Life of Muhammad — Page 133
sa 133 LETTER TO THE KING OF IRAN The letter to the King of Iran was sent through ‘ Abdull a h bin H udh a fa ra. The text of this letter was as follows: In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. . This letter is from Muhammad sa , the Messenger of God, to Chosroes, the Chief of Iran. Whoever submits to a perfect guidance, and believes in Allah, and bears witness that Allah is One, and has no equal or partner, and that Muhammad sa is His Servant and Messenger, on him be peace. O King, under the command of God, I invite you to Islam. For I have been sent by God as His Messenger sa to all mankind, so that I may warn all living men and complete my Message for all unbelievers. Accept Islam and protect yourself from all afflictions. If you reject this invitation, then the sin of the denial of all your people will rest on your head ( Zurqani and Kham i s ). ‘ Abdull a h bin H udh a fa ra says that when he reached the court of Chosroes he applied for admission to the royal presence. He handed over the letter to the Emperor and the Emperor ordered an interpreter to read it and explain its contents. On listening to the contents, the Chosroes was enraged. He took back the letter and tore it to pieces. ‘ Abdull a h bin H udh a fa ra reported the incident to the Prophet sa. On hearing the report, the Prophet sa said: What the Chosroes has done to our letter even that will God do to his Empire (i. e. , rend it to pieces). The fit of temper which the Chosroes showed on this occasion was the result of the pernicious propaganda carried on against Islam by Jews who had migrated from Roman territory to Iran. These Jewish refugees took a leading part in anti-Roman intrigues sponsored in Iran, and had, therefore, become favourites at the Iranian court. The Chosroes was full of rage against the Prophet sa. The reports about the Prophet sa which the Jews had taken to Iran, it seemed to him, were confirmed by this letter. He thought the Prophet sa was