It is narrated from Sayyiduna Amr bin Abasah (may Allah be pleased with him) that: I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) at the very beginning of his mission, when he was in hiding in Makkah in those days. I asked: "What are you?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I am a Prophet." I asked: "What is a Prophet?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Messenger of Allah." I asked: "Has Allah sent you?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes." I asked: "With what has He sent you?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "That you worship Allah, break the idols, and maintain the ties of kinship." I said: "How excellent is the message with which you have been sent! Who has followed you in this call?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A free man and a slave", meaning Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with them both). Amr bin Abasah used to say that at that time he saw himself as a quarter of Islam. Then I accepted Islam and said: "O Messenger of Allah! Shall I stay with you?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No, rather go back to the land of your people for now, and when I prevail, come to me." This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.