Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 371
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 371 prince of Bani Ghassan, who forwarded it to the Emperor, with an address from himself, soliciting permission to chastise the audacious writer. But Heraclius forbade the expedition and desired the attendance of Harith at Jerusalem. Another letter of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, was addressed to Chosroes Parvez bin Hormuz, Emperor of Iran, of the well - known Sassanid dynasty. Iran had long - standing relations with Arabia. Bahrain, in the east of Arabia, and Yemen in the west, were both part of the dominions of the Chosroes, and were administered by his governors. Another factor that engaged the interest of the Chosroes in the affairs of Arabia was that there were Jewish tribes who had been settled in Medina, Khaibar, Wadil Qura etc. These Jewish tribes were opposed to the Byzantines on account of the hostility of the latter towards, and persecution of, Jews, but they had friendly relations with Iran. In the time of the Holy Prophet Jewish leaders often visited Iran and endeavoured, as far as they could, to set the Chosroes against the Holy Prophet. The Holy Prophet’s letter addressed to the Chosroes was carried by a devoted Companion of his, Abdullah bin Hudhaifa Sahmi, who was directed to approach first the Governor of Bahrain, Mundhar bin Sawi, and convey the letter to Chosroes through his mediatio n. This letter was also sealed like the one addressed to the Byzantine Emperor, and the text of it was: ‘In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Ever Merciful. From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah, to Chosroes, Chief of Iran. Peace be on him who follows the guid ance, believes in Allah and His Messenger and bears witness that there is no one worthy of