Читать книгу The Life of Mohammad, the Prophet of Allah - Etienne Dinet - Страница 9

The Encampment.

The Encampment.

When the Prophet crossed the threshold of his house, he rushed to Khadijah, hiding his face in her lap and trembling as if in a fit of ague, as he cried: 'Cover me up! Cover me up!' His servants flocked busily round him, keeping him enwrapped until his emotion had subsided. Khadijah, much upset, questioned him: 'O Father of Qasim, where wert thou? By Allah, what befell thee? I sent some of my servants to meet thee, but they came back without having met thee, either at Hira, or on the outskirts of the city.'

The Prophet told her what had happened to him. 'I thought I should have died!' he added. 'That could not be,' answered Khadijah, regaining her composure. 'Surely Allah sought not to do thee harm, for thou art kind to thy family, merciful to the weak and helpful towards the victims of injustice. O son of my uncle! thou dost bring me excellent tidings and that I do affirm. I swear, by the name of Him who holdeth in His hands the soul of Khadijah, that I hoped for this news. There is no doubt about it—thou wilt be the Prophet of our nation.'

Ever since she had heard the miraculous reports that Maisarah, her slave, brought her, and which confirmed what she had remarked herself, Khadijah was convinced that the highest destiny was in store for her husband, and she was not at all astonished at such a Revelation. She quickly gathered her flowing robes about her, and hastened to the house of her cousin Waraqah ibn Naufal to apprise him of what had just come to her ears.

No man in Makkah was more conversant with Holy Writ than Waraqah, a convert to Christianity; and, like the Syrian monks, he lived in hopes of the advent of a Prophet to be born in Arab-land. Therefore, he had no sooner heard his cousin's story than he cried out, while tears of joy welled up in his eyes: 'Most Holy God! If what thou sayest is exact, O Khadijah, He who manifested His presence to thy husband is the great Namus, Allah's confidant: the Angel who appeared to Our Lord Moses! Mohammad will be the Prophet of our Nation! Doubt it not and repeat my words to him that he be convinced thereof.'

What time the Prophet, according to his wont after each term of retirement, was performing the ritual circuits round the Ka'bah, Waraqah, despite weakness due to his great age and blindness caused by too much reading, had himself led at once into Mohammad's presence, so as to listen to the story of his adventure from his own lips. When the sightless old man was satisfied that Mohammad told the truth and had repeated to him the same predictions, he exclaimed: 'Ah! I should like to be still in the land of the living when your fellow-men will send thee into exile!'—'How so?' cried the Prophet. 'Shall I be banished?'—'Of a surety, they will send thee into exile,' Waraqah went on, 'for never hath mortal man brought what thou bringest without falling a victim to the most dastardly persecution. Ah! if God deigned to lengthen my days until then, I would devote all my energies to helping thee to triumph over thy enemies!' Death, however, prevented Waraqah from seeing his wishes fulfilled.

All Mohammad's doubt vanished. The fulgurating Revelation set all his unknowing aspirations in a blaze and fanned the flame of the latent forces stored in his soul during fifteen years of contemplation. It had opened his eyes and taught him the formidable, superhuman part he had to play and which was now forced upon him. In reality, all this was quite unexpected, despite the monks' predictions that he had forgotten long ago, even if he had ever paid the slightest attention to them. His anguish and his fear lest he should have fallen a victim to diabolical hallucinations furnishes us with indisputable proofs of his state of mind.

He who had fled from his fellows and had never aspired to fill any post of public utility, such as his citizen-comrades would have been glad to grant, was ready now, with resolute faith and courage, to fulfil the most overwhelming mission that can be confided to a human being, and he cared not a jot for the terrible ordeals that he knew were inevitable.

During that night, for ever memorable, known by the name of "Leilat-al-Qada," or "Night of Destiny," the Qur'an came down in its entirety from the highest Heaven where it was kept, as far as the inferior Heaven, situated immediately above the earth. And there it had been deposited in the "Bait-al-Izza," or "House of Glory," underneath which was erected the "Baitu'l-Lah," or "House of Allah," which signifies the Holy Ka'bah.

"Verily, we have caused It (the Qur'an) to descend on the night of Power * And what shall teach thee what the Night of Power is? * The Night of Power is better than a thousand months! * Therein descend the angels and the Spirit by permission of their Lord for every matter. * All is peace until the breaking of the morn." (The Qur'an, xcvii, 1-5.)

Then, from this lower Heaven, after the first verses are revealed to Mohammad, together with a general comprehension of his Mission, the words of Allah, comprising the Qur'an, come down now from between his lips, Surah following Surah, for a period of twenty-three years, so as to guide all his actions, establish the laws of religion and organise the triumph of Islam.

For the benefit of our European readers, we consider it needful to add the following commentary to this story of the Revelation, according to Arab historians:

The angel Jibra'il, who sought out the Prophet at Hira is none other than the angel Gabriel who appeared to Daniel; and to Mary, the mother of Jesus; but real Moslems say that Jibra'il is totally unlike the pink-cheeked, fair-haired youth, with wings of varied hues, as seen in the cheap, religious, saintly images of the Europeans. The angel Jibra'il is "ar-Ruh," the "Pure Spirit," (The Qur'an, xcvii, 6); and also "An Namus," or "The Invisible Adviser." Sometimes he manifested his presence to Mohammad by stray sounds resembling tinkling bells or the hum of bees, by which he caused Allah's Messenger to suffer more than anything. His brow would be bathed in sweat, even during cold wintry days, and it was only when the noise died away that he understood what the angel had revealed to him. At other times, when Jibra'il taught Mohammad ritual movements, the angel made his presence manifest by assuming the appearance of a mortal resembling Dihyah ibn Khalifah, one of the Prophet's companions.

The Revelation, of which this angel is the symbolic intermediary, is a divine Irradiation and should be looked upon as the highest degree of the mysterious Force, evidently surrounding mortals, since it is totally independent of a man's will-power, and which we call Inspiration.

THE FIRST MOSLEMS.

Prayer, preceded by ablutions, was the first duty taught to the Prophet by the celestial envoy.

Mohammad, having returned to the place where he had first heard the Revelation, Jibra'il appeared again, in the shape of a human being. 'O Prophet!' he said, 'You must lead men to proclaim that there is no God but Allah.'

He drove him towards a watercourse where Jibra'il stamped on the ground with his foot. A spring immediately gushed forth, and setting the example, the angel taught Mohammad the rites of Purification by means of ablutions preceding all prayers. He then went through the prayers, with the bowing, prostrations and sentences of which they should be comprised; and the Prophet prayed with him, guided by the angel's movements and words.

Mohammad felt his body relieved from a weighty burden by the purification, and his soul brightened by the benefits of these prayers. Then it was that, thrilling with the faith of belief, Mohammad was about to return home to his wife when Jibra'il appearing once more, said to him: 'Teach Khadijah salvation by Islam!' That is to say, by voluntary resignation to all the Creator's commands. He obeyed and spoke thus: 'O Khadijah! Jibra'il ordereth me to teach thee salvation by Islam.' And Khadijah answered: 'Allah is Salvation; from Him cometh Salvation, and let Salvation be on Jibra'il.'

Thus it came about that, of all living beings, Khadijah was Islam's first convert. The Prophet took her at once to the miraculous spring, where he taught her what he had just learnt. Copying her husband, she purified herself by the ablutions and recited the prayers. Ever since that day, Allah made use of this admirable woman to mitigate the sorrows and pains of His Prophet in all the ordeals he had to undergo. Khadijah's devotion endowed Mohammad with deep contempt for mortals' wickedness, and his wife's firm faith served to comfort him when he was looked upon as an impostor.

One of the first of the Prophet's companions to believe in his mission was Ali, son of Abu Talib, only about ten years old just then, and who Mohammad had adopted during a period of famine, so as to relieve his uncle, at the head of a very large family.

Noticing that Mohammad and Khadijah kept aloof and became absorbed in prayer, he marvelled greatly at seeing no object of worship set up in front of them and he put this question to the Prophet: 'What rites were ye both performing just now?'—'We were saying the prayers of the pure religion that Allah hath just chosen for Himself and for which He hath chosen me to be the Prophet,' he replied. 'O Ali! I do invite thee to join with me. I invite thee to worship the Only Allah that hath no partners and I call upon thee to renounce the idols Lat and Uzza who can neither benefit nor harm their worshippers.'

'Say then: "He is one Allah: * Allah the everlasting! * If He begetteth not, and He is not begotten; * And there is none like unto him. * He is Allah beside whom there is no god. He knoweth things visible and invisible. He is the Compassionate, the Merciful! * And when He decreeth a thing, He only saith to it, 'Be,' and it is. * There is no Allah but He; the Living, the Self-subsisting. Neither slumber seizeth Him, nor sleep. * No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision: and He is the Subtile, the All-informed! It is He who causeth to laugh and to weep * He causeth to die and maketh alive * He bringeth forth the living out of the dead and the dead out of the living: He quickeneth the earth after its death; thus it is that ye too shall be brought forth. * The East and the West is Allah's: therefore, whichever way ye turn, there is the Face of Allah: truly Allah is Omnipresent and Omniscient ... * This is Allah, your Lord. All power is His, But gods whom ye call on beside Him have no power over the husk of a date-stone!" (The Qur'an, cxii, 1, 4. lix, 22. ii, iii, 256. vi, 103. liii, 44, 45. xxx, 18. ii, 109. xxxv, 14.)

'Never until this day,' Ali replied, 'have I hearkened unto such words and I wish to consult Abu Talib, my father.'—'Do nothing of the sort!' the Prophet hastened to tell him, for Mohammad feared lest the news of his Mission should be noised abroad before the hour arrived to divulge it in open day. 'If thou dost come to Islam, O Ali! thou must keep the secret.'

Greatly troubled in his mind by all he had just heard, Ali passed a sleepless night, but Allah (Glory be to Him!) guided him on the Road to Salvation. Early in the morning, he went to Mohammad and professed the religion of Islam with all his heart. From that day onwards, when came the hour of prayer, Ali followed Mohammad to the ravine to pray with him, unbeknown to the boy's father and uncles.

But one day, when they were both praying at the place called, "Nakhlat-al-Mahal," Abu Talib caught them unawares and questioned the Prophet, saying: 'O son of my brother, what is this religion of which thou dost follow the rites in thy prayers?'—'It is the religion of Allah, of his Angels and His Prophets—the religion of our ancestor Ibrahim. Allah hath sent me to preach it to all men; and thou, the most worthy and the nearest of my relatives, I invite thee to tread the Road to Salvation.'—'I cannot give up the religion and the tradition of my fathers,' Abu Talib declared; 'and yet I hold thee to be so sincere that I believe in the truth of what thou sayest. Continue, however, to fufill thy Mission without anxiety, for no harm shall come to thee so long as I live.' Turning towards his son, he added: 'Thou mayest hearken to Mohammad, and follow him as obediently as thou canst, for he will never guide thy footsteps except in the path of righteousness.'

Zayd ibn Harith, a captive, freed and adopted by Mohammad, and who had so much affection for his liberator that he refused to go away with his father when he came to pay the ransom, soon followed All's example and became a convert to Islam. Next followed one of the most noted men of Makkah, Abdul-Ka'bah, son of Abu Quhafah, whom we shall call henceforward Abu Bakr, being the name he assumed later and caused to become celebrated.

He happened one day to be at the house of Hakim ibn Hazam, when a slave of the household came and spoke to his master as follow: 'Khadijah, thy aunt, maintaineth that her husband is a Prophet sent by the Most High, like Moses!' Hearing this, Abu Bakr, who had great faith in Mohammad's sincerity, and had heard some of Waraqah's predictions, jumped up hurriedly, much moved; and sought out the Prophet to interrogate him. No sooner had Abu Bakr hearkened to Mohammad's utterances giving details of the Revelation, than he was overtaken by enthusiasm and cried out: 'By my father and my mother and by all the friends of truth, I believe what thou hast told me and I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and that thou art His Prophet!' Hearing his speech, Khadijah, draped in a crimson veil, came out of a near-by room and said to Abu Bakr: 'Praised be Allah who hath guided thee, O son of Abu Quhafah!'

This conversion was a source of great joy for the Prophet. Abu Bakr held high rank in the city. He was very rich; remarkably well favoured, with fine features and aristocratic bearing; conversant with the sciences of genealogy and the meanings of dreams. Truthful in his speech; affable in neighbourly intercourse, he had been chosen by his fellow-citizens for the extremely delicate post of the umpire whose duty it was to judge cases of homicide and fix the amount of the "Qisas," or money compensation for wilful murder.

A fervent Believer, Abu Bakr's entire efforts were now devoted to leading his friends and the people of his party to the Prophet, so that he might invite them to Islam. Abu Bakr's activities were successful; the confidence he inspired induced his partisans to hearken with favour to Mohammad's discourse. The enunciation of this religion, so simple and withal so great; in such conformity with the inward longings of the soul of mortals, led them gradually to look with horror upon the state of gross idolatry in which they had hitherto wallowed. Besides, this religion was that of Abraham, their ancestor, and as his creed was still dormant in their hearts, despite themselves, it was easy for them to acknowledge it. Last of all, the superhuman accents of the man who preached this new belief and his radiant, expressive looks, stirred their whole being and they hastened to be converted by him.

About fifteen of the leading men of the Quraish tribe came to the Prophet in the same way and became ennobled by Islam. We may mention Usman ibn Affan, Abd ar Ralman ibn Auf, Sad ibn Abi Waqqs, Zubayr ibn al-Auwam, Talha Ubaydullah, Ubayda ibn Harith, Jafar ibn Abdul Muttalib, and many others.

At the same time as these conversions, so important by reason of the proselytes ranking highly, we must not forget one more humble, but most touching: that of Mohammad's nurse. As soon as the call of her foster-son came to her ears, good Halimah, who had always believed that the boy she had reared would make his mark in life, hastened with Haris, her husband, to be counted among the Faithful. Every person, too, belonging to Mohammad's household, had become a convert from the onset, and among them, his daughters, still very young; without forgetting a negress, Umm al Ayman. This little group of Believers now led a life filled with ever-changing emotion. What could be more charming than their secret meetings when they prayed and adored Allah in perfect union? But they had to take unheard-of precautions so as not to awaken the hostile suspicions of idolaters. Even in his own house, the Prophet was forced to beware of his neighbours, and when he proclaimed the "Takbir," he spoke into a pitcher buried in the ground, so as to deaden the sound of his voice. In these circumstances, only clandestine propaganda was possible, and during the first three years, the progress of Islam was excessively slow and timid.

On the other hand, Revelation had suddenly stopped; and Mohammad, no longer feeling himself upheld by the inspiration of the Almighty, began to doubt and despair.

He was wandering to and fro, anxious and alone, in a wild valley, when he heard a celestial voice causing him to look up. In the vivid brightness of great light, he recognised the Angel that had appeared to him at Hira. He could not support the brilliancy of this formidable apparition and, blinded, rushed to his dwelling where he had himself wrapped up in his mantle, so as to calm the tremor of his frame and shade his dazzled eyes. It was then that Allah sent down the following verses: "O thou enwrapped in thy mantle! * Arise and warn! * Warn thy relatives of nearer kin * And lower Thy wing over the Faithful who follow Thee. * And if they disobey thee, then say: 'I verily am clear of your doings' * And put thy trust in the Mighty, the Merciful." (The Qur'an, lxxiv, 1, 2. xxvi, 214-220).

The Prophet rose up, his eyes sparkling with sublime energy. Until that day, he had never dared to proclaim his Mission publicly, for he foresaw the hatred it would foment among his idolatrous fellow-citizens. But having been ordered by his Supreme Master to preach the doctrines of Islam, which was Mohammad's most earnest wish, he threw off the restraint that crushed him, and resolved to have recourse to strong measures. He ordered Ali to prepare a meal composed of a leg of lamb, hot corn and a jar of milk. He then invited his relatives to partake of it.

Not one refused, and there came forty persons all told; among them his uncles on his father's side: Abu Talib, Hamzah, Abbas and Abu Lahab. When the guests had eaten their fill, much to their great surprise, for this modest repast could have been easily swallowed up by any one man among them, Mohammad made as if to address the meeting. But Abu Lahab, having some suspicions respecting his nephew's ideas which did not meet with his approval, took the words out of his mouth. 'What kind of spell does our host seek to cast over us?' he cried. In superstitious fear of being bewitched, the proof of such a dire fate being furnished by the fact that their hunger had been appeased by a most meagre banquet, the guests scattered away in great haste.

Affronted by their lack of courtesy, the Prophet said to Ali: 'Didst thou give heed to my uncle when he cared not how impolitely he behaved in preventing me from speaking? But no matter! Get another meal ready for to-morrow, and go round and invite all the same people.'

Next day, in the presence of the guests once more gathered together, Mohammad hastened to make himself heard and succeeded in so doing. 'No one living hath ever brought to the Arabs what I bring,' he declared; 'that is to say, glorious good fortune in this world and supreme felicity in the next. Allah the Most High hath commanded me to summon all men to Him. Who among ye wisheth to share my work and help me to accomplish my mission? Such a man shall be my proxy and my lieutenant—nay, my brother!'

At this unexpected declaration, all the people present stared at each other in stupefaction; and knowing not what to reply, their features betrayed naught else but fierce enmity and showed what their answer would have been. Faithful Ali, expecting an outburst of joy, at such great, good news, coupled with ardent competition in hopes of the honour of becoming Mohammad's henchman, forgot that his youth demanded his silence in the midst of such a gathering of noble folks; and standing up erect, carried away by his enthusiasm, he cried out: 'O Prophet of Allah! I will be thy lieutenant!'

Instead of smiling at the pretensions of the lad, the Prophet patted Ali's neck affectionately while proclaiming: 'Here is my proxy and my lieutenant! Here standeth my brother! Listen to him and obey!'

By this time the stupefaction of the guests was boundless, but they suppressed their rage and received the declaration with great bursts of merriment. Abu Lahab turned to Abu Talib and shouted ironically: 'Hast heard thy nephew's speech? He ordereth thee to listen to his son and obey him!'

With the exception of Abu Talib, saddened by this scandalous scene, all went away, jeering sarcastily and exasperated.

It is certain that this utter defeat grieved the Prophet, without discouraging him in the least, for, from that day, the Revelation gave him support, instruction and guidance unceasingly.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE HOUR

And Mohammad began to preach. He was hurried along by the Revelations which came to him quickly, one after the other, all terrible; and announcing "The Frightful Blow," being the End of the World and the Day of Judgment.

"The Blow! what is the Blow? * And what shall teach thee what the Blow is? * The Day when men shall be like scattered moths, * And the mountains shall be like flock of carded wool." (The Qur'an, ci, 1, 4.)

Mohammad thought this disaster, destined to punish mankind for its perversity, was imminent. So he increased his reproofs among his fellow-men, in order to deliver them from the sway of their passions and guide them into the Path of Salvation before the Blow fell. But they answered him, saying: "The Hour will not come upon us!" (The Qur'an, xxxiv, 3.)

Obeying the orders of Allah, he reiterated his adjurations: "Verily, the Hour will surely arrive: there no doubt with regard to it. * O Men, fear your Lord! Verily, the earthquake of the Hour will be a tremendous thing! * When the Earth is shaken with its shaking, * And when the Earth hath cast forth her burdens of buried dead, * And man shall say: What aileth her? * On that day shall she tell out her tidings, * Because thy Lord hath inspired her. * On that day shall men come forward in bands to behold their works, * And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of good shall behold it, * And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of evil shall behold it." (The Qur'an, xl, 61. xxii, 1. xcix, 1-6.)

As a result of these gruesome prophecies, given out with accents of firm conviction, unbelievers felt a shudder of anguish convulsing their being; but as they saw nothing take place as time went on, not even precursory signs, they soon regained their equanimity and fell back again into their erring ways.

The Prophet could not tell for what time the hour was fixed: The knowledge of it is only with my Lord. (The Qur'an, vii, 186.) But Mohammad knew punishment was inevitable in this world or the next, and he was in despair at having to think that his infidel fellow-men would meet with a fate even sadder than that of the peoples of Thamud and Ad.

THE FIRST HOSTILITIES

Following the Prophet's first sermons, the Faithful sought no longer to hide their belief; but, to avoid useless disputes, they held clandestine meetings in a desert ravine where they said their prayers.

A group of idolaters dogged their footsteps and having succeeded in discovering their retreat, lavished foul epithets on them. The Believers, unable to put up with the insults offered to their religion, grew furious and a fight took place, during which Sad ibn Abi Waqqs picked up the jawbone of a camel's skeleton in the sand and dashed it violently in the face of one of the Associates, causing the vital fluid to flow. These were the first drops of blood shed in the struggle now beginning between Islam and idolatry.

Wishing to prevent a renewal of these incidents, the Prophet resolved to retreat to pray in peace with his disciples in the house of Arqam, situated on the Sufah hill. Nevertheless, fury increased among the idol-worshippers. So long as Mohammad had gone no further than to summon them to salvation, even blaming them and threatening them with the punishment of divine wrath, his adversaries merely shrugged their shoulders and laughed at him; but when he retaliated by turning their wooden or stone images into ridicule, pointing out that they were dumb, deaf, blind and powerless, the rage of the idolaters was unbounded. Not only did he sting them to the quick through attacking their beliefs, but he did them great harm commercially, for in the hands of leading citizens, the idols were a source of considerable revenue, and constituted efficacious means of domination over the superstitious common people.

Alone, among the men of his party who had refused to embrace the Islamic faith, his uncle, Abu Talib, still gave him proofs of affection, thus greatly scandalising the other members of the Quraish tribe, who sent him a deputation of the most influential among them: Utbah ibn Rabiyah, Abu Sufyan ibn Harib, Abu Jahal and several chieftains of equal note.

'O Abu Talib!' said these delegates, 'your brother's son insulteth our gods and our beliefs. He mocketh at the religion and traditions of our forefathers. Shall we not rid ourselves of him? Or wilt thou not remain neutral and thus let us be free to act towards him as we think fit? For we know that thou dost not share his convictions any more than we do.' Abu Talib dismissed them with a polite and conciliatory reply.

Mohammad, as may well be surmised, continued his sermons with unfailing ardour. The enmity of the Quraish tribesmen assumed a more serious aspect; their representatives returning to see Abu Talib, to make the following declaration: 'We have the greatest respect for thine age, nobility and rank, but we asked thee to rid us of thy brother's son and thou didst not do so. Now, we can no longer put up with the affronts with which he overwhelmeth our beliefs and traditions, so deprive him of thy protection and leave us free to treat him as we choose. In case of refusal on thy part, we must reckon thee as being against us in the war we declare on him, and which will last until one of the two parties are exterminated!' They then departed, leaving Abu Talib in despair at being cut off from his partisans and, on the other hand, firmly resolving never to throw over his nephew.

In that state of mind, he sent for Mohammad. 'O son of my brother!' quoth he; 'our fellow-citizens of the Quraish have returned and made solemn declarations to me. Reflect; take compassion on me; have pity for thyself, and do not put upon me a burden too heavy to bear.

'O my uncle!' replied the Prophet; 'if in order to make me renounce my Mission, they placed the Sun on my left and the Moon on my right, I swear that, by Allah, I would not yield before I fulfilled my task triumphantly or perished in the attempt!'

Thinking that Abu Talib had spoken as he did as a hint that he would have to cast him adrift, by reason of his inability to protect him, his nephew burst into tears and went away. Abu Talib, much moved, called him back at once and said to him affectionately: 'Go, O son of my brother! Go forth and preach as thou wilt. By God, I'll never turn away from thee!'

Finding that no threats succeeded in estranging uncle and nephew, the delegates went back to Abu Talib for the third time, taking with them Ammarah ibn Walid, and then the deputation made the following proposal:

'O Abu Talib! here is Ammarah ibn Walid, one of the most accomplished and handsome young men among all the youths of Makkah. We bring him to thee. Adopt him for thy son. He belongeth to thee. In exchange, hand over to us thy brother's son thou didst adopt, so that we put him to death, for he hath stirred up strife in our tribe.'—'By God!' replied Abu Talib, 'what's this fine bargain ye now put forward? You would fain give me your son, so that I feed and clothe him; and I should have to let you take mine to be killed by you! That could not be! No, by God!—never!'

With rage in their hearts, the delegate's left him. The Mausam—the time for the pilgrimage—drawing nigh, the Quraish idolaters held a meeting at the dwelling of Walid ibn Moghayrah so as to consult together with regard to the way in which they ought to behave to the Prophet. Walid was spokesman, and he said: 'O assembly of Quraish men! the Mausam will soon bring innumerable pilgrims to Makkah. Of a surety, they have heard about Mohammad, and they will question you concerning him. How will ye answer? Ye must be all of one mind, so as not to contradict each other, which would nullify the effect of your utterances.'—'It is for thee to advise us, O Walid!'—'It is for you to speak first. I will listen and discuss your opinions.'—'Well then! we shall say that Mohammad is a diviner.'—'No! We know the diviners! He hath none of their mutterings or rhyming emphasis.'—'We'll say that he is possessed.'—'No! We have seen men possessed; and unlike them, he is not subject to fits of suffocation and convulsions.'—'We'll say he is a poet.'—'No! He is no poet. We know all the styles of versification as used by the poets, and his speech does not resemble that of any one of them.'—'We'll say he is a sorcerer.'—'No! for we have fallen across sorcerers, and he performeth none of their magical operations. Of a truth, his success is due to the charm and beauty of his discourse.'

Arraigned before the tribunal of their own conscience, the citizens assembled were forced to acknowledge the rigorous truth of this last remark. All of them, more or less, had felt the words springing from the ecstatic soul of Allah's Apostle go home to them. All of them had ofttimes been about to give way to the fascination caused by his accents, ringing with the inspiration of superhuman faith. The Quraish men were only restrained by the importance of their material interests and the violence of their earthly passions, thus seriously threatened by his pure doctrine.

Nevertheless, they were bound to come to a decision at once, so as to prevent, at all costs, the Arabs belonging to distant tribes from undergoing the same ordeal. Therefore, they agreed to say that Mohammad possessed potent spells by which he stirred up strife in families, estranging a brother from his brother, a son from his father, and a husband from a wife.

Moslem praying on the Terrace-roof of her dwelling.

When the pilgrims began to pour in, Walid and his accomplices were on the watch, posted on all the roads leading to Makkah. Not a single Arab passed along these highways without being warned against Mohammad by the conspirators in ambush. But although a few pilgrims were alarmed at these warnings and feared the spells that they were informed were threatening them, the majority felt their curiosity increasing with regard to this extraordinary man, whose utterances gave rise to such great apprehension among the lords of the city. Thus it came to pass that when the travellers returned to their tribes, they told what they had seen; so that it plainly resulted that the campaign, organised against Mohammad by his enemies, only achieved the purpose of spreading his renown all over Arabia.

In order to add fresh fuel to the fire of their rage, increasing as the Prophet's reputation became established—a result partly due to their involuntary efforts—the idol-worshippers sought every opportunity to heap insults on him. Being all together, one day, in the precincts of the Temple, they worked each other up. 'No! never have we endured from anybody what this man hath made us endure,' they cried out in chorus. At that very moment, Mohammad came on the scene and began to perform the ritual circuits round the Ka'bah. They rushed at him, all at one bound. 'Art thou the man who dareth to insult the gods of our fathers?' they shouted. 'Aye, I am that man!' he replied, undisturbed.

One of the enraged citizens caught hold of the collar of his mantle, and twisting it roughly, tried to strangle him. Abu Bakr, who chanced to be standing near, interfered. 'How now? Would ye kill a man who proclaimeth that Allah is his God?' he said sadly, and freed the Prophet, not without suffering ill-treatment himself, for a portion of his beard was plucked out by Mohammad's assailant.

The danger he had risked in these circumstances did not prevent the Prophet from returning to the Ka'bah to perform his devotions, without letting the furious glances of his assembled adversaries trouble him. Acting under the orders of Abu Jahal, a man fetched some sheeps' entrails from the slaughter-house. He chose those of an animal that had been killed several days before, and while the Prophet was prostrate as he prayed, the rascal covered the nape of his neck and his shoulders with the offal. All those present were seized with such outrageous fits of mirth that they fell seated on the ground, rolling one against the other. As for Allah's Elect, he seemed not even to have noticed the affront offered to him, and continued to pray. It was his daughter Fatimah who, arriving a few moments later, threw the filth far from her father, and railed at the wretches who had belittled themselves by the infliction of such a repulsive insult.

On a par with Abu Jahal, ranking with those who are branded eternally in history's pages on account of their atrocious treatment of the Prophet, was one of his uncles, a son of Abu Muttalib, surnamed Abu Lahab, "The Man Vowed to Hell-fire." Mohammad was preaching one day on the hill of Safa, in the midst of a crowd of inhabitants of that region, when Abu Lahab interrupted him rudely. 'Mayst thou be annihilated!' he bawled; 'thou who hast called us together to listen to such nonsense!' To this insult the following surah of the Qur'an (cxi) replies: "Let the hands of Abu Lahab perish, and let himself perish! * His wealth and his gains shall avail him not. * Burned shall he be at the fiery flame, * And his wife laden with the fire-wood, * On her neck a rope of twisted palm-fibre."

This Surah, quickly becoming renowned, increased Abu Lahab's resentment and probably had even more effect on that of his wife, Umm Jemil, who found herself attacked therein in a way that was as annoying as it was deserved. To be nicknamed "carrier of fire-wood" was past endurance; but had she not, on one occasion, strewn the path of Mohammad with thorny branches; had not her tongue lit up the fires of hatred with the faggots of calumny that she hawked about everywhere? The odious couple resorted shamelessly to the vilest acts, daily throwing heaps of filth on the terrace of Mohammad's house or in front of his door, for he was their neighbour.

Worked up or terrorised by these fanatics, most of the dwellers in Makkah repulsed the Prophet or avoided him. Children and wastrels pursued him with their jibes in the street. He was perfectly indifferent to such provocations. What was it all to him? Nothing more than a passing breeze. He never even seemed to notice the persons who acted thus; he only looked at those he hoped to convert.

THE INCIDENT OF THE BLIND MAN

It happened one day when Mohammad had taken in hand some of the most noted townsmen who were beginning to be moved by his arguments, that a blind pauper, Ibn Umm Maktum, came forward, and humbly begged to be granted a small share of the knowledge vouchsafed to the Prophet by Allah. Engrossed in his discussion with the citizens whose conversion he so ardently desired; fearing, too, to miss an opportunity which might never occur again, Mohammad was seized with a fit of momentary vexation and replied curtly to the blind man, who stumbled away sorrowfully without having been enlightened.

Immediately afterwards, the Prophet fell a prey to remorse. Might not that blind man, enlightened by faith, have been able to open the eyes of other human beings imprisoned in the darkness of ignorance? And the Revelation increased Mohammad's remorse by confirming his error: "He frowned, and he turned his back * Because the blind man came to him ... * As to him who hath become wealthy * Him therefore thou didst receive with honour * Yet it is not thy concern that he endeavours not to be pure; * But as to him who cometh to thee in earnest, * And full of fears, * Him dost thou neglect. * Do not so. Verily this surah is a warning." (The Qur'an, lxxx, 1-11.)

Ever since that day, the Prophet took great care to treat rich and poor, slaves and nobles alike, with the same consideration. The exasperation of the idolaters reached the highest pitch when they saw their own slaves drawn towards Mohammad by his levelling doctrines; and when the town rang with the Revelation of Surahs threatening the rich and the sweaters of the people. "The desire of increasing riches occupieth you, * Till ye come to the grave. * Nay! but in the end ye shall know * Nay! once more; in the end ye shall know your folly. * Nay! would that ye knew it with knowledge of Certainty; * Then shall ye surely on that day be taken to task concerning the pleasures of this life." (The Qur'an, cii, 1-8.)

Abu Jahal, meeting the Prophet at Safa, could not contain himself, and forgetting the self-control befitting a man of his high social position, he blurted out such a vulgar insult that the pen refuses to write it. The Prophet answered not a word, as was his wont, but a freed female slave of Abdullah ibn Jedhan had witnessed the scene, while looking out of the back of her dwelling that was just on the spot. As Hamzah, Mohammad's uncle, came by a few moments later, she told him what she heard.

HOW HAMZAH WAS CONVERTED. UTBAH'S PROPOSALS

Hamzah's disposition was haughty and choleric. He felt his blood boiling with rage when he heard of the affront offered to his nephew. When returning from the chase—his favourite pastime—he generally stopped to gossip with the folks he met on the road, but this time he never halted, hurrying as fast as his legs would carry him towards the Temple. When he caught sight of Abu Jahal, seated in a group of his partisans, he went straight up to him, and brandishing his bow above his head, he slashed the face of Mohammad's uncle by a stinging blow. 'So! thou dost insult my nephew,' he cried. 'Learn that I profess the same religion as he. All he proclaimeth, do I proclaim likewise. Stop me from doing so, if thou dost believe thou canst!'

All the assistants, belonging to the Banu Makhzum tribe of whom Abu Jahal was a chieftain, rose up to avenge him. But Abu Jahal, ashamed at having done a thing unworthy of a high-born lord, under the influence of profound hatred, bid them stand back. 'Let Hamzah go in peace,' he said to them, 'for verily, I did grievously offend my brother's son.'

As for Hamzah, the blessing of Allah was upon him in his outburst of rage and ennobled him by Islam of which he became one of the most devoted and formidable defenders.

Utbah ibn Rabiyah, one of the most noted idol-worshippers, was greatly shocked when his young son, Huzaifah, became a convert to Islam and drew away from his father. Hoping to put an end to the discord established by Mohammad's doctrines, not only in the Quraish tribe, but even in the bosom of families, he planned to come forward as mediator. Seeing Allah's Apostle seated, quite alone, near the Temple, Utbah said to his partisans: 'Will ye authorise me to speak to him, and discuss one or two proposals in your name? Perhaps he may accept them and so leave us in peace.'

Under the influence of the consternation they felt at the conversion of such an important personage as Hamzah—a conversion that had led others to follow suit—and well knowing that it would be best to come to some agreement, they replied: 'Aye, go to him and speak in our name.' Thereupon, Utbah left them and went to sit by the side of the Prophet. 'O son of my friend!' said Utbah in most affectionate tones; 'thou dost belong to us, although by insulting our religion and the traditions of our fathers, thou hast embroiled us. Therefore I come to thee to put an end to this great misfortune. Give an ear to my proposals. Maybe they will find grace in thy sight.'—'Speak! I am listening.'—'O son of my friend! If thou dost hope that thy undertaking will make thee wealthy, each of us is willing to sacrifice a part of his fortune, in order that thou shalt become the richest man among us. If thou seekest honours, we will set thee up as lord over us all and come to no decision without consulting thee. Dost dream of royal privileges? We will make thee our king. If, on the contrary, the thoughts that inspire thee arise from some malady which thou art powerless to resist, we will have fetched at any cost and from any country the most celebrated doctors, so that thou mayst be cured. Choose therefore!'

The Prophet had listened unmoved. 'Hast thou no more to say?' he answered Utbah. 'Now 'tis thy turn to hearken to my words.' He then recited the Surah of "The Made Plain," in which Unbelievers are menaced with the eternal torments of hell, and Believers comforted by the promise of the inconceivable felicity of Paradise (The Qur'an, xli). Utbah, his hands clasped behind his back, stood hearkening to the sentences, now imperative and then compassionate, that fell upon his ears in rhythm and cadence totally new to him. Stupefied, he remained stock-still, his attitude unchanged, although the Prophet had ceased speaking some little time. Mohammad, after having prostrated himself, his brow touching the earth, rose up and turned to Utbah, saying: 'Thou hast heard me, O Utbah? Now, 'tis for thee to choose.'

Utbah, bewildered, went back to his companions. They all noticed his troubled face, so different on his return from what it had been before he left them. 'Come now, O Utbah! what aileth thee?' they queried.—'I have just listened to extraordinary words,' he answered. 'By our Gods! I've never heard anything like it before. 'Tis neither poetry, nor sorcery, nor magic. O Quraish men assembled! believe me and let this man fulfil his Mission among the Arabs, for his words are full of surprising prophecies. If harm corrieth to him by the Arabs' fault, ye will be freed from all anxiety. If, on the other hand, he succeedeth and shall conquer the Arabs, his empire will be thy empire, seeing that he is one of us, and thanks to him, ye will attain the highest pinnacle of power.'

But what availed such prudent conclusions in the face of jealousy and hatred? 'With his tongue he hath cast a spell over thee, as he hath done to others,' his hearers replied; and Utbah, shrugging his shoulders, went away, declaring: 'Such is my advice. Now do as ye please.'

Nevertheless, Utbah's opinion impressed the idolaters. Next day, after sunset, they foregathered, according to custom, in the precincts of the Temple, and decided to speak to Mohammad in person. They sent for him, and he came, hoping that their eyes were open to the light. But they only wanted to renew the proposals of the day before. He refused just as scornfully. 'Since thou dost set thyself up as a Prophet,' they said, changing their arguments, 'take pity on thy country. There is no land more hemmed-in by mountains, or more poor in its water-supply; more difficult to live in. Therefore, ask Allah to put aside the girdle of mountains, make the soil easier to till, and give us rivers resembling those of Syria and Iraq. Or else, ask Him to resuscitate one of our ancestors, Qusaiyy ibn Kilab, for instance, who was a wise and truthful man, so that we may consult him concerning thy pretensions and let us know if they are veracious or false. If he giveth thee right and thou dost satisfy our demands, then will we believe thee and have faith in thy mission as Allah's Apostle.'

'I have not been sent to thee for this,' was all the Prophet cared to reply. 'I have told you what I was charged to do; and I tell you once more that if you accept, your happiness is assured in this life and the next. Should ye refuse, then I bow down to the decrees of Allah who shall judge between us.'—'Since thou wilt ask nothing for us,' they returned; 'crave a favour for thyself. Ask Allah to send one of his angels to convince us; ask Him to lavish on thee all the pleasures of this world that thy heart can desire, such as delicious gardens, marvellous palaces, or treasures of gold and silver. Instead of which, we see thee as one who "eateth food and walketh the marts" (The Qur'an, xxv, 8), exactly the same as the most humble among us! If thou art really a Prophet, let Allah give us proofs of the power with which He hath endowed thee, and of the dignity to which He hath raised thee.'—'I am not one of those who make such demands of Allah, and to you I renew my adjuration.'—'Ask Allah to "make the Heaven to fall in pieces on us, as thou hast given out," (The Qur'an, xvii, 94), if He hath power to do so, according to what thou dost maintain. If not, thy word deserveth no credit.'—'Nothing could be easier for the Almighty. If He shall decide to act as ye say, He will accomplish the task. Ye ask Him for miracles? The miracles are to be found in all He hath created and ye do not understand! See how death springeth from life and life from death! Of a surety, He can, by a miracle, undo the prodigies of the order of Nature he hath created. Thus did He for my predecessors, but in vain. Therefore, admire His unceasing miracles in Nature and crave no others.'

Unable to catch the Prophet tripping, the idol-worshippers, to check him, brought forward Nazir ibn Haris who, having been a great traveller, had garnered many fine stories. As soon as Mohammad began to preach, Nazir took his stand quite near him, trying to get his hearers away by reciting the wonderful exploits of Rustam and Isfandyar. 'See now, I lavish on my audience fine tales,' Nazir was bold enough to add, 'that will bear comparison with those sent down by Allah to His Prophet.'

The Quraish men also sent a delegation to the learned Jews of Yasrib and to the Prince Halib ibn Malik, illustrious above all men by reason of his wisdom, science and power, in order to ask that some means should be found to prove that Mohammad was an impostor. But all these efforts were useless, and there was no need to believe in the legend of a miracle based on these words of the Qur'an: "The hour hath approached and the moon hath been cleft." (liv, 1).

Some writers assert that Habib having asked the Prophet to perform a miracle, in order to prove the veracity of his mission, Mohammad gave an order to the moon which incontinently split into two equal parts; one ascending towards the East and the other to the West. According to the opinion of the most trustworthy doctors of Islam, such as Al Baidawi and Zamakhshri, this verse really means: "The hour (of the Day of Resurrection) approacheth and (to announce it) the moon will be cleft." The truth of this assertion is proved by the verses that follow almost immediately: "Turn away then from them (The Unbelievers)! On the day when the summoner shall summon to a horrible affair, * With downcast eyes shall they come forth from their graves, as if they were scattered locusts." (The Qur'an, liv, 6 and 7.)

Besides, this supposed miracle is so flagrantly contradicted by numerous verses of the Qur'an that it is not possible to admit it. "Nothing hindered Us from sending thee (Mohammad) with the power of working miracles, except that the people of old treated them as lies." (The Qur'an, xvii, 61.)

There was such slight efficacity in miracles! The Israelites bowed down to the Golden Calf immediately after the miracle wrought by Moses to save them from the waves of the Red Sea and Pharaoh's hosts. The idolaters of Makkah would not have been more greatly impressed by the sight of the most astonishing miracle. "With their most binding oath have they sworn by Allah, that if a sign come unto them, they will certainly believe it; Say: Signs are in the power of Allah alone: and what shall make ye to understand that if they were wrought these men would not believe it * And though We had sent down the Angels to them, and the dead had spoken to them, and We had gathered all things about them in hosts, they had not believed, unless Allah willed it." (The Qur'an, vi, 109, 111.)