While the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was speaking with his Companions, he said to them, “From over there a caravan will soon appear; they are the best people of the East.” ʿUmar therefore rose, went toward them, and met thirteen riders.
He asked, “Who are you?”
They replied, “We are from the tribe of ʿAbd al-Qays.”
He said, “What has brought you to these parts—trade?”
They said, “No.”
He said, “The Prophet ﷺ mentioned you just moments ago and spoke well of you.” Then he walked with them until they reached the Prophet ﷺ.
ʿUmar said to them, “This is the man you are looking for.” The group threw themselves off their mounts; some walked toward him, others hurried, and others ran until they reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, took his hand, and kissed it. Al-Ashajj, however, remained with the mounts: he made them kneel, gathered the travelers’ baggage, then came walking, took the hand of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and kissed it.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Within you are two qualities that Allah and His Messenger love.”
He asked, “Are they an innate disposition with which I was created, or something I have acquired?”
He replied, “They are innate.”
He said, “Praise be to Allah who has created me upon what Allah and His Messenger love.”
Ibn Isḥāq said: Al-Jārūd ibn ʿAmr ibn Ḥanish, a kinsman of ʿAbd al-Qays, also came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Ibn Hishām adds: He is al-Jārūd ibn Bishr ibn al-Muʿallā, and he arrived with the delegation of ʿAbd al-Qays; he had been a Christian.
Ibn Isḥāq said: Someone I trust narrated to me from al-Ḥasan: When al-Jārūd reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the Prophet spoke with him, presented Islam to him, and encouraged him to embrace it. Al-Jārūd said, “O Muḥammad, I have been upon a religion, and I am leaving my religion for yours. Will you guarantee my religion for me?”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Yes. I guarantee that Allah has guided you to something better than it.” Al-Jārūd accepted Islam, as did his companions.
He then asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for mounts, and the Prophet said, “By Allah, I have nothing on which to carry you.”
Al-Jārūd said, “Messenger of Allah, between us and our homeland are stray beasts that belong to people. May we ride them until we reach our land?”
He replied, “No—beware of them, for they are but brands of the Fire.”
Al-Jārūd set off back to his people; his Islam was sound, and he remained steadfast in the faith until he died, having lived to see the time of the apostasy.
When those among his people who had embraced Islam reverted to their former religion under the leadership of al-Gharūr ibn al-Mundhir ibn al-Nuʿmān ibn al-Mundhir, al-Jārūd rose, bore witness to the testimony of truth, and called the people to Islam, saying, “People, I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger, and I disavow anyone who does not testify to that.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had earlier dispatched al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Ḥaḍramī, before the conquest of Mecca, to al-Mundhir ibn Sāwā al-ʿAbdī, and he accepted Islam.