One of the delegation from Abdul-Qays who came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Among the gifts we presented to him was a small bundle, or a leather skin, of taadud or barni dates. He asked, 'What is this?' We replied, 'This is a gift.'"The narrator said, "I think he looked at one of the dates and put it back in its place, then said, 'Take this to the family of Muhammad.'"He said, "Then he questioned the people about various matters until they asked him about drinks. He said, 'Do not drink from gourds, green earthenware jars, hollowed wood, or vessels lined with pitch. Drink only from a waterskin tied at the mouth.'"One of us said to him, "Messenger of Allah, how do you know what the gourd, the green jar, the hollowed wood, and the pitch-lined vessel are?"He replied, "I do not know what they are. Which part of Hajar is the most fortified?"We answered, "Al-Mushaqqar."He said, "By Allah, I have entered it and taken its key."The narrator said, "I had forgotten part of his hadith, and Ubaydullah bin Abu Jarwa reminded me of it. He said, 'I stood at the spring of az-Zarah.'"Then he said, "O Allah, forgive Abdul-Qays, for they accepted Islam willingly, not unwillingly, neither humiliated nor compelled by force, while some of our people will not accept Islam until they are humiliated and overpowered."The narrator said, "His face turned from this side away from the qiblah until he faced the qiblah, and he said, 'Indeed, the best of the people of the East are Abdul-Qays.'"
حدثني أحد الوفد الذين وفدوا على رسول الله ﷺ من عبد القيس، قال: و أهدينا له فيما نهدي نوطا، أو قربة من تعضوض، أو برني، فقال: ما هذا؟ قلنا: هذه هدية، قال: وأحسبه نظر إلى تمرة منها فأعادها مكانها، وقال: ابلغوها آل محمدقال: فسألها لقوم عن أشياء، حتى سألوه عن الشراب، فقال: لا تشربوا: في دباء، ولا حنتم، ولا نقير، ولا مزفت، اشربوا في الحلال الموكى عليه فقال له قائلنا: يا رسول الله، وما يدريك ما الدباء والحنتم والنقير والمزفت؟ قال: أنا لا أدري ما هيه، أي هجر أعز؟ قلنا: المشقر، قال: فوالله، لقد دخلتها وأخذت إقليدها، قال: وكنت قد نسيت من حديثه شيئا فأذكرنيه عبيد الله بن أبي جروة، قال: وقفت على عين الزارة. ثم قال: اللهم اغفر لعبد القيس إذ أسلموا طائعين غير كارهين غير خزايا، ولا موتورين، إذ بعض قومنا لا يسلمون حتى يخزوا، ويوتروا قال: وابتهل وجهه هاهنا من القبلة، حتى استقبل القبلة، وقال: إن خير أهل المشرق عبد القيس.
Reported by Abu Dawud (3695) in an abridged form, Ahmad (17829) - the wording here is his -, and Bayhaqi (8/302), all of them through the route of Awf bin Abu Jameela Arabi, who said, Abu Qamus Zayd bin Ali told me, saying, one of the delegation who came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from Abdul-Qays told me, then he related it. Its chain is sahih.His saying "nawtan" - a nawt is a small basket containing dates or the like.His saying "taghdud or burni" - these are two types of dates.His saying "mawtureen" means that no misfortune had befallen them, such as being killed, robbed, or the like.