English Translation

Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim told us, he said: My father told us, from Ibn Ishaq, he said: Yazid ibn Abi Habib told me, from Rashid, the freed slave of Habib ibn Abi Aws al-Thaqafi, from Habib ibn Abi Aws, who said: Amr ibn al-As related to me from his own mouth, he said: "When we withdrew from the Confederates at the Trench, I gathered men from Quraysh who valued my standing and used to listen to me, and I said to them, 'You know, by Allah, that I see the affair of Muhammad rising to a great and disturbing extent, and I have formed an opinion — what do you think of it?' They said, 'What have you seen?' I said, 'I think we should go to the Negus and stay with him. If Muhammad prevails over our people, we would be with the Negus, and to be under his authority is more beloved to us than to be under the authority of Muhammad; and if our people prevail, we are known to them and nothing but good will come to us from them.' They said, 'This is indeed a sound opinion.' I said to them, 'Then gather for him what we shall present as gifts.' The most beloved gift to him from our land was tanned leather, so we gathered abundant leather for him and set out until we arrived at his court. By Allah, while we were with him, Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri arrived — the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had sent him to the Negus concerning the matter of Ja'far and his companions. He entered upon him, then left his presence. I said to my companions, 'This is Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri. If only I could enter upon the Negus and ask him for him, he would give him to me, and I would strike off his neck. If I did that, Quraysh would see that I had done them a great service by killing the messenger of Muhammad.' So I entered upon him and prostrated to him as I used to do. He said, 'Welcome, my friend. Have you brought me something from your land?' I said, 'Yes, O King, I have brought you abundant leather.' I presented it to him and he was pleased with it and desired it. Then I said to him, 'O King, I saw a man leave your presence who is the messenger of a man who is our enemy; give him to me so that I may kill him, for he has wronged our nobles and our best men.' He became angry, then stretched out his hand and struck his own nose with such a blow that I thought he had broken it, so that if the earth had split open for me I would have entered it out of fear of him. Then I said, 'O King, by Allah, had I known you disliked this, I would not have asked you for it.' He said to me, 'Do you ask me to give you the messenger of a man to whom comes the greatest Namus [the angel of revelation] who used to come to Moses, so that you may kill him?' I said, 'O King, is that really so?' He said, 'Woe to you, O Amr, obey me and follow him, for by Allah he is upon the truth, and he will surely prevail over whoever opposes him, just as Moses prevailed over Pharaoh and his soldiers.' I said, 'Then take my pledge of allegiance to him for Islam.' He said, 'Yes,' and he extended his hand, and I gave him my pledge of allegiance for Islam. Then I went out to my companions, my opinion having changed from what it had been, and I concealed my acceptance of Islam from my companions. Then I set out heading for the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, to accept Islam, and I met Khalid ibn al-Walid — that was shortly before the Conquest — coming from Mecca. I said, 'Where to, O Abu Sulayman?' He said, 'By Allah, the path has become clear, and the man is indeed a prophet. By Allah, I am going to accept Islam — until when [should I delay]?' I said, 'By Allah, I have come for nothing but to accept Islam.' So we came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Khalid ibn al-Walid arrived and accepted Islam and gave his pledge. Then I drew near and said, 'O Messenger of Allah, I give you my pledge on condition that you forgive me my past sins, and I will not mention what came after.' The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, 'O Amr, give your pledge, for Islam wipes out what came before it, and emigration wipes out what came before it.' So I gave him my pledge, then I withdrew." Ibn Ishaq said: Someone I do not suspect told me that Uthman ibn Talhah ibn Abi Talhah was with the two of them and accepted Islam when they did.