Hirakul sent to him a caravan of Quraysh—who were merchants in wool—during the period when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was extending the treaty with Abu Sufyan and the disbelievers of Quraysh. They came to him while they were in Ilya, and he invited them to his council, surrounded by the great Romans. He then called his translators and said, "Which of you is most closely related by lineage to this man who claims to be a prophet?" Abu Sufyan replied, "I say I am the closest by lineage." He said, "Bring him nearer to me, and bring his companions, and place them at his back." He then said to his translators, "Tell them I am asking about this man; if he lies to me, then lie about him. By Allah, if modesty did not prevent them from lying to me, I would have lied about him." The first question he asked about him was, "What is his lineage among you?" I said, "He is among us a person of lineage." He asked, "Has anyone among you ever said this statement before?" I said, "No." He asked, "Was any of his ancestors a king?" I said, "No." He asked, "Do the noble people follow him or his weak ones?" I said, "Rather his weak ones." He asked, "Do they increase or decrease?" I said, "They increase." He asked, "Does any of them ever revert in anger from his religion after entering it?" I said, "No." He asked, "Did you accuse him of lying before he said what he said?" I said, "No." He asked, "Does he betray?" I said, "No, and we are from him for a period we do not know what is done in it." He said, "I cannot find a word to insert anything other than this word." He asked, "Did you fight him?" I said, "Yes." He asked, "How was your fighting with him?" I said, "The war between us and him was a tug of war; we each gain from the other." He asked, "What does he command you?" I said, "He says: worship Allah alone, do not associate anything with Him, abandon what your fathers used to say, and he commands us to prayer, truthfulness, chastity, and prayer." He said to the translators, "Tell him I asked you about his lineage, and you mentioned that he is among you a person of lineage; thus the messengers are sent among the lineages of their peoples. I asked you whether any of you said this statement, and you said no; so I said if anyone had said this before, I would say a man who brings a statement that was said before him... (the same series of questions and answers were repeated). If what you say is true, he will own the place of my two feet, and I knew he was an outsider; I did not think he was among you. If I had known I was sincere to him I would have rushed to meet him, and if I were with him I would have washed his foot. Then he called the Book of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) which Dihyah had sent to the great of Busra, gave it to Hirakul, and he read: "In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. From Muhammad, servant of Allah and his Messenger, to Hirakul, great of the Romans. Peace be upon those who follow guidance. After that I call you by the invitation of Islam: become Muslim and you will be safe; Allah will give you reward twice, but if you turn away you will bear the sin of the Arians. O People of the Scripture, come to a common word between us and you: that we worship none but Allah and associate nothing with Him, and that none of us takes any other as lord besides Allah. If they turn away, say, "Bear witness that we are Muslims."" Abu Sufyan said, when he finished the reading, there was much noise, voices rose, and we were taken out. I said to my companions when we were taken out that the order of Ibn Abi Kabsha had been given, that the king of Bani al‑Asfar fears him. I remained convinced that he would appear until Allah brings Islam upon me. Ibn al‑Nadhur, companion of Ilya and Hirakul, who was a roof over the Christians of the shawl, narrates that when Hirakul came Ilya became a bad‑natured day, and some of his followers said, "We have denied your appearance." Ibn al‑Nadhur, who was a seer looking at the stars, said that when they asked him, "I saw at night, when I looked at the stars, the king of the seals had appeared; who will cut off this nation?" they replied, "Only the Jews will cut it off, so do not worry about them and write to the lands of your kingdom, and they will kill the Jews among them." While they were on this matter, Hirakul was brought a man sent by the king of Gassan, reporting news of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). When Hirakul questioned him, he said, "Go and see whether he is a cutter or not." They looked at him and reported that he was a cutter; when asked about the Arabs, he said they cut. Hirakul said, "This is the king of this nation that has appeared." Hirakul then wrote to a Roman companion, a scholar, and went to Hims. He did not reach Hims until a book arrived from his companion confirming Hirakul's view on the Prophet's departure and that he was a prophet. Hirakul announced to the great Romans in a tent at Hims, ordered its doors to be closed, then addressed the Romans: "Do you have in agriculture and guidance that your kingdom may be established? Then pledge allegiance to this prophet." They seized a portion of the wild horses at the gates, found them closed, and when Hirakul saw their retreat, he said, "Return them to me." He said, "I said earlier that I would test your steadfastness in your religion, and I have seen..." They prostrated to him and were satisfied. That was the end of Hirakul's affair. It is narrated by Salih ibn Qaysan and Yunus and Ma'mar from al‑Zuhri.

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