We Chose You Over All Other Kings

And then he said: "And so we believed in him and trusted him, following him in the instructions he brought from God. We worship God alone without partner, and associating no one with Him. We forbade what He has forbidden, and considered permissible what He allowed us. But our people aggressed against us and harmed us, seeking to draw us out of our faith, to return us to the worship of idols instead of God, and to have us again consider permissible the abominations we had previously allowed. When they treated us with violence and persecution, besieged us, and prevented us from performing our religion, we left for your country and chose you above others. We desired your hospitality, and hoped we wouldn't be harmed in your domain, O King."

A wonderful ending. The statements before it are worth examining. He said, "Our people aggressed against us, harmed us. They tried to force us to give up our faith. They besieged us, they persecuted us." This would surely strike a chord with al-Najāshī, who's coming from a Christian background that stresses the issue of suffering and sacrifice. These words must have brought al-Najāshī closer, and would throw in his heart feelings of mercy towards these people, and a feeling of something shared, something that we have in common between us. This suffering sounds like the suffering ʿĪsā (peace be upon him) went through — sounds similar to what the prophets went through — because this is a man who was steeped in his religion.

And then, in the end, Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib said, "The reason why we came here is because we're looking forward to your hospitality, and we chose you over all other kings of the world."