I say: This, then, is the matter. Perhaps what he intended was the title “Caesar,” for it is the proper designation for anyone who rules Syria together with al-Jazīrah from among the territories of Rome. In the same way, “Chosroes” is the title of whoever rules Persia; “Pharaoh” of whoever rules all of Egypt; “al-Muqawqis” of the ruler of Alexandria; “Tubbaʿ” of the king of Yemen and al-Shiḥr; “al-Najāshī” of the ruler of Abyssinia; “Ptolemy” of the king of Greece—some say of India; and “Khāqān” of the ruler of the Turks.

Some scholars have said that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—performed the funeral prayer for the Negus because the Negus concealed his faith from his people; on the day he died there was no one with him who could offer the prayer, and for that reason the Messenger of God prayed over him.

They added: If the absentee has already had the funeral prayer performed for him in his own land, it is not prescribed to pray for him in another. Hence the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—was not prayed over outside Madinah, neither by the people of Mecca nor by anyone else. The same is true for Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and the other Companions—may God be pleased with them; no report states that the funeral prayer for any of them was offered in a town other than the one in which it was first performed. God knows best.

I further say: Abu Hurayrah’s presence—may God be pleased with him—at the funeral prayer for the Negus proves that the Negus died only after the conquest of Khaybar, when the remaining emigrants in Abyssinia returned with Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib—may God be pleased with him—on the day Khaybar was taken. For that reason it is related that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said, “By God, I do not know which delights me more: the conquest of Khaybar or the arrival of Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib.”

They came bearing gifts and presents from the Negus—may God be pleased with him—for the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, accompanied by the Yemeni sailors, the companions of Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī and his clan of the Ashʿarites—may God be pleased with them. Along with Jaʿfar came the Negus’s nephew, Dhū Mukhbar (or, according to another reading, Dhū Mukhamar), who brought further gifts from the Negus and whom the latter had sent to serve the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—in his stead. May God be pleased with them both and grant them His good pleasure.

Al-Suhaylī said: The Negus died in the month of Rajab, in the ninth year after the Hijrah, but this requires further investigation. God knows best.

Al-Bayhaqī said: "Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ṭūsī, the jurist, informed us; he narrated: Abū al-ʿAbbās …"