in response to him. We went to him, greeted him with peace, but he did not return our greeting. We tried for the whole day to speak to him, yet we could not get him to address us. What do the two of you advise: should we go back home, or should we try again?”
ʿUthmān and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān turned to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, who was sitting with them, and said, “Abū l-Ḥasan, what is your opinion regarding these people?”
ʿAlī said to the two of them, “I think they should take off those elegant robes and rings of theirs, put on their travelling clothes, and then go back to him.”
The delegation from Najrān did exactly that. They removed their robes and rings, then returned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, greeted him with peace, and he returned their greeting. He then said, “By Him who sent me with the truth, when they came to me the first time (1), Satan was certainly with them.”
They questioned him and he questioned them, and the exchange continued until they said, “What do you say about Jesus? We would like to know your view of him.” Thereupon Allah revealed: “Indeed, the likeness of Jesus in the sight of Allah is like that of Adam: He created him from dust, then said to him, ‘Be,’ and he was. The truth is from your Lord, so do not be among the doubters. And if anyone disputes with you about him after the knowledge that has come to you, then say, ‘Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves; then let us supplicate earnestly and invoke Allah’s curse upon the liars.’” (Āl ʿImrān 59–61). But they refused to accept this.
The next morning, after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had informed them of what had been revealed, he came out wrapped in a cloak with al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn inside it, while Fāṭimah walked behind him, heading toward the mutual imprecation (mubāhalah). At that time he had several wives. Shuraḥbīl said to his two companions, “ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shuraḥbīl and Jabbār ibn Fayḍ, you both know that when the whole valley—its upper and its lower parts—gathers, they neither set out nor return except on my counsel. By Allah, I see a matter fast approaching. By Allah, if this man is a king who has been sent and we become the first Arabs to strike at him…"