~c. 7 AH · 7 AHDate debatedThe exact year is uncertain: earlier accounts place the letter around 7 AH, while Episode 97 estimates it was sent around the 8th year of the Hijrah.
Dating debated
The exact year is uncertain: earlier accounts place the letter around 7 AH, while Episode 97 estimates it was sent around the 8th year of the Hijrah.
The Prophet ﷺ sent a letter to the Muqawqis of Egypt, Jurayj ibn Mina (identified with Cyrus of Alexandria, a Melkite Christian patriarch and the final Byzantine prefect of Egypt, appointed by Rome rather than an independent king). No authentic narration preserves the letter's exact text. The Muqawqis responded politely with a mini-fortune: about 1,000 mithqal (4.25 kg) of gold, fine garments, the mule/donkey Duldul, the servant Ma'boor, honey, and the two Coptic Christian sisters Maria and Sirin, but did not himself embrace Islam. Because the Prophet ﷺ could not keep two sisters at once, he gifted Sirin to the poet Hassan ibn Thabit (with whom she had a son, Abd al-Rahman) and kept Maria for himself.
The Prophet ﷺ remarked that the Muqawqis had protected his kingdom through his politeness, but that Allah would not allow it to last.
Other events recorded in 7 AH. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
This khabith has protected his kingdom by his politeness, but Allah will not allow his kingdom to last.
Said on receiving the gifts, cloth, the mule Duldul, and Maria and Sirin, that Jurayj ibn Mina the Muqawqis of Egypt sent in reply to the Prophet ﷺ's letter.
Gifted by the Prophet ﷺ to Hassan ibn Thabit, the poet.
Kept by the Prophet ﷺ for himself, as his milk al-yamin.