When Khosrow II, the king of Sassanid Persia, tore up a letter from the Prophet ﷺ, the Prophet said that his kingdom would be torn apart the same way. Within a year, Khosrow was overthrown and killed by his own son. Within a generation, the entire empire was gone, annexed by the Muslims.
Who were the Sassanids?
The Sassanids were the last Persian empire before Islam. Ardashir I founded the dynasty in 224 CE after overthrowing the Parthians, and his successors ruled from Ctesiphon, near modern-day Baghdad, for over four centuries. Their state religion was Zoroastrianism, and their king held the title of “King of Kings”. For all of those centuries, they were one of the two superpowers of the world, fighting war after war against Rome and the Roman Byzantines that came after it. [4]
This was not some small kingdom on the edge of collapse. It was a superpower that had survived for over 400 years, and it was at the height of its strength. Keep this in mind for the rest of the article, because by 651 CE, the Sassanid empire had been wiped off the map, only a few decades after the events below.
The letter to Khosrow II and the prophecy
After enduring years of persecution, the Muslims could finally focus on spreading the message of Islam. For over a decade, the pagans of Mecca subjected Muslims to brutal torture and killing. Slaves and entire families were mercilessly beaten and killed solely for renouncing idolatry.
The Muslims eventually migrated to a nearby city, now known as Medina. Once settled there, they began inviting other tribes and peoples to Islam. The Prophet ﷺ extended his outreach by sending letters to the rulers of major empires, including Khosrow II, the king of the Persian Sassanian Empire. As Khosrow II received the letter, he only saw one thing; he saw the Prophet’s name written before his. For something so insignificant, the letter was torn up in anger. When news of this came to the Prophet ﷺ, he said that the same way Khosrow tore up the letter, his kingdom will be torn apart. [1] [2]
A powerful behemoth at its peak
Keep in mind the context of the situation here. The Sassanians were an enormous superpower at the time. They survived for centuries and were occupying the land of the Roman Byzantines, another superpower. The Persian Sassanians took Byzantine Armenia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Anatolia, and even the Byzantines’ “True Cross” artifact. The Sassanians were humiliating the Byzantines, and they struck fear in anybody who dared stand in their way. [3]
Thus, the Sassanids’ morale and strength were at an all-time high.
The Sassanids’ massive landmass at the time, stretching from modern-day Egypt to modern-day Pakistan.
The collapse: 628 to 651 CE
Does it sound plausible to say that such a superpower will be soon ripped apart? To say that it will happen while they are the strongest empire in the world? As shocking as it sounds, that’s exactly what ended up happening. Very soon after the prophecy, the Byzantines forced the Sassanians back to where they started before their major wars. After the Persians’ humiliating defeat, Khosrow’s own son, Kavad II, decided to take matters into his own hands. Kavad II imprisoned his father and declared himself king, then slaughtered all of his brothers. Khosrow II saw the destruction of everything he held dear. His empire had lost all hope of a future competent ruler, his family had been slaughtered, and his own flesh and blood turned against him.
Humiliation upon humiliation.
Daryaee Touraj states in “SASANIAN PERSIA: the Rise and Fall of an Empire”:
“In a matter of years, Khusro II went from a world conqueror, emulating the Achaemenid territorial integrity, to a humiliated king…” [3]
Things did not end there though, because Khosrow’s kingdom had still not been completely torn to shreds.
Kavad II soon died of a devastating plague, and was succeeded by his 7-year-old son. After some chaotic years of civil war and many rulers trying to take the throne, the entire empire had been reduced to a shell of its former self. The empire was headed for utter destruction. Additionally, the Muslims had become much stronger at this point, becoming the leaders of Arabia, ultimately striking the final blow to the Sassanians. By the Muslim Rashidun Caliphates’ hand, the once-great Sassanian empire had been reduced to nothing and was annexed by the Muslims in its near entirety. Soon after this prophecy was made, one of the most powerful empires on Earth was reduced to nothing.
References
-
1. When the Moon Split: (a Biography of Prophet Muhammad), by Mubārakfūrī Ṣafī al-Raḥmān. et al., Darussalam, 2002.
-
2. Ibid, pp. 220–221.
-
3. Daryaee, Touraj. SASANIAN PERSIA: the Rise and Fall of an Empire. BLOOMSBURY, 2021, pp. 33.
-
4. Daryaee, Touraj. SASANIAN PERSIA: the Rise and Fall of an Empire. BLOOMSBURY, 2021.