Musnad Ahmad

Saeed bin Abu Rashid says that once in Homs I met Tanuqi, who had come to the Prophet (peace be upon him) as an envoy from Heraclius. He was my neighbor, had become extremely old, and had reached the age of senility. I said to him, "Why don't you tell me something about the letter of Heraclius to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the letter of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to Heraclius?" He said, "Why not. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was at Tabuk. He sent Sayyiduna Dihya Kalbi to Heraclius. When the blessed letter of the Prophet (peace be upon him) reached Heraclius, he gathered the Roman priests and chiefs, closed the door of the room, and said to them, 'This man has come to me, as you have seen. In the letter sent to me, I have been invited to accept one of three options: either I follow his religion, or I pay them tax in the form of wealth for the land and the land remains with us, or I fight them. By Allah! In the light of the books you read, you know that they will even gain the ground beneath my feet. So why don't we follow their religion or pay tax in the form of wealth for our land?' Upon hearing this, a similar sound came from all their throats, so much so that they took off their caps and said, 'Are you inviting us to leave Christianity, or that we become slaves to a Bedouin who has come from Hijaz?' When Heraclius saw that if these people left him in this state, they would cause turmoil against him throughout Rome, he immediately changed his stance and said, 'I only said this to see your firmness and strength upon your religion.' Then he called an Arab man from the tribe of Tayyib, who was appointed as the chief over the Christian Arabs, and said, 'Bring me a man who has a strong memory and knows the Arabic language, so that I may send him with a reply to this man's letter.' He brought me. Heraclius handed me his letter and said, 'Take this letter of mine to that man. If you cannot remember all his words, then at least remember three things: see whether he mentions the letter I sent him or not; see whether, when he reads my letter, he mentions the Torah or not; and look at his back, do you see anything strange?' I took Heraclius's letter and set out, and reached Tabuk. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was sitting among his companions in an area near water, encircling his legs with his hands. I asked the people, 'Where is your companion?' They pointed him out to me. I came and sat before the Prophet (peace be upon him), handed him the letter, which he placed in his lap, and asked me, 'Where are you from?' I said, 'I am a Tanuqi man.' The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked, 'Do you feel any inclination towards the Hanifiyyah, the religion of your father Ibrahim?' I said, 'I am an envoy of a people and upon the religion of a people. Until I return to them, I cannot turn away from this religion.' Upon this, the Prophet (peace be upon him) smiled and began to recite this verse: 'You cannot guide whom you love, but Allah guides whom He wills, and He knows best those who are guided.' O Tanuqi brother! I wrote a letter to Kisra, he tore it up; Allah will tear him and his kingdom apart. I wrote a letter to Najashi, he tore it up; Allah will break him and his kingdom. I wrote a letter to your king, but he preserved it; therefore, as long as there is any good in life, his awe and authority will remain over the people.' I thought in my heart that this was the first of the three things the king had advised me about. So I took an arrow from my quiver and wrote this on the sheath of my sword. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave that letter to a man sitting on his left. I asked the people, 'Who is this person reading the letter?' The people said, 'Sayyiduna Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him).' Anyway, in our king's letter it was written, 'You invite me to that Paradise whose width is like the heavens and the earth, prepared for the righteous...'

Abdullah bin Ahmad narrated to us, he said: Abu ‘Amir Hawtharah bin Ashras dictated to me, he said: Hammad bin Salamah narrated to me, from Abdullah bin ‘Uthman bin Khuthaym, from Sa‘id bin Abi Rashid, who said: The messenger of Caesar was my neighbor during the time of Yazid bin Mu‘awiyah, so I said to him: Tell me about the letter of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, to Caesar. He said: Indeed, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, sent Dihyah al-Kalbi to Caesar, and wrote a letter with him to him, and he mentioned something similar to the hadith of ‘Abbad bin ‘Abbad, and the hadith of ‘Abbad is more complete and better in relating the story, and he added: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, laughed when he invited him to Islam, but he refused to accept Islam, and he recited this verse: “Indeed, you do not guide whom you love, but Allah guides whom He wills” __QUR_28_56__, then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “You are a messenger of a people and you have a right, but you have come to us while we are in hardship.” So ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan said: I will clothe him with a saffron-colored garment, and a man from the Ansar said: I will host him.