In the name of God. Praise be to God. I trust in God and entrust my cause to God and whatever I accomplish is through God. Blessing and peace be upon the Messenger of God and his family, his companions and whomever he befriends. From us to all the sons of Ndar. Greetings, good will and honor [be with you]. We have not destroyed your hope in us but rather increased and strengthened it, because we have not taken what belonged to you, not one coin, and we never will. Instead, we have taken the possessions of the Christians. We have returned to the sons of Ndar everything that belonged to them.

If you ask the reason for the seizure of the Christian property, it is because they have committed injustices against us many times. Among these is the decision not to sell us arms and munitions, because of their ignorance. But in fact we can dispense with them. Indeed, we replied to the envoy of your tyrant, when he came to us at Sirmanna, that if the reason for the embargo was because of the people of Futa [Toro], we are no longer the people of Futa and are other than they, we wage jihād against the enemies of God, so let him [the Governor] not lump us together nor act towards us as towards them, lest it be a reason for me to join with them.

While I was waiting for his [the Governor's] envoy, God brought him [the Governor] together with 'Abd Allāh in Bakel, and they had a discussion in which 'Abd Allāh said: "Do you not know that al— hājj the shaykh has the capacity to destroy you and your dependents and all your trade, blocking the routes, preventing all sales and purchases and destroying your property?" And the tyrant of Ndar replied: 'Then let him do it." 'Abd Allāh exclaimed: "Praise be to God, that I have heard this from your own mouth and not that of another."

Another reason [for attacking the Christians] is that we told the tyrant [the Governor] in Bakel to deliver to us those who were fleeing from us, but he indeed refused. We sent again to say that if he did not give them up, then we will win [in the forthcoming confrontation]. That message reached him, but he paid no attention and said that it would amount to a sign of weakness.

Another reason is that when we [one of the patrols] were at Jagili, a young officer began to attack us.

Now we are victorious by the power of God. We will not quit until we receive a plea of peace and submission from your tyrant, for our Lord said: "Fight those who believe not in God nor in the last day, nor forbid that which God and His Messenger have forbidden, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the book [the Qur'ān], until they pay the jizya in acknowledgment of superiority, for they are in a state of subjection."

Sons of Ndar, God forbids you to be in relations of friendship with them. He made it clear that whomever becomes their friend becomes an infidel, and one of them, through His saying: "Take not the Jews and Christians for friends. They are friends of each other. And whoever amongst you takes them for friends he is indeed one of them."

Greetings.