She begins: “We had the best of neighbours, the Negus. We were safe in our religion, and heard nothing we disliked.”
That is what reached Quraysh. They chose two strong men: 'Abdullâh ibn Abî Rabî'a and 'Amr ibn al-'Âs, not yet Muslims.
They gathered gifts of leather, the rarest thing from Mecca in the king's eyes, and a gift for each of his bishops.
The plan: gifts to every bishop first, then to the king; then ask him to hand the Muslims over before he hears them.
The bishops agreed: “Their people know them best. Hand them over.” The gifts had done their work on them.
The Negus grew angry. “No, by Allah, I will not hand them over, not before I call them and ask them.”
“If they are as these two say, I return them. If not, I protect them, and treat them well while they are my neighbours.”
He sent for the Muslims. They agreed first: “We will say what we know and what our Prophet ﷺ taught, whatever comes.”
The bishops sat around him with their scriptures open. He asked: what is this religion for which you left your people?
Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) spoke: “O king, we were a people of ignorance: we worshipped idols, ate carrion…”
“…committing shameful deeds, cutting family ties, wronging our neighbours, the strong among us devouring the weak.”
“Then Allah sent us a messenger from among us, whose lineage, truthfulness, honesty and chastity we knew.”
“He called us to Allah alone, to truth, trust, family ties and good neighbourliness, to prayer, zakât and fasting.”
“We believed him. So our people attacked us and tormented us, to turn us back to idols.”
“When they overpowered us, we came to your land. We chose you, and we hoped not to be wronged with you, O king.”
The king asked: “Do you have with you anything of what he brought from Allah?” Ja'far said yes.
“Then recite it to me.” And Ja'far recited to him the beginning of Kâf Hâ Yâ 'Ayn Sâd, Sûrat Maryam.
Kâf, Hâ, Yâ, 'Ayn, Sâd.
A mention of the mercy of your Lord to His servant Zakariyyâ.
Umm Salama swears it: the Negus wept until his beard was wet, and his bishops wept until their scriptures were wet.
Then he said: “This and what 'Îsâ brought come from one and the same niche.” A niche: where a lamp is set.
“Go, both of you. By Allah, I will not hand them over to you.” That was the first day.
The book To Abyssinia stopped at the gate. Here it opens: two envoys from Quraysh, gifts of leather, and a king.
Umm Salama was there. Her report is the thread of this book. What did the king hear, and what did he do?
Gifts to the bishops, a plea to hand them over unheard, a king who insisted on hearing, and the Qur'an that made him weep.
Tonight, open Sûrat Maryam and read its first verses slowly: the ones a king heard before you.