His story is too famous to require retelling. When he passed away, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ informed his Companions of the very hour in which he died, though the two were a month’s journey apart, and then led them to the prayer‐ground and offered the funeral prayer for him (1).

Al-Zuhri reports from Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi, who narrates from Umm Salama, the Prophet’s wife, that she said:

“When we settled in Abyssinia we enjoyed, through the Negus, the best of neighbours: we felt secure in our religion, worshipped Allah unharmed, and heard nothing we disliked. When the Quraysh learned of this they conspired (2) to send the Negus gifts (3) drawn from the choicest (4) wares of Mecca. Of all that reached him, what pleased him most (5) were leather goods (6), so they gathered a large quantity of leather for him, and left no one of his courtiers without a present. They dispatched all this with ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Rabiʿah al-Makhzumi and ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs, instructed them in their mission, and said: ‘First give every courtier his gift (7) before you speak to the Negus about them. Then present the Negus with his gifts, and ask him to hand those people over to you before he grants them an audience.’”