Ubada ibn al-Samit's embassy to al-Muqawqis

After withdrawing to the Island, al-Muqawqis sent envoys to Amr ibn al-As, who held them for two days and two nights and then sent them back to describe the Muslims to their master. ^{4 1} Amr in turn sent ten men by boat, with Ubada ibn al-Samit as their spokesman, ordering him to accept nothing but one of three options. ^{1 2}

When they came in, Ubada went first. Al-Muqawqis, uneasy at his blackness, asked that he step back and another speak. They replied that this black man was the best of them in judgement and knowledge, their leader and their best. Ibn Abd al-Hakam adds that Ubada ibn al-Samit was black. ² He also reports from Sa'id ibn Ufayr that ten Arabs who lived to see Islam were each ten spans tall, and Ubada was one of them. ²

Ubada answered that behind him were a thousand of his companions, all blacker than he, that he did not fear a hundred of his enemies, and that they were not seeking this world. ^{2 5} His speech runs over several pages of the book. ^{5 6}

Al-Muqawqis offered two dinars for every Muslim, a hundred for their commander and a thousand for their caliph, if they would leave. ⁶ Ubada swore that there was nothing for them but one of the three options. ³ The matter ended in the peace. ⁷