[Machine] He tightened his clothes and took a bundle with him, then set off until he reached them. He said to the people, "Throw a garment towards me." He sat on it and said, "O people of the Arabs, I have realized what prompted you to come to us. You are a people who do not find enough food in your own lands to satisfy yourselves. So take what we give you of food to meet your needs. We are a Zoroastrian people and we dislike killing you, even though you encroach upon our land." Al-Mughirah said, "By Allah, that is not true. We did not come here for that reason. Rather, we used to be a people who worshipped rocks and idols. So when we saw a rock that was better than the one we had, we would throw ours and take the better one. We did not know our Lord until 'Allah sent to us a Messenger from among ourselves.' He invited us to Islam and we followed him. He commanded us to fight against our enemies who left Islam, not for the sake of food. But we came to kill your fighters and subdue your offspring. As for what you mentioned about food, by Allah, we used to swear we would never eat enough food for us to feel satisfied, and sometimes we could not even find water. So we came to this land of yours and found an abundance of food. By Allah, we will not leave it until it is ours or yours." Al-'Ijl (the Persian) said, "True, and tomorrow your eye will be removed by a man from Qadisiyyah (a place in Persia)." His eye was indeed damaged the following day by an arrow.  

فَشَدَّ عَلَيْهِ ثِيَابَهُ وَأَخَذَ مَعَهُ جَحْفَةً ثُمَّ انْطَلَقَ حَتَّى أَتَوْهُ فَقَالَ لِلْقَوْمِ أَلْقُوا إِلَيَّ بُرْنُسًا فَجَلَسَ عَلَيْهِ فَقَالَ الْعِلْجُ إِنَّكُمْ مَعَاشِرَ الْعَرَبِ قَدْ عَرَفْتُ الَّذِي حَمَلَكُمْ عَلَى الْجِيئَةِ إِلَيْنَا أَنْتُمْ قَوْمٌ لَا تَجِدُونَ فِي بِلَادِكُمْ مِنَ الطَّعَامِ مَا تَشْبَعُونَ مِنْهُ فَخُذُوا نُعْطِكُمْ مِنَ الطَّعَامِ حَاجَتَكُمْ فَإِنَّا قَوْمٌ مَجُوسٌ وَإِنَّا نَكْرَهُ قَتْلَكُمْ إِنَّكُمْ تَتَحَسُّونَ عَلَيْنَا أَرْضَنَا فَقَالَ الْمُغِيرَةُ وَاللهِ مَا ذَاكَ جَاءَ بِنَا وَلَكِنَّا كُنَّا قَوْمًا نَعْبُدُ الْحِجَارَةَ وَالْأَوْثَانَ فَإِذَا رَأَيْنَا حَجَرًا أَحْسَنَ مِنْ حَجَرٍ أَلْقَيْنَاهُ وَأَخَذْنَا غَيْرَهُ وَلَا نَعْرِفُ رَبًّا حَتَّى «بَعَثَ اللهُ إِلَيْنَا رَسُولًا مِنْ أَنْفُسِنَا» فَدَعَانَا إِلَى الْإِسْلَامِ فَاتَّبَعْنَاهُ وَأَمَرَنَا بِقِتَالِ عَدُوِّنَا مِمَّنْ تَرَكَ الْإِسْلَامَ وَلَمْ نَجِئْ لِلطَّعَامِ وَلَكِنْ جِئْنَا نَقْتُلُ مُقَاتِلَتَكُمْ وَنَسْبِي ذَرَارِيَّكُمْ فَأَمَّا مَا ذَكَرْتَ مِنَ الطَّعَامِ فَإِنَّا كُنَّا لَعَمْرِي لَا نَجْدُ مِنَ الطَّعَامِ مَا نَشْبَعُ بِهِ وَرُبَّمَا لَمْ نَجِدْ رِيًّا مِنَ الْمَاءِ أَحْيَانًا فَجِئْنَا إِلَى أَرْضِكُمْ هَذِهِ فَوَجَدْنَا فِيهَا طَعَامًا كَثِيرًا فَلَا وَاللهِ لَا نَبْرَحُهَا حَتَّى تَكُونَ لَنَا أَوْ لَكُمْ قَالَ الْعِلْجُ بِالْفَارِسِيَّةِ صَدَقَ وَأَنْتَ تُفْقَأُ عَيْنُكَ غَدًا بِالْقَادِسِيَّةِ فَفُقِئَتْ عَيْنُهُ مِنَ الْغَدِ أَصَابَتْهُ نُشَّابَةٌ