... to his land, nor to his family and children, nor does any of us have anything of his. And we have entrusted our families and children to our Lord. Our only concern is what is before us. As for your saying that we are in hardship and difficulty in our livelihood and situation, we are in the widest of ease. If the whole world were ours, we would not desire more of it for ourselves than what we have. So look at what we want and make it clear. There is nothing between us and you that you can accept from us, nor will we respond to you except with one of three options. So choose whichever you wish, and do not let your soul covet falsehood. This is what I have been commanded by the Amir, and by this he has been commanded by the Commander of the Faithful, and it is a covenant from the Messenger of God before us. As for the first: Respond to Islam, which is the true religion that God accepts no other than. It is the religion of His prophets, messengers, and angels. God has commanded us to fight those who oppose it and turn away from it until they enter it. If they do so, they will have what we have, and we will have what they have, and they will be our brothers in the religion of God. If you and your companions accept this, you will be fortunate in this world and the hereafter, and we will cease fighting you and will not harm you. As for the second: You must pay us the jizya, paying it with willing submission and being humbled. And you will deal with us on this basis every year, forever, as long as we remain. We will protect your land, blood, and property, and we will be responsible for you, and you will be under our protection and covenant. If you refuse this, then there is nothing between us and you but the sword until we all die or you achieve what you want. This is our religion, by which we worship God Almighty, and it is not permissible for us to do otherwise between us and you. So look to yourselves. The Muqawqis was greatly angered by this and said, "This will never happen. You only want to make us slaves. As long as the world exists..." 'Ubadah said, "That is it. So choose for yourself what you wish." He said, "Will you not grant us something other than these three options?" 'Ubadah raised his hands to the heavens and said, "No, by the Lord of this sky, the Lord of this earth, and the Lord of all things, we have nothing for you other than these. So choose for yourselves." Then the Muqawqis turned to the elders of his council and said, "The people have finished. What do you want?" They said, "Does anyone accept this humiliation? As for what they want us to enter their religion, this will never happen. We will not abandon the religion of Christ, son of Mary, and enter a religion other than it, which we do not know. As for their claim that we are their slaves, death is easier than that. If they were willing to double what we gave them, it would be easier for us." Then the Muqawqis said to 'Ubadah, "The people have spoken, and I see no other way. Reconsider with your companions, and we will give you what you want in this year, and we will depart." 'Ubadah and his companions said, "No." Then the Muqawqis said, "I have no choice but to fight you."