O Lord, facilitate matters for us and aid us by Your might and power.

Year Eight after the Prophetic Hijrah

Section on the conversion of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, Khālid ibn al-Walīd, and ʿUthmān ibn Ṭalḥah—may Allah be pleased with them. Their arrival, as will be detailed, occurred at the very beginning of the eighth year.

Part of this account has already been mentioned by Ibn Isḥāq after the killing of Abū Rāfiʿ the Jew in the fifth year AH. Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī (1) records it here, however, after the ʿUmrat al-Qiḍāʾ, transmitting—through al-Wāqidī (2)—from ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Jaʿfar, from his father, who said:

ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ said, “I kept my distance from Islam and openly opposed it. I was present at Badr on the side of the idolaters and survived; then at Uhud, and survived; then at the Battle of the Trench, and survived as well.

“So I said to myself, ‘How long will I keep galloping away like this? By Allah, Muhammad will surely prevail over Quraysh.’ I therefore withdrew to my estate at al-Waḥṭ and avoided people—that is, I stopped meeting them.

“When the treaty of al-Hudaybiyyah took place, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ turned back in peace and Quraysh returned to Mecca. I kept thinking, ‘Next year Muhammad will enter Mecca with his Companions. Mecca offers no refuge, nor does Ṭāʾif; nothing would be better than getting out.’ Yet I was still far from Islam, convinced that even if all of Quraysh embraced it, I would not.

“I then went to Mecca and gathered a group of men from my clan—men who respected my judgement, listened to me, and deferred to me whenever something serious arose. I said to them, ‘What standing do I have among you?’

“They replied, ‘You are our adviser and champion, the one whose presence augurs good fortune and whose counsel brings blessing.’

“I said, ‘You know, by Allah, I see Muhammad’s cause rising above every other in a remarkable way, and I have conceived an idea.’

“They asked, ‘What is it?’

“I said, ‘Let us go to the Negus and stay with him; if Muhammad gains the upper hand…’