It is narrated from Sayyidah Umm Abdullah bint Abi Hathmah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: By Allah! We were saddling up to set out for the land of Abyssinia, and Amir (my husband) had gone out on some errand, when Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) came and stood by me, while he was still a polytheist; we used to face severe afflictions and harshness from him. He asked: O Umm Abdullah! Is it departure now? I said: Yes, by Allah! We will go out into Allah's earth. You people have caused us great suffering and inflicted great oppression upon us, until now Allah has made a way (of deliverance) for us. (Hearing this) Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: May Allah be your companion and helper. I saw in him a tenderness that I had never seen before. Then he turned away and left, and I think that the news of our departure had saddened him. She related: Then Amir returned from his errand, and I said: O Abu Abdullah! If only you had seen Umar just now, his tenderness and his grief for us. Amir said: Do you have any hope of his accepting Islam? I said: Yes. Amir, seeing his severity and harshness (against Islam), said in despair: That man will not accept Islam until the donkey of al-Khattab accepts Islam. An account of Fatimah bint al-Khattab bin Nufayl (may Allah be pleased with her), the sister of Sayyiduna Umar.