IMAM ABU AL-FIDA' ISMA?L IBN KATH~R 7"Jacfar explained, 'God sent a messenger among us; he is that same Messenger
Jesus, son of Mary, God's prayers and peace be upon Him, said would come
after himself, his name being "Ahmad". He ordered us to worship God and to
associate no god with Him, to perform the prayers, to pay alms, to he good, and
to abstain from what is forbidden.'
"His speech astonished the Negus.
"When 'Amr b. al-'A~ saw this, he exclaimed, 'May God save the king! They
disagree with you concerning Jesus, son of Mary.'
"The Negus then asked Jacfar, 'What does your master say about the son of
Mary? '
"Jacfax replied, 'He says of Him what God stated -that he is God's spirit and
His word, and that He brought him forth from the Virgin whom no man had
approached and in whom there had been no child.'
"The News then picked up a stick from the ground and raised it up, saying,
'Ye priests and monks, these people do not add so much as the weight of this to
what we say about the son of Mary.'
"'Welcome to you,' he continued, 'and greetings to him from whom you have
come. I hear witness that he is the Messenger of God and that it is he of whom
Jesus made prophecy. Were it not for the duties of my kingdom, I would go to
him to kiss his shoes. Stay in my land as long as you wish.'
"He then ordered that food and fine garments he hrought for us. And he said,
'Give back to those other two their gift.'
"'Amr h. alLcA~ was short, while 'UmZra was a handsome man. While at sea,
they had been drinking. 'Amr had his wife with him and, after they had been
imbibing, Wmara said to 'Amr, 'Tell your wife to kiss me!' 'Amr replied, 'You
should be ashamed!' Then Wmara picked up 'Amr and flung him into the sea.
'Amr kept calling out to Wmwa until he brought him back on to the hoat.
"'Amr hated him for this, and told the Negns, 'If you were to leave, Wmara
would take your place with your wife.' At that the Negus summoned Wmzra and
had air blown into his urethra so that he flew away with the wild buds."
The hiif;? al-Bayhaqi related it thus in Dalii'il (The Stgns), through Abii
'Ali al-Hasan h. Sallam al-Sawwaq, from Wbayd All& b. Mnsa. He relates it
similarly, with the same chain of authorities, up to the words, "He then ordered
that food and fine garments be brought to us."
He then stated, "This chain of authorities is good; what it apparently shows is
that Abii Miis% was at Mecca, and that he did go with Jacfar, son of Aba Talib,
to Abyssinia.
What is true according to Yazid h. 'Ahd All& b. Aba Burda, on the authority
of his grandfather Abii Burda, from Abn Miisa, is that the departure of the
Messenger of God (SAAS) became known to them while they were in Yemen.
They therefore went out into exile along with some 50 persons in a hoat that took
them to the Negus in Abyssinia. They found that Jacfar b. Abii Talih and his
companions were already living there. Ja'far told them to stay, and they did stay