Part of Pictures from the lives of the Companions (series completed)
· Lesson 87 of 93
Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (102) - Al-Mughirah bin Shu’bah, may God be pleased with him
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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The Mawaddah Association is pleased
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to present to you
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"Portraits from the Lives of the Companions"
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by 'Abd al-Rahman
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Ra'fat al-Basha,
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may Allah have mercy upon him.
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Al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah,
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may Allah be pleased with him.
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Who were these desert wanderers
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who traversed the vast wilderness
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and crossed barren wastelands,
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taking turns three at a time
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upon a single camel, until
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they reached the lands of Persia as callers to guidance?
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Yet when the Persians rejected guidance,
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they became conquerors.
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Who were these men?
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You would see nothing on their bodies but coarse garments,
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you would find in their hands nothing but light weapons,
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and you would see beneath them only horses emaciated by long journeys across the horizons,
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exhausted by scarce provisions.
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Truly, they were the proud champions,
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knights by day, worshippers by night:
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the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
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They set forth from the heart of the Arabian Peninsula under the leadership of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas,
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coming to Khosrow and his people bearing the call of guidance and truth;
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yet when they rejected it, they raised swords against them.
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The Muslim army encamped under the leadership of the lion, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, at al-Qadisiyyah,
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preparing to meet the enemy,
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numbering no more than thirty thousand,
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while the Persian army numbered one hundred and twenty thousand.
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The provisions and equipment of the Muslims were meager and small,
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while the equipment of the Persians was beyond count and measure.
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Despite this, the Persians harbored the deepest dread of the Muslims
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and feared them immensely;
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for the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, came to fulfill a sacred trust
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and sought martyrdom,
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none of them caring on which side of his body he met his death for the sake of Allah.
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As for the soldiers of Persia,
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despite their abundant equipment and vast numbers,
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they did not know what they were fighting for,
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nor what they were defending.
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Therefore, their commanders bound them together in chains and shackles
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so that they would not flee during the advance or turn their backs in retreat.
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The ruler of Persia knew this about the Muslims,
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having tested them before,
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and he knew the reality of his own troops,
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for they had failed him against the Muslims on more than one occasion.
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Thus, he dispatched his envoys to the commander of the Muslim army, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas,
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asking him to send a delegation of his men
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to negotiate the purpose for which the Muslims had come
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and to ascertain what they demanded.
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Sa'd chose ten of his companions,
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among them al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah,
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to meet the ruler of the Persians.
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And do not ask why he chose al-Mughirah;
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for the man was one of the foremost shrewd geniuses of the Arabs,
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so much so that he was called "Mughirah of Sound Judgment."
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Al-Sha'bi used to say:
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"The shrewd geniuses of the Arabs are four:
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Mu'awiyah for deliberate patience,
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'Amr ibn al-'As for perplexing dilemmas,
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al-Mughirah for quick wit,
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and Ziyad ibn Abihi for matters great and small."
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And Sa'd was not mistaken,
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for the situation required quick wit more than anything else.
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This delegation set out to meet the Persian monarch at the appointed time,
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and the people came out—the old and the young, women and children—
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to see these newcomers.
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For they had heard tales of their prowess against their enemies,
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their mutual compassion among themselves,
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the equality between their leaders and their subordinates,
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and their deep faith in their message—
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reports that enticed them to come out and see who they were.
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When they laid eyes upon them,
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they were seized with utter amazement.
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Their gaze was drawn to their slender bodies,
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their coarse garments,
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their simple sandals,
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their lean horses that struck the ground firmly with their hooves,
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the whips they carried in their hands,
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and their swords and shields.
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When they asked permission to enter upon the Persian monarch,
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they found that he had adorned his hall with gilded cushions,
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embellished it with embroidered carpets,
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and displayed precious rubies, rare pearls,
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and various sorts of splendid ornaments and luxuries,
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while he himself sat upon a throne of gold.
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When they were about to enter upon him,
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the chamberlains said to them,
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"Lay down your weapons at the door."
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They replied:
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"We did not come to you uninvited;
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rather, you invited us.
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So either leave us as we came,
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or we shall return."
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He granted them permission,
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and they entered as they wished.
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No sooner had they settled in the assembly
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than the King of Persia began to mock their poverty.
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He asked about their clothes and what they were called,
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about their cloaks and what they cost,
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and about their sandals and how they were made.
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Then he said to them:
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"What has brought you to this land?"
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One of them stood up and said:
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"Allah has sent us
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to bring forth whomsoever He wills from the worship of servants
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to the worship of Allah alone,
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from the constriction of this world to its vastness,
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and from the oppression of other religions to the justice of Islam.
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He sent us with His religion to His creation,
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that we may call them to it.
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Whoever accepts that from us, we accept it from him and leave him be;
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but whoever refuses, we fight him perpetually
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until we attain what Allah has promised."
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He asked:
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"And what has Allah promised?"
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He replied:
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"Paradise for him who is slain,
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and victory for him who survives."
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The king said:
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"I have heard your words.
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Are you willing to defer this matter
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so that we may consider it, and you may consider it too?"
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He replied, "Yes.
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How much time would you prefer?
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A day or two?"
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The king said:
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"No,
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rather until we consult our advisors
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and the leaders of our people."
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The Muslim envoy said:
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"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, did not establish as a Sunnah for us
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to grant respite to enemies upon meeting them for more than three days.
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So consider your affair and that of your people,
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and choose one of three options."
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He asked, "And what are these three?"
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He replied:
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"Our Prophet, peace be upon him, commanded us
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to begin by inviting our neighboring nations,
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and to deal with them justly.
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So either they enter into our religion,
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which enjoins all that is good and forbids all that is evil,
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or they choose the lighter of the two alternatives,
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which is paying the jizyah.
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But if they refuse, nothing remains except war and battle."
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The Persian monarch flew into a rage and said:
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"I know of no nation on earth that was more wretched than you,
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fewer in numbers, or more divided among themselves!
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We used to entrust your affairs to the border villages to keep you in check—
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that is, to turn you away and subdue you.
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We never even bothered to campaign against you, out of disdain for your status.
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If your numbers have now increased,
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let not numbers deceive you;
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and if hardship of life is what drove you forth,
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we will allot provisions for you until your lands become fertile,
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we will honor your nobles,
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and we will appoint over you a king who will treat you with leniency."
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Then he added, saying:
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"Your coming into our land is just like
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the parable of a fly that saw honey
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and said, 'Who will take me to it, and he shall have two dirhams?'
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But when it landed on it, it drowned in it,
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and began seeking deliverance but found none,
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crying out, 'Who will deliver me, and he shall have four dirhams?'"
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Then he flared with anger and said:
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"I swear by the sun, I shall slaughter you tomorrow!"
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At that, al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah stood up before him and said:
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"O King,
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those who spoke to you are noblemen
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who show courtesy before nobles.
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Not everything with which they were sent to you
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did they utter, and they acted gracefully;
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and only such conduct is befitting of men like them.
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But if you wish, I will convey it on their behalf while they bear witness.
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You have described the wretched condition we were once in,
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yet your description fell short of the reality,
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because you did not truly know us.
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As for the hunger you mentioned,
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no hunger was comparable to it:
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we used to eat beetles, dung beetles, scorpions, and snakes,
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regarding that as palatable food.
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As for our dwellings, they were merely the bare ground,
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and we wore nothing but what we spun from camel hair and sheep wool.
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Our way of life was for us to kill one another
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and transgress against each other.
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A man among us would bury his infant daughter alive,
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out of hatred that she might eat from his food.
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We used to worship stones;
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and if we saw a stone better than the one we worshipped,
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we would cast it away and take another.
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Our condition before today was indeed as you described to us.
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Then Allah sent to us a man from among ourselves, well known to us:
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his lineage was the best of our lineages,
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his ancestry the most noble of our ancestries,
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his household the best of our households,
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and he was the most truthful and forbearing among us.
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He called us to believe in Allah alone,
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and as we conversed, he spoke truth while we realized our former falsehood;
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he grew in righteousness while we fell short,
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and he never foretold a thing except that it came to pass.
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Thus, Allah cast belief in him and obedience to him into our hearts,
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so he became the intermediary between us and the Lord of the worlds:
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whatever he told us was the word of Allah,
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and whatever he commanded us was the command of Allah.
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He instructed us that whoever follows you in this religion
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shall have the same rights and duties as you.
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And whoever refuses, offer them the jizya,
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and then protect them just as you protect yourselves.
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But whoever refuses that as well, then fight them.
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So choose, if you will, to pay the jizya while being humbled,
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or choose the sword,
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or embrace Islam to save yourself and your people.'
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The king grew furious and said,
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'Were it not that emissaries are not to be killed, I would have executed you.'
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Then he said to his chamberlains,
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'Bring me a load of dirt,
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place it upon the noblest of these men,
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and drive him away just as beasts are driven,
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until he is cast far beyond the dwellings of al-Mada'in.'
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Then he asked, 'Which of you is the noblest?'
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'Asim Ibn 'Amr stood up and said, 'I am.'
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He only said so in order to carry the dirt.
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So they loaded it upon him,
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and the king then said to them,
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'Return to your leader
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and inform him that tomorrow I will send Rustam against him,
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to bury him along with his army in the trench of al-Qadisiyyah.'
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It was only a matter of hours before the morrow dawned,
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yet the sun of that day did not set
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until the routed Persian soldiers saw
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the head of Rustam raised upon the spears of the Muslims.
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