace and blessings be upon him—invoked a curse on the day a camel’s entrails were placed upon his back while he was prostrate at the Kaʿbah. This is also found in the ḥadīths of Ibn Masʿūd and Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī.

When the two men departed from Mecca, ʿAmr’s wife travelled with him. ʿUmārah was a handsome youth, and during the voyage he lusted after ʿAmr’s wife. He threw ʿAmr overboard, intending to drown him, but ʿAmr swam back to the ship. ʿUmārah said, “Had I known you could swim so well, I would not have thrown you.” ʿAmr bore him a grudge. When they failed to obtain from the Negus what they sought concerning the emigrants—and since ʿUmārah had ingratiated himself with some members of the Negus’s household—ʿAmr denounced him. The Negus had him bewitched until he lost his sanity and roamed the wilderness with wild beasts.

Al-Umawī relates a much longer version, stating that ʿUmārah lived into the governorship of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. A Companion later sought him out and captured him. He kept saying, “Release me or I shall die,” and when the man refused to release him, he died on the spot—God knows best.

It has been said that Quraysh dispatched delegations to the Negus regarding the emigrants on two occasions: the first with ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ and ʿUmārah, the second with ʿAmr and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Rabīʿah. Abū Nuʿaym affirms this in Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah—God knows best.

Another opinion—reported by al-Zuhrī—is that the second mission took place after the Battle of Badr, so that they might avenge themselves on those who were there; yet the Negus—may God Most High be pleased with him—granted them none of what they requested. God knows best.

Ziyād related from Ibn Isḥāq (footnote 3) that when Abū Ṭālib saw what Quraysh were doing, he wrote to the Negus