those who affirm the truth and never lets the reward of those who do good go to waste.

Abū al-‘Abbās, the bearer of this letter, has spoken among us of the virtues of the king and his brothers, inclining our hearts towards him. I have therefore written to the king upon learning of his desire for goodness and his inclination towards knowledge and religion. In offering sincere counsel to the king and his companions and seeking their welfare, I am among the representatives of the Messiah and all the other prophets. For Muhammad’s community is the best community brought forth for mankind: they desire good for all people in this world and the Hereafter, enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, call them to Allah, and help them pursue what benefits their religious and worldly affairs.

If the king has received reports disparaging some of them or their religion, then either the informant was lying or he failed to understand the reports’ meaning and the actual circumstances. If, however, he truthfully reported sins, indecencies, or injustices committed by some of them, such things inevitably occur in every community. Indeed, the evil found among Muslims is far less than that found among others, while the good found among them has no equal elsewhere.

The king, and every sensible person, knows that most Christians depart from the precepts of the Messiah and the Apostles and from the epistles of Paul and other saints—even if most of what they retain of Christianity consists of drinking wine, eating pork, venerating the cross, and invented ordinances for which Allah has sent down no authority—and that some of them regard as lawful certain things forbidden by Christian religious law. This concerns what they themselves acknowledge. As for