Conversion of Ka'b ibn Zuhayr

أُنْـبِـئْتُ أنَّ رَسُـولَ اللهِ أَوْعَـدَني *** والـعَفْوُ عِـنْدَ رَسُـولِ اللهِ مَأْمُولُ مَـهْلاً هَـداكَ الـذي أَعْطاكَ نافِلَةَ *** الْـقُرْآنِ فـيها مَـواعيظٌ وتَـفُصيلُ لا تَـأْخُذَنِّي بِـأَقْوالِ الـوُشاة ولَـمْ *** أُذْنِـبْ وقَـدْ كَـثُرَتْ فِـيَّ الأقاويلُ لَـقَدْ أقْـومُ مَـقاماً لـو يَـقومُ بِـه *** أرَى وأَسْـمَعُ مـا لـم يَسْمَعِ الفيلُ لَـظَلَّ يِـرْعُدُ إلاَّ أنْ يـكونَ لَهُ مِنَ *** الَّـرسُـولِ بِــإِذْنِ اللهِ تَـنْـويلُ حَـتَّى وَضَـعْتُ يَـميني لا أُنازِعُهُ *** فـي كَـفِّ ذِي نَـغَماتٍ قِيلُهُ القِيلُ لَــذاكَ أَهْـيَبُ عِـنْدي إذْ أُكَـلِّمُهُ *** وقـيـلَ إنَّـكَ مَـنْسوبٌ ومَـسْئُولُ مِـنْ خـادِرٍ مِنْ لُيوثِ الأُسْدِ مَسْكَنُهُ *** مِـنْ بَـطْنِ عَـثَّرَ غِيلٌ دونَهُ غيلُ يَـغْدو فَـيُلْحِمُ ضِـرْغامَيْنِ عَيْشُهُما *** لَـحْمٌ مَـنَ الـقَوْمِ مَـعْفورٌ خَراديلُ إِذا يُـسـاوِرُ قِـرْناً لا يَـحِلُّ لَـهُ *** أنْ يَـتْرُكَ الـقِرْنَ إلاَّ وهَوَمَغْلُولُ مِـنْهُ تَـظَلُّ سَـباعُ الـجَوِّضامِزَةً *** ولا تَـمَـشَّى بَـوادِيـهِ الأراجِـيلُ ولا يَــزالُ بِـواديـهِ أخُـو ثِـقَةٍ *** مُـطَرَّحَ الـبَزِّ والـدَّرْسانِ مَأْكولُ إنَّ الـرَّسُولَ لَـسَيْفٌ يُـسْتَضاءُ بِهِ *** مُـهَنَّدٌ مِـنْ سُـيوفِ اللهِ مَـسْلُولُ فـي فِـتْيَةٍ مِـنْ قُـريْشٍ قالَ قائِلُهُمْ *** بِـبَطْنِ مَـكَّةَ لَـمَّا أسْـلَمُوا زُولُوا زالُـوا فـمَا زالَ أَنْكاسٌ ولا كُشُفٌ *** عِـنْـدَ الِّـلقاءِ ولا مِـيلٌ مَـعازيلُ شُــمُّ الـعَرانِينِ أبْـطالٌ لُـبوسُهُمْ *** مِـنْ نَـسْجِ دَاوُدَ في الهَيْجَا سَرابيلُ بِـيضٌ سَـوَابِغُ قـد شُكَّتْ لَهَا حَلَقٌ *** كـأنَّـها حَـلَقُ الـقَفْعاءِ مَـجْدولُ يَمْشونَ مَشْيَ الجِمالِ الزُّهْرِ يَعْصِمُهُمْ *** ضَـرْبٌ إذا عَـرَّدَ الـسُّودُ التَّنابِيلُ لا يَـفْـرَحونَ إذا نَـالتْ رِمـاحُهُمُ *** قَـوْماً ولَـيْسوا مَـجازِيعاً إذا نِيلُوا لا يَـقَعُ الـطَّعْنُ إلاَّ فـي نُحورِهِمُ * ومـا لَهُمْ عَنْ حِياضِ الموتِ تَهْليلُ

I was told God's Messenger ﷺ had threatened me, but from God's Messenger ﷺ pardon is hoped. Go easy, and let Him be your guide who gave to you the gift of the Quran in which is warnings and discernment! Do not hold me to account for what my slanderers have said, for, however great the lies against me, I'm not as guilty as they are claiming! I stood where I saw and heard what would have made the mighty elephant, had it stood in my stead, quake with fear unless the Messenger of God ﷺ, by God's leave, granted it protection, until I placed my right hand, without contending, in the hand of an avenger, his word the word. He is more dreaded by me when I speak to him and I am told, "You will be questioned and must answer," then a lion, snapping and rapacious, its lair in Aththar's hollow, thicket within thicket, who in the morning feeds flesh to two lion whelps that live on human flesh, flung in the dust in chunks, who when it assaults its match is not permitted to leave its match unnotched, for whom the braying onager falls silent, in whose wadi no hunters stalk their prey, in whose wadi lies an honest man, his weapons and torn clothes flung in the dust, his flesh devoured. The Messenger ﷺ is surely a sword from whose flash light is sought, one of the swords of God, an Indian blade unsheathed, in a band of Qureshis whose spokesman said to them in Makkah's hollow when they submitted to Islam, "Depart!" They departed, but no weaklings departed with them, none who flee the battle, none unsteady in the saddle, none unarmed. Haughty, high-nosed champions, who on battle day don shirts of David's weave, white, ample, their rings interlocking as if they were the qaf'a plant's interlocking rings. They walk as the white camels walk when kept in check by blows, while the stunted black ones go astray. Neither jubilant when their spears strike down a tribe, nor distraught when they are struck, the spear does not pierce them except in the throat, nor do they shrink from death's water troughs.

The praise-section of Ka'b's longer poem, later known as the Qasidat al-Burda (Banat Su'ad), distinct from the later, more famous Qasidat al-Burda of al-Busiri.