Quraysh sent me to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. When I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Islam was cast into my heart, so I said, "Messenger of Allah, by Allah, I will never return to them."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, "I do not break a covenant, nor do I detain envoys. Go back, and if you still feel in your heart what you feel now, then return."He said, "So I went, then later came back to the Prophet ﷺ and embraced Islam."
بعثتني قريش إلى رسول الله ﷺ، فلما رأيت رسول الله ﷺ، القى في قلبي الإسلام، فقلت: يا رسول الله! إني والله لا أرجع إليهم أبدا، فقال رسول الله ﷺ: إني لا أخيس بالعهد، ولا أحبس البرد، ولكن ارجع، فإن كان في نفسك الذي في نفسك الآن فارجع قال: فذهبت، ثم أتيت النبي ﷺ فأسلمت.
Reported by Abu Dawud (2758), Nasai in Sunan al-Kubra (8621), and graded sahih by Ibn Hibban (4877) and Hakim (3/598), all of them through routes from Abdullah bin Wahb, who said, Amr bin Harith informed me, from Bukayr bin Abdullah bin Ashaj, that Hasan bin Ali bin Abu Rafi told him, that Abu Rafi informed him, and he related it. Bukayr said, He informed me that Abu Rafi was a Copt.This chain of transmission is sahih, and Hasan bin Ali has explicitly stated, according to them, that his grandfather Abu Rafi informed him of this hadith. However, Ahmad (23857) reported it from Abdul-Jabbar bin Muhammad Khattabi, who said, Abdullah bin Wahb told us, from Amr bin Harith, that Bukayr bin Abdullah told him, from Hasan bin Ali bin Rafi, from his father, from his grandfather Abu Rafi, and he related it. This is an instance of an addition within an otherwise connected chain of transmission.As for his saying, "I do not betray a covenant," its meaning is that he does not break the covenant nor corrupt it, taken from the expression, a thing "khasa" in its container, meaning it spoiled. This contains a point of jurisprudence, namely that a contract is to be honored with a disbeliever just as it is honored with a Muslim, and that if a disbeliever grants you a covenant of safety, you are obligated to grant him safety in return, and not to attack him treacherously in life, property, or benefit. This shows the tolerance of Islam even toward disbelievers who are engaged in warfare.As for his saying, "I do not detain the messenger," it seems likely that the meaning is that a message requires a reply, and the reply cannot reach the sender except through the tongue of the messenger after his departure. So it is as though a covenant had been made for him for the duration of his coming and going. And Allah knows best.As for his saying, "Abu Rafi was a Copt," this Abu Rafi was a freedman of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. There is disagreement about his name, and the most well known opinion is that it was Aslam, though it has also been said to be Ibrahim, and other names have been mentioned as well. He had been a freedman of Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib, who then gave him to the Prophet ﷺ.