( Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas:
Abu sufyan bin Harb informed me that Heraclius had sent
a messenger to him while he had been accompanying a caravan
from Quraish. They were merchants doing business in Sham
( Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan ),
at the time when Allah's Apostle had truce with Abu sufyan
and Quraish infidels. So Abu sufyan and his companions
went to Heraclius at Ilya (Jerusalem).
Heraclius called them in the court and he had all the senior
Roman dignitaries around him.
He called for his translator who, translating Heraclius's
question said to them, "Who amongst you is closely related to
that man who claims to be a Prophet?
Abu sufyan replied, "I am the nearest relative to him
( amongst the group )." Heraclius said, "Bring him
( Abu sufyan ) close to me and make his companions
stand behind him." Abu sufyan added, Heraclius told
his translator to tell my companions that he wanted
to put some questions to me regarding that man
( The Prophet ) and that if I told a lie they ( my companions )
should contradict me." Abu sufyan added,
By Allah! Had I not been afraid of my companions labeling me
a liar, I would not have spoken the truth about the Prophet.
The first question he asked me about him was:
What is his family status amongst you?' I replied,
He belongs to a good ( noble ) family amongst us.
Heraclius further asked, 'Has anybody amongst you ever
claimed the same (i.e. to be a Prophet) before him?
I replied, 'No.' He said, 'Was anybody amongst his ancestors
a king?' I replied, 'No.' Heraclius asked,
Do the nobles or the poor follow him?' I replied,
It is the poor who follow him.' He said,
Are his followers increasing decreasing ( day by day )?
I replied, 'They are increasing.' He then asked,
Does anybody amongst those who embrace his religion
become displeased and renounce the religion afterwards?
I replied, 'No.' Heraclius said, 'Have you ever accused him
of telling lies before his claim (to be a Prophet)?
I replied, 'No. ' Heraclius said, 'Does he break his promises?
I replied, 'No. We are at truce with him but we do not know
what he will do in it.' I could not find opportunity to say
anything against him except that. Heraclius asked,
Have you ever had a war with him?' I replied, 'Yes
Then he said, 'What was the outcome of the battles?
I replied, 'Sometimes he was victorious and sometimes we.
Heraclius said, 'What does he order you to do?
I said, 'He tells us to worship Allah and Allah alone and
not to worship anything along with Him, and to renounce
all that our ancestors had said. He orders us to pray,
to speak the truth, to be chaste and to keep good relations
with our Kith and kin.' Heraclius asked the translator
to convey to me the following, I asked you about his family
and your reply was that he belonged to a very noble family.
In fact all the Apostles come from noble families amongst
their respective peoples. I questioned you whether anybody
else amongst you claimed such a thing, your reply was in
the negative. If the answer had been in the affirmative,
I would have thought that this man was following
the previous man's statement.
Then I asked you whether anyone