Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 13894

Sa'id bin Abi Rashid narrates: In Hims I met al-Tanukhi, who had been the envoy of Heraclius to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). That gentleman was my neighbour, and he was a very old, aged man. I said: "Will you not tell me about the letter Heraclius sent to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the letter the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent to Heraclius?" He said: "Yes! The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Tabuk, and he sent Sayyiduna Dihyah al-Kalbi (may Allah be pleased with him) to Heraclius. When the letter of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reached him, he called the priests and the chiefs of Rome and had the door shut on himself and on them. Then he said: 'This man has come, whom you see (or: that gentleman has been sent about whom you have learned). He has sent me a message and invited me to three things. He has invited me to follow him in his religion, or else that we remain in our land and keep paying him a ransom, or else that we fight him. By Allah! Through the books you have been reading, you have come to know that he will take possession even of the place beneath my feet (that is, my kingdom). So either we follow his religion, or else we remain in our land and give him a ransom.' At that, all of them suddenly became enraged; they took off their caps and said: 'Are you inviting us to abandon Christianity and become the slaves of a Bedouin who has come from the Hijaz?' When Heraclius sensed that they would leave him, that their support would be spoiled and that his kingdom would be harmed, he said: 'I said this to you only so that I might know how firm you are in your religion.' Then he called a man from among the Arabs who was the ruler of the Arab Christians, and he said: 'Bring me a man who remembers speech well and knows the Arabic language, so that I may send him to that gentleman with the reply to his letter.' So that man summoned me, and Heraclius handed the reply letter to me and said: 'Take this letter of mine to that gentleman, and do not forget anything he says; in particular, remember three things about him. Observe whether he mentions anything regarding the letter he sent. And observe what happens when he reads my letter: does he mention the night? And examine his back: is there anything there that would put you in doubt?'" The narrator says: I brought his letter to Tabuk. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting among his Companions in the ihtiba' posture, and they were by some water. I asked: "Where is your master?" I was told: "He is this one." I walked up and sat down in front of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and I held out to him the letter I had with me. He placed it in his lap and then asked: "Where are you from?" I replied: "I am from Tanukh." He asked: "Are you interested in accepting the true religion, which is the religion of your forefather Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him)?" I said: "I am the representative of a people and I follow the religion of a people; I will not turn away from it until I go back to those people." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled and recited this verse: "Indeed, you do not guide whom you wish, but Allah Almighty guides whom He wills, and He knows best those who are guided." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O man from Tanukh! I sent a letter to Chosroes and he tore it up; Allah Almighty will tear him and his rule to pieces. I sent a letter to the Negus and he tore it up; Allah Almighty will tear him and his rule to pieces. I sent a letter to your ruler and he kept it safe, so those people will continue in such a state that they will have no trouble; as long as he remains, these people will remain well." The narrator says: I thought: "One of the things my ruler had instructed me about has come out." I took an arrow from my quiver and noted this down on the leather of my sword. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) handed that letter to a man on his left. I asked: "Who is this gentleman who will read this letter for you?" The people said: "This is Mu'awiyah." In the letter my ruler had written, this was mentioned: "You invite to a Paradise whose width is that of the heavens and the earth, prepared for the God-fearing; then where is Hell?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Subhan Allah! When the day comes, where is the night?" The narrator says: I took an arrow out of my quiver and noted this down on the leather of my sword. When he had finished reading my letter, he said: "You have a right, since you are an envoy. If you had found anything with us by way of hospitality, we would have given it to you, but we ourselves are travelling." The narrator says: Then a man from among those people called out loudly: "I will give him a gift." Then he opened his saddlebag and brought a Safuri suit of clothes and placed it in my lap. I asked: "Who is the gentleman giving this suit?" I was told: "This gentleman is Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Who will host this man?" A young man of the Ansar said: "I will." That Ansari stood up, and I stood up with him. When I rose from that gathering, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) addressed me loudly and said: "O man from Tanukh! Come forward!" I came and went towards the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), until I stood in front of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at the place where I had been sitting before. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) undid the cloth tied around his back and said: "Fulfil also what you were ordered regarding this." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) removed the cloth from his back, and at the particular place of his (peace and blessings be upon him) shoulder there was the Seal of Prophethood, which was like a large button.
Abdullah bin Ahmad and Abu Ya'la recorded it; the narrators of Abu Ya'la are thiqat (trustworthy), and the narrators of Abdullah bin Ahmad are likewise.