Before setting out, the Prophet(sa) looked back at Mecca. Emotions welled up in his heart. Mecca was his birthplace. He had lived there as child and man and had received there the Divine Call. It was the place where his forefathers had lived and flourished since the time of Ishmael. With these thoughts, he had a last long look at it and then said, "Mecca, thou art dearer to me than any other place in the world, but thy people would not let me live here." Upon this Abu Bakr(ra) said, "The place hath turned out its Prophet(sa). It only awaiteth its destruction." The Meccans, after the failure of their pursuit, put a prize on the heads of the two fugitives. Whoever captured and restored to the Meccans the Prophet(sa) or Abu Bakr(ra) dead or alive was to have a reward of a hundred camels. The announcement was made among the tribes around Mecca. Tempted by the reward, Suraqa bin Malik(ra), a Bedouin chief, started in pursuit of the party and ultimately sighted them on the road to Medina. He saw two mounted camels and, feeling sure they were bearing the Prophet(sa) and Abu Bakr(ra), spurred on his horse. The horse reared and fell before it had gone very far and Suraqa(ra) fell with it. Suraqa's(ra) own account of what happened is interesting. He says:
After I fell from the horse, I consulted my luck in the superstitious fashion common with Arabs by a throw of the arrows. The arrows boded ill-luck. But the temptation of the reward was great. I mounted again and resumed my pursuit and nearly overtook the party. The Prophet(sa) rode with dignity, and did not look back. Abu Bakr(ra), however, looked back again and again (evidently, out of fear for the safety of the Prophet(sa)). As I neared them, my horse reared again, and I fell off. I consulted the arrows again; and again they boded ill-luck. My horse's hoofs sank deep into the sand. Mounting again and resuming the pursuit seemed difficult. I then understood that the party was under divine protection. I called out to them and entreated them to stop. When near enough I told them of my evil intention and of my change of heart. I told them I was giving up the pursuit and returning. The Prophet(sa) let me go, but made me promise not to reveal their whereabouts to anybody. I became convinced that the Prophet(sa) was a true one, destined to succeed. I requested the Prophet(sa) to write me a guarantee of peace to serve me when he became supreme. The Prophet(sa) asked Amir bin Fuhaira(ra) to write me a guarantee, and he did. As I got ready to return with it, the Prophet(sa) received a revelation about the future and said, "Suraqa(ra), how wilt thou feel with the gold bangles of the Chosroes on thy wrists?" Amazed at the prophecy I asked, "Which Chosroes? Chosroes bin Hormizd, the Emperor of Iran?" The Prophet(sa) said, "Yes" (Usud al-Ghaba).
Sixteen or seventeen years later the prophecy was literally fulfilled. Suraqa(ra) accepted Islam and went to Medina. The Prophet(sa) died, and after him, first Abu Bakr(ra), and then Umar(ra) became the Khalifas of Islam. The growing influence of Islam made the Iranians jealous and led them to attack the Muslims but, instead of subjugating the Muslims, they were themselves subjugated by them. The capital of Iran fell to the Muslims who captured its treasures, including the gold bangles which the Chosroes wore at State functions. After his conversion, Suraqa(ra) used to describe his pursuit of the Prophet(sa) and his party and to tell of what passed between him and the Prophet(sa). When the spoils of the war with Iran were placed before Umar(ra), he saw the gold bangles and remembered what the Prophet(sa) had told Suraqa(ra). It was a grand prophecy made at a time of utter helplessness. Umar(ra) decided to stage a visible fulfilment of the prophecy. He, therefore, sent for Suraqa(ra) and ordered him to put on the gold bangles. Suraqa(ra) protested that the wearing of gold by men had been forbidden by Islam. Umar(ra) said that this was true, but that the occasion was an exception. The Prophet(sa) had foreseen Chosroes' gold bangles on his wrists; therefore he had to wear them now, even on pain of punishment. Suraqa(ra) was objecting out of deference to the Prophet's(sa) teaching; otherwise he was as eager as anyone else to provide visible proof of the fulfilment of the great prophecy. He put on the bangles and Muslims saw the prophecy fulfilled (Usud al- Ghaba). The fugitive Prophet(sa) had become a king. He himself was no longer in this world. But those who succeeded him could witness the fulfilment of his words and visions.