Saeed bin Abu Rashid reported,

I came to Sham, and I was told that in this church there was a messenger sent by Caesar to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. So we entered the church, and there I found a very old man. I asked him, "Are you the messenger Caesar sent to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?"He replied, "Yes."I said, "Tell me about that."He said, "When the Prophet marched on Tabuk, he wrote a letter to Caesar and sent it with a man called Dahiya bin Khalifa. When Caesar read the letter, he placed it beside him on his couch, then summoned his patriarchs and the chiefs of his companions and said, 'This man has sent a messenger to you and written to you a letter giving you a choice between three things. Either you follow him in his religion, or you agree to pay him a tribute that flows to him from you while he leaves you as you are in your lands, or you meet him in war.'They snorted in protest, so much so that some of them burst out of their hooded cloaks, and said, 'Shall we follow him in his religion and abandon our religion and the religion of our fathers? Shall we agree to pay him a tribute that flows from us to him? No, rather we shall meet him in war.'He said, 'That may be so, but I disliked deciding the matter without consulting you.'"Abbad said, I asked Ibn Khuthaym, "Wasn't it the case that Qarib had been close to Islam, according to what reached us?"He said, "Yes, were it not for what he saw from them."He continued, "Then Caesar said, 'Find me a man from the Arabs to whom I can entrust my reply to his letter.' I was brought to him while still a young man, and he wrote his reply and said to me, 'Whatever else you may forget, remember three things from me. Watch when he reads my letter, does he mention the night and the day? Does he mention his letter to me? And look whether you see any mark on his back.'So I set out and came to him while he was at Tabuk, sitting in a circle of his companions with their knees drawn up. I asked for him and was directed to him, and I handed him the letter. He called Muawiya, who read the letter to him. When he came to the words, 'You invite me to a Garden whose breadth is the heavens and the earth, so where is the Fire?' the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'When the night comes, where is the day?'Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'I wrote to the Negus and he tore up my letter, so Allah tore his kingdom to pieces.'"Abbad said, I asked Ibn Khuthaym, "Did not the Negus accept Islam, and did not the Messenger of Allah ﷺ announce his death to his companions in Madinah and pray over him?"He said, "Yes, but that was so-and-so son of so-and-so, and this is so-and-so son of so-and-so." Ibn Khuthaym had named both of them, but I have forgotten the names."And I wrote to Khosrow a letter, and he tore it up, so Allah tore his kingdom to pieces. And I wrote to Caesar a letter, and he replied to me, and people will continue to fear harm from them as long as there is any good in life."Then he said to me, "Who are you?"I said, "From Tanukh."He said, "Brother of Tanukh, will you accept Islam?"I said, "No, I have come on behalf of a people, and I am upon their religion. I will not exchange it for another until I return to them."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ laughed, or smiled. When I had finished my business, I stood up, and as I turned away, he called me back and said, "Brother of Tanukh, come, carry out what you were commanded to do."I had forgotten it, so I circled around behind the gathering, and he let the cloak that was on him fall from his back. I saw the cartilage of his shoulder like a large cupping glass.

حدثنا عبد الله قال حدثني سريج بن يونس من كتابه قال حدثنا عباد بن عباد يعني المهلبي عن عبد الله بن عثمان بن خثيم

عن سعيد بن أبي راشد مولى لآل معاوية قال

قدمت الشام فقيل لي في هذه الكنيسة رسول قيصر إلى رسول الله ﷺ قال فدخلنا الكنيسة فإذا أنا بشيخ كبير فقلت له أنت رسول قيصر إلى رسول الله ﷺ فقال نعم قال قلت حدثني عن ذلك قال إنه لما غزا تبوك كتب إلى قيصر كتابا وبعث به مع رجل يقال له دحية بن خليفة فلما قرأ كتابه وضعه معه على سريره وبعث إلى بطارقته ورءوس أصحابه فقال إن هذا الرجل قد بعث إليكم رسولا وكتب إليكم كتابا يخيركم إحدى ثلاث إما أن تتبعوه على دينه أو تقروا له بخراج يجري له عليكم ويقركم على هيئتكم في بلادكم أو أن تلقوا إليه بالحرب قال فنخروا نخرة حتى خرج بعضهم من برانسهم وقالوا لا نتبعه على دينه وندع ديننا ودين آبائنا ولا نقر له بخراج يجري له علينا ولكن نلقي إليه الحرب فقال قد كان ذاك ولكني كرهت أن أفتات دونكم بأمر قال عباد فقلت لابن خثيم أوليس قد كان قارب وهم بالإسلام فيما بلغنا قال بلى لولا أنه رأى منهم قال فقال ابغوني رجلا من العرب أكتب معه إليه جواب كتابه قال فأتيت وأنا شاب فانطلق بي إليه فكتب جوابه وقال لي مهما نسيت من شيء فاحفظ عني ثلاث خلال انظر إذا هو قرأ كتابي هل يذكر الليل والنهار وهل يذكر كتابه إلي وانظر هل ترى في ظهره علما قال فأقبلت حتى أتيته وهو بتبوك في حلقة من أصحابه محتبين فسألت فأخبرت به فدفعت إليه الكتاب فدعا معاوية فقرأ عليه الكتاب فلما أتى على قوله دعوتني إلى جنة عرضها السموات والأرض فأين النار قال رسول الله ﷺ إذا جاء الليل فأين النهار قال فقال إني قد كتبت إلى النجاشي فخرقه فخرقه الله مخرق الملك قال عباد فقلت لابن خثيم أليس قد أسلم النجاشي ونعاه رسول الله ﷺ بالمدينة إلى أصحابه فصلى عليه قال بلى ذاك فلان بن فلان وهذا فلان بن فلان قد ذكرهم ابن خثيم جميعا ونسيتهما وكتبت إلى كسرى كتابا فمزقه فمزقه الله تمزيق الملك وكتبت إلى قيصر كتابا فأجابني فيه فلم تزل الناس يخشون منهم بأسا ما كان في العيش خير ثم قال لي من أنت قلت من تنوخ قال يا أخا تنوخ هل لك في الإسلام قلت لا إني أقبلت من قبل قوم وأنا فيهم على دين ولست مستبدلا بدينهم حتى أرجع إليهم قال فضحك رسول الله ﷺ أو تبسم فلما قضيت حاجتي قمت فلما وليت دعاني فقال يا أخا تنوخ هلم فامض للذي أمرت به قال وكنت قد نسيتها فاستدرت من وراء الحلقة ويلقى بردة كانت عليه عن ظهره فرأيت غضروف كتفه مثل المحجم الضخم