When we withdrew from the Confederates at the Trench, I gathered some men of Quraysh who respected my opinion and listened to what I had to say. I told them, "By Allah, I see that Muhammad's cause is rising over all other matters in a tremendous, alarming way, and I have an idea. What do you think of it?"They asked, "What is your idea?"I said, "I think we should join Najashi and stay with him. If Muhammad prevails over our people, we will be safe with Najashi, for we would rather be under his authority than under Muhammad's. And if our people prevail, we are men they know, so nothing but good will come to us from them."They said, "This is a good plan."I said, "Then gather gifts to present to him." The most beloved gift to him from our land was leather, so we gathered a large quantity of it and set out until we reached him.By Allah, while we were with him, in came Amr bin Umaya al-Damri, whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had sent to him regarding Jafar and his companions. He went in to Najashi, then came out.I said to my companions, "That is Amr bin Umaya al-Damri. If I were to go in to Najashi and ask him to hand the man over, he would give him to me, and I would strike off his head. When I did that, Quraysh would see that I had served them well by killing Muhammad's messenger."So I went in to him and prostrated to him as was my custom. He said, "Welcome, my friend. Have you brought me anything from your land?"I said, "Yes, King, I have brought you a great deal of leather." Then I presented it to him, and it pleased him and he was eager for it.Then I said to him, "King, I saw a man leave your presence who is the messenger of a man who is our enemy. Hand him over to me so I may kill him, for he has struck down some of our nobles and best men."He became furious, then stretched out his hand and struck his own nose with such a blow that I thought he had broken it. Had the earth split open for me, I would have entered it out of fear of him.Then I said, "King, by Allah, had I known you would dislike this, I would not have asked you for him."He said to me, "Are you asking me to hand over to you the messenger of a man to whom comes the Greatest Namus that came to Musa, so that you may kill him?"I said, "King, is he really like that?"He said, "Woe to you, Amr! Obey me and follow him. By Allah, he is upon the truth, and he will prevail over those who oppose him just as Musa prevailed over Pharaoh and his armies."I said, "Then take my pledge of allegiance to him on Islam."He said, "Yes." So he stretched out his hand, and I pledged allegiance to him on Islam. Then I went out to my companions, my view completely changed from what it had been, but I concealed my Islam from my companions.Then I set out, heading for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to embrace Islam. I met Khalid bin Walid, this being shortly before the Conquest, as he was coming from Mecca. I said, "Where are you going, Abu Sulayman?"He said, "By Allah, the path has become straight. The man is truly a prophet. By Allah, I am going to embrace Islam. How much longer can this go on?"I said, "By Allah, I have come for nothing other than to embrace Islam."We arrived before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Khalid bin Walid went forward, embraced Islam, and gave his pledge. Then I drew near and said, "Messenger of Allah, I pledge allegiance to you on the condition that you forgive me my past sins," and I did not mention what was to come.The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Amr, give your pledge, for Islam wipes out what came before it, and the Hijrah wipes out what came before it."So I pledged allegiance to him and then departed.Ibn Ishaq said, A man whom I do not suspect of lying told me that Uthman bin Talha bin Abu Talha was with the two of them and embraced Islam when they did.
حدثنا يعقوب بن إبراهيم قال حدثنا أبي عن ابن إسحاق قال حدثني يزيد بن أبي حبيب عن راشد مولى حبيب بن أبي أوس الثقفي عن حبيب بن أبي أوس قال حدثني
لما انصرفنا من الأحزاب عن الخندق جمعت رجالا من قريش كانوا يرون مكاني ويسمعون مني فقلت لهم تعلمون والله إني لأرى أمر محمد يعلو الأمور علوا كبيرا منكرا وإني قد رأيت رأيا فما ترون فيه قالوا وما رأيت قال رأيت أن نلحق بالنجاشي فنكون عنده فإن ظهر محمد على قومنا كنا عند النجاشي فإنا أن نكون تحت يديه أحب إلينا من أن نكون تحت يدي محمد وإن ظهر قومنا فنحن من قد عرف فلن يأتينا منهم إلا خير فقالوا إن هذا الرأي قال فقلت لهم فاجمعوا له ما نهدي له وكان أحب ما يهدى إليه من أرضنا الأدم فجمعنا له أدما كثيرا فخرجنا حتى قدمنا عليه فوالله إنا لعنده إذ جاء عمرو بن أمية الضمري وكان رسول الله ﷺ قد بعثه إليه في شأن جعفر وأصحابه قال فدخل عليه ثم خرج من عنده قال فقلت لأصحابي هذا عمرو بن أمية الضمري لو قد دخلت على النجاشي فسألته إياه فأعطانيه فضربت عنقه فإذا فعلت ذلك رأت قريش أني قد أجزأت عنها حين قتلت رسول محمد قال فدخلت عليه فسجدت له كما كنت أصنع فقال مرحبا بصديقي أهديت لي من بلادك شيئا قال قلت نعم أيها الملك قد أهديت لك أدما كثيرا قال ثم قدمته إليه فأعجبه واشتهاه ثم قلت له أيها الملك إني قد رأيت رجلا خرج من عندك وهو رسول رجل عدو لنا فأعطنيه لأقتله فإنه قد أصاب من أشرافنا وخيارنا قال فغضب ثم مد يده فضرب بها أنفه ضربة ظننت أن قد كسره فلو انشقت لي الأرض لدخلت فيها فرقا منه ثم قلت أيها الملك والله لو ظننت أنك تكره هذا ما سألتكه فقال له أتسألني أن أعطيك رسول رجل يأتيه الناموس الأكبر الذي كان يأتي موسى لتقتله قال قلت أيها الملك أكذاك هو فقال ويحك يا عمرو أطعني واتبعه فإنه والله لعلى الحق وليظهرن على من خالفه كما ظهر موسى على فرعون وجنوده قال قلت فبايعني له على الإسلام قال نعم فبسط يده وبايعته على الإسلام ثم خرجت إلى أصحابي وقد حال رأيي عما كان عليه وكتمت أصحابي إسلامي ثم خرجت عامدا لرسول الله ﷺ لأسلم فلقيت خالد بن الوليد وذلك قبيل الفتح وهو مقبل من مكة فقلت أين يا أبا سليمان قال والله لقد استقام المنسم وإن الرجل لنبي أذهب والله أسلم فحتى متى قال قلت والله ما جئت إلا لأسلم قال فقدمنا على رسول الله ﷺ فقدم خالد بن الوليد فأسلم وبايع ثم دنوت فقلت يا رسول الله إني أبايعك على أن تغفر لي ما تقدم من ذنبي ولا أذكر وما تأخر قال فقال رسول الله ﷺ يا عمرو بايع فإن الإسلام يجب ما كان قبله وإن الهجرة تجب ما كان قبلها قال فبايعته ثم انصرفت قال ابن إسحاق وقد حدثني من لا أتهم أن عثمان بن طلحة بن أبي طلحة كان معهما أسلم حين أسلما