by a man who was walking toward him with a staff in his hand. The man said,
“O Khosrau, will you embrace Islam before I snap this staff?”
Khosrau answered, “Yes—do not break it.” The man turned away, and after he had left, Khosrau sent for his chamberlains and asked, “Who gave that man permission to enter upon me?”
They replied, “No one came in to you.”
“You are lying,” he retorted. He flew into a rage, threatened them, and then dismissed them.
When a full year had passed, the same man returned, still carrying the staff. He said,
“O Khosrau, will you embrace Islam before I snap this staff?”
Khosrau replied, “Yes—do not break it.” When the man departed, Khosrau again summoned his gatekeepers and questioned them as he had the first time.
In the following year the man came yet again with the staff and said,
“O Khosrau, will you accept Islam before I break the staff?”
“Do not break it,” Khosrau pleaded.
The man promptly snapped it, and Allah caused Khosrau to perish at that very moment.
Imam al-Shafiʿi said: Ibn ʿUyaynah informed us, from al-Zuhrī, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“If Khosrau dies, there will be no Khosrau after him; and if Caesar dies, there will be no Caesar after him. By Him in whose hand is my soul, their treasures will most certainly be spent in the path of Allah.” Muslim (1) related it through Ibn ʿUyaynah, and both of them (2) narrated it through al-Zuhrī with this wording.
Al-Shafiʿi also said: When Khosrau received the letter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ he tore it up, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared, “His kingdom is torn to pieces.”
We have likewise retained that Caesar honored the letter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and placed it in a leather case (3), whereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “His kingdom remains secure.”
Al-Shafiʿi and other scholars (4) said: When the Arabs used to travel to Syria and Iraq for trade, those who had become Muslim complained to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ of their fear of the kings of Iraq and Syria. He replied, “When Khosrau dies there will be no Khosrau after him, and when Caesar dies there will be no Caesar after him.”
They added: The dominion of the Sasanids vanished completely, and Caesar’s rule was removed from Syria entirely—although some remnant of power was left to them by virtue of the blessing of the Messenger of Allah’s ﷺ prayer for them when they honored his letter. Allah knows best.
I say: In this lies tremendous glad tidings that the dominion of the Byzantines will never again return to the land of Syria. The Arabs used the title “Caesar” for whoever ruled Byzantine Syria together with Upper Mesopotamia, “Khosrau” for the ruler of Persia, “Negus” for the ruler of Abyssinia, “Muqawqis” for the ruler of Alexandria, “Pharaoh” for an unbelieving ruler of Egypt, and “Ptolemy” for the ruler of India. They had other national titles besides these, which we have mentioned elsewhere. Allah knows best.