I say: What appears most likely is that this took place after the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had migrated to Madinah. For that reason he sent commanders to Yemen to teach the people virtue and invite them to Allah, exalted is He. He first dispatched Khālid ibn al-Walīd and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, then followed them with Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī and Muʿādh ibn Jabal. Yemen and its inhabitants thus submitted to Islam.
Bādhān died, and his son Shahr ibn Bādhān assumed authority after him. It was this Shahr whom al-Aswad al-ʿAnsī killed when he claimed prophethood (1), seized his wife—as will be detailed—and expelled the deputies of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, from Yemen. When al-Aswad was slain, Muslim authority returned to the region.
Ibn Hishām said: This is what the soothsayer Satiḥ meant by his words, “A pure prophet to whom revelation will come from on high,” and what Shiqq intended when he said, “The matter will end with a sent Messenger who will come with truth and justice among people of religion and virtue; sovereignty will remain in his people until the Day of Decision.”
Ibn Isḥāq (2) said: In Ḥajar, Yemen—so they claim—there was an inscription in the Psalms written in ancient times (3):
“To whom belongs the kingdom of Dhimār? To the righteous Ḥimyar.
To whom belongs the kingdom of Dhimār? To the wicked Abyssinians.
To whom belongs the kingdom of Dhimār? To the noble Persians.
To whom belongs the kingdom of Dhimār? To Quraysh, the merchants.”
A poet later versified this meaning, as al-Masʿūdī records (4):
When Dhimār’s Elephant was raised, they asked:
‘To whom do you belong?’
She replied:
‘To Ḥimyar, the best of the righteous.’ (5)
Then she was swept away and declared:
‘I belong to the Abyssinians, the vilest of the wicked.’ (6)
They asked again:
‘To whom do you belong?’
She replied:
‘To Persia, the noblest of the free.’ (7)
They asked once more:
‘To whom do you belong?’
She replied:
‘To Quraysh, the merchants.’ (8)
It is also said that this statement mentioned by Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq (9) was found inscribed near the grave of Hūd, peace be upon him, when