And we fend off the marked champions whenever they rally for help, and we crush the head of the swelling, arrogant lion.
A full fourth of every raid is ours—whether we strike in Najd or in the country of foreign folk.
Then Ḥassān rose and replied:
Is glory anything but seasoned lordship, lavish generosity, the prestige of kings, and the bearing of momentous burdens?
We supported and sheltered the Prophet Muḥammad—though it galled every contented man of Maʿadd and every resentful foe.
With a proud clan—Ḥarīd—of noble stock and ample wealth, in Jābiyah of the Golan amid the non-Arabs.
We aided him when he settled among our dwellings, with our swords against every aggressor and tyrant.
We placed our sons and daughters before him, and gladly offered up ourselves for the spoils that came by his victory.
We struck the people until they flocked, one after another, to his religion beneath keen, cutting blades.
And it is we who mothered the greatest of Quraysh; from us came the Prophet of goodness, of the House of Hāshim.
Sons of Dārim, do not boast—your boasting will recoil upon you whenever noble deeds are named.
May you be bereaved! You vaunt yourselves over us, yet you are our retainers—no more than a wet-nurse or a maid.
So if you have come to spare your blood, and that your property be allotted to you in its shares,
do not set up rivals with God; submit to Islam, and do not garb yourselves in the dress of foreigners.
Ibn Isḥāq said:
When Ḥassān ibn Thābit had finished his words, al-Aqraʿ ibn Ḥābis exclaimed, “By my father, this man is indeed favored! His orator out-orates ours, his poet out-shines our poet, and their voices rise above ours.”
When the delegation had concluded, they embraced Islam, and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, bestowed gifts upon them—the finest of gifts.
ʿAmr ibn al-Aḥṭam had remained behind with their baggage, for he was the youngest among them. Qays ibn ʿĀṣim, who disliked ʿAmr, said, “O Messenger of Allah, there is a man of ours with our belongings—he is but a youth of little account.” He sought thereby to belittle him, yet the Prophet gave him