“To John (Yaḥyā), the son of Rūbah, and the chiefs of the tribe of Ailah. Peace be unto you! Praise be to God, besides whom there is no God. I will not fight against you until I receive an answer to this letter. Believe, or else pay tribute (jizyah). Be obedient unto God and to His Apostle. Receive the embassy of God’s Apostle, and honour them, and clothe them with excellent vestments, and not with inferior raiment. Specially honour Ḥāris̤ ibn Zaid, for as long as my messengers are pleased, so am I likewise. Ye know the tribute. If ye desire security by sea and by land, obey God and His Apostle, and you will be defended from every attack, whether by Arab or by foreigner. But if you oppose God and His Apostle, I will not accept a single thing from you until I have fought against you, and have slain your men, and have taken captive your women and children. For, in truth, I am God’s Apostle. Believe in God and in His Apostle, as you do in the Messiah the son of Mary; for truly he is the Word of God, and I believe in him as an apostle of God. Submit, then, before trouble reaches you. I commend this embassy to you. Give to Harmalah three measures of barley, for Harmalah hath indeed interceded for you. As for me, if it were not for the Lord and for this intercession, I would not have sent any embassy to you, until you had been brought face to face with my army. But now submit to my embassy, and God will be your protector, as well as Muḥammad and all his followers. This embassy doth consist of Shuraḥbīl, and Ubaiy, and Harmalah, and Ḥāris̤ ibn Zaid. Unto you is the protection of God and of his Apostle. If you submit, then peace be unto you, and convey the people of Maqnah back to their land.”

Upon receipt of this message, John hastened to Muḥammad’s camp, where he was received with kindness; and having made submission and having agreed to pay tribute of 300 dīnārs a year, the following treaty was ratified:—

“In the name of God, the Merciful, the Gracious. A treaty of Peace from God, and from Muḥammad the Apostle of God, granted unto Yaḥyā ibn Rūbah and unto the tribe of Ailah. For them who stay at home and for those who travel abroad, there is the security of God and the security of Muḥammad the Apostle of God, and for all who are with them, whether they belong to Syria, or to al-Yaman, or to the sea-coast. Whoso breaketh this treaty, his wealth shall not save him; it shall be the fair prize of whosoever shall capture him. It shall not be lawful to hinder the men of Ailah from going to the springs which they have hitherto used, nor from any journey they may desire to make, whether by land or by sea. This is the writing of Juhaim and Shuraḥbīl by the command of the Apostle of God.” [[TOLERATION].]

TRIBUTE. [[JIHAD], [JIZYAH], [TAXATION], [TREATY].]

TRINITY. Arabic Tas̤līs̤ (تثليث‎), “Holy Trinity,” as̤-S̤ālūs̤u ʾl-Aqdas (الثالوث الاقدس‎). The references to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in the Qurʾān occur in two Sūrahs, both of them composed by Muḥammad towards the close of his career at al-Madīnah.

[Sūrah iv. 169]: “Believe, therefore, in God and His apostles, and say not ‘Three.’ ”

[Sūrah v. 77]: “They misbelieve who say, ‘Verily God is the third of three.’… The Messiah, the Son of Mary, is only a prophet, … and his mother was a confessor; they both ate food.”

[Sūrah v. 116]: “And when God shall say, ‘O Jesus son of Mary, hast thou said unto mankind: Take me and my mother as two Gods besides God?’”

Al-Baiẓāwī, in his remarks on [Sūrah iv. 169], says, the Christians made the Trinity consist of Allāh, al-Masīh, and Maryam; and Jalālu ʾd-dīn takes the same view. Al-Baiẓāwī, however, refers to a view taken of the Trinity, by some Christians in his day, who explained it to be, Ab, Father, or the Essence of God; Ibn, Son, or the Knowledge of God; and Rūḥu ʾl-Quds, the Life of God.

In a work quoted in the Kashfu ʾz̤-Z̤unūn, entitled al-Insānu ʾl-Kāmil (written by the Shaik͟h ʿAbdu ʾl-Karīm ibn Ibrahīm al-Jīlī, lived A.H. 767–811) it is said that when the Christians found that there was at the commencement of the Injīl the superscription باسم الاب و الابن‎, i.e. ‘In the name of the Father and Son,’ they took the words in their natural meaning, and [thinking it ought to be Ab, father, Umm, mother, and Ibn, son] understood by Ab, the Spirit, by Umm, Mary, and by Ibn, Jesus; and on this account they said, S̤ālis̤u S̤alās̤atin, i.e. ‘(God is) the third of three.’ ([Sūrah v. 77].) But they did not understand that by Ab is meant God Most High, by Umm, the Māhīyatu ʾl-Ḥaqāʾiq, or ‘Essence of Truth’ (Quidditas veritatum), and by Ibn, the Book of God, which is called the Wujūdu ʾl-Mut̤laq, or ‘Absolute Existence,’ being an emanation of the Essence of Truth, as it is implied in the words of the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xiii. 9]: ‘And with him is the Ummu ʾl-Kitāb, or the Mother of the Book.’