Amr ibn Sou’da al-Qouradhi and the lessons of the ruins

The Banu an-Nadir were nobler than the Banu Qurayza, to the point that this nobility led one of them to Islam, after he beheld the marks of the Messenger of Allah in the Torah. The Waqidi reports: when the Banu an-Nadir went out of Medina, Amr ibn Sou’da came and circled their dwellings, saw their ruin, pondered, then returned to the Banu Qurayza and found them in their temple: he sounded their trumpet, and they gathered. Az-Zoubayr ibn Bata said: O Abou Sa’id, where have you been all this while that we have not seen you? That man never left the temple and devoted himself wholly to Judaism.

He said: today I have seen lessons by which we have been ferried across: I saw the homes of our brothers deserted, after such nobility, such valour and such ready intelligence: they left their property for others to own, and went out in humiliation. By the Torah, never was such a lot dealt to a people whom Allah did not intend to forsake; and He has already struck down ibn al-Achraf, their noble, in his own house in security; He struck down ibn Soumayna, their chief; He struck the Banu Qaynouqa and exiled them, though they were the elders of the Jews, people of equipment, weapons and aid:

He besieged them until not one dared show his head, then sold them and left them, exiling them from Yathrib. O my people, you have seen what you have seen: obey me, and let us follow Mohamed! By Allah, you know he is a prophet: Abou Oumayr ibn al-Hayban and Ibn Hirach, the most learned of the Jews, announced his coming to us and commanded us to follow him: they came to us from Bayt al-Maqdis and bade us greet him on their behalf; then they died in their religion, and we buried them in this land of ours. The people fell silent, and not one spoke; he repeated his words, threatening them with war, disgrace and exile.

Az-Zoubayr ibn Bata said: by the Torah, I read his description in the Book of Bata, the Torah sent down upon Moussa, and not in the writings we have forged. Ka’b ibn Asad said to him: what hinders you, O Abou Abd ar-Rahman, from following him? He said: it is you. Ka’b said: I?

By the Torah, I never stood between you and him. He said: rather you are the holder of our covenant: if you follow him, we follow; if you refuse, we refuse. Amr ibn Sou’da then turned to Ka’b, and they exchanged long words, until Ka’b said: I have concerning him only this: does it not please my soul to become a follower? The Bayhaqi relates this story.