Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq (1) said: “That occurred between the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyah and the Prophet’s passing—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. We mention it here, even though al-Wāqidī’s view is conceivable; Allah knows best.”
Muslim (2) transmitted—through Yūsuf ibn Ḥammād al-Maʿnī, ʿAbd al-Aʿlā ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā, Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūbah and Qatādah—from Anas ibn Mālik that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, shortly before his death, wrote to Chosroes and Caesar, to the Negus, and to every tyrant, summoning them to Allah, exalted is He. The Negus mentioned here is not the one for whom he offered the funeral prayer.
Yūnus ibn Bukayr related from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, who said: al-Zuhrī (3) told me—on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās—that Abū Sufyān narrated to me, mouth to mouth:
“We were a trading people, yet the war had hemmed us in until it exhausted our wealth. When the truce—the truce of Ḥudaybiyah—was concluded between us and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, we finally felt secure. I therefore set off as a merchant to Syria with a party of Quraysh. By Allah, I do not know of a woman or a man in Mecca who did not entrust me with some merchandise. Our marketplace in Syria was Gaza, in the land of Palestine. We travelled until we reached it at the very time when Caesar, ruler of Byzantium, had overcome the Persians who had been in his territories, expelled them, and recovered his great Cross, which they had taken from him.
“When that news reached him—while his residence was at Ḥimṣ in Syria—he left it, walking on foot out of gratitude, toward Jerusalem to pray there. Carpets were spread before him and flowers strewn upon them until he arrived at Īliyāʾ, where he prayed. One morning he awoke distressed, repeatedly lifting his gaze toward the sky.
“His patricians said, ‘O King, you have awakened troubled.’
“He replied, ‘Yes.’
“They asked, ‘And what is the matter?’
“He said, ‘Last night I was shown that the sovereignty of the circumcised has prevailed.’
“They said, ‘By Allah, we know of no nation that practices circumcision except the Jews, and they are under your control and within your dominion. If this has concerned you on their account, then send throughout your realm so that no Jew remains without his neck being struck, and you will be rid of this anxiety.’
“While they were deliberating in this manner, the messenger of the governor of Busra arrived, bringing with him an Arab who had fallen into their hands.
“He said, ‘O King, this man is an Arab, a herdsman of sheep and camels. He will inform you of an event that has taken place in his land, so ask him about it.’ When the Arab was brought before him, he said to his interpreter, ‘Question him about the affair that occurred in his country.’
“The interpreter asked, and the man replied, ‘A man from the Arabs, from Quraysh, has appeared claiming that he is a Prophet. Some people have followed him while others oppose him. Battles have taken place between them in various locations, and I left my land while they were upon that state.’
“When he had given this report, Caesar said, ‘Strip him.’ They did so, and behold, he was circumcised.
“Caesar exclaimed, ‘This, by Allah, is the one I was shown—not what you imagined. Give him back his garment and let him go about his business.’
“He then summoned the chief of his police and said, ‘Turn Syria upside down for me until you bring me a man of this fellow’s people, that I may ask him about his affair.’”