The plague struck Syria in 18 AH

Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) states that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was mounted on his she-camel when he (peace and blessings be upon him) met Usamah bin Zayd, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) seated him in front of him, while Suhayl bin Amr was (being led) alongside as a captive, with his hands tied to his neck.

Suhayl bin Amr states: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entered Makkah (on the day of the Conquest), I rushed into my house and shut my door. Then I sent word to my son Abdullah to seek protection for me from Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), for I feared that I would be killed. So Abdullah came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, will you grant my father safety?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, he is safe under the protection of Allah, so let him come out (openly)." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to those around him: "Whoever meets Suhayl bin Amr, let him not treat him harshly. By my life, Suhayl is a man of intelligence and nobility, and a man like Suhayl could not remain ignorant of the reality of Islam." Then Abdullah bin Suhayl went to his father and told him what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had said. Suhayl said: "By Allah, he (Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him) was the embodiment of goodness both as a child and as a grown man." After that Suhayl came and went in safety and peace. He set out with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (for the Battle of Hunayn) while still a polytheist, until he accepted Islam at al-Ji'ranah, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him a hundred camels from the spoils of Hunayn.

Abu Sa'id bin Fadalah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) states: When Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) sent us out for jihad, Suhayl bin Amr and I were together for several nights. I heard Suhayl say that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Your standing for an hour in the path of Allah is better than a whole lifetime of deeds while remaining among your family." Suhayl said (on hearing this): "Now I will keep guarding the frontiers (ribat) until I die, and I will never return to Makkah." So he kept guard over the frontiers in Syria until he died there during the plague of Amwas in the year 18 AH.

It is narrated from al-Hasan al-Basri that some people came to the door of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), among them Suhayl bin Amr, Abu Sufyan bin Harb and other elders of Quraysh. Meanwhile his doorkeeper came out and began to grant entry to the people of Badr, such as Suhayb and Bilal (may Allah be pleased with them both). The narrator says: By Allah, Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) loved the people of Badr greatly, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had also given instructions concerning them. Seeing this, Abu Sufyan said: I have never seen a sight like today's: these slaves are being given permission while we sit here and no attention is paid to us. Then Suhayl bin Amr (may Allah have mercy on him, how intelligent a man he was!) said: "O people, by Allah, I (understand) the expressions I see on your faces. If you are angry, then be angry with yourselves. These people were invited (to Islam) and so were you, but they hastened to accept it and you delayed. By Allah, their getting ahead of you in merit and excellence (which you cannot see today) should grieve you far more than missing out on this door over which you are competing with one another today." Then he said: "By Allah, there is now no way for you to reach the virtue in which these people have gone ahead of you. So now look to this jihad and hold fast to it; perhaps Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will grant you jihad and martyrdom." Then he shook out his garment, stood up and left for Syria. Al-Hasan al-Basri says: By Allah, he spoke the truth; Allah does not make a servant who hastens towards Him equal to one who is slow in His matter.

Al-Hasan bin Muhammad narrates that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): O Messenger of Allah, allow me to pull out the two front teeth of Suhayl bin Amr so that he can never stand as an orator (against you) among his people. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Leave it; perhaps one day some deed of his will please you." Sufyan says: Then when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away and the people of Makkah inclined (towards turning away from Islam), Suhayl bin Amr stood by the Ka'bah and (delivering a moving sermon) said: "Whoever used to worship Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), let him know that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) has passed away; and whoever worships Allah, let him know that Allah is Ever-Living and will never die."
The mention of the virtues of Bilal bin Rabah (may Allah be pleased with him), the mu'adhdhin of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), from whom Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) have narrated.