Muslim (1) narrated—through Qutaybah and others, from Abū ʿAwānah, from Simāk, from Jābir ibn Samurah—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“A detachment of Muslims will surely seize the treasures of Khosrau in the White Palace.”

Asbāṭ likewise transmitted—from Simāk, from Jābir ibn Samurah—the same report (2), adding: “My father and I were among them, and we each received one thousand dirhams from that booty.”

He ﷺ dispatched him to al-Muqawqis, the ruler of Alexandria, whose name was Jurayj ibn Mīnā, the Copt.

Yūnus ibn Bukayr reported from Ibn Isḥāq: al-Zuhrī told me, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Qārī, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿah to al-Muqawqis, the ruler of Alexandria. Ḥāṭib set out with the Prophet’s letter; al-Muqawqis kissed the letter, honored Ḥāṭib, treated him hospitably, and then sent him back to the Prophet ﷺ with a gift of clothing, a mule equipped with its saddle, and two slave-girls—one of them was Umm Ibrāhīm (3). The other the Messenger of Allah ﷺ presented to Muḥammad ibn Qays al-ʿAbdī. Al-Bayhaqī related this (4).

Al-Bayhaqī also narrated—through ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father—that Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥāṭib told us, from his father, from his grandfather Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿah, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me to al-Muqawqis, king of Alexandria. I delivered to him the letter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; he lodged me in his own residence and I stayed with him. Then he summoned me, having gathered his courtiers, and said, ‘I wish to ask you something, so understand me well.’

“I replied, ‘Proceed.’

“He said, ‘Tell me about your companion—he is a prophet, is he not?’

“I said, ‘Indeed, he is the Messenger of Allah.’

“He asked, ‘If that is so, why did he not invoke a curse upon his people when they expelled him from his land?’

“I said, ‘Jesus son of Mary—do you not testify that he is a Messenger of Allah?’

“He said, ‘Certainly.’

“I said, ‘Then why, when his people seized him and intended to crucify him, did he not pray against them that Allah destroy them, until Allah raised him to the lowest heaven?’

“He replied, ‘You are a wise man who has come from one who is wise. These are gifts I am sending with you to Muḥammad, and I shall provide you with an escort to guard you until you are safe.’

“So he sent to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ three slave-girls: among them was Umm Ibrāhīm, the mother of the Messenger of Allah’s ﷺ son Ibrāhīm, and one he ﷺ bestowed upon Abū Jahm ibn Ḥudhayfah al-ʿAdawī,