The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) – Volume III — Page 200
Seal of the Prophets - Volume III 200 only a few years, while the Kingdom of Rome, despite much of it being taken, remained in and around Constantinople for hundreds of years. 1 So take a lesson, O ye who have eyes! Letter of the Holy Prophet sa Addressed to the Chosroes The second letter of the Holy Prophet sa was addressed to the Chosroes, King of Persia. As it has been mentioned above, ‘Chosroes’ was the official and inherited title of the Kings of Persia. The personal name of the King of Persia during the era we are discussing now was Khosrow Parvez bin Hormizd who was from the renowned Sassanid dynasty of Iran. This King who was the possessor of great grandeur and majesty and dignity and pomp was a fire- worshipper i. e. , polytheist. This was the religion of his people as well, who happened to hold their King worthy of worship as well. The various Chosroes of Persia would in a way, impose their political dominance upon the Arabs as well because the Governors of the region of Baḥrain and Yemen were subservient to the Chosroes and were considered to be vassal rulers or the Governors of these regions appointed by Chosroes. It is for this reason that when the Holy Prophet sa expressed his desire to write a letter to the Chosroes, in light of royal etiquette, first he sent his letter to the Governor of Baḥrain and requested him to forward the letter to the Chosroes himself. 2 Similarly, as we shall see ahead, in his anger, when Khosrow Parvez, God-forbid, issued orders to arrest the Holy Prophet sa , he sent instructions to his vassal ruler in Yemen for the execution of these orders. In any case, due to his control over Baḥrain and Yemen, Chosroes was very interested in the affairs of Arabia and naturally looked upon every new movement in Arabia with apprehension. The second most important reason for the Chosroes’ interest in the affairs of Arabia was due to the Jewish tribes of Arabia which were settled in Madīnah, Khaibar and Wādi’ul-Qurā’, etc. Naturally and historically, these Jewish tribes wanted nothing to do with the Christian Kingdom of Caesar. As a matter of fact, they were seriously opposed to the Christians. On the other hand, Caesar’s government advocated hostile behaviour towards the Jews, and 1 The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline and Fall, by Sir William Muir 2 * Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-‘Ilm, Bābu Mā Yudhkaru Fil-Munāwalati Wa Kitābu Ahlil-‘Ilmi Bil-‘Ilmi Ilal-Buldān, Ḥadīth No. 64 * Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Jihādi Was-Siyar, Bābu Da‘watil-Yahūdiyyi Wan-Naṣraniyyi Wa ‘Alā Mā Yuqātalūna ‘Alaihi. . . , Ḥadīth No. 2939