The plot of Amir ibn al-Tufayl and Arbad ibn Qays

Amir ibn al-Tufayl and Arbad ibn Qays plotted to kill the Prophet within the delegation of the Banu Amir in 9 AH, but God restrained Arbad's hand from his sword, as the sira relates ¹.

In the delegation of the Banu Amir ibn Sa'sa'a were Amir ibn al-Tufayl, Arbad ibn Qays (half-brother of Labid through their mother), Khalid ibn Ja'far and Jabbar ibn Aslam. They were the chiefs of the people ¹. It was Amir who had treacherously attacked the companions at Bir Ma'una. When the delegation wished to come to Medina, Amir and Arbad plotted to kill the Prophet ¹. Amir began to speak with the Prophet while Arbad stood behind him. Arbad drew his sword a span, but then God restrained his hand so that he could not draw it fully, and God protected His Prophet, as the sira relates ¹.

The Prophet invoked against them both. When they returned, God sent a thunderbolt upon Arbad and his camel, and it burned him. Amir was struck by a swelling in his neck and died, saying: "A swelling like the swelling of a camel, and death in the house of a woman of Salul" ¹. In Sahih al-Bukhari, Amir offered the Prophet three choices: that the Prophet should have the people of the plains while he had the people of the towns; or that he should be the Prophet's successor after him; or that he would attack him with Ghatafan, with a thousand chestnut stallions and a thousand chestnut mares. Then he died on his horse ².

Ibn Ishaq names three men from the delegation of the Banu Amir: Amir ibn al-Tufayl, Arbad ibn Qays ibn Juz' ibn Khalid ibn Ja'far, and Jabbar ibn Salma ibn Malik ibn Ja'far. He says they were the chiefs of the people, and he describes them in harsh terms, which are his own description and not the museum's ³. When his people told Amir that the people had embraced Islam, and urged him to embrace it too, he said that he had sworn not to stop until the Arabs followed in his wake: "Shall I follow the heel of this young man of Quraysh?" ³. Then he said to Arbad: "When we come before the man, I will occupy his attention, and you strike him with the sword" ^{3 4}.

When they arrived, Amir said, "O Muhammad, speak with me in private" (khalni). The Prophet said, "No, by God, until you believe in God alone." Amir repeated the request while waiting for Arbad to do what he had been ordered, but Arbad did nothing. When the Prophet refused him, Amir said, "By God, I will fill it against you with horses and men." ⁴ When he had left, the Prophet said, "O God, suffice me against Amir ibn al-Tufayl" ⁴. On the road, Amir reproached Arbad. Arbad replied that whenever he intended to do what he had been commanded, Amir came between him and the man, so that he could see nothing else, and he said: "Shall I strike you with the sword?" ⁴.

Then Amir died on the road, in the house of a woman from the Banu Salul, and Arbad died by a thunderbolt after his return ^{4 5}. Ibn Hisham reports, on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam, from 'Ata ibn Yasar, from Ibn 'Abbas, that verses of Surat al-Ra'd were revealed about the two of them: from al-Ra'd 8 to al-Ra'd 11, and then al-Ra'd 13 concerning Arbad ⁵. Labid elegised his brother Arbad in poems ⁵.

In Ibn Ishaq's account, there is no mention of Arbad drawing his sword a span or of his hand being restrained. It says instead that Arbad did nothing, because Amir was standing between him and the Prophet. The restraint of the hand comes from the account transmitted by The Sealed Nectar ^{4 1}.

• Arbad's lineage is given as "ibn Juz'". So it is in the manuscripts; in Abu Dharr's commentary it is "Juzi", and according to Abu 'Ubayd, from Ibn al-Kalbi, it is "ibn Juz'" ³.
• "Khalni" is read with a light lam, meaning "speak with me alone", and with a doubled lam, meaning "take me as a close friend", as the editors confirm ⁴.
• "The enemy of God" as applied to Amir is Ibn Ishaq's own wording, not the museum's ³.