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Safwan’s story begins with fear and uncertainty.

After the conquest of Mecca, he was wary of the Prophet ﷺ and the Muslims, unsure of their intentions.

Too scared to dismount from his horse, Safwan shouted, “O Muhammad! Umayr has come to me saying you have promised me protection! Is this true?”

The Prophet ﷺ, with his characteristic calmness and mercy, replied, “Come down.” But Safwan, still gripped by fear, hesitated. “No! Not until you promise me two months of protection!” he exclaimed.

The Prophet ﷺ, going beyond Safwan’s request, assured him, “We shall give you four months.” This remarkable gesture of kindness gave Safwan the courage to dismount and begin a tentative conversation with the man he had once despised.

A Gesture of Trust

Not long after, the Prophet ﷺ prepared to march toward Hunayn and Ta’if. He approached Safwan with a request: to lend 100 coats of armor to the Muslim army. Safwan, still a non-Muslim, questioned, “Are you forcing me, or are you asking?”

The Prophet ﷺ responded with reassurance, “Rather, it is a guaranteed loan.”

Safwan agreed, lending the armor and even participating alongside the Muslims in the Battle of Hunayn—still as a non-Muslim.

An Unimaginable Gift

After the battle, the Muslims were blessed with the largest spoils of war in Islamic history—a valley brimming with sheep and camels.

Safwan, seeing this staggering wealth, stood in awe.

Sensing his amazement, the Prophet ﷺ turned to him and said, “You are amazed at this?”

“Yes, of course!” Safwan replied.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “All of this is yours. Go take it.”

An entire valley of sheep and camels—enough to make any man a fortune—was given freely.

To put this into perspective, this could equate to millions of dollars in today's terms, an unimaginable display of generosity that left Safwan in awe

“Such a gift can only come from the heart of a prophet,” he declared.

At that moment, Safwan uttered the shahada, testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad ﷺ is His messenger.

From Hate to Love

Later, Safwan would reflect on his journey: “Before the Prophet ﷺ gave to me, he was the most despised person to me. But he gave, and he continued to give, until he became the most beloved to me.”

Safwan realized in that moment that no one but a true prophet could give away such immense wealth with such sincerity and ease.

For the first time, he saw that the Prophet ﷺ was unlike anyone he had ever encountered.

Safwan’s entire worldview revolved around wealth and status, yet here was a man who effortlessly gave away an entire fortune without hesitation.

Despite becoming the wealthiest and most influential person in Arabia, the Prophet ﷺ continued to live humbly, unchanged by his newfound power or riches.