ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ajlaḥ said:
My father told me, on the authority of the elders of his tribe, that Kindah asked him, “If you prevail, will you grant us rule after you?”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied,
“Sovereignty belongs to Allah; He bestows it where He wills.”
They said, “We have no need of what you have brought.”
Al-Kalbī adds that they also said, “Have you come to turn us from our gods and make us quarrel with the Arabs? Go back to your people; we have no need of you.” So he left them.
He then came to Bakr ibn Wāʾil and asked,
“Who are your people?”
They answered, “Bakr ibn Wāʾil.”
He asked,
“Which branch of Bakr ibn Wāʾil?”
They said, “The sons of Qays ibn Thaʿlabah.”
He said,
“How many are you?”
They replied, “More than the dust (1).”
He asked,
“And what protection do you have?”
They said, “None at all. We live alongside Persia; we can neither defend ourselves from them nor grant protection against them.”
He said,
“Will you pledge before Allah that, if He preserves you until you settle in their homes, marry their women, and enslave their children, you will glorify Allah thirty-three times, praise Him thirty-three times, and magnify Him thirty-four times?”
They asked, “And who are you?”
He replied, “I am the Messenger of Allah.”
He then moved on. When he had turned away, al-Kalbī says, his uncle Abū Lahab would follow him, telling the people, “Do not accept what he says.”
Abū Lahab passed by them and they asked, “Do you know this man?”
He said, “Yes; he is one of the noblest among us. Why do you ask about him?”
They informed him of what the Prophet had invited them to and said, “He claims to be the Messenger of Allah.”
He said, “Do not give any heed (2) to his words; he is a madman babbling from the crown of his head.”
They said, “We realised as much when he spoke about the Persians.”
Al-Kalbī (3) further relates: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-ʿĀmirī (4) told me—from some elders of his tribe—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to us while we were at the ʿUkāẓ market.
He asked,
“Who are your people?”
We replied, “Banū ʿĀmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿah.”
He asked,
“Which branch of ʿĀmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿah?”
They said, “The sons of Kaʿb ibn Rabīʿah.”
He asked,
“How strong is your protection?”
We said, “No one dares attack us, and no one warms himself at our fire.”
He then said,
“I am the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and I have come to you so that you may protect me until I convey my Lord’s message. I will compel none of you to anything.”
They asked, “Which clan of Quraysh do you belong to?”
He said, “Banū ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib.”
They asked, “What of ʿAbd Manāf?”
He said, “They were the first to deny me and drive me away.”
They said, “We will not drive you away, nor will we believe in you; yet we shall protect you until you deliver your Lord’s message.”
He stayed with them while the people were trading, when Bayḥarah (5) ibn Firās al-Qushayrī came and said, “Who is this man I see with you? I do not recognise him.”
They said, “Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Qurashī.”
He asked, “What do you want with him?”
They said, “He claims to be the Messenger of Allah and has asked us to protect him until he conveys his Lord’s message.”
He asked, “How did you answer him?”
They said, “Most warmly and generously—we shall take you to our land and protect you as we protect ourselves.”
Bayḥarah (5) said, “I do not know anyone from…"