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Secretly he gave his order to put off the plan that was devised to assassinate `Amr, and he saw `Amr
off cordially and shook his hand with enthusiasm and fervor. `Amr smiled the most intelligent of Arab
smiles as he was leaving the Citadel.
In the morning Amr returned to the Citadel at the head of an army, mounted on his horse that
whinnied in a loud burst of laughter, behaving proudly and haughtily and making fun. Yes, for it, too,
knew a lot of things about the shrewdness of its owner.
In A.H. 43, death caught up with `Amr Ibn Al-'Aas in Egypt, where he was ruling. He recaptured
his life in the moments of departure, saying, "In the first part of my life I was a disbeliever, and I was one
of the fiercest people against the Messenger of Allah, so if I had died on that day, the fire would have
been my fate. Then, I swore allegiance to the Messenger of Allah, and there was no person more dear to
me than he and more glorious in my eyes than he. If I wanted to describe him, I could not, because I was
not able to fill my eyes with him on account of being in awe of him. If I had died back then, I would have
wished to be of the inhabitants of Paradise. Then after that I was tested with command and with material
things. I do not know if they were for me or against me."
Then he raised his sight to the sky in awe, calling upon his Lord, the Merciful, the Magnificent,
saying, "O Allah, I am not innocent, so forgive me. I am not mighty, so help me. And if Your mercy does
not come to me, I will surely be of those destroyed."
And he continued in his yearning and his prayers until his spirit ascended to Allah and his last
words were, "There is no god but Allah."
Under the ground of Egypt, which `Amr acquainted with the path of Islam, where his corpse was
finally placed, and above its hard earth, his seat is still standing throughout the centuries. Here he used to
teach, judge, and rule, beneath the ceiling of his ancient mosque, the Mosque of `Amr, the first mosque
in Egypt, in which the name of Allah, the One and Only is mentioned and declared between its walls and
from its pulpit, the words of Allah and the principles of Islam.