with Amr ibn al-Ās while he was in the throes (1) of death. He wept for a long time and turned his face toward the wall. His son began to say (2):

‘Why are you weeping, dear father? Did the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—not give you glad tidings of such-and-such? Did he not give you glad tidings of such-and-such?’

He said: Then Amr turned to face us and said (3):

‘Indeed, the best provision we can prepare (4) is the testimony that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I passed through three states. There was a time when no one hated the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—more intensely than I did, and nothing would have pleased me more than to overpower him and kill him. Had I died in that state, I would have been one of the people of the Fire.

‘Then, when Allah—Mighty and Majestic—placed Islam in my heart, I went to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and said, “Extend your right hand so that I may pledge allegiance to you.” He extended his right hand, but I drew mine back.

‘He asked, “What is the matter with you (5), Amr?”

‘I replied, “I wish to stipulate a condition.”

‘He asked, “What condition do you wish to stipulate?” (6)

‘I said, “That I be forgiven.”

‘He said (7), “Did you not know that Islam effaces whatever preceded it, that emigration effaces whatever preceded it, and that Hajj effaces whatever preceded it?”’”

He then related the rest of the hadith (8).

In al-Bukhārī: When Hind [the mother of Muāwiya—may Allah be pleased with them both—] embraced Islam, she said: (9)