Chief of the Prophets — Page 179
Chapter Eight 179 Peace be upon him who accepts the guidance. I invite you to Islam. Accept Islam and enter into the protection of God. Allah the Exalted will grant you a double reward. But if you reject this invitation of Islam, you will be responsible for the misguidance of the peasants (i. e. your nation). O People of the Book! Come towards the belief that is common between you and us, that we worship not anyone besides Allah nor associate anyone with Him under any circumstances, and do not consider anyone among us as our lord and provider besides God. Then if these people turn away, tell them to bear witness that we are Muslims. Abū Sufyān relates: When this dialogue ended and the reading out of the letter was completed, the Byzantine chieftains raised a huge hue and cry in the court. At that time, we were instructed to leave the court. When I came out with my companions, I said to them that the star of Muḥammad sa appears to be rising very high, as the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire seems to fear him. After this I always remained low and my heart was full of conviction that the religion of Muḥammad sa would triumph. 1 Heraclius asked a few more questions of the same kind. He was much impressed by the responses and the content of the letter. But since he was concerned about losing his empire by personally accepting Islam, he initially gathered his courtiers and tried to convince them. When he noticed that the courtiers were getting agitated, he changed his tone stating that he was just testing them. 1 Bukhārī, Kitābul-Jihād (Book of Fighting for the Cause of Allah).