I say:
Among the verses of certain poets is an indication that he was killed in one of the sacred months. One of them said (metre: al-raml):
“They slew Khosrau on a consecrated night;
he departed, denied even the comfort of a shroud.”

Another Arab poet said (metre: al-wāfir):
“Khosrau—when his own sons carved him up with their swords,
just as meat is parceled out and shared;
Fate laboured for him until his destined day arrived—
every bearer must one day be delivered.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī (1) relates, through Hammad ibn Salamah, from Ḥumayd, from al-Ḥasan, from Abū Bakrah, that a man from Persia came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Last night my Lord killed your lord.” The narrator adds: it was said to the Prophet ﷺ that Khosrau had installed his daughter as ruler, whereupon he replied, “A people who place a woman in authority over them will never prosper.”

Al-Bayhaqī (2) further reports, in the ḥadith of Dihyah ibn Khalīfah, that when Dihyah returned from Caesar he found with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ envoys sent by the governor under Khosrau. Khosrau had written threatening the ruler of Ṣanʿāʾ: “Will you not rid me of a man who has appeared in your land calling me to his religion? Deal with him for me, or I shall deal with you.” The governor therefore dispatched envoys, and the Prophet ﷺ said to them, “Tell him: my Lord has slain his lord this very night.” They reached him and found matters exactly as he had said.

He (3) adds that Dāʾūd ibn Abī Hind narrated from ʿĀmir al-Shaʿbī something to the same effect.

Al-Bayhaqī (4) also transmits, through Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh, from Dāʾūd ibn Abī Hind, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: Saʿd came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ remarked, “Saʿd’s face shows that he carries news.” Saʿd said, “O Messenger of Allah, Khosrau has perished.” He replied, “May Allah curse Khosrau! The first people to be destroyed will be the Persians, then the Arabs.”

I say: It appears that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ informed the two envoys—namely, the emissaries sent by Bādhān, the deputy of Yemen—of Khosrau’s demise, and the report later arrived exactly as he had foretold (may Allah have mercy on them) and spread throughout the land, Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ was the first to hear it. He came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and conveyed news that agreed with the Prophet’s earlier prediction, peace be upon him. This, approximately, is the sequence of events, as recorded by al-Bayhaqī, may Allah have mercy on him.

Al-Bayhaqī (5) also narrates, through several chains, from al-Zuhrī: Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān informed me that he had learned that while Khosrau was in the park-palace of his realm, an apparition was sent—or prepared—to confront him with the truth, and Khosrau was taken by surprise only