Page:Baladhuri-Hitti1916.djvu/149

 "No," said the Prophet, "by no means, and may Allah smite thee!" Previous to this, Haudhah ibn-ʿAli-l-Ḥanafi had written to the Prophet asking that after the Prophet, the authority might be delegated to himself, and promising to become Moslem and come to the reinforcement of the Prophet. "No; nor anything else," answered the Prophet, "and may Allah let me get rid of him!" Before long Haudhah was dead.

. When the delegation of the banu-Ḥanîfah returned to al-Yamâmah, Musailimah, the false Prophet, asserted his claim as a prophet, and ar-Rajjâl ibn-ʿUnfuwah testified that the Prophet gave him [Musailimah] a share in the authority with him. Banu-Ḥanîfah and others in al-Yamâmah followed him. He then wrote the following message to the Prophet and forwarded it through ʿUbâdah ibn-al-Ḥârith of the banu-ʿÂmir ibn-Ḥanîfah, whose surname was ibn-an-Nauwâḥah, and who was [later] killed in al-Kûfah by ʿAbdallâh ibn-Masʿûd who heard that he and his companions believed in the false claims of Musailimah:

"From Musailimah, the Messenger of Allah, to Muḥammad, the Messenger of Allah. Greetings! To us half the land belongs, and to Ḳuraish the other half, but Ḳuraish do not act equitably; and peace be unto thee. Written by ʿAmr ibn-al-Jârûd al-Ḥanafi."

To this the Prophet replied:

"In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful. From Muḥammad, the Prophet, to Musailimah, the false Prophet. Greetings! 'For the earth is Allah's: to such of his servants as he pleaseth doth he give it as a heritage' ;