Life of Muhammad — Page 138
sa 138 pride therefore. Believe in this Prophet sa of God. By God Moses as did not foretell about Jesus as as clearly as did Jesus as foretell about Muhammad sa. We invite you to Muhammad the Prophet sa , just as you Christians invite the Jews to Jesus as. Every Prophet has his followers. The followers must obey their Prophet. Now that a Prophet sa has appeared in your time it is your duty to believe in him and follow him. And remember our religion does not ask you to deny or disobey Jesus as. Our religion requires everyone to believe in Jesus as. " Hearing this, Muqauqis revealed that he had heard of the teaching of this Prophet sa and he felt that he did not teach anything evil nor forbid anything good. He had also made inquiries and found that he was no sorcerer or soothsayer. He had heard of some of his prophecies which had come true. Then he sent for an ivory box and placed the letter of the Prophet sa in it, sealed it and handed it over to a servant girl for safe deposit. He also wrote a letter in reply to the Prophet sa. The text of this letter is recorded in history. It runs as follows: In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. From Muqauqis, King of the Copts, to Muhammad sa , son of ‘ Abdull a h. Peace be on you. After this, I say that I have read your letter and pondered over its contents and over the beliefs to which you invite me. I am aware that the Hebrew Prophets have foretold the advent of a Prophet sa in our time. But I thought he was going to appear in Syria. I have received your envoy, and made a present of one thousand dinars and five khil ‘ ats to him and I send two Egyptian girls as a present to you. My people, the Copts, hold these girls in great esteem. One of them is Mary ra and the other S i r i n ra. I also send you twenty garments made of Egyptian linen of high quality. I also send you a mule for riding. In the end I pray again that you may have peace from God ( Zurq a n i and T abar i ). From this letter it is clear that, though Muqauqis treated the letter with respect he did not accept Islam.