/j/y:

c
THE

LIFE OF MOHAMMAD,

FKOM

ORIGINAL SOURCES.

BY A. SPRENGER, M. D.

ALLAHABAD :
PRINTED AT THE PRESBYTERIAN MISSION PRESS,
Rev, Jos, Warren, Superintendent.
1851.

f'*^>iZ5 5p7

FIRST BOOK.

GENERAL REMARKS;
Division of the Subject,
" Now learn a parable of the fig tree ; when his branch ia yet tender, and put-
teth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh."
It seems to be the first duty of a historian to investigate the
causes of great revolutions; for an event which happens at any
other, but its due season, is a miracle : we should consider it
as a wonder, if the sun should rise one second before, or after
its appointed hour ; or if any one were to accomplish, in his
childhood, what is expected of him in his riper age. In like
manner, had the illiterate prophet produced the revolutions
which he headed, the ontological argument for his faith, which
he constantly urged, would be irrefutable : we should be oblig
ed to acknowledge his doctrine as absolute truth, because it
was victorious. In investigating, however, the origin of that
extraordinary phenomenon, the victory of a false religion,
we must separate the causes of its rise in Arabia from those
of its propagation beyond the limits of that country. The
former we find in the awaking of healthy minds from the
dreams of the ancient world to the knowledge of one im
material God. This sublime truth, when it was pronounced in
the Qor&n, in the most forcible language, filled the ever-young
Arabs with irresistible enthusiasm ; and it would either have
A

2 GENERAL REMARKS.
led them to the Christian religion, and united them with
their more advanced neighbours, or it would have ended in
barren deism, and thus become altogether abortive, had it not
been checked, in its developement, by the superstitions of its
undaunted advocate and the municipal interests of the Mak-
kians.1 The better knowledge of the Creator of all things
was resolved, in its transit through the minds of the worship
pers of the black stone, into the dazzling colours of a local my
thology, the growing deism of the contemporaries of MoAam-
mad received a body, the idea became incarnate, and their
philosophical speculations were converted into a faith and re
ligion, distinct from other creeds, palpable, and national.
The causes of the diffusion of the Islam over the greater
part of the then civilized world, must be sought in the condition
of the respective countries, and in the relation of Arabia to
them : these will be explained after the history of the origin
of MoAammadanism has been related. But the enquiry into
the circumstances, which forboded the rise of a new religion
in Arabia, and which gave it shape, are so important, that the
author may be justified if he devotes to it the whole of the
first book, the first chapter of which will contain the history
of Makkah, from the foundation of that city to the time of
Mohammad, with particular reference to its constitution, wliich,
up to this moment, is the groundwork of the constitution of
Mo^ammadan states. In the second chapter the legendary
history of Makkah and of the ancestors of Mohammad will be
related, in order to relieve the picture of stubborn reality by
the charms of pious fictions, to acquaint the reader with the
(l.) " W hen Mohammad first preached, the Qoravshites did not disbelieve him t
but ihey did not like to give up their former religion. As soon, liowever, as he
condemned their idols, they opposed him." Zohry apud Waqidy, 4 7, 3.
"Abu Jahl said : MoA. speaks truth, and he never said a falsehood, but, if the
Banu Qocayy, who enjoy already the offices of bearing the standard, of providing
the pilgrims with water, and of keeping the keys of the Ka'bah, should also
obtain the prophetship, what would remain for the other Qorayshites ?" Kathshqf,
to Surah 6, 33.

HISTORY OP MAKKAH.

bias of MoAammadan writers, and to initiate Mm into the de-
tails of the doctrine of the Arabic prophet. The sources of
the biography of MoAammad will be passed in review in the
third chapter.

FIRST CHAPTER.
History of Makkah, and of the Ancestors of Mohammad.
In antiquity the commerce of the southeast coast of Afri
ca, India, and the south sea with Egypt, Syria, and the
neighbouring countries, went through Arabia ; in those times
to transport merchandize by land was safer and even cheaper
than to expose it to the dangers of the sea longer than
was indispensable. The principals of this commerce were the
Sabeans. Their wealth is described in the most glowing col
ours by Agatharchides (flourished 177 B. C.),1 and it was
proverbial with the Romans.'1 The few glimpses which we
obtain respecting Sheba and the Arabic commerce from
Scripture, tend not only to confirm the statements of classi
cal authors ; but they give to it a very high antiquity. About
the time of Christ the inhabitants of Petra seem to have suc-
(1.) " There is no nation on earth so wealthy as the Gerrhei and Sabei, as being
the centre of all the commerce whii-h passes between Asia and Europe. These
are the nations which have enriched the Syria of Ptolemy ; these are tlie nations
that furnish the most profitable agencies to the industry of tbe Phenicians, and a
variety of advantages which are incalculable. They possess themselves of every
profusion of luxury in articles of plate and sculpture, in furniture of beds
(carpets ?), tripods, and other household embellishments, far superior to any thing
that is seen in Europe. Their expense of living rivals the magnificence of prin
ces," &c. See Vincent, Periplus p. 3-'.
(2.) Horace says: — nee otia divitiis Arabum Uberrima muto. Ep. I. 7,36.
Flenas autem Arabum domus. Oi. II. 12, 24.
Icci beatis nunc Arabum gazis. Od. I. 29. 1.
See also Od. III. 24, 2. Ep. I. 6, 6.

4 HIsxuk.ii ur makkah.
cessfully rivalled the Sabeans, and their influence extended
far to the south.
In Yaman the inhabitants were settled, and wealth and here
ditary rights had their legitimate scope. Commerce could pur
chase its safety, and Government could enforce it. The same
was the case in Arabia Petrea : the inhabitants lived on agri
culture, and the merchants were the rulers ; but in the .ffijaz
the nature of the soil gave to the nomades the upper hand,1
and the small forts,1 which were erected along the mercantile
road for the comfort of the caravans, would have been in
sufficient to guarrantee their safety, had not means been
devised to reconcile the indomitable sons of the desert to their
own interests.
An Arabic historian** shows that the Bedouins can only be
ruled by prophets ; and it appears that the merchants of anti
quity tamed their savage neighbours in Arabia, as else
where, by religion : by making their fairs places of pilgrimage.
The valley in which Makkah now stands, was, in the fourth
century after Christ, a sacred forest :4 it was called the Ha,-
ram,5 and was about thirty seven miles in circumference.6
The weak found an asylum in it, though they might be
loaded with guilt, but it was not lawful to inhabit it,' or to
carry on commerce within its limits.8 The religious cere-
(1.) " lncolunt eam (Arabiam) primi post Syros Iudeos homines agricullores ;
post hos regio est arenosa et sterilis eam Arabes scenita? camelorum postores habi
tant." Eratosth. apud Strab. p. 728. JBurckhardt says, that the steppes, south
of Syria, bear to this day traces of former cultivation.
(2 ) They are mentioned by Strabo ; and it is said in the Qoran of the 'A'dites,
•' Do you build on every eminence a strong place ?"
(3.) Ibn Khaldiin devotes a separate chapter of his Prolegomena to this subject.
fi.) The chronology is approximative. The fact that Makkah is of so recent
a dte is established by .some passages in the appendix and by the sequel of the
story. Waqidy says, the valley in which Makkah now stands was, previous to
Qocayy, covered with salam and thorn trees.
(5.) Pliny 6, ii, calls it Charamei.
(6.) Ibn KhordadKah ; but Fasy doubts the exactness of this computation.
(7.) This prohibition was in order that the sacred territory might not be dese
crated by janabah (emissio seminis). Fasy.
(8.) Fasy — VloAammad gave permission to trade even during the pilgrimage.
Qjron 2, 194.

FAIRS. O
monies, performed in the ifaram, were a link between several
tribes of the flijaz, whom we will for the present call collec
tively the .Haramites. The Barbarians, whom in the fastnesses
of their deserts no human law could have restricted, submitted
to religion : they abstained from war during four months of
the year : the two last and the first and the seventh month.
On the first day of the seventh month they assembled peace
ably at the fair of 'Okatz,1 the Olympus of the'iJijaz ; where
they met several tribes not belonging to their confederation ;
they exchanged or ransomed their prisoners, they submit
ted their disputes to arbitration, recited their poems, ex
tolled the nobility of their tribes, and vaunted the valour of
their heroes. It was in this fair that Qoss preached the unity
of God, before Mohammad assumed his prophetic office, and
made a great impression on his juvenile mind. About the
twentieth of the same month they proceeded to another fair
which was held at Majannah,*1 and on the first of the following
month they assembled at the fair of Majaz,3 from which they
went, after ten days, into the sacred territory to perform the
rites of religion.4 The ceremonies performed on this occasion
(1.) 'Okatz is one day's journey beyond Qaran al Manazil (the ancient Ca-
rana) on the road to pan'a in the district of Tayif, and one post from that city.
It was the market place of the Qays 'Aylan and the Thaqyf tribes, and it was si
tuated in the territory of the Nacr tribe. These fairs were discontinued during
the second century of the Hijrah. Azraqy apud Hasy cap. 40. — Other authors
give to 'Okatz a somewhat different position. Conf. Mas'udy I. p. 138.
(2.) Majannah was the market place of the Kinanah, it was situated in their
territory one post below Makkah. Azraqy apud Fasy.
(3.) Majpz was the market place of the Hodzayl tribe, one farsang south of
mount 'Arafat near Kabkab. (Azraqy ibid.)
(4.) Qalqashandy mentions several other markets : " On the first of Raby' I.
the Arabs from near and far assembled at Dumat al Jandal (Dawmat, it is said in
a gloss to ^ aqidy, is a different place). Okaydar took the customs from them, but
sometimes the Kalbites made themselves masters of tbe market. It lasted to the
end of the month. Then they went to Hajar (in Yamamah) where they paid
the customs to Mondzir or the Shaykh of the banu 'abd Allah b. Darim ; then
they went to 'Oman in Babrayn (sic), then to Iram and the towns of ShiAr,
then to 'Aden, where they bought perfume, and from thence to Rabyyah in 7/adh-
ramawt ; some omitted this fair, and proceeded at once to 9an'a, where they
bought arms, striped cloths and leather. These articles were brought into market
by the bami Ma' afir. (The ma' afir cloths are celebrated). Then they went to
'Okatz." This is an excellent outline of the mercantile roads.

6 OFFICES.
were nearly the same as those through which now the Musul.
man pilgrims go. To us they appear unmeaning and dull}
but they have afforded amusement and edification so many
centuries to so many millions of men that we should not be
justified in passing an opinion. Shahrastany informs us that
there was an opinion prevalent among the Arabs, that the
walking round the Ka'bah and other ceremonies were symbolic
of the motion of the planets and of other astronomical facts.'
Ambition is the most powerful spring of action in the Bed
ouin. To keep up the interest of the iTaramites in their re
ligion various offices'1 were devised, and divided amongst
the Shaykhs of the confederate tribes, to flatter their va
nity, and to make the ceremonies more imposing. And
every tribe had some of its tutelary deities in the Haram as
its representatives. This tends to show that this federative
religion was an amalgamation of the superstitions of various
clans made for political purposes. The most powerful of
the confederates were the Kinanah tribes. They were
(1.) Wafwa!, Malahij al-fikr Lib. I. c. 2. says that most Arabic tribes were
originally star-worshippers (Sabeans). " The people of Saba worshipped the sun
as mentioned in the Qoran ; the tribe of Asad and Kinanah worshipped tbe
Moon, and subsequently they embraced the Jewish religion. The Lakhmites »ud
Jodzamites worshipped .'upiter; the Asadites worshipped Mercury; the banu
Minqar (?) worshipped the Hyades ; the Qays tiibes worshipped tirius (canis
Major); the Tayy tribe worshipped Canopus. At a later period they sunk into
idohtry." (2 ) These offices were, at least at a later time, 1. the sidanah (priesthood), or
Aijabah (portership) j this implied the superintendance ovr the /faratn ard the
keeping and drawing of the lot (arrows) used as the oracles of fate ; 2. rifadah or
stewardship at the public enter'ainement of the pilgrims ; 3 siqayah, i.e pioviding
the pilgrims with water ; 4. liwi (standard), which with some, implies the leader
ship and the right of appointing leaders for confederate tribes : this was done by
tying a kertchief to the spear of the man appointed ; 5. dar al nadwah, i. e. the
proprietorship of ti e townhall ; 6. ayam Minii, the right of heading the pil
grims in the ceremonies which were performed in Mina; 7. insa, or the right
of postponing the sacred months ; 8. qiyadah, leadership in war ; 9 khazanah,
or the charge of the treasury of the Ka'bah : this office is mentioned under the
Jorhomites, but no mentioning occurs during the Qorayshite period ; 10. iftdhah,
the privilage of heading the procession from Mazdajifah. This privilege was
Bince time immemoiial held by the banu 'adwan b. Qays 'Aylan, who first resided
at Tayif, and. being expelled from thence, went into the Tahamah. The last
who exercised this privilege was Abu al-Sayyarah, on whom see Freytag Prot.
arab. I. p. 739.

IDOLS. ;
nomades, and lived west of the sacred territory and on the
high road that leads to the north. Their chief representative
was Hobal, anciently called the idol of Khozaymah,1 the sup^
posed father of the Kinanah and some tribes related to them.
It stood, (at least after Qocayy) behind the Ka'bah over a well
and received almost as much homage as the black stone. One
of these tribes enjoyed the important office of naming the time
when the sacred months were to be kept.1 Next in impor
tance were the Thaqyf tribes ; they had their head-quarters at
Tlyif and were the guardians of the upper road to Yaman.
Their idol Allat, probably the Alilat of Herodotus, was at
Nakhlah,' east of the present site of Makkah. In company
with Allat was al-'Ozza. It was an idol of the Kinanah, but
its hereditary priests were the Banu Solaym, who were sta
tioned along the mercantile road to Syria in the neighbour
hood of Khaybar and in the wady al-Qora. The Cufah, a
mixed Khindif tribe,4 enjoyed the privilege of heading the pro*
(I.) Shahrastany and most Arabic authors assert that the only God has been
worshipped in the Ka'bah previous to the Khoza'ahites, and that hobal was im
ported by thtir chief 'Amr b. LoAayy. What is stated in the text is from Wa
qidy fol. 12. i. The idols imported by 'Amr b. Lo//ayy were, according to Fasy,
al- Khalacah which was below Makkah, Nahyk also called MoAadzir, al-rj-A. and
Mo('im al-rayr. This author calls Hobal emphatically an idol of the Qoray-
shites. (2.) "Sometimes," says Ibn Is/iaq, apud Fasy c. 30, " instead of the MoAarram
the C»fr was held sacred. And secondly the pilgrimage was annually postponed
by eleven days or somewhat more lor thirty three years and after that p nod it
was again held in the same lunar month ; — that is to say in performing the pil
grimage tbe Arabs followed the solar year and held it always at the same season.
It is said that the sacred months were first transfered by Malik b. Kinanah or
by Qalammas, i. e. flbdzayfah b. 'Abd b. 'Abd Foqaym b. 'Adyy b 'Amir b. Tha'-
labah b. al i/arith b. Malik b. Kinanah. The last man who trausfeied tbem wag
Abu Thomamah Jonadah b. "A»f." From the Qdmus (voce qlms) we learn fur
ther that in transferring the sacred month the person authorized to do so stood in
the western extremity of the valley of Miua at the Jam rah al-'aqabah ani said.
" O God, I am dispensing with tbe sacred months and transferring them ; no one
can blame me or oppose me. O Lord, 1 have declared the first of the two
months called 9afr(i. e. the MoAarram) licit and the second sacred, and I have
done the same with the two Rajabs (that is to say Rajab and Sha'ban)!"
(3.) Nakhlah is, according to Waqidy, a place now called Bostan b. 'Amir, or
more correctly (according to Ibn Qotaybah's Adah al Kdtib) Eostan Ma'mar.
(4.) It is said in the Qamus : " Cufah is the father of a Modhar tribe, his name
was Ghawth b. Morr b. Odd b. Tabikhah ; they lead the pilgrimage in the time of
ignorance, that is to say they conducted the lfadhah(the procession from 'Arafat

8 TERRITORY OF THE HARAMITES.
cession of the pilgrims on their way from 'Arafat. The Jor-
homites left rehcs of their religion in the statues of Isaf and
Naylahonthe hills which surround Makkah ; and the Khoza'
ahites placed one of their divinities (Nahyk) on mount Cafa
and another (Mo'tim al-tayr) on mount Marwah. The ce
remonies which were performed on these two hills are kept
up to this day, though differently construed. These and se
veral other tribes belonged to the .Haramite league, whose
members were so numerous and zealous, that the idols round
the Ka'bah amounted at the time of Mohammad to three
hundred and sixty.
Yet we should be under a great mistake, were we blindly to
believe Mo/iammadan authors, who state, that, not only all the
Arabs, but even the Persians performed pilgrimages to Makkah.
Ibn IsAaq allows that there were several Taghiits (temples)
in Arabia which were as sacred as the Ka'bah. Shahrastany1
informs us that the banu Tayy did not visit the jffaram, and
we may suppose that they bounded the country of the flara-
mites to the west, for their chief place, Payd, lies on the road
from Madynah to Bacrah near mount Shammar. The same
author informs us that the bami Kath'am and Daws did
not perform pilgrimages to the Ka'bah : they had a Taghut
of their own, which is mentioned in the tradition.*1 These
two united tribes formed, as late as A. D. 571, so powerful a
state that they attempted to resist the progress of the vice
roy of Yaman. They held, besides the wady Dawasir, the
mountains between Yaman and the ifijaz, and extended as
to Mina. Compare Surah II. 194). One of them exclaimed on this occasion :
' ' the piifah tribe is lo precede !" and when they had passed he exclaimed ; " the
other Khindif tribes are to advance;" and after they had passed the rest of the
pilgrims were allowed to go on."
Abu 'Obayd (quoted by Ibn Darayd in the Jamharah) says that the Cufah were
not descended from one patriarch, but that they were a mixed tribe. Zamakh-
shary says that some etymologists derive the name of the Cufies from Cufah, be
cause the latter were notorious at the time of paganism for their religious zeal.
(1.) Page 442.
(2.) Nihdyat jazary, voce Zaghut ; and Ibn IsAaq.

HARAMITE LEAGUE. 9
far as Tolabah.1 They appear to have been the southern
neighbours of the tfaramites. It is difficult to define the
northern frontier of the territory held by the league of the
flaram, for it seems to have been frequently changed; we shall
probably not be far from truth, if we consider it identical with
the frontier of Arabia Fcelix, which at the time of Eratosthe
nes was somewhere about Madynah. The ITaramites were
not only amused with idle ceremonies, but they were attracted
by solid interests ; all assisted in, and derived some advantage
from, the lucrative transit commerce.'1
The league was headed by the principals of the Arabic com
merce, who were the guardians and high priests of thcffaramj
and who, when the Ka'bah was built, held the keys of that
temple. As long as the merchants of Sheba enjoyed the mo
nopoly, they had a colony southeast of the .ffaram, and their
Amyr had the superintendence (sidanah) over it.
Burckhardt3 says : " In examining the Bedouin laws, and
especially those wliich are determined with scrupulous nicety,
a question naturally arises, how that code of laws, which, in its
main points, there is a reason to believe general among aU
Bedouins of Arabia, (and which I know to be common among
several of them), was originally given to that nation. "We
can scarcely suppose that it arose from the natural wants of
the tribes, which slowly and partially adopted certain cus
toms ; and that these, by practice and common consent, in
process of time, became the universal law. The political in
stitutions of the Bedouins, the nature of the offices of their
sheikhs and elders, the rules which they observe in war and
(1.) Qalqashandy, Diet, of Arabic tribes.
Tolabah is, according to Ibn Khordadbah, eight stages from Makkah on the
road to Can'a. ldrysy places it erroneously four stages from Makkah.
(2.) btrabo, p. 740, says, that the caravans which passed between al .ffijr and
Petra were very frequent at his time, and as large as armies. In saying this Stra
bo was thinking of the army of Elius Gallus, which consisted of sixteen thousand
men. (3.) Notes on the Bedouins and Wahdbys, I. 378.
B

10

LAWS.

negociating peace — rules founded on the very spirit of their
free and wandering life — might probably be traced to such an
origin. They are so well adapted, so natural, and so simple
that every nation, not yet reduced to slavery, if thrown at
large upon the wide desert, might be expected to observe the
same rules and usages. But quite contrary is the case with
their civil institutions, which it is difficult to imagine could
ever have originated in chance, or the consent, gradually ob
tained, of a wild and warlike multitude."
" The general law, by which the right of blood-revenge is
determined to rest within the khomseh, and which limits hos
pitality towards a fugitive to three days and one-third of a
day; the rules of dakheil, of the rabiet, of several of the
laws relating to divorce ; the nice distinctions made in esti
mating wounds and insults ; to which may be added the na
ture of the agyd's office ; all these seem to be so many arbi
trary regulations, that, in my opinion, indicate the work of a
legislator." Por such a legislator the talented author sup
poses we must seek in remote antiquity. It is probable
that the code of laws, to which he alludes, emanated from the
merchant priests of the .ffaram.
The early history of the tribes who held successively the
superintendence over the Haxam, and consequently the supre
macy over the .ffijaz, is enveloped in obscurity. Eratosthenes,
who died in 194, B. C, at an age of eighty one years, informs
us that the Mineans were in his time the carriers of the com
merce. They transported the goods in seventy days from
fladhramawt to Aylah. The Aajj road is divided into the same
number of stages by early Arabic Geographers.1 This tends
to prove the identity, not only of the road, but of the stages.
(1.) The distances on the Aajj road from .ffadhramawt to Makkah, and from
thecne to Aylah, are, according to Ibn Khordadbah, as follows : from i/adhramawt
to Manb nine stages ; from Marib to Can'a seven stages ; from Can'a to Qarn,
the ancient capital of the Mineans, eighteen days; from Qarn to Makkah two
days ; from thence to Madynah ten days ; from Madynah tlirough al-J/ijr, the

THE MINEANS. 11
This author includes the whole of the JJijaz in Arabia Foe-
lix; and in enumerating the inhabitants he proceeds from north
to south, and mentions first the Mineans; they must therefore
have lived in the Hijiz. Ptolemy places them north of the Do-
sareni, the Dawsites of Arabic authors, who inhabited the wady
Dawasir, which is south of Makkah. Pliny places the Mineans,
in one passage,1 north of the Rhadamitse, who it seems answer
to the banu Kath'am, who were confederates of the Dawsites.
It appears therefore that these three authors agree on the site
of the Mineans. Their capital, according to Eratosthenes, was
called Carna or Carana.'1 This name is preserved in Qarn,
which is also pronounced Qaran;3 but in modern times it is
usually called Qaran al-Manazil, which may be translated " the
junction of roads." It lies between Makkah and Tayif, two
stages from the former city. The etymology of the name of
Mineans is not clear, unless we derive it from Mina, a valley
in the sacred territory, in which, up to this day, the MoAam*
madans perform several of the ceremonies of their annual pil-
site of the Thamudites, and Tayma to Madyan nineteen days ; from Madyan to
Aylah five days. Aylah was only ten miles from Putra.
(1.) The passage alluded to deserves to be explained. The ancients, he says,
placed south of the Nabateans tbe Thimaneans ; but now the Taueni (the 2'ayy
tribe?) are there ; then he proceeds further south to Do.i atha (Dumat al-Jan-
dal) ; Egra (al Hijr ?), and to Badanata, (wady al-Qora ?), which was the capital
of the Thamadeni. Then he goes considerably east to Carriata, (Qaryatayn ?),
Phoda, (Fayd ?); then he continues : "ac Minei quoium Charmsei : oppidumXIV.
mill, pass — Mariaba Barumalacum et ipsum non spernendum : item Carnon."
I should explain this as follows : Then come the Mineans, and to them belongs
the place JSaram or sacred territory, which is fourteen miles long. The resi
dence oi the king is called Barr al-malik (i. e. king's land ; Tiyif'-), which is a
considerable town. In their territory is also Qaran al-Manazil. South of the
Minsei were the Khadamei (Kath'am b. Anmar ?) ; and south of the Rhadameiwas
the frontier of the kingdom of the Homeritie (fl'imyar). and the town of Massala
(Ca'dah ?); and farther south, between Massala and Can'a, the band 'Amir (Ha-
mirei), the Jedarah (Gedranir.se), Anmar (Amprse), al-Ash'ar (Ilisanitse ; Pto-
Jomy calls them Elisari), Bajylah (Bachilitse), Hamdan (Amathei) ; and finally
he comes to the Kahlanites (Calingii). whose capital he calls Mariaba Calingio-
rum; he adds that Mariaba means Capita] or residence of a king (marabb ');
and this name means therefore simply " Capital of the Kahlanites." In follow
ing up the route of Elius Gallus we find that Can'a is meant by it.
(2.) f-trabo, p. 728.
(3.) Qdmus, voce qrn.

12 THE MINEANS.
grimage; and before the Ka'bah was built almost all the cere
monies were performed there.
From what has been said it seems to be certain that the
Mineans belonged to the ifaramite league, but it is difficult
to determine whether the whole league was designated by that
name, or only the ruling tribe, that is to say, the colony of the
principals of the transport commerce. Eratosthenes gives
them a king, who, like other kings of Arabia, is held in great
honor, but has no power ; the whole government is entrusted
to a Major-domo. This description cannot apply to a Be
douin Shaykh, but to a high-priest (Sadin). It is probable
that where the title of king is applied by Arabic authors to
Midhad,1 the chief of the Jorhomites, or to 'Amr b. LoAayy,
the chief of the Khoza'ah, it is to be taken in this sense.
This might justify us in supposing that the Mineans were
the ruling tribe of the .Haram; but, as they are called the " great
nation," ancient authors must have comprehended under this
name more than a mere colony. Pliny places the Mineans,
in one passage, in the neighbourhood of iJadhramawt, from
which we might infer, that both the colony and the mo
ther tribe were called Mineans. This opinion seems to be
confirmed by the statement of Strabo, who says that they car
ry the goods from .Hadhramawt to Aylah. In another pas
sage Pliny informs us that they inhabit a sterile country,
and that their wealth consists in cattle. Taking this in con
nexion with what has been said above, it would lead us to
suppose that all the iJaramites are understood under the name
of Mineans ; and it is possible that it had sometimes so ex
tensive meaning as to imply, besides the mercantile colony in
charge of the Haram, and their confederates in the Hij&z,
also their mother tribe in Yaman.
(1.) This name is usually pronounced Modhad; but Caghany, in a gloss to
Waqidy, states that Modhad is the name of the family (literally nation), and
Midhad that of their deliverer.

JORHOMITES AND AMALEKITES. 13
The most ancient native accounts respecting the ffijaz do
not go back beyond the first century of the Hijrah, and they
have been much altered by MoAammadan authors, to make
them agree with the legends of their religion ; but, slavishly
as they copy the words of more ancient traditions, they not
seldom betray theii- own fraud.
In the first or second century of our era two mercantile
colonies were inclavated between the Bedouins of the .ffijaz :
the Jorhomites, who had come from Yaman, and who seem to
be identical with the Mineans, had their factories south and
east of the sacred territory, of which they were the priests ;
and the Amalekites,1 (the Malichse of Ptolemy),'1 were north
of it, and extended over the Tahamah,3 Madynah4 and
Khaybar.5 We know from scripture that the latter came
from Arabia Petrea. The names of Midhad, king of the
Jorhomites, and al-Samayda', the leader of the Amalekites
were celebrated by Arabic poets. In connexion with the
Amalekites were the 'Adites, a powerful tribe north of Mak
kah ;6 and their " cousins" and neighbours the Thamudites,
(1.) Kitdb al-aghdny and Mas'udy.
(2.) Ptolemy says that the country west of the Cincedocolpita? was inhabited by
the Malichse. The Cincedocolpitse lived on the coast ot Kentos, which had nearly
the same position as Joddah. Kentos (i. e. horn) is a translation of the Arabic
name of Sho'aybah, which is the diminutive of Sho'ab and means the space be
tween the two horns of an animal. Waqidy says : " Sho'aybah was the seaport of
Makkah before Joddah."
(3.) Mas'udy, o. 39.
(4.) Sambudy, Hist, of Madynah, c. 3. (Satnhudy wrote three works on the
history of Madynah, but the division into chapters is the same in all three.)
(5.) Abii al-Fada, Hist, anteisl. ed. Fleischer, p. 178.
(6.) All Arabic authors, including the Qoran, say that the 'Adites were related
to the 1 hamtidites, but they differ on the site of the 'Adites. Most authors, with
a view of enhancing the miracle, related of these two tribes in the Qoran, place
the 'Adites in the unapproachable desert of AAqaf, and this may have mislead
Mr. Dubeux to say, in his translation of Tabary, I. p. 114, of the 'Adites and Tha
mudites, u elles n'eiaientpas voisines de l'une l'autre." In those MSS. of Tabary,
(and in the very ancient copy of Ghazzaly) which I have seen, the text runs
JUjUj &).>£ jCi  Vty J6^j (fi j£ j& >ij*2 ) c\t mj*j
'ti&ji «-£•>>» jh^-i'.J **& Ji-)X=?*' " The people of 'Ad and Thamud
were cousins  both tribes lived in the steppes of the .ffijaz, and close

14 'ADITES AND THAMUDITES.
who inhabited al-ffijr, and extended, according to Ptolemy,
as for north as Aylah. There was therefore one uninterrupt
ed string of mercantile colonies from Yaman to Arabia Petrea,
and the sacred territory was then (about A. D. 100) the fron
tier (this is the meaning of the word ffijaz) between the
southern and northern merchants, or in other words, between
Arabia Fcelix and Arabia Petrea. Each party levied customs
on the imports for the protection afforded to the carriers ; and
it is likely that in those days carriage was mostly changed on
the boundary. Most Arabic authors assert that the Jorho
mites had first the supremacy over the ffijaz; and, in all
probality, the Amalekite colonies did not penetrate south
beyond Madynah before the beginning of our era.1 The stingy
Amalekites, the overbearing 'Adites, and the ungodly Tha-
mudites were hated and despised by the Bedouins, among
whom they lived. Their feelings towards the Amalekites are
best shown in the legend of the Amalekite wife of Ishmael,
related below. The numerous passages of the Qoran, in
which the prophet holds up the destruction of the 'Adites
and Thamiidites as examples of deservedly punished wickedness,
are allusions to popular legends, and show how much the
ffaramites rejoiced at their ruin. If the Amalekites ever had
to each other." These two authors (TaVary and Ghazzaly) place the 'Adites
three days north of Makkah, and make them the neighbours of the Thamiidites.
Ptolemy places his Oaditse north of the Thamiidites ; and thus confirms their
statement. (1.) Eratosthenes mentions the following three tribes of Arabia Petrea. Far
thest to the north the Nabath;ans ; then the Chauloteans ; and farthest south, on
the frontier of Arabia Foelix, the Agreans. Under Agreans, in all likelihood, the
ffejrians, or inhabitants of al-ffejr, are meant. It seems that the name of ffejr
or .ffijr was pronounced, in ancient times, ffajar, which means stones ; for we find
it translated by " Petra." Strabo says, P. 740, that the caravans go through Moi-
1» (Vicus albus) from Petra to Petra, i.e. to al-iJejr. The term " people of al-
ffejr or ffejrians" is used in the Qoran for the Thamiidites ; and it would
therefore appear that the Thamiidites and their confederates are to be understood
under the name of Agrei.
At the time of Elius Gallius the power of the people of Petra, i. e. of the
Amalekites, seems to have extended no farther than al-ffijr. It seems they
pushed farther south after Christ. I identify the terms People of Petra, and
Amalekites, on the authority of Josephus.

THE DECAY OF COMMERCE. 15
charge of the ffaram, as some Arabic authors assert,1 it was
by force and usurpation, and only for a short period.
The spreading of the merchants of Petra southward was, no
doubt, owing to the rise of the Roman power and civilization
in Syria. And the reduction of the frontier of Arabia Fcelix
was connected with the decay of the commerce and impor
tance of Sheba, which was beginning to manifest itself ever
since Hippalus (about A. D. 47) had first ventured to sail
direct from the Red Sea to India, taking advantage of the
Monsoon, instead of coasting India and unshipping the goods
in the first sea port of Arabia which could be reached.*1
In the second century of our era the Jorhomites succeeded
in expelling the Amalekites from the ffijaz, and about the
same time the 'Adites and Thamiidites were destroyed. How
far this was connected with the rise of the ffimyarite power
in Yaman it is difficult to determine.
The navigation of the Red Sea, under the Roman dominion
over Egypt, rose rapidly to importance, and the commerce of
Arabia decreased in proportion. The impoverished mercan
tile colonies could with difficulty resist the rapacity of their
(1 ) A tradition, preserved in the Kashshaf, to surah 7, says that the Amale
kites were, at one time, sole masters of Makkah ; and according to Azraqy apud
Fasy, c. 7, they rebuilt the Ka'bah.
(2.) The vessels of the Arabs, which were small in comparison witb those of
the Greeks of Egypt, (Peri-plus p. 174,) coasted Ii.dia, following the curvature of
every bay, until they reached Cambay ; from thence they stood over to the cape
of Jomjomah, now called Ras aljff.dd, and followed the coast of Arabia. Ves
sels, bound for C"Aar, usually took in water at Masqat. From Cohar the goods
were transported by the Gerrhceans ty land to Babylonia. Goods destined for the
markets of Palmyra and Egypt were unshipped, since the highest antiquity, not
far from Ras al-ffadd, and transported from thence by land to .ffadhramawt by
theCotabani, (i e. banu Qodba'ah), who inhabited Mahrah, and notwithstanding
the sterility of this country, were one of the most numerous and powerful families
of Arabic tribes. They are said to have been the first Arabic tribe that knew
writing But before the beginning of our era, the Arabic navigators became more
enterprising, and coasted the south coast of Arabia as far as .ffadhramawt, and
landed in the harbour Hicn Ghorab. The Qodha'ahites, being unable to subsist,
emigrated to the frontier of Babylonia, where oue of their tribes was known to
Strabo by the name of Colpitse (Kalbites), to the Syrian desert, and into the
neighbourhood of Madynah. Many, however, remained at Mahrah, and were, at a
comparatively recent period, distinguished by a peculiar dialect.

16 MIGRATIONS.
Bedouin neighbours. In the third century of our era the
Jorhomites were expelled from the ffijaz, most likely by their
nomadic confederates.1 They retreated to Syria, where rem
nants of them were to be found as late as the ninth century
of our era.*1 About the same time (third century) mighty
migrations took place in Arabia from south to north and
north-east. One of them was headed by the Ghassanites, who
had originally inhabited the coast of Zabyd.3 On their way
through the ffijaz they assisted in the destruction of the Jor
homites, or at all events took advantage of it, and left a di
vision of their tribe, called Khoza'ah, (i. e. "left behind"), in
charge of the ffaram. They were poor, and assimilated them
selves with their Bedouin neighbours to such an extent, that
their descent became doubtful,4 and their connexion with the
mother tribe extinct. Their capital Watyr,5 was north-west of
the ffaram. After less than two hundred years,6 they lost
(1.) It is quite certain that the banii Bakr b. 'Abd Manah b. Kinanah had a
h-.nd in it. Waq., Fasy and tar. Khamys.
(I.) They settled at Qanuna, between Damascus and Ba'lbek. — Mas'udy.
(3.) Arabic authors inform us that the Ghassanites, and all other Azdite tribes,
which were numerous enough to establish two kingdoms and t' people Mady
nah, had originally inhabited the city of Saba (Sheba), and that they left that city
in order to avoid a predicted inundation, which was to be caused by the breach
of one single bandab. Bandiib means in India an artificial reservoir of the rain wa
ter, for the purpose of irrigation. Ruins of bandabs are numerous in the neighbour
hood of Delhie. Mas'udy, c. 45 ; .ffimzah, p. 115, and other authors, however,
allow that the Ghassfiuit.es derived their name from Ghassan, which is the name
of a water in the valley of al-Ash'ar, between Zabyd and Rima' on the coast of
the Red Sea. Tbey say that they took some rest days there, on their march from
Saba to the north. But we find them on that spot in the times of Pliny and of
Ptolemy, and it is more than probable that they originally inhabited that coast.
(4.) The Khoza'ahites themselves maintained, that they were Azdites, and
descended from 'Amr b. Raby'ah LoAayy b. al-ffarith b. Mozayqiya ; but
some ethnographers say, that they were Modharites ; and derive them from
Qama'ah b. al-Yas b. Modhar, or from al-Calt b. al-Nadhr b. Kinanah.
Sohayly apud Qalqashandy, reconciles these two opinions by saying, that the
father of their patriarch, 'Amr b. LoAayy, was Qama'ah a Modbarite, aud his
step -father an Azdite.
(5.) Wityr is now called Watyryn, ind it is near Malkan. The Khoza'ahites
were not displaced by Qooayy. Tney continued in their old seats to the time of
of MoAammad. — Fasy. They extended as far as Marr Tzahran. — Qalq. diet.
Arab tribes.
(6.) Ibn IsAaq and 7hbary say 300 years ; and some suthors say 500 years.
See appendix.

QOCAYY. 17
their power, and the tribe of Qoraysh, to which the Arabic
prophet belonged, took their place.
In the beginining of the fifth century of our era Qocayy,
an adventurer of the 'Odzrah tribe, which lived in Arabia
Petrea,1 came into the settlement of the Khoza'ahites. He
soon acquired wealth and importance, and obtained the daugh
ter of their chief in marriage. The death of his wife's father,
the weakness of his brother-in-law, the decay of the Khoza'-
ahite power, and the ascendency of the Kinanah tribes,forboded
a change in the supremacy of the ffijaz, of which he was ready
to take advantage. It seems to have been a law in the ancient
history of Arabia, that the Bedouins, who had some share in
t^ie transport commerce, conquered and supplanted, in periods
of two or three centuries, their principals, who lived in cities.
Wealth had made these effeminate ; whilst the hardy carriers
of the goods had learned to appreciate the comforts of settled
life, and become acquainted with the means of obtaining
them. One of these revolutions was at hand.
If an aspiring Bedouin finds no sphere of activity in his
own clan, he joins a man of another tribe as a confederate
(Aalyf). This gives him all the rights and imposes upon him
all the duties of a man born in the tribe. Cases in which con
federates became the leaders of the tribe are not rare. It is
likely that Qocayy, actuated by ambitious views, entered one
of the Kinanah tribes as a confederate. MoAamadan authors,
however, say that he was the son of Kilab a Kinanah shaykh.
Their story is very unlikely, but I give it, as it is told by Arabic
historians. Faftmah, the wife of Kilab, gave birth to a son, who was.
called Zohrah ; after him she had no child for a long time. At
length she bore another son, who was called Zayd (Qocayy).
(I.) The banu 'Odzrah were a Qodha'ah tribe, and occupied Sargh, which is
situated between Moghythah and Tabuk. They also held Mo'an, which is one
stage from Shubak.
g c

18 QOCAYY,
Kilab died soon after, and his widow married Raby'ah of the
'Odzrah tribe, by whom she had a son called RizaA. Her new
husband took her to his own clan, which occupied the country
about Sargh,in the highlands of Syria (Arabia Petrea). Zohrah
her eldest son remained in the .ffijaz, but Zayd was taken
away by his mother, and passed as the son of her second
husband. When Qocayy had grown into a man, he had a
quarrel with an 'Odzrite, who reproached him that he was a
stranger. He went to his mother, and after many entreaties
she confessed that, his father was Kilab. On this he deter
mined to join his own tribe. When he arrived at Makkah
Zohrah was blind from age, but he recognized his brother by
his voice, (!) and received him into the tribe. What must the
age of Faiimah have been when she gave birth to her third
son, RizaA, or when Qocayy proceeded to the ffijaz ?
It is the interest of the family of a confederate to obliterate
the memory of his foreign origin ; and it is, therefore, likely
that the descendents of Qocayy invented this tale in order to
be considered of Kinanah extraction. It was greedily adopted
by MoAammadan authors, for it agreed with their notion,
that Mohammad was a son of Abraham. Qocayy was his an
cestor ; and if he had been an 'Odzrite he would have derived
his genealogy from Tocktan, whereas the Kinanah tribes claim »
descent from Ishmael. The Kinanah tribes found an enterpri
sing leader in Qocayy ; and he found willing tools in them to
further his ambitious objects. His brothers1 hastened from
Arabia Petrea with three hundred men to his assistance ; and
if the boast of the Qorayshites is well-founded the Byzantine
Emperor favored his proj ects. The Khoza'ahites, and their al
lies the banu Bakr b. 'Abd Manah, were worsted in an affray.*
(1.) Qocayy had besides RizaA three half brothers, viz. Honn, MaAmiid and
Jolhomah. (2.) The fir.-t tumult, it is said, arose during the pilgrimage. The Cufah tribe
enjoyed the privilege of preceding the other pilgrims in the ceremonies of 'Arafat
and in casting stones. The party of Qocayy prevented them from exercising
it, and gave to Qocayy the precedence.

ORIGIN OF THE QORAYSHITES. 19
A regular battle was waged, but whilst it was raging the com
batants agreed to submit their case to arbitration. A Bakrite1
was appointed to pronounce judgement between the two parties.
He decided that the Khoza'ahites and their allies were to pay
the blood-revenge to Qocayy ; but the price of the blood, which
his party had shed, was remitted. The Khoza'ahites were
permitted to remain unmolested in their former dwelling
places,"1 and Qocayy received charge of the ffaram. The pre
sence of auxiliaries from Qocayy's original tribe gave him
a great advantage over Ms Kinanah confederates, and ena
bled him to make such changes in the constitution of the
ffaramites as times demanded. The profits of an extensive
transit commerce having ceased to be sufficient to connect
a great number of tribes, he contracted the limits of the
confederation, and formed anew tribe, called the Qoraysh.
This clan succeeded, in a great measure, in monopolizing the
advantages of the institution of the ffaram.3 The Qorayshites
consisted exclusively of Kinanah families, and as a symbol
of their unity, they all called themselves the children of
Fihr.* Some of these families continued their nomadic
habits ; but others preferred the comforts of settled life to Be
douin liberty, and laid the foundation of Makkah.* Qocayy
(1.) His name was Ya'mar b. 'Awf b. Ka'b b. Layth b. Bakr b. 'Abd Ma-
Tiah. He was called Shaddakh, because he did not condemn Qocayy to pay the
price of blood.
(2.) Fakihy and Azraqy apud Fasy. — Waqidy and other authors say that the
Khoza'ahites had lived at Makkah, and were expelled on this oc.-asion i but
they contradict themselves by allowing, that, when Qocayy founded Makkah, he
had to clear away the bushes and trees.
(3.) The reader will see lower down, that no ffaramite tribe besides the Makki-
ans was included in the commercial treaties concluded by Hashim and his brothers.
(4.) Fihr was certainly not a real person ; yet some MoAarntuadan authors, in
order to raise the antiquity of the tribe of their prophet, and because his is the
supposed father of all the Qorayshites, assert that he formed tha Qoraysh
tribe. This, however, is contradicted by all good auttiors. Ibn IsAaq says of
the condition ot the Qorayshites previous to Qocayy, [mmf\^ Ijl , jS*>r* J
lAJJ ^JJ ^ (Vji^j? lt)3*j^* ^jllj |» y"j J^?- Most of the
Qorayshite families were called banu Nadhr previous to the time of Qocayy.
(5.) The nomadic Qorayshites were called Tzawahir (i. e. those who live out

20 THE FOUNDING OF MAKKAH.
chose a valley within the ffaram as the site of the new city ;
for he thought that living within the sacred territory would
relieve him from his enemies. The other Kinanah tribes ob
jected that it was unlawful to dwell in the ffaram; and even
his own tribe hesitated to cut down the wood with which
it was covered. Qocayy laid the first axe to the tree, and
the Qorayshites followed his example. He sketched the plan
of the town, and allotted to every family its own quarter. To
raise the sacredness of the town he rebuilt the Ka'bah ;*¦ or,
what is more likely, he founded it. At all events, he was the
first who covered it with a wooden roof, and placed a num
ber of idols in and around it.''
Though the composition of the Qoraysh tribe, and the mode
of life of the Makkians, differed considerably from that of the
Bedouins, the constitution of their commonwealth approached
closely to the patriarchal form of government. There was in
fact no government at Makkah, in our acceptation of the
word, up to the time of Mohammad. There were no laws that
could be enforced, no paid officers, no compulsory courts of
justice, and no public treasury.
Among the Bedouins life and property are not protected
by a power established by a majority, or imposed upon it.
The whole tribe may decide on a certain measure ; yet one
family, nay, a single individual, may withhold its assent with
out fear of compulsion. A tribe may go to war to avenge
the death of one of its members, or to retrieve a daring rob
bery ; and one family, or one individual, may refuse to take
up arms, if it has the courage to brave public opinion in a
side the city), and the Makkians were called I!i/aA families. BalyAah means a
sandy valley, or the bed of a torrent, and it seems to have been the pioper name
of the valley in which Makkah was situated, and for this reason all the Qorayshites
who lived in that valley were called Bitih families.
(1.) Fasy says, cap. 7 : "It is stated by al-Zobayrb. Bakkar, by Fakihy, by
Ibn 'Ayidz, and by others, that Qocayy rebuilt the Ka'bah ; but this is not stated
by Azraqy."
(2.) Among other idols he placed Isaf and Naylah in it; but they were sub
sequently returned to their former place.

CONSTITUTION OF MAKKAH. 21
small society, to which it is inseparably wedded, and which is
its only protection.
Solicitous as nature is in the attainment of its ends, and
in the preservation of its creations, (and society is one of
them), it has placed strong passions in our breasts — honor and
revenge — which are powerful enough to make men, in their
unsophisticated state, shed their blood for the protection of
each other. Among the Bedouins these passions are the only
guarantee for the safety of life and property ; and they are,
therefore, fostered by education, regulated by public opinion,
rendered sacred by immemorial custom, and lasting by cere
monies. The ceremonies by which the Bedouins impose cer
tain duties upon themselves form, up to this day, their only
religion. As in the case of marriage, a ceremony renders
with us the promise of the moment an inviolable duty for life,
thus the Bedouin, by going through certain ceremonies* ties.
down himself for life, and sometimes even his descendants, to
fulfil duties, which involve the greatest devotion and sacrifi
ces, towards others.1
Should a dispute arise between two individuals of a tribe,
the Shaykh will endeavour to reconcile them ; but if either
party be dissatisfied with his advice, he cannot insist on obedi
ence. Their respective relations will try to persuade them to
submit ; but, if they refuse to comply, they are obliged to pro
tect them, if they do not choose to be the disgrace of their na
tion; and their respective families and kindred must go to war
with each other.*1 In order to increase the number of those

(1 ) This is exemplified by what is said in the following page. How fond
the Arabs were of doing solemn acts under impressive ceremonies is shewn by their
mode of swearing an oath, which was in use before MoAammad. They made a
fire which the person to whom the oath was administered approached, some
times so near that he was burned ; and they threw salt and sulphur into it. When
the flame was fiercest they said tohim, " This fire wishes to deter thee from
perjury. If thy statement is not true, do not swear ; but if thou speakest the
truth, swear." This was called the cautioning fire. Mabahij al-fikr, 1 , 4.
(2.) Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabyt, I. p. 116.

go CONSTITUTION OF MAKKAH.
whose duty it is to protect each other, almost every Arab
has a guardian (wacyy). "If an Arab," says Burckhardt/
"wishes to provide for the security of his family even after his
death, though in the prime of life, he goes to one of his
friends, and begs that he will become the guardian of his
children. The ceremony on this occasion is, that he should
present himself, leading a she-camel, before his friend : then he
ties one of the hanging corners of the keffie or kerchief of
his friend into a knot, and leading the camel over to him,
says: 'I constitute you Wacyy for my children, and your
children and your grand children for my grand children.' If
his friend accepts the camel, and it is seldom refused, he and
his whole family become the hereditary protectors of the other
man's descendants. Almost every Arab has his wacyy in some
other family ; even the greatest Shaikh is not without his guar
dian. The ward applies to his wacyy whenever he feels himself
aggrieved; and in defending his ward the wacy/s whole
family co-operate with him. This system of guardianship is
particularly beneficial to minors, to women and old men, who
find it necessary to resist the demands of their sons. Thus
it appears that the Arabs constitute, with their own families
and those of the wacyys, as many armed bodies, which,
by the fear they mutually entertain of each other, preserve
the peace of the tribe ; and perhaps nothing but this institu
tion could save a nation so fierce and nefarious from being
destroyed by domestic dissensions."
The protection of Mohammad by Abu Jahl, the bitterest
enemy of the new religion, the details of which will be related
below, is a noble instance of the faith of an Arab in defending
his ward and kinsman ; and it is a proof that what Burckhardt
says of the Bedouins of our days, fully applies to the inha
bitants of Makkah at and before the time of Mohammad.
(I.) Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and Waliabys, I. p. 131.

BLOOD-REVENGE. 23
The greatest guarantee for life among the Arabs is the
blood-revenge; the life of a murdered relative must be revenged.
And so faithful are these armed bodies in fulfilling this duty,
that if it was impossible to take vengeance at the time when
the murder happened, it is sometimes done by the second or
third generation. How completely this institution attains its
object is shown by the fear of the Qorayshites as to injuring
Mohammad. These institutions rest solely on honor; disgrace is the
only certain punishment- of the faithless coward. Strong
feelings of honor are the leading virtue, vain-glory the prevail
ing weakness, of the Bedouins. In the settled Arab they have
degenerated into vile ambition. Bravery is the offspring of
honor, and generosity is inseparable from bravery.1 These
three virtues constitute the chivaleresque character of the
Bedouins, and made them victorious over one half of the then
known world.
An example, which illustrates the state of justice at Makkah
previous to the time of MoAammad, may not be out of place
here. A merchant came from Yaman with goods, and sold them
to a man of the name of ' Ac* of Makkah. The purchaser dis
appeared, and his family refused payment. The tribe of the
merchant was far off, and could afford him no aid ; and he im
plored in vain the protection of the Qorayshites against this
violation of faith, which was disgraceful even in the eyes of a
nation of robbers. On a day when the Makkians assembled
on mount Abu Qobays, he recited before them some verses,
and complained in the bitterest terms of the treatment which
he had received at the hands of a Qorayshite within the sacred
(1.) Motanabby says in this sense Hj* IX£* s" ^ai) uJ1 '^-ksj
,j ,ijl Si«-fl ^^'lj* " Courage makes parsimony appear cowardice in the eyes
of this young hero."
(2.) His name was 'Ac b. Wayil of the Sahm family. He was the father of
the celebrated general 'Amr.

24 ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.
territory. Zobayr a son of 'Abd al-Motfalib, and 'Abd Allah
b. Jod'an,1 the two foremost heroes in war, were moved, and
called on the Makkians to swear an oath, that they would in
future protect the weak. The families of Hashim, Zohrah and
Taym*1 met in the house of 'Abd Allah b. Jod'an, where a
•dinner was prepared for them, and swore by the god of death
that they would stand by the oppressed " as long as the sea
was sufficient to wet a flock of wool;" and that they would feed
Ae distressed. Thence they proceeded to the house of ' Ac, and
Insisted that he should pay his debt. This oath was rehgiously
observed, and the property of strangers was henceforth res
pected in the territory of Makkah.'
To give to the commonwealth of Makkah more consistency,
-unity of purpose, and regularity, Qocayy built the town hall
(dar al-nadwah). It was close to the Ka'bah, and its doors
opened towards it ; for religion and state were closely united.
The town hall was never public property,4 but it was the place
(1.) 'Abd Allah b. Jod'an was of the band Asad, and was celebrated for
his generosity. He had a man in the upper part of Makkah, and one in the low
er, to invite people to " animal food and fat or grease." He was the first man
at Makkah who gave to his guests Faludah, which is prepared in the following
way : wheat is macerated in water for some days ; what has not been dissolved
swims at the top, and is thrown away ; and what has been dissolved is strained off
and dried, and usually boiled in water into a thick paste. This is dried and cut
into cakes and eaten with sugar; the Arabs call it .jJl^jbJ (mavrowof wheat),
,or ?T«5 X ^e 'a" er 's "°e "r"'ers'-an aI*d Indian name of this dish.
(2.) These are the families mentioned by Waqidy ; Fasy, cap. 35, adds the
families of MorYalib, of 'Abd al-'Ozza and of Asad.
(3.) This oath was called Ailf al-fodhiil.
(4.) In a gloss to Waqidy, folio 39, two traditions are mentioned regarding
¦the town hall. According to one of them, for which al. Zobayr is the authority, aod
which has also been followed by Waqidy in the text, folio 13, the town hall was
¦inherited from Qo9ayy by his eldest son 'Abd al-dar and remained in his family
until it was sold by Manyiir b. 'Amir b. H&shim b. 'Abd Manaf b. 'Abd al-dar to
¦ffokaym b ffizam. According to the other tradition, which is traced to Hisham
Kalby, it was sold by 'Ikrimah, a brother of Manciir b. 'Amir, to Mo'awiyah
h abu Sofyan for one hundred thousand dirhams. Mo'awiyah converted it into
the Government House (dar al-imarah), and it remained henceforth in the hands
of the Khalifs.
Ibn ffawqal says anent the town hall, " It is west of the great mosque behind
the government house. The entrance to it is on the side which faces tbe (great
mosque). It is (now) a mosque, and united with the great mosque. At the
time of ignorance it was the place where the Qorayshites used to assemble."

THE COUNCIL OF THE QORAYSHITES. 25
where all public business was transacted. There the Makkians
deliberated in emergencies ; they decided on war or peace ;
they installed their leaders and those of their allies; they
concluded marriages and performed the circumcision of their
sons ; and all Qorayshite caravans, and even single travellers,
started from the town hall, and visited it on their return to
Makkah, before they went to their own homes.
Every Qorayshite, and every confederate, who was forty
years of age, had a right to attend at the deliberations ; and
the sons of Qocayy enjoyed the privilege of being permitted to
attend before they had attained that age. There was no vo
ting, because, as it has already been observed, only persuasion,
and not compulsion, could unite the Qorayshites to carry a
measure into execution. Wealth, connexions and family gave
great influence ; but the greatest man in council was he who
shone brightest with the virtues of a Bedouin : bravery, reso
lution, hospitality, ready wit and cunning. He drew the
mass along with him.
The moral influence of Qocayy was so great that he ruled
Makkah with almost absolute authority. He was the propri
etor of the town hall, and had, besides, four or five of the offices
of the ffaram alluded to above.1 He and his sons were the
hereditary leaders and standard-bearers of the tribe in war,*1
(1.) Page 6, note.
(2.) Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins, I. p. 296, says on this subject : " It
is a remarkable circumstance in Arabian history and policy, that during a cam
paign in actual warfare, the authority of the Shaykh of the tribe is completely set
aside. Every tribe has besides the Shaykh an agyd, (i. e. a leader in war). The
office of agyd is hereditary in a certain family from father to son ; and the Arabs
submit to the command of an agyd, whom they know to be deficient both in bra
very and judgment, rather than yield to the orders of their Shaykh during the
actual expedition ; for they say that expeditions headed by the Shaykh are always
unsuccessful. AU Bedouin tribes without exception have their agyd. The
same agyd acts on some occasions as agyd to two neighbouring tribes, if they
are small and closely allied. Thus, among the Arabs of Sinai, a family of Awlad
Sayd is in possession of the agydship for all the tribes of the peninsula. The
persou of the agyd, and stiU more his office, is regarded with veneration. He is
considered by the Arabs as a kind of augur or a saint. He often decides on the
operations of war by his dreams, or visions, or forebodings. They believe that
D

26 DEATH OF QOCAYY.
and the stewards in the entertainment prepared by the Qoray,
shites for the pilgrims, whilst they performed their religious
ceremonies at Makkah and in Mina. He also had the ma.
nagement of providing them with water on those occasions,
Most authors give him credit for having first introduced these
two offices ; but as hospitality is with the Arabs the privilege
of the strong, and the first attribute of power, we may suppose
that they are as ancient as the ffaram. <
When Qocayy died he was buried in the hill of al-ffajiin,
near Makkah, which became henceforth the burial ground of
the Qorayshites ; and his eldest son 'Abd al-Dar inherited
the five offices of the ffaram, which had been held by his fa
ther.1 Owing, however, to his weakness, he enjoyed but little
influence in comparison with his brother 'Abd Manaf,
Through the exertions of the latter Makkah became flourish*
ing, and he added new quarters to it.
The most active, wealthy and liberal among the sons of
'Abd Manaf was Hashim. During his time the common
wealth of the Qorayshites attained to its golden age. Three
generations had brought it to maturity, and after three gene
rations more it was ready to undergo a change, which was
reechoed from the extremities of the world. We know that the
even a child of th" ancient agyd family may be a proper leader, supposing him to
act by a kind of heavenly inspiration." Superstition lends to the Arabs, in emer-
gencies, the unity and strength of a monarchy.
(1.) This is the statement of Waqidy, but Azraqy apud Fasy says, that there
is a tradition, that Qocayy gave the stewardship, the management of providing
the pilgrims with water, and the leadership in war to 'Abd Manaf, who left the
former two offices to Fashim and the latter to 'Abd Shams.
The history of the stewardship we shall hear lower down. The standard and
the keys of the Ka'bah remained always in the family of 'Abd al-Dar. Of tbe
leadership we find the foUowing history in the Tarykh Khamys. "'Abd Shams
left it to his son Omayyah, and from him it came to his son flarb, who com
manded the tribe in the war of 'Okatz, in which the Qorayshites fought against
the Qays 'Aylan. He also had the command in both sacrilegious wars, and in the
war of Dzat Nakyf, (a place near Yalamlam), in which the AAabvsh sided against
the Qorayshites. .ffarb was succeeded as leader of the Qorayshites by his son
Abu Sofyan, who commanded at OAod and in the battle of the Ditch ; but in the
battle of Badr his relation 'Otbah b. Raby'ah b. 'Abd Shams had the command,
Abu Sofyan being in the caravan."

HjCSHIM  DIVISIONS. %t
Jorhomites and Khoza'ahites, who proceeded the Qorayshites,
enjoyed equally short periods of existence. If the mercantile
republics of Arabia were so short-lived, how may revolutions
must have passed in Sheba, and other commercial cities, from
the time of Solomon, or Abraham, until they were finally de
stroyed !
Hashim was the first Qorayshite who traded at the same
time with the north and south. In summer he went to Syria,
to purchase wheat, giving camels in exchange. Sometimes he
proceeded as for as Ancyre,1 where the Emperor himself is
said to have taken notice of him ; and in winter he visited
Yaman. The liberality of Hashim was unbounded. During a famine
in the ffijaz he had bread baked in Syria for distribution at
Makkah ; and hence he is called Hashim, i» e. Breadbreaker ;
his proper name having been 'Amr. The camels, on which
the bread was carried to Makkah, were slaughtered and divid*
ed among the starving citizens.
At the end of the fifth century of our era Makkah,
like every commonwealth, was divided into two parties. The
descendants of 'Abd al-Dar, who were in possession of the five
offices of dignity, headed the party of hereditary privileges ;
and the descendants of 'Abd Manaf, who enjoyed greater
wealth and moral influence, were the leaders of the liberal
party.*1 The numbers were nearly equal on both sides : the
liberals counted in their ranks the families of Asad b. 'Abd
al-'Ozza, Zohrah, Taym and BalMrith. Their leader was
Hashim. The conservatives were headed by 'Amir the shaykh
of the house of 'Abd al-Dar, which was joined by the families
of Makhzum, Sahm, JomaA and 'Adyy. Only the houses

d ) ijii)
(2.) The conservatives are called in Arabic AAlaf, (confederates), or La'aqat al-
dam, (olood-lickcrs). and the Liberals Morayyab (perfumed). On the origin
ef the latter two terms, see Qdmus, under <yb and l'q.

28 SHAYKH OF THE QORAYSHITES.
of 'Amir b. Lowayy and MoMrib b. Fihr remained neutral.
The liberals disputed with 'Amir the dignified offices. Differ
ences, in a rude state of society, are generally decided by the
sword. The two parties were drawn up in face of each other,
when the family of 'Abd al-Dar purchased peace at the
sacrifice of the two most expensive offices of the Ka'bah, the
stewardship andthe right of providing the pilgrims with
water.1 Hashim was invested with these honors.
It appears that the steward was intrusted with the diplo
matic relations of the Uttle commonwealth; or in other
words, that he was the shaykh of the tribe. In virtue of this
office he had to incur all public expences ; but he had a claim
to the customs and all other emoluments derived from for
eigners. As shaykh of Makkah, Hashim and his brothers
concluded commercial treaties with the neighbouring powers,
which were very advantageous to the Qorayshites .'l The Empe
ror of Constantinople and the Chosroes provided them with
passports, granting them immunity from certain duties ;3 and
the Negush of Abyssinia invited them to trade with his coun
try. Hashim went thither with a caravan of forty mer
chants.4 They took the route of Madynah, and visited on their
way the fair held at a place called, " Market of the Abyssini-
ans." The victory gained by the sons of 'Abd Manaf over the
conservatives sowed the seeds of dissensions in this family,
which, about one hundred and fifty years later, deluged the
empire of the Arabs with blood. No family quarrel has ever
(1.) It is probable, and almost certain, that he also resigned the leadership in
favor of 'Abd Shams.
(2.) The treaty of commerce with the Emperor was concluded by Hashim;
that with the Negush by al-Motolib ; and that with the Chosroes by Nawfal.
This is from Waqidy. Mas'udy mentions two verses, in which the ilaf or
commercial treaties of the Qorayshites are mentioned ; and according to one copy
of this author they also concluded a treaty with the king of Yaman.
(3.) This assertion of Arabic authors receives some confirmation from an edict
in the Codex of Justinian. The duty remitted to tbe Arabs was the portorium.
(4.) They were of the banu 'Abd Manaf, Makhzum and Sahm.

HASHIMITES AND OMAYYIDES. 29
been more productive of evils than this. Omayyah, who
was an ambitious and wealthy man, was jealous of his uncle
Hashim, and attempted to equal him in liberality, and in the
virtues of a Bedouin ; and being ridiculed by the Qorayshites ;
he insulted and challenged him. The families of the other
two sons of 'Abd Manaf took up the dispute. Nawfal es
poused the cause of the Omayyides, and al-Mo«alib that of
the Hashimites. After many quarrels they committed their
dispute to the arbitration of the Khoza'ahite sooth-sayer, who
decided in favor of Hashim. The loser forfeited, accord
ing to a previous understanding, fifty camels, and had to leave
Makkah for ten years. Omayyah spent the time of his exile
in Syria, where his great grand son — the first Omayyide
Khalif — founded a throne, and where he and his successors
wasted the strength of the growing empire in continuing their
quarrel against the Hashimites.
Hashim discharged his office of steward with the utmost
munificence. He spent nearly his whole fortune in entertain
ing the pilgrims, and the Qorayshites followed his example.
Every father of a family contributed no less than one hundred
Heraclean dynars1 to the entertainment. Por providing the
pilgrims with water he had reservoirs made of leather, which
were placed on the spot where subsequently the Zamzam was
sunk, and filled with water from the wells of the city. Simi
lar reservoirs were prepared in the valley of Mina, where there
was great scarcity of water. The pilgrims were first enter
tained on the seventh of the month of Dzu-1-Aajj at Makkah.
The fare consisted of bread, animal food, butter, flour of parch
ed barley, and dates ; then in Mina, Mozdalifah and 'Arafat
(1.) The Arabic term is mithqal, which is synonymous with dinar as a weight,
and equal to 68 grains and four sevenths of a grain. If we take the mithqal as a
weight, one hundred mithqal of gold would be equal to 685 7 grains, or £52 ; and
if we take " mithqal" for the Arabic name of an aureus of Constantine and
his successors, (see Gibbon), 100 mithqals would be equal to ,£55. This is a
large sum ; but we must recollect that semi-barbarous nations starve all their life
to be enabled to make a great display on such occasions.

30 DEATH OF HASHIM.
When they left Minis, the rights of hospitality ceased, and
everybody returned to his home.
Hashim died at Ghazzah in Syria, and his property was
brought to Makkah by Abu Rohm, who was then only twenty
years old.1 Shortly before his death Hashim married Salmi
of Madynah. She remained in her native town and gave
birth to a son called Shaybah, or " greyhair," for his father
was grey when he was born. The child remained with his
mother until he had grown into a boy ; his uncle, al-MoWal-
lib, now fetched him, and when he carried him into Makkah
his countrymen thought that he was a slave boy, and for this
reason he received the name of 'Abd al-Mo^alib, which means
the slave of al-MoWalib. He was the grandfather of
MoAammad, and inherited, after his uncle's death, which hap
pened on a mercantile journey at Radman in Yaman, the
stewardship of the Ka'bah. Nawfal, another uncle of 'Abd
al-Mo^alib, deprived him of this office; but Abu Sa'd of
Madynah, his mother's brother, came with eighty men to
Makkah, and swore that he would destroy the usurper if he
would not restore it. Being thus re installed in his rights
'Abd al-Moftalib obtained considerable influence with the
Makkians ; but like his father he became the object of the
jealousy of the Omayyides. ffarb challenged him, and the
(1.) The tradition preserved by Waqidy is probably correct. It runs —
The author of the Tarykh Khamys follows evidently a corrupt version of the
same tradition, when he states that Hashim was 20 or 25 years of age when ha
died. His words are ^Jj^ ^UJI c<*,l ^ SjAj ( ^U ) «JU
***» MtJJ^i \J~*&- <li»j &»» MlJjA* J*«* oU ^a. t&m ^»

ORIGIN OF THE WELL ZAMZAM. 31
king of Abyssinia was chosen as umpire. He declined to
mix himself up in the quarrel; and Nofayl of the 'Adyy tribe,
whom he named as his proxy, decided in favor of 'Abd al-
Moftalib. Notwithstanding this victory it is certain that
ffarb, and after him his son Abu Sofyan, surpassed the fa
mily of Hashim in wealth and influence, and that they were
the chiefs of Makkah.
The only remarkable event in the life of 'Abd al-Mo#alib
is, that he sunk the well of Zamzam, from which henceforth
the pilgrims were provided with water both at Makkah and
in Mina; the reservoirs of leather were abolished. This
well is sacred to the Ma^ammadans to this day ; and its water,
which is endowed with the most extraordinary virtues, is car
ried by the pilgrims into distant countries, and forms, with
many true believers, the only article of their pharmacopoeia.
Of some importance for the following history was a league
for mutual protection, which 'Abd al-Mo#alib concluded with
the Khoza'ahites in the town hall, without even the know
ledge of the other Qoraysh families. The document was sus
pended in the Ka'bah. The Khoza'ahites remained ever
faithful to his family, and were of the greatest service to
MoAammad. 'Abd al-Mo^alib died when MoAammad was eight years
of age, and he was succeeded in the stewardship first by hi3
son al-Zobayr, and then by another son of his, whose name
was Abu Talih. The latter being too poor to hold it, hand
ed it over to his brother al-' Abbas, who was steward when
Mohammad conquered Makkah.
Having traced the history of the ancestors of the Arabic
prophet, we proceed to investigate the political, rehgious
and moral condition of central Arabia about the time of his
birth. Through the dim light which Roman authors shed on the

32 ZEN0BIA.
history of northern Arabia during the first three centuries
of our era, we see in the midst of the desert Roman roads,
magnificent temples, splendid palaces and richly ornamented
porticoes, mostly in the Grecian style of architecture, and with
Grecian inscriptions. The ruins of Palmyra attest, to this
moment, the wealth of the mercantile cities of ancient Ara
bia. What must Sheba have been, which before Christ far
surpassed Tadmor (i. e. Palmyra) ! Under Odenathus the
Roman emperor and his wife Zenobia the Queen of the east
Palmyra for a while stood forth the rival of Rome ; but the
competition was fatal, and ages of prosperity were sacrificed to
a moment of glory. In A. D. 272 Zenobia was defeated in
two battles by Aurelian, Palmyra was taken and soon after
wards destroyed, and the Amalekites disappeared for ever
from the stage of history.
According to Arabic authors Zenobia was an Amalekite
woman by birth,1 and her husband Odenathus probably be
longed to the same nation. It is, however, perfectly immate
rial of what race he was descended, for his capital was in Ara
bia, and he was styled an Arabic prince ; for his power was
founded on the support of the Arabic tribes ; but in his court
and capital, the language, literature and arts of Greece were
cultivated apparently to the exclusion of the Arabic tongue.
The moral influence of Palmyra on those who lived in the in
terior of the country must, therefore, have been very limited,
and the foreign civilization of the Amalekites was as unavail
ing to the genuine Arabs, as the bag of gold was to the hun
gry traveller, who was perishing from fatigue in the desert,
(1.) Her name was probably Zaynab. In the Kitdb al-Ayhdny the genealogy
of her sister al-Zabba, the Queen of Ninive, is given as follows : She was a
daughter of 'Amr b. Tarfb b. ffassan b. Odzaynah b. al-Samayda' b. Hawbar of
the tribe of 'Amilah, which was an Amalekite tribe. Al-Samayda' b. Hawbar the
fifth ancestor of Zenobia was the chief of the Amalekite colony at Makkah. (See
page 13). The name of Odenathus is probably a corruption of Odzaynah or
Odzaynat ^tV. His origin is not known.

FOREIGN RELATIONS. OH
and who wished to have found a bag of turnips instead of it.
The Bedouins, however, obtained bread and occupation from
the Amalekites. Mercantile cities, like Palmyra, inhabited by
Nabateans and Amalekites, were to be found in antiquity
both in Arabia Petrea and on the Euphrates. And if they
exercised no other influence on their nomadic brethren, they
must have kept up a great activity among them, and afforded
them the means of increasing the population far beyond the
number which the natural resources of the country could
support. This excessive population, when it had become im
poverished by the changes of the times, but enlightened, car
ried the banners of the Islam into foreign countries.
After the commerce of these mercantile cities had declined,
the wars between the Byzantines and Persians gave employ-
ployment to the inhabitants of Arabia Petrea and De-
serta; the former mostly fought in the ranks of the Ro
mans ; and the latter, who were by far the most numerous,
in those of the Persians. The pay and plunder acquired by
these mercenaries were sufficient to keep up courts in their
respective countries. The kings of Arabia Deserta ruled in
the name of the Chosroes, and their influence extended
nearly as far west as Madynah. The kings of Arabia Petrea
and the chiefs of Dumat al-Jandal, which lies far south of
Palmyra, were proud to be called Lieutenants of the Caesar ;
and the former carried,1 about A. D. 560, their victorious arms
as far south as Khaybar, which is only six days northeast of
Madynah. These feudatory princes were too poor to ape
foreign manners, nor was it their interest to do so. What the
courts of northern Arabia lost in wealth and refinement, they
gained in nationality, and their moral influence on the Arabs
in the interior of the country was very great and beneficial.
(1.) The dynasty which ruled over Arabia Petrea and the southern parts of
Syria was called Gbassan, and the king who was then on the throne, and who
headed the expedition, was al-.ffarith b. Aby Shimr (Theophanes calls him
Arethas). He was the most powerful prince of his race.
E

34 'othmXn.
Yaman was ruled by a viceroy of the Negush of Abys
sinia, whose authority extended as far north as Najran,
which is only ten stages from Makkah. The whole of Arabia,
with the exeption of the ffijaz, was therefore subject to go
vernments which were strong enough to protect agriculture
and industry, and civilization seems to have made considerable
progress even among those tribes whom the nature of the
soil condemns to the hardships of nomadic life, but whom,
by way of compensation, it preserves in eternal youth and free
dom. About the middle of the sixth century the Qorayshites,
who had the supremacy over the ffijaz, were so far advanced
that they were no longer exempt from the evils inseparable
from progress : they were obliged to accept a king at the
hands of the Byzantine Emperor. As this fact is little known
it is here inserted in the words of an Arabic historian :— " The
Emperor appointed 'Othman b. al-ffowayrith b. Asad,1 a
cousin of MoAammad's first wife, as king over Makkah, and
sent a letter on this subject to the Qorayshites. 'Othman
was kind and affable towards the Makkians, and threatened
them that, if they would not submit to his authority, the
Emperor would destroy their commerce. By those means
they were prevailed upon to crown 'Othman and to acknow
ledge him as their king. But subsequently they revolted
against him at the instigation of his cousin Abu Zam'ah.1
The ex-king took refuge with the Emperor, and informed
him of what had happened. The Emperor sent orders tc
'Amr b. Jafnah (probably 'Amr b. al-ffarith Jafnyy) tht
Ghassanite, to imprison every Qorayshite merchant, whom

(1.) 'Othman was a Christian, and it is possible that this was a religioui
movement. (2.) This name assists us in ascertaining the period of 'Otbman's usurpation
Abu Zam'ah (Aswad) was the son of al-Mo^alib b. Asad b. 'Abd al-'Ozza b
Qocayy. He was a bitter eueray of the doctrine of MoAammad, and must there
fore have been alive in A. D. 61 1, but he was then old. He had a grown u]
grand-son, Yazyd, who emigrated to Abussinia.

INVASION BY ABRAHAII. 35
^Othman might point out to him. This order was obeyed.
'Othman died in Syria of poison."
In the year 571 Abrahah, the Governor of the King of
Abyssinia over Yaman, marched at the head of a considerable
force into the ffijaz; the banu Khath'am having in vain opposed
his progress he penetrated as far as Tayif. The inhabitants
opened to him the gates of the town ; and being rivals of the
Qorayshites in commerce, they gave him a guide to Makkah.
He plundered the environs of the holy city ; and as a deputa
tion, consisting of the Shaykhs of the Qorayshites, Hodzay-
lites and Bakrites,1 could not prevail on him to spare the Ka'
bah, the Qorayshites resolved to await the approach of his
army in the narrow passes outside Makkah, and concealed
themselves between the downs. It is said that they were
assisted by heaven in their troubles ; for the small-pox broke
out in the camp of Abrahah, and obliged him to return to
Yaman.*1 This disease, as well as measles and croup, had up
to that time been unknown in the ffijaz.
The victory of the Makkians over Abrahah raised them in
the opinion of their neighbours, but could not restore youth
to their commonwealth. The rivalry of the inhabitants of
Tayif and of Yathrib (i. e. Madynah) in commerce lessened
(1.) 'Abd al-Mo«alib, the Shaykh of the Qorayshites; Ya'mar b. Nofatah, the
Shaykh of tbe Bakrites ; and Khowaylid b. Wathilah, the Shaykh of the Hodzay-
lites. (2 ) In the Qoran (Surah 105) this history is considered a miracle which God
wrought to protect the Ka'bah against the Christians (see 2d chapter). The
honest Waqidy gives the explanation of it adopted in the text : ¦ •v.ljjU.i UJ
*JLy ^JJj?^- ;U^I *'»? jA)c J<* g* Ja/,1 ^srVl^^kJ!
"Uj+Jj^Nj ij^as'1 )j iSj-i-s) ^U Jjl t_fll j Jfc gbjJ] i__£n,\ kAj
The learned Reiske, opuscula medica ex monumentis Arabum, Halw 1776, p. 8,
mentions two very interesting passages on this first appearance of the small-pox
and other exanthematic fevers among the Arabs ; and he observes : " Ergo
Aethiopes, qui olim Hippocratis tempore gravem Grsecise pestem intulerant, hoc
anno Arabia? variolam intulerunt."

36 DECLINE OF PAGANISM.
their means and diminished the number of their allies ; and
the moral influence of foreign nations, to which a commercial
community is particularly open, began to manifest itself in
the ideas of the Qorayshites and other tribes of the ffij&z, and
the last spark of life of the confederation of the Mineans
seemed to be on the point of being extinguished. As the
power of Makkah was founded on religion, the Qorayshites
sought a remedy in reforming the faith of the ffaram : they '
and their neighbours attended with more rigour to the reh
gious ceremonies ; they introduced some new observances,
(which were subsequently abolished by Mohammad), and they
assumed the name of ffoms, which means literally zealous,
but here it has the same meaning which I have given to the
word ffaramites.1
Paganism, however, could no longer be upheld. The Arabic
princes of Arabia Deserta and Arabia Petrea and of Dumat-aJ
Jandal were zealous christians, ffyrah, the capital of the
former, was the centre of Arabic chivalry and poetry, and its
example could not fail to make a deep impression upon the
Arabs ; and therefore the Taghlibites and other nomadic tribes
followed the same religion. The conquest of Yaman by the
Abyssinians (A. D. 529) furthered the cause of Christianity in
that quarter ; but in the ffijaz as elsewhere the religion of the
cross was not propagated by kings or by force of arms, but by
the blood of its martyrs. The fortitude of the christian mo
ther of Najran, who was burned with her child for her faith,
(1.) TaAmys means the alliance of certain tribes by religion. That such an
alliance existed in the .ffijaz, since the remotest antiquity, and that it was re
newed at the time of Qocayy, and again about the year of the elephant, (i. e. of
the expedition of Abrahah against Makkah), is quite certain ; but it is not so clear
when the terms " Aoms" and " taAmys" were first used. Ibn IsAaq says about
the year of the elephant, or A. D. 571 ; and Waqidy says at the time of Qocayy.
As the whole of the ancient history of Makkah hinges on this religious confede
racy, I have inserted some passages regarding the Aoms in the appendix. In the
same place I give Waqidy's account of the sacrilegious war, (be only speaks of
one), which was carried on by the Aoms tribes against other tribes who had viola
ted th sacred territory.

JEWS IN YAMAN. 37
made a deep impression upon the surrounding tribes. Her
name was still in the mouth of the people at the time of Mo
hammad, and he holds her up in the Qoran (cap. 85) as an
example to his followers. The attempt of Abrahah, on the
contrary, to introduce Christianity at Makkah by force of arms,
is branded in the same book as deservedly punished reckless
ness. The Jewish religion had been early spread in Yaman, and
professed by its kings ; and among the Kinanah tribes, the
stoutest supporters of idolatry, the faith of Moses found fol
lowers. The Jewish colonies at Yathrib (Madynah), Khaybar,
Fadak and Tayma were so powerful that they were for some
time the masters of the Badiyah including Madynah -,1 and
even at Makkah some Jews and Christians were settled when
Mohammad assumed his prophetic office.*1 It appears, there
fore, that the ffaramites were surrounded upon all sides by
people, who were of the same origin, spoke the same lan
guage, and had the same habits ; but who professed a purer
faith. Reading and writing were not rare accomplishments
among the Qorayshites,3 and some of their confederates could
even boast of historians whose activity, though contempora
neous with, was independent of, the innovations of Mokm-
(1.) " At Tayma was a fortress called Ablaq al-Fard, in which the Jewish
king Samuel resided, who was celebrated for his good faith and honesty." Ibn
Khord&dbah. — According to Idrysy apud Abulfeda, Arab-text. Paris 1840, p. 89,
he resided at Khaybar. Ibn Khordadbah says, that when the Persians were in
possession of Yaman they had a governor at Madynah, who coUected the revenue
of the Badiyah.
(2.) We have the names of Jabr (a Greek) and Yasar, who were sword manu
facturers ; of 'Ayish, a slave of .ffowayfib b. ' Abd al 'Ozza, who had several books ;
and of 'Addas a monk of Niniveh, and probably a missionary.
(3.) " The prophet made, in the battle of Bakr, seventy prisoners, on whose
heads he fixed a ransom, which was in proportion to their means. Tbe people of
Makkah knew writing, but the inhabitants of Madynah were not acquainted with
this art. To each prisoner, who had no means to ransom himself, ten boys of
Madynah were givgn for instruction, and his teaching them to write was consider
ed as a ransom." Trad, of 'Amir apud Waqidy. — " A man who knew writing,
and who was a good swimmer, and a good archer, was according to the notions
.ef the Arabs of the times before and immediately after MoAammad, accomplish
ed." Waqidy folio, 285 verse.

38 QOSS AND OMAYYAH.
mad. It is evident that idolatry could no longer remain the
religion of the ffijaz.
The first Arab who, as far as our knowledge goes, preached
the unity of God at the fair of 'Okatz, was Qoss1 of the Iya,-
dites. This tribe was closely related to the Qorayshites, and
lived in Arabia Deserta, where the christian religion had made
great progress among the Bedouins. Qoss was an eloquent
orator, a distinguished poet, an equitable arbitrator, and he
acquired by his wisdom the title of "the philosopher of
the Bedouins." His sayings, of which we possess, unfortu
nately very few and unsatisfactory specimens, were intelligible
only to the initiated. He expressed, however, distinctly that
there was a better religion than that of the ffaram. Moham
mad in his youth saw Qoss, but he was dead when he assumed
his prophetic mission.
Probably in connexion with Qoss was Omayyah of Tayif.
He was a cotemporary, but somewhat older than Mohammad,
and his life and tenets, which are authenticated by his own
verses, shed much light on the origin of the Islam. Abu al-
^alt, the father of Omayyah, had been a distinguished poet ;
but was surpassed by his talented son, who was superior to
most of his contemporaries in poetical genius. Omayyah
made several mercantile journeys to Arabia Petrea and Syria,
and studied the scriptures and the tenets of Christians and
Jews ; he renounced his belief in idols, and was one of those
who used to speak of Abraham and Ishmael and the orthodox
faith. The latter is the name by which MoAammad subse
quently distinguished his own tenets from those of the Qoraysh
ites. He also abstained from things wliich are forbidden
according to the notions of the Musalmans, as wine, unclean
(1.) The account of this man, which is found in the Kitdb al-Aghdny, has been
lithographed at Delhie. A fuller notice is contained in the Ikmdl al-dyn of Abu
Ja'far b. Babawayh. He is also mentioned by Mas'udy, 1. p. 137. &ee Freytag
Pro. Arabum, I. p. 467, 189 ; and Shahrast'any p. 437. 'Askary apud Qalqa-
shandy, voce lyad, says the first man who taught the tawAyd (i. e unity of God)
at Makkah was Qoss.

THE NEW RELIGION FORESHADOWED. 39
food, &c. He dressed in sackcloth to do penance for his sins,
and taught the Qorayshites to put at the head of their wri
tings " In thy name, O Lord !" instead of the form of " In the
name of the merciful and compassionate God," which has been
preserved by Mohammad. The most frequent subjects of
Omayyah's poems were our future state, the resurection of the
dead, and the day of Judgment. MoAammad allowed that his
doctrine much resembled that of Omayyah. It is said that,
observing that his countrymen were ripe for a better faith, he
expected to be chosen by Providence as their prophet, and to
his disappointed ambition is ascribed the bitter enmity which
he conceived against Mohammad, when the latter assumed the
prophetic office. Omayyah composed elegies on those who
had fallen at Badr fighting against the new faith, but the pro
phet forbad his followers to learn them by heart.
It has not escaped the attention of Arabic historians, that
the great revolution of the establishment of a new religion
was foreshadowed. In the introduction to the most ancient
biography of Mohammad we find a chapter inscribed "an
account of four men, who without revelation (before Moham
mad) saw the fallacy of paganism," which I translate here.
" One day the Qorayshites celebrated an annual feast, and
assembled before one of their idols. They expressed their
adoration for it, slew sacrifices, surrounded it and went
round it. Pour men, however, kept secretly aloof, and said,
let us be friends and open our hearts to each other; and
they agreed. These four men were Waraqah, a cousin of the
first wife of MoAammad; 'Obayd Allah b. JaAsh, equally a cou
sin of Mohammad, for his mother Omaymah was a sister of the
prophet's father ; 'Othman b. al-ffbwayrith ; and Zayd of the
'Adyy family. One said to the others : ' By God, you see
our tribe does not know the true religion. They have cor
rupted the religion of Abraham, and are worshipping a stone,

40 THE FOUR INQUIRERS.
and walking round it, though it does neither hear nor see, and
can neither do good nor harm. Friends, seek for yourselves ;
for you are not in the right path.' They consequently dis
persed over the country, and went in search of the orthodox
faith of Abraham. Their result was as follows : Waraqah1
embraced Christianity ; he obtained the Scriptures from those
who believe in them, and acquired a considerable share of
knowledge from the followers of the Bible.
'Obayd Allah remained a sceptic until he embraced the reli
gion of Mohammad. He emigrated to Abyssinia with his wife,
Omm ffabybah, who was a daughter of Abu Sofyan, and who
had also embraced the Islam ; and on his arrival in Abyssinia
he turned a Christian, and died as such. When he passed the
followers of Mohammad, after he had embraced Christianity,
he used to say, "We see, and you attempt to see." Mohammad
married his widow, Omm ffabybah. He sent 'Amr b. Omay-
(1.) The best original accounts of Waraqah are in the Kitdb al-Aghdny, (see
appendix) ; and in the book called Ikmdl al-dyn by MoA. b. Babawayh. He is
also mentioned in two traditions of 'Ayishah ; (see Taysyr ed. Calcutta, A. H.
1252, p. 461, and Matthews' translation of the Mishkat, Calc. 1810, II. p. 391
and 678). In these accounts it is said
" He knew to write Hebrew (according to some copies Arabic), and he wrote as
much of the gospel in Hebrew (according to some copies in Arabic) as he
thought proper." Some modern oriental authors, Matthews in a note to II. p.
39 1 , Hammer and Weil, were of opinion that we are to understand that Waraqah
translated the gospel from the Hebrew into Arabic. We might ask whether
a Hebrew translation was existing? I suppose we ought to read " Arabic" in
stead of Hebrew as most copies have it, and that the sense is simply that
Waraqah transcribed the gospel, or rather that he made or transcribed an ab
stract of the Gospels, for this seems to be the import of the words " as much as
he thought proper." It might be urged that unless a translation was meant, the
word "in Arabic" was redundant. In answer to this, it may be observed that the
expression " Kdna yaktobo 'arabyy, or bit' arabyyah," occurs frequently, and
means simply " he knew writing." I give one instance : **«JJ* (J<*!*JI ^ j
The translation of this passage is in note 3, page 37. It is singular that in the
few words which Waraqah is said to have made use of, we find the Greek term
nomas, (see Nawawy, page 614). The assertion that Waraqah professed at one
time the Jewish religion, seems to be unsupported by good authority.

ZAYD. 41
yah Dhamry to the Negush to woo her. The Negush gave
her a dowry of 400 dinars, and Khalid b. Sa'yd b. al-' Ac
placed MoAammad in possession of his bride.
'Othman b. al-ffowayrith1 went to the Emperor of the By
zantines, and professed the Christian religion. The Emperor
received him with great kindness.
Zayd remained as he was. He turned neither Jew nor
Christian. He renounced the religion of his tribe, would not
worship idols, and abstained from eating what had died of
itself, blood, and what had been sacrified to idols;'1 and he dis
approved of burying girls alive.3 He used to say, I worship
the God of Abraham ; and he exposed the errors of his tribe.
Asma, the mother of 'Orwah, related that she had seen Zayd,
when he was a very old man, leaning his back against the
Ka'bah and saying : " O Qorayshites, by Him in whose 'hands
the soul of Zayd is, none of you follow the religion of Abra
ham except myself." Then he continued, "O Lord, if I
knew which form of worshipping Thee is most acceptable to
Thee, I should adopt it ; but I do not know it." Then he
prayed, resting his forehead on the palm of his hands. Ibn
IsAaq says, I heard that Sa'yd the son of Zayd, and 'Omar b.
al-Kha^ab his second cousin, requested the prophet to inter
cede for the soul of Zayd. The prophet said, " Yes." Zayd
said the following verses on leaving the religion of his tribe :
" Shall I believe that there is one Lord, or one thousand ? Is
the government of this world divided ? I have given up al-Lat
and al-'Ozza; for I am strong-minded. I neither believe in
al-'Ozza nor in her two daughters ; nor do I visit the idol of
the banii 'Amr (a branch of the banii Asad); nor do I believe in
Ghanam. He was my Lord when my intellect was yet weak ;
(1.) This is the same man who has been mentioned in p. 34 as having been king
of Makkah.
(2.) MoAammad forbad the same to his followers. Qoran, 2, 68.
(3.) This practise was abolished by MoAammad. Qordn, 81, 8.
F

42 ZAYD.
but now I worship the Merciful as my Lord, in order that
He, the Lord of forgiveness, may pardon my sins. Observe
piety to God, your Lord ! As long as you fear God you will
not be lost. Do you observe the good ? their abodes are the
gardens of paradise, whilst the wicked will be condemned to
fire. They do not prosper in life ; and when they die they
will have a fate, which will contract their hearts."
Zayd intended to leave Makkah, and to go in search of the
orthodox faith of Abraham ; but KhaWab, who was his uncle
and his half brother, they having both had the same mother,1
had given directions to Zayd's wife Cafyyah to acquaint him
when he might be preparing for a journey ; and he detained
him. Zayd made, on this occasion, a qacydah, which begins :
" Was I afraid of humiliation, &c." When Zayd came to the
Ka'bah he went into the Masjid and said : "Iam truly at
thy service, (0 God), for I am thy slave. I do what Abraham
did. He was standing when he said, I incline myself until
my nose touches the ground. Whatever thou mayest impose
upon me, I will do. Virtue is lasting, but not pride. He
who travels during the heat of the day, is not like unto him
who sleeps at that time." He also used to say, " I submit (here
occurs the word ' islam') to him, to whom the earth submits j*
it carries heavy rocks, and God has expanded it; and when he
had seen it, he placed the earth in the water,3 and made
it firm by putting mountains upon it.4 I submit to him,
whom the clolids obey, which carry sweet water;5 and if a
(I.) Among other property the eldest son inherited, during the time of pagan
ism, the widows of his father, with the exception of his own mother. This habit
is forbidden in the Qoran, 4, 26. The case stood like this : Nofayl left a widow,
who had borne to him al-Kha^ab, and he left a son, called 'Amr, by anotler
wife. This son inherited the widow of his father, (i. e. the mother of al-Khaf-
iab), and begat Zayd with her.
(2.) Almost all the sayings of Zayd are litteraUy repeated in the Qoran. See
for this passage Surah 3, 8.
(3.) Qordn, 47, 30.
(4.) See Qordn, 89, 32.
(5.) Qordn, 56, 68.

ZAYD. 43
cloud goes to any country,1 it is by his orders ; and it pours
pails of water upon it."*1
Kha^ab persecuted Zayd to such an extent, that he drove
him out from Makkah, and appointed some young men of the
fools of Makkah to watch him, with injunctions not to allow
him to return to the city. Zayd remained at ffara,' which is
above Makkah ; and he was not able to visit the city except by
concealing his movements from his jailors. If they obtained
information, they told KhaWab of it, who sent him back to
ffara, and punished him. The Qorayshites were afraid that
their religion might be corrupted, and that others might fol
low his example.
Zayd went, after all, in search of the faith of Abraham,
and enquired of the monks and rabbins regarding it. He
travelled through Mosul and Mesopotamia; then he pro
ceeded to Syria, and wandered through the whole coun
try; at length he came to a monk at Mayfa'at, in the
Balqa, who was renowned for his knowledge of the Christian
religion ; and he asked him respeeting the orthodox faith
of Abraham. He answered, " Thou seekest a religion with
which no one can acquaint thee just now — but stop ! a pro
phet has arisen in the country from which thou comest, who
has been sent with the true and orthodox faith of Abraham ;
he has been sent just at this time." Zayd was acquainted
with the tenets of the Jews and Christians ; and as neither
of them satisfied him, he started immediately on hearing this
for Makkah ; but when he passed through the country of the
Lakhmites he was murdered by them."4
The examples of scepties, converts to Christianity, and pro-
(1.) Qordn, 35, 10.
(2.) Qordn, 80, 25.
(3.) This is the place to which MoAammad resorted, to do penance, and where
he is said to have received the first revelations.
(4.) Ibn IsAaq, p. 56. — The conclusion of this story is very suspicious. Ibn
IsAaq usually places a prediction or a miracle where there is something to be
concealed.

44 COMMERCE OF MAKKAH.
phets who preceded MoAammad in the ffijaz, might be mul
tiplied ;"• but what has been said will be sufficient to show, that
the successful prophet of the Arabs, in founding a new reU
gion, did nothing more than gather the floating elements,
which had been imported or originated by others, in obedi
ence to the irresistible force of the spirit of the time, which
carries, in the beginning, the elect, but in the end, all and
every thing before itself.
Makkah had, at the time of MoAammad, about 12.000 in-
habitants. Some families, particularly the descendants of Qo
cayy, were caravan merchants ; others devoted themselves to
trades. In our days tradesmen (£onna') are despicable in the
eyes of the Bedouins. This was not the case in those times ;
for the Makkians intermarried with the Bedouins, and were
much respected by them. The Arabs were undoubtedly
much more civilized than they are now. Commerce encourag
ed industry, and furnished wealth, the source of civilization.
Among other articles of luxury we find Chinese looking-
glasses mentioned in Madynah, and the ladies of Makkah
used to dress iu silk. Arabia not only exported its natu
ral productions, as myrrh, frankincense, dates, raisins, ca
mels, &c, but also some productions of industry : among
these, the leather called adym, and striped cloths of Ya
man were the most celebrated. The former was red ; and
it is hkely that the Yaman tribes imported the art of
manufacturing it into western Africa, and Spain, and that
the adym leather is the same which is now called Morocco
in England, and Cordowan (from Cordova) in Germany.
The imports into Arabia from Syria and Egypt consisted
chiefly of corn, and, apparently, specie. Byzantine gold coins
and Persian copper coins seem to have been the medium of
exchange. (1.) Compare Shahrastany, p. 437, and Mas'udy, c. 6.

MEANS OF LIVING. 45
The wealth of Makkah, and Arabia generally, had much
declined at the time of MoAammad ;l and it is doubtful whe
ther the richest merchant had more than three hundred ca
mels. The Arabs had apparently very limited opportunities,
and little desire, profitably to invest capital. The wealth of
a family lasted, therefore, not much longer than its activity
and success in its enterprizes. The merchants of Makkah
were, hke those of our days, boasting and arrogant, but more
generous and extravagant.
It was not so easy as it is generally in barbarous countries
to find occupation, and to gain a livelihood ; yet the wages of
labour were considerable ; and a young man who had four or
five camels, a house, which was worth about ten pounds, and
a slave, might consider himself set up in life. A wife he got
for nothing; nay, if it was her first marriage, he was for three
days entertained in the house of the father of the bride.
This speaks highly for the civilization of the Makkians ; for
almost all savage nations sell their daughters. Men, who
could afford it, had their zenanahs tolerably well stocked ; and
they frequently changed their wives ; and wild marriages, of
different descriptions, were comparatively frequent. Excess
in love was, indeed, the leading vice of the Arabs. Their po*
etry, and even the traditions of MoAammad, which are in the
spirit of the time, abound in obscene passages ;* yet they were
(1.) " Do they not pass through the earth, and see what has been the end of
those who were before them ? They were more numerous than these, and more
mighty in strength, and left more considerable monuments of their power in the
earth." — Qordn, 40, 82. Yet Makkah was still prosperous: " Verily I have
permitted these Makkians and their fathers to live in prosperity." — Qordn,
43, 28.
(2.) I beg leave to insert here two edifying specimens, in which the pleasures
of MoAammad's paradise are described : —
&Xa.)y) 81 Jill ^V SfroaxJ Ja-yi^Udw^-ii ufillj JIS UijJI^

46 LEGENDARY HISTORY.
not effeminate. Some men were addicted to drinking ; and
Tayii was celebrated for its wine shops. Singers, dancing
girls, and juglers were not unknown in the land of the patri
archs. A man of T&jii thought it even worth his while to
go to Persia, to study medicine, and to practise as a physician,
among the Arabs.

SECOND CHAPTER.

Legendary History of the Ka'bah and the Ancestors of Mo-
Wammad. Predictions of his Advent.
Our lower passions are counterpoised by sublime and pure,
but visionary, sentiments ; and as even the best of us steer
only a middling course in their actions, the more exalted give
vent to their feelings in poetical effusions : they endow a fic
titious person with all the qualities which they consider vir
tue ; and they construct a history, in which all their dreams
and wishes are realized. The less poetical feel a satisfaction
in listening to them, and adopt their productions as their own
children. It is compatible with such fictions, that they be
founded on facts : a real person may be the hero of a poet.
Has not ¦ the statue of Apollo, which enchants us, been made
of a crude stone, merely by removing parts ? A biography
may contain no falsehood, and yet be poetical, if the author
Some of the poems of .Hassan, a contemporary of MoAammad, are exceeding
gross.

ORIGIN OF LEGENDS. 47
omits what does not suit his purpose, and skilfully distributes
over the remaining facts light and shade.
In a poetical age of religious excitement, from which the
origin of a new creed is inseparable, such fictions will have a
religious tendency. They will be limited in number and cha
racter; because the objects, which fill the imagination, are
but few. They will be generally received ; for the medita
tions of all are concentrated in the same point. And they
will at length be believed; for they are connected with
faith. Speculation made early demands on the Islam, for which
its founder had not fully provided, either because he was un
able to do so, or because he and his contemporaries did not
feel the want. Soon after MoAammad's death the catechu-
meni wished to know whether he had authenticated his mis
sion by miracles, similar to those wrought by the prophets,
from whose ranks they were invited to desert ? Whether his
advent had been foretold ? Whether the origin of the Islam
was consistent with the notions which they entertained of the
creation, fallen condition, and salvation of man ? Whether
it was eternal and catholic ? Whether there was guarantee
for the sacredness of the ceremonies, which they were called
upon to perform at the Ka'bah ? The apostles of the new
faith were anxious to satisfy their disciples on these and simi
lar points : for how should a proud Arab allow that his pro
phet should be inferior to any other P1 Moreover, gross no-
{1.) " All the excellencies of former prophets were united in MoAammad. He
was the representative of God on earth, like Adam and David ; he was a sove
reign, like Solomon ; he was handsome, like Joseph (of Egypt) ; he was the
friend of God, like Abraham ; he was the eloquent spokesman of God, like Moses
(and Aaron) ; he was devout, like Jonah ; he was grateful, like Noah ; but in ad,
dition to these, he had many excellencies, which none of the former prophets
possessed." Tahryr al-Shahddatoyn, lithographed at Delhi, A. H. 1258.
There is a tradition of Jabir in the Mishkat, II, p. C56, in which MoAammad
says: " I have been given five qualities, which no one was given before me : T
have been given victory, by throwing fear into the hearts of my enemies, at a dis
tance of a month's journey from them : and the whole face of the earth has been

48 GROWTH OF LEGENDS.
tions of a rude age were to be covered and mystified, and
questions, on which MoAammad had laid but little weight,
were to be developed. To supply what seemed to be wanting,
pious fraud assisted imagination, by furnishing arguments
for its creations. Well calculated fictions were believed in
the age of faith ; and many of them became dogmas for suc
ceeding centuries.
In this manner a mythology grew up during the first two
centuries after MoAammad; and, though his doctrine or facts
form merely the nucleus, it must be considered as an essen
tial part of the Musulman religion. Later ages have much
added to it; but their fictions are arbitrary and extravagant;
they want unity of purpose, and bear the character of a fo
reign addition to, and corruption of, the Islam. In the pri
mitive age the Musulmans were led, by a love for truth, to
faith : at a later period a blind faith has induced them to
disregard truth. Their modern fictions, for want of univer
sality, are neither mythical nor symbolical. I have, there
fore, carefully selected merely ancient legends, which are
characteristic, generally believed, and many of which are ar
ticles of faith for the true believer.
Musulman authors, not contented with shaping the biogra
phy of MoAammad after that of the prophets, made theirs
approach to his. A learned Shiah author wrote a book,1 the
principal object of which is, to shew that every prophet has
made a Hijrah (flight). He mentions the flight of Abraham,
that of Moses to Midian, that of our Saviour to Egypt, &c.
They also made the most arbitrary alterations in the cosmo
gony and in other parts of the biblical history.

made pure for me, to worship upon ; and plunder has been made lawful for me ;
and the prophets sent formerly were merely to their own sects, and had no busi
ness with others ; but I have beeu sent to all men."
(I.) Ikmdl aldyn. The name of the author is Abu Ja'far b. Babawayh.

MOHAMMAD OLDER THAN ADAM. 49
MoAammad said: "I was entrusted with the prophetic
mission, when Adam was still half air and half bodyr"1
" A tradition, which is traced to the Commander of the
Faithful, 'Alyy b. Abu TQih, tell us, that when God intend
ed to establish the laws of the universe, to lay the seeds of
generation, and to produce the creation, he gave to it the
form of fine dust, before he formed the earth and raised the
heavens. He dwelt in his unapproachable glory, and in the
unity of his power. Then he put down a particle of his Ught,
and it shone resplendently. The dust rose, and the light
was gathered in its centre. This represented our prophet
MoAammad. God said : Thou art the chosen and the elect !
In thee rest my light, aud the abundant gifts of my bounty ;
for thy sake I have spread the soil, and made flow the wa
ters ; for thy sake I have raised the heavens, and fixed re
wards and punishments; and for thy sake I have created pa
radise and hell."'1
When Adam was created, the "Ught (soul) of MoAam
mad,"3 was transferred into him ; and though it was latent,
a luminous ray shone forth from his forehead; and when Eve
was enceinte with Seth, her forehead was resplendent ; and
after his birth it shone forth from the forehead of the infant.
In this manner it descended through the ancestors of the
prophet, until it assumed flesh in Mohammad, the son of
'Abd Allah.4
(1.) Tradition in Tirmidzy. — There are various versions of this tradition.
One version, and this is probably the original one, runs : — " Verily I was writ
ten down by God as the last prophet, and verily Adam was in his own clay." —
Mishkdt, p. 659. That is to say, I was destined to be a prophet before Adam
was created. " I am tbe first prophet created, and the last sent."
U»J fbj*.)j "v*lU>. •^¦uSi Aj) Ul Mawdhib Lad.—" The first thing created
by God was my light." Notwithstanding these traditions, I suspect that the
theory of the nur MoAammad is an invention of the second or third century of
the Hijrah.
(2.) Mas'udy, Meadows of Gold, I. p. 51. Good Sunnies reject this tradition.
(3.) Nur MoAammad, i. e. Light of MoAammad, is a technical term, and fre
quently used as a proper name.
(4.) Mas'udy ibidem ; and confirmed by the following Sunny tradition, of Abu
G

50 ADAM'S VISION.
At Na'man,1 near Makkah, Adam had a vision, in which
he saw how God produced all human beings, that were to be
called to life until the day of resurrection, from his back ;
he passed them in review before him, and took the covenant*1
from them, saying, "Am I not your Lord?" They all
answered, "We bear witness, that thou art our Lord."
Those who do not believe the religion of MoAammad cannot,
therefore, say, on the day of judgement, " We did not know
better."3 God then separated the good from the bad, and
placed the former at his right, saying, " To these belongs pa
radise." The wicked he placed on the left, and said, " For
these is hell." The first man who came forth from the back
of Adam was MoAammad. He said, " I declare that there is
no God but God, and I am his servant and prophet ;" and
having pronounced these words he went to the right, to the
head of the elect of God. On this occasion God also took
the covenant from the prophets, to believe in MoAammad, and
to assist him.4
When the prophets passed before Adam, he observed that
one of them wept bitterly. He asked who he was; and
God informed him that he was David ; and that he cried be
cause his life had been limited to forty years. " Thou hast
granted me," said Adam, " a life of one thousand years : take
sixty years from me, and add them to the life of my son Da-

Horayrah : " MoAammad said, I have been sent from the best class of the child
ren of Adam ; age after age I passed in the backs of my fathers, till I came from
the class from which I came." Mishkdt, II. p. 655.
(1.) larykh Khamys. Ghazzaly writes Ya'mar. The place is near the 'Arafat.
(2.) Ghazzaly Hist, of the Prophets. The story rests on the Qoran, 7, 171,
and on a tradition contained in the Mishkdt.
(3.) The definition, given by the Roman CathoUcs, of catholicity, is, " quod
semper, ubique, et ab omnibus creditum est." The Musulmans appear to have
been well aware that catholicity is an indispensable criterium of the truth of a re
ligion ; and their history of Adam and of the Ka'bah tends to secure it for
the Islam.
(4.) Qordn, Z, lb. — This story is an imitation of a Jewish legend, according
to which all the prophets, even those who were not yet born, were present on
Mount Sinai, when God gave the law to Moses.

THE KA'BAH THE FIRST TEMPLE. 51
vid." When Adam had passed nine hundred and forty years
of age, the angel of death came to him, to demand his soul.
" But God has granted me a life of one thousand years."
" Hast thou not ceded sixty years to the prophet David ?"
" I have no recollection of it," replied Adam ; " and it cannot
be true." The father of mankind is the father of deception.
God, therefore, ordered man, through Seth, to make en
gagements in writing, and to call witnesses, in order that
they may not be broken ; and few nations are more business
like than the Arabs in such deeds.1
The persecution, to which every prophet is exposed, is fore
shadowed in the murder of Abel ; but the first example of
defending and propagating the true religion by the sword is
hardly less ancient : Idrys invented arms, and destroyed the
children of Cain.*1 On this occasion, as in all religious wars,
God was with the righteous.
After Adam had been expelled from paradise, he said in
his grief, " O Lord, in that abode of bliss I heard the voice of
angels, and I witnessed how they went round thy throne
singing thy praise." God in his mercy sent an angel to him,
who took him into the sacred territory, ordered him to build
a place of worship,3 and taught him the ceremonies of the pil
grimage, which, during the time of paganism, consisted chief
ly in walking round the temples of the idols, and which are
essentially identical with those performed by the angels be
fore the throne of God. Adam, who had not seen Eve since
(1.) This myth, the intention of which is to shew the frailty of the promises of
man, unless made in a legal way, has most likely emanated from MoAammad.
We have it in a tradition of Abu Dzarr Ghifary apud Ghazzaly, Hist, of the
Prophets. Kisay relat.es the same tradition on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas.
(2.) A tradition of Wahb b. Monabbih apud Kisay ; also mentioned (without
stating the authority) by Ghazzaly.
(3.) "The first Temple erected for mankind is certainly that of Makkah." —
Qordn, 3. 90. This is the only sentence of the Qoran, which tbe Musulmans
adduce in proof of their assertion, that Adam first built the Ka'bah. It appears,
however, from the context, that MoAammad asserted, that Abraham founded it.
According to a tradition of Abu Dzarr, (Taysyr, p. 367), MoAammad said, that
the temple of Jerusalem was built forty years after tbat of Makkah.

52 THE BLACK STONE.
they had been expelled from paradise, found her, on this occa
sion, on a hill near Makkah. In cemmemoration of this
meeting the hill is, up to this day, called 'Arafat, that is to
say, the place of recognition; and it is one of the sacred
spots visited by the pilgrims. Adam generally resided in
India ; for God has so furnished that country, that man is
independent of the arts of life in it ; but for forty years he
annually performed the pilgrimage to Makkah.1
The prototype of the Ka'bah is in heaven. All superna
tural beings turn their faces to it in their prayers. God sent
a likeness of it, made of sheets of Ught, to Adam, and he or
Seth made the Ka'bah Hke it.*1 Mount Sinai, the mount
Olivet, Lebanon, and the hill of Hara near Makkah, furnish
ed the materials.3
The rod of Moses and the black stone of the Ka'bah de
scended with Adam from paradise. The latter was as white
as snow, and turned black on account of the sins of man.
When Adam performed the pilgrimage the first time, he pla
ced it on mount Qobays, where it remained until the Qoray
shites (i. e. Qocayy) removed it into the Ka'bah.4
The flood destroyed the temple of Adam ; yet though it
was not rebuilt before Abraham, Makkah continued to be the
"proof of the one God" on earth, even for the pagans. They
knew, by tradition, that the soil of Makkah was sacred, and
that it was the site of the temple of the God of heaven ; and
so perfectly convinced were they of this truth, that in cases
of need or distress they resorted thither and offered their
prayers ; and they were granted by God, in order to keep up
the belief in the sanctity of Makkah, and to leave no excuse
to the unbehever, who might say, I worshipped idols, and did

(1.) Ghazzaly, Hist, of the Prophets.
(2.) Shahrastany, p. 430.
(3.) Waqidy, u. 2.
(4.) Tradition of Ibn 'Abbas apud Waqidy, c. 2. Compare Taysyr, p. 367.
This passage tends to shew that the Ka'bah was first built by Qocayy.

ABRAHAM. 53
not venerate the sacred territory, because I did not know
better.1 The history of Abraham excited a great interest among the
Arabs, and their poetical genius enlarged the legends refer
ring to their patriarch, and connected them with their own
manners and localities,'1 as is illustrated in the following
highly poetical, and probably very ancient story, in which
Abraham's abhorrence3 of a breach of hospitality, the chief
virtue of an Arab, is described : — Ishmael had married an
Amalekite woman. Abraham, having obtained leave from
Sarah to go on a visit to his son, came to Makkah, but found
that Ishmael was gone out hunting, and Hagar was tending
the flocks. The partriarch greeted Ishmael's wife, who was
alone at home. She did not know him, and did not return
his salam. Abraham asked her whether she would receive
him as a guest ; but she refused. " Where is the master of
the house ?" " He is out." " Tell him, when he comes
home, that Abraham has been here, to enquire after him and
his mother, and that he left word for him to change the
threshold of his house." Having said so he immediately re
turned to Syria. Ishmael, on his return home, observed that
the whole valley of Makkah was embued with light ; and he
asked his wife what had happened ? She gave him the mes
sage from Abraham. "This was my father, the friend of
God," said Ishmael ; " and the meaning of his words is, that
I should divorce thee, and send thee back to thy family."4
The jealousy of Sarah against Hagar was caused by disap-
(1.) Ghazzaly, Hist, of the Prophets, in the chapter on the 'Adites, which has
been printed in the Jour. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Jan. 18-19.
(2.) Many examples of the Arab's resorting to the Jews of the Hijaz for infor
mation respecting religion and history, are mentioned by Ibn IsAaq. The form
of names will sometimes point out the source of information. The name of A-
braham was pronounced Abrahah in Yaman, and Ibrahym by the Jews of Mady
nah ; and is so spelled in the Qoran.
(3.) Abraiiam is called the father of hospitality (Abu Idhyaf). — A tradition of
'Ikrimah apud Waqidy, 5.
(4.) Mas'udy, cap. 39.

54 ORIGIN OF THE WELL ZAMZAM.
pointed hope. She had expected that the light of MoAam
mad, which shone from Abraham's forehead, would be perpe
tuated through her; but when Hagar had given birth to
Ishmael, it was transferred to the son of her handmaid. By
the command of Providence Abraham gave way to the fury
of his wife, and took the infant and his mother on the Boraq
to the valley of Makkah. He left them on the spot, on which
the Ka'bah had stood before the flood, saying, " O Lord, I
have caused some of my descendants to settle in an unfruitful
valley, near thy holy house, O Lord, that they may be con
stant in prayer. Grant, therefore, that the hearts of some
men may be affected with kindness towards them,"1 Hagar
and her son were thirsty, and the distressed mother ran from
one hill to the other, to find water ; but in vain.*1 Ishmael,
mean while, shuffled his feet impatiently on the ground, aud
behold ! a copious spring of water gushed forth. Hagar, with
a view to collect it, made a wall of mud and stones round it.
An angel reproached her for covetousness, and the spring be
came less abundant. This is the origin of the well Zamzam,
whose waters are sacred to this day.3
An Amalekite tribe4 was in the neighborhood of Makkah;
and its reconnoiterers, who had been sent in search of water,
observed that birds were hovering over the valley. They con
cluded there must be water there ; and when they descended
they found the spring, and Hagar and Ishmael were sitting
near it. They asked permission for their tribe to encamp,
(1.) Qordn, 14, 40.
(2.) One of the ceremonies of the pilgrimage is, therefore, to run sepen times
from mount fata to Marwah. It has been observed above, (page 8), that the
true cause ol this ceremony was, that the ancient Arabs had an idol on each of
these two hiUs.
(3.) This story, though not explicitly told in the Qoran, is very old, and related
by Tabary. All authors, who tell us this story, allow, at the same time, that the
Zamzam was first sunk bv 'Abd al-MoMalib : see page 31. I have heard from
pilgrims, that the water is more than twelve feet from the surface, and brac
kish. (4.) According to Mas'udy it was called" Karkar ; and according to the Kitab
al-Aghany it was called Qafara. Mas'udy calls Qarura a son of Karkar.

ABRAHAM AND ISHMAEL. 55
which was readily granted. They settled in the lower part of
the valley. The Jorhomites, who came to Makkah either
with or after the Amalekites, occupied the upper part of the
valley. After Ishmael had divorced his Amalekite wife, he married
Bi'lah daughter of the chief ' of the Jorhomites.
Abraham asked Sarah again for permission to visit Ishmael.
It was granted ; but under the condition, that he should not
dismount from the Boraq. He found Bi'lah alone at home.
She treated him with milk and game, and anointed his head.
Whilst she was performing this act of hospitality, she put a
stone, first under his right foot ; and the patriarch stood upon
it, and leaned from the Boraq towards her, to enable her to
reach his head ; then she put it under his left foot. To this
day the stone bears the impression of Abraham's feet, and is
an object of veneration. It is placed on the right side of the
Ka'bah, and has the name of maqam Ibrahym.*1
When Ishmael was thirty years of age, Abraham built with
him the Ka'bah.3 Its materials were again taken from vari
ous sacred hills. As soon as the temple was completed, the
patriarch proclaimed, that it was the duty of all the nations
of the earth to perform pilgrimages to it,4 and he prayed to
God to send to those whose temple the Ka'bah was, a pro
phet from among themselves, who would teach them the Qo
ran.5 It is an error to believe that Abraham was commanded by
God to put IsAaq to death. Are not the bloody sacrifices,
which are slaughtered during the pilgrimage, in Mina near
(1.) His name was Midhadh b. 'Amr. According to Kalby, Ri'lah was the
daughter of Yashjob b. Ya'rob b. Ludzan b. Jorhom b. 'Amir b. Saba. See an
account of the Amalekites and Jorhomites in page 13.
(2.) Mas'udy.
(3.) That Abraham and Ishmael built the Ka'bah, is maintained in several
passages of the Qoran :— 2, 121 ; 10, 93 ; 22, 27.
(4.) Qordn, 22, 28.
(5.) Qordn, 2, 124, Comp. Lane's Select, from the Kurdn, p. 155.

56 DEATH OF ISHMAEL.
Makkah, performed in remembrance of this event ? If it had
happened in Syria, and not in Mina, God would have com
manded that this ceremony be kept up in Syria.1 Not only
the sacrifices, but also the casting of stones, during the pil
grimage of Mina, is done in commemoration of that event.
Satan attempted to prevent Abraham from performing the
sacrifice ; and the patriarch pelted him with pebbles.
Ishmael died at the age of one hundred and thirty-seven
years, and was buried with his mother in the -ffijr.'1 He had
twelve sons by Bi'lah. The eldest succeeded him in the
charge of the Ka'bah ; but after his death it devolved upon
Ishmael' s father-in-law, and did not revert to the children of
Ishmael before Qocayy.
For some time the religion of Abraham was kept up at
Makkah ; but it became corrupted. According to some au
thors the Ka'bah was first defiled by the Jorhomites ; and ac
cording to others by the Khoza'ahites. A Jorhomite, of the
name of Isaf, committed fornication in the Ka'bah with "Nay-
lah; and as a punishment they were both converted into
stone, that they might be a warning to posterity. He was
placed on mount £afa, and she on mount Marwah. The his
tory of these two statues was soon forgotten, and they were
worshipped as idols. Others say, that the Jorhomites, who
were related to Ishmael, and intermarried with his descend
ants, preserved the religion of Abraham at Makkah ; and
they give the credit of having first introduced idolatry, to the
first Khoza'ahite chief 'Amr b. LoAayy. On a journey in
Syria he saw people worshipping an image, and he asked
them for the reason. " This is our God," they said, " who
gives us rain when we pray for it." 'Amr was delighted to
(1.) Tarykh Khamys.
(2.) " J?ijr is (outside the Ka'bah) between the Syrian (northern) pillar,
which is usually called the pillar of 'Iraq, and the western pillar. It is an en
closure, paved with marble, and surrounded with a semicircular painted wall." —
Fasy.

QOCAIY. 57
know how to obtain rain ; and at his request they gave him
the idol Hobal,1 and he placed it in the Ka'bah. The Jor-
homite poets admonished him in vain to uphold the religion
of Abraham.*'' He imported idols without number into the
sacred territory.
Qocayy, the fifth ancestor of MoAammad, was a descendant
of Ishmael. The prophet allowed that his genealogy from
'Adnan to Ishmael was uncertain ; but the zeal of his follow
ers made up for this deficiency. Some genealogists put
eight3 fathers between these two ; and others thirty-eight.4
They all agree on the fathers between 'Adnan and MoAam
mad. In Qocayy the Light of the prophet shone forth with pecu
liar brilliancy ; and the Kinanah and 'Odzrah tribes lent him
their assistance in his efforts to obtain the priesthood of the
.ffaram, because they well knew that the Khoza'ahites were
usurping the rights of the Qorayshites, the sons of Ishmael.
In the same manner in which IsAaq bought the right of pri
mogeniture, Qocayy obtained the keys of the Ka'bah for a
leather bag of wine.5
The attentions paid by the Emperor1* to Hashim were not
disinterested. The prophetic light was so evident in him,
that every Rabbin who passed him kissed his hand ; and ma
ny a daughter of Israel came to Makkah, with a hope that
her charms would attract the rough Arab. The Emperor,
(1.) See the history of Hobal in page 7. The inhabitants of Syria and Arabia
Petrea had, long before 'Amr b. LoAayy, embraced the Christian religion.
(2.) For specimens see Mas'udy.
(3.) They are : — Nabaioth, Yashjob, Ya'rob, TyraA, Nahor, Moqawwim, Odad,
Odd, 'Adnan (Ibn Ishaq)v
(4.) Ishmael, Qaydzar, Arram, '17c, Mizzy, Shamy, ZariA, Nahith, Moqcy,
Abham, Aqnad, Aycar, Dayshan, 'Ayfy, Ara'wa, YalAan, Nakhzan, Sharby,
Sanbar, Hamdany, al-Da'amir, 'Abqar, 'Ayfy, Makhy, NaAish, Jahim, JSbikh,
Tadlan, Baldas, iJazza, Nashid, al-'Awwam, Obayy, Qamwal, Bur, '17?, Sala-
man, al-Hamaysa', Odad, 'Adnan. — (Hisham Kalby apud Waqidy. Compare
Kitdb al-Aghany, edit. Koseg. p. 12.) This list seems to have been furnished
by Jews. See what has been said on the genealogy of MoAammad in page 18.
(5.) See Freytag's Prov. Arab, voce akhsar.
(6.) See page 27. H

58 'abd al-mottalib's VISION.
having read a description of the light of prophecy in the gos
pels, offered him his daughter in marriage, in order that she
might give birth to the grand-father of MoAammad. But
Hashim had a dream, in which Salma of Madynah was point-
ed out as his bride elect. He added her, in his old age, to
his well stocked zenanah, and she bore him 'Abd al-MoWa-
lib.1 When 'Abd al-Mo^alib had received charge of the steward
ship, he had a vision, in which he was ordered to dig for the
"good." He answered, "What is the good?" The next
night he heard a voice, commanding him to dig for the
"pure;" and he asked, "What is the pure?" The third
night he was told to dig for the " perfume." " What is the
perfume ?" In the fourth night the voice said, " Dig for the
murmuring" (Zamzam) ; and he replied, " What is the Zam
zam ?" The voice continued, " It will not become dry, nor
will it ever be despised ; it will yield water for the great pil
grimage ; it is between the dunghill and the blood, near the
nest of the raven with red beak and feet ; it will be thy wa
tering place and that of thy children." He understood these
directions, and the next morning began to sink a well in the
slaughtering place, which is the favorite resort of the ravens.
On the third day he found the masonry of an old well. He
thanked God, and said, This is the well of Ishmael.11 The
Qorayshites, seeing that he would find water, disputed his
right to the well ; and it was agreed that the soothsayer of
Mo'an should decide on their conflicting claims. On the
road to the arbitrator's the party nearly perished for want of
water ; when a spring gushed forth from under the foot of
'Abd al-Mo^alib's camel. This miracle satisfied them as to
the right of 'Abd al-MoWalib to the property of the well of
Zamzam ; and they returned to Makkah. According to a
(1.) Tarykh Khamys.
(2.) So far I have translated literally from Waqidy and Ibn IsAaq.

DEFEAT OF ABRAHAH. 59
tradition of Mijlaz,1 'Abd al-Mottalib found in the well two
gazelles of silver, some arms, and five cuirasses, which had
been buried there by the Jorhomites. The Qorayshites laid
claim to a share of the property, and boasted of their large
families. 'Abd al-Mottalib, who had then only one son, felt
humiliated, and made a vow, that if ten children were born
to him he would immolate one of them as a sacrifice. What
he had wished for was granted ; and the lot, that was to de
cide which of his sons was to die, fell on 'Abd Allah, the fa
ther of the prophet,*1 whose life was threatened even before he
existed. 'Abd al-Mo«alib had set the knife on the throat of
his son, when the Makhzumites prevented him from following
the dictates of his cruel piety.
The destruction of the host of Abrahah, (see page 35), is
related as follows : — When he drew near Makkah, his elephant
refused to proceed. He knelt down when turned towards the
Ka'bah ; though he would rise, and march briskly enough in
any other direction. Before the viceroy had recovered from
his surprise, a flight of birds (ababyl), resembling swallows,
came from the sea-coast, and hovered over the army. Every
bird had a stone in his bill, and one on each foot ; and these
stones they threw on the heads of Abrahah's men, who in
stantly died from them. Then came a flood, and swept the
dead and the living together into the sea. A few fled towards
Yaman ; but destruction overtook them on the road. Abra
hah alone reached Q)a,rx'a. ; but soon after his arrival he was
struck with the plague and putrefaction, and his limbs rotted
and dropped off one by one. One man was saved, to bring
the intelligence to the Negush. When he had related the
fate of his brethren, the king asked him what kind of birds
had caused the destruction of the army ? and behold ! there

(1.) Apud Waqidy. The story is also in Ibn IsAaq.
(2.) MoAammad said that he was the ibn dzabyAayn, i. e. the son of two sa
crifices, Ishmael and 'Abd Allah.

60was one hovering over the doomed head of the messenger,
who was instantly struck by the fatal stone.
The author of the Mowahib Ladounyyah shews how these
miracles were connected with the prophetic light, which then
dwelt in 'Abd al-Mo^alib (if the author had attended to chro
nology, he would have said, in Aminah). His supernatural
powers were so great, that whenever the Qorayshites wanted
rain, they took him by the hand, and lead him to the top of
the hill Thabyr. At the approach of the host of Abrahah to
the city of Makkah they did the same. The light of the
prophet shone from his forehead in the shape of a cone hke
the full moon, and rays fell on the Ka'bah. When 'Abd al-
Mo</alib saw this he said, "Return to Makkah; God will
fight for your cause." "This," adds the edified author,
" shows the nobility of our prophet."
The advent of MoAammad was predicted among the Arabs
four hundred years before it happened ; and so strong was
their conviction of the truth, that they were guided by it in
their politics.
As'ad, the last of the Tobba's, undertook an expedition to
the east ('Iraq?) He passed Madynah,1 and left one of his
sons there. No sooner had his father left the city, than he
was treacherously assassinated. On his return the Tobba'
was determined to revenge the death of his son by the des
truction of Madynah and its palm groves. At the approach
of the hostile army to the town, two venerable Rabbins of the
Jewish tribe of Qoraytzah prostrated themselves before As'ad,
and told him that this city would be the refuge of the Arabic
prophet ; and if he should destroy it, he would not escape the
(1.) According to Ibn IsAaq, the Tobba' finds the Aws and Khazraj tribes at
Madynah ; but according to a tradition of Cadiq, in the Hayat alqolub, u. 2, he
took them to Madynah and left them there as a colony, because he knew that
MoAammad would take refuge in that city. This version is evidently nearer the
truth — the reign of the Tobba' and the immigration of the Awsites and Khazraj-
ites into Madynah being undoubtedly synchronous.

raby'ah's DREAM. 61
punishment of God. He saw that what they stated was true,
left the city undisturbed,1 and requested them to follow him
to Yaman. Makkah lay on his road. Before he reached that
town, some men of the Hodzayl tribe came into his camp,
and said, " O king, shall we shew thee a treasury, which has
escaped the avarice of former conquerors ? It is filled with
pearls, precious stones, gold and silver." " And where is it ?"
" It is in a shrine at Makkah, which is sacred to the inhabi
tants." The intention of the Hodzaylites was, to destroy the
army of As'ad ; for they knew right well what had befallen
former kings, who had dared to invade the holy city. He
sent for the two Rabbins, and asked their advice. " Beware !"
said they. " These men wish thy destruction. God has se
lected this temple in preference to all other places of worship
on earth ; and if thou shouldst profane it, thou mayst be sure
that ruin will befal thee." When the king had arrived in
the sacred territory he had his head shaved like a pilgrim,
went round the Ka'bah, and, in obedience to a vision, he co
vered it with precious cloths. According to the general opi
nion, he was the first who covered it. He also had a door
made to the Ka'bah, and provided it with lock and key ; and
he ordered the Jorhomites, who were then in charge of it, to
take care that it be not defiled by blood being spilled in it,
or by dead bodies, or women at certain times. When he
came to Yaman, he embraced the Jewish religion, and called
on his subjects to follow his example.
After As'ad's death, his sons being minors, Raby'ah, of the
Lakhm tribe, was appointed Regent. Raby'ah had a dream,
which greatly alarmed him, He called all the soothsayers
and astrologers of his kingdom, and said, " I had a dream :
relate it to me, and explain its meaning." " Tell us thy
dream, and we will explain it to thee." " Unless you can
(1.) According to some authors he left a letter for MoAammad, which was duly
forwarded to him, on his arrival at Madynah.

62 RABy'ah's DREAM.
relate to me what I have seen," said the king, " I can place
no rehance on your explanation." At the advice of one of
his courtiers he sent for SafyA and Shaqq. SafyA arrived
first, and said, " Thou sawest a burning coal ; it came from
a dark hole ; over the Tihamah it did roll ; and destroyed
every soul." "Thou speakest the truth," replied the king;
" but what is the meaning of this vision ?" " I swear by
every man, who lives between the ffbrratan, that the people
of Sudan will overrun the country from Aden to Najran."
The king now asked, when it was to happen — during his
reign, or after it ? " Sixty or seventy years after thy reign."
" And will the Abyssinian yoke over Yaman last ?" " No ;
they will be expelled by a man of the house of Dzu-1-Yazan."
" And will that family rule for ever ?" " No ; a prophet will
arise from among the descendants of Ghalib b. Fihr, who will
be the king of his nation, and his family will rule for ever."1
When SafyA had spoken, Shaqq was called; and he ex
plained the dream nearly in the same words, though the
possibility of collusion had been prevented. This prophecy
made so deep an impression upon the king, that he sent his
children to the frontiers of Persia, where his son 'Adyy mar
ried a princess of ffyrah, and succeeded to the throne of that
country.*1 There were few public occasions, after these events, on
which the Arabs did not express their joy at the prospect that
a prophet would arise among them.

(1.) This piece of flattery to the 'Abbasides has not been borne out by history.
(2.) 'Adyy was the founder of the Lakhmite dynasty, which ruled at .ffyrah
in the name of the kings of Persia. Ibn Qotaybah says, on the genealogy of the
Lakbmites, " It has been asserted that Nacr, the father of 'Adyy, was a son of
Satirun, who was the king of the Assyrians, and the lord of the castle. He
was a Jaramaqanian, (i. c. of Garamoei), of the people of Mosul, of the district
called Ajaromy (Ajorrumy ?) Hut Jobayr b. Mot'im mentions that he was of
the band Qonnoc b. Ma'add b. 'Adnan." The ethnography of the Lakhmites
would appear, from this, to be extremely doubtful, it being even uncertain to
which of the two great divisions of Arabic tribes they belonged.

SOURCES 0? BIOGRAPHY. 63

THIRD CHAPTER.
On the Sources of the Biography of Mohammad.
The chief object of the first heroes of the Islam was, to
spread the doctrine of MoAammad their prophet. The brav
est man of an Arabic tribe was, from time immemorial, the
most eloquent. In like manner, in the beginning of the Is
lam the greatest warriors were the best informed and most
ardent teachers of the new faith.1 The general of an army
was the spiritual guide of his men. The sayings and actions
of their prophet were, for these armed apostles, as many laws
for their believers.
Yet we have no book on the history of MoAammad, which
received a definite form during his life-time. The Qoran it
self was gathered from memoranda, and from the mouth of
the people, and brought into its present form, several years
after the death of its author. I shall speak of that work in
another chapter : it suffices here to observe that, though it
may not be free from interpolations, yet there seems to be no
reason for doubting its authenticity.
Several documents and treaties of MoAammad were still
in force at the time of Hanin al-Rashyd ; and were then col
lected.*1 We cannot, therefore, doubt their authenticity. We
have also a collection of the poems of -ETassan3 of Madynah,
(1.) Ibn Khaldiin has a chapter on the honor, which was attached to the of.
fice of teacher, in the beginning of ihe Islam.
(2.) They are in Abu Yusof's epistle to Harun al-Rashyd, or rather to his ta
lented wife. (Compare Mas'udy, c. III.) A copy of this valuable book is in my
possession (3.) " ffassan b. Thabit b. al-Mondzir, of the Khazraj tribe, the poet of Mo
Aammad, lived sixty lunar years before, and sixty after, he had become a Mos-

64 MOHAMMAD AVERSE TO BOOK-LEARNING.
an early convert to the Islam. He composed odes on the
Battle of the Ditch, the conquest of Makkah, and on other
events in the life of MoAammad ; but he shines particularly
in his satires against the enemies of the new religion.
Writing aud book-learning were not in the plan of the
Bedouin prophet and his immediate followers ; nor were they
needed. The fundamental principle of his doctrine, being
truth, is simple ; " There is but one God !" And the pic
ture which he gave of God is more directed to the imagina
tion than to reason. MoAammad had an aversion to scribes
and monks ; and on various occasions forbade his followers
to imitate the example of the Jews and Christians, by con
signing his doctrine to dead books,1 and adulterating it by
cavillings and discussions. It was to live in the hearts and
memories of the faithful. But on other occasions he recom
mended to them to devote themselves to the aquisition of
knowledge.*1 MoAammad was short and bombastic in his expressions,
and cautious and oracular in his answers. It was easier to
remember than to understaud them. His sayings, which
were listened to with avidity by his followers, formed, even
during his life-time, the principal topic of the conversation
of, and a subject of study for, the faithful. When he died,
lim." — Ibn Qotaybah. According to a tradition of his grandson, Sa'yd b. 'Abd
al-Rahman b. ffassan, (apud Ibn IsAaq, p. 30), ffassan was seven or eight
years older than MoAammad.
(1.) "'Omar said to MoAammad, ' O Messenger of God, the Jews relate
traditions : shall we not also write down some ?' MoAammad looked at him, and
anger was visible in his face ; and be said, ' Will you become confused, as the
Jews and Christians were confused ? ' " — Trad, of al-ffasan Bacry, in the
Boston of Abu-1-Layth. " Abu Sa'yd Khodry asked MoAammad for permission
to take down information in writing ; and it was refused." — Tradition of 'Atfa b.
Yasar, ibidem. See slso Taysyr, p. 319, where there is a tradition of Khodry:
The prophet said, " Do not write any thing from me besides the Qoran. Who
ever has written any thing besides the Qoran is to efface it." " Ibn 'Abbas for
bade writing ; for he said, Those before you erred on account of writing." — Tra
dition of al-ffosayn b. Moslim, ibidem. What ffajy Khalfa, I. p. 78, mentions
as a tradition, is the opinion of Abu-1-Layth, and not a tradition.
(2.) Many traditions in this sense are in the Taysyr, p. 317.

the tXbi'ys. 65
he left no less than one hundred and twenty thousand fol
lowers, who had listened to his instructions, and who repeat
ed his sayings.1 By some of them upwards of two thousand
traditions have been handed down to posterity.
During the first twenty years after MoAammad's death, the
Moslims settled mostly in large military cantonments ( jo-
mid), in Babylonia, Persia, Syria and Egypt ; and when they
were free from war, they devoted themselves to poetry, and
to listening to the traditions of their prophet. Those of his
companions (acAab) who had been much about his person,
were surrounded by large circles of pupils, who had not seen
him, and who are called Tabi'ys. The more diligent among
the latter, not satisfied with hearing traditions from the
mouth of the elders of their own cantonment, travelled from
place to place, to collect as many as possible ; and they care
fully compared their different versions.
The MoAammadans conceive that all the companions of the
prophet are trust-worthy witnesses; and considering that
they were mostly unsophisticated people ; that they lived in
great numbers together ; and that they taught the traditions
publicly; it is not hkely that they deviated much from the
truth.*1 Towards the end of the first century of the Hijrah, when
the companions of MoAammad had died away, the Tabi'ys be
came the authorities of the history and doctrine of the Ara-
(1.) " Bokhary mentions, in his Tarykh, all the traditionists from MoAammad
to A. H. 250 ; and they amount to forty thousand. Out of these it was thought
that two hundred and twenty-six are not deserving of credit. Bokhary and
Moslim have taken traditions only from the most approved men ; they are less
than two thousand ; yet the remaining may be relied upon." — Kanz al-Jawdhir,
by Behlo'l. The biographical dictionary of the companions of MoAammad, called
Osod al-Ghdbah, contains no less than seven thousand five hundred biographies ;
yet it is far from being complete. The I^dbah, another work on the same subject,
to judge from the size, contains at least ten thousand.
(2.) How carefully the Moslims excluded, in early times, unauthentic records
of their prophet, is shown in the following example. Moghyrah b. Sho'bah
quoted a saying of MoAammad, on a doubtful point of law, before Abu Bakr ;
the Khalif asked him whether any body else had heard it from the prophet ; and
only after it had been confirmed by MoAammad b. Maslamah he acted upon
it. — Mishkdt, II. p. 71.

66 FORM OF TRADITIONS.
bic Lawgiver. They were innumerable ; but about one him-
dred and forty were distinguished above all the rest for their
knowledge of traditions. The Tabi'ys had again circles of
disciples around them, who devoted their lives to collecting
and comparing traditions, and who visited all the canton
ments and learned elders for that purpose. It was the habit
to mention, with every tradition, the authority from which it
was derived. This habit has been preserved to this day.
In a MoAammadan college certificate, the professor mentions
his own teacher, and the teacher of his teacher, up to the
author of the book, for proficiency in which he grants to his
pupil a license (ijazat) to teach; and in the book itself, if it
contain traditions, the authorities for every tradition are
mentioned up to MoAammad. I give an example : — I have
been informed by MoAammad b. Bashshar, that he had been
informed by YaAya b. Sa'yd, who said that he had been in
formed by Hisham b. iJassan, who said that he had it from
al-flasan Bacryy, who said that he heard from 'Abd Allah b.
Moghaffal, "that the prophet had been forbidden1 (by God)
to comb more frequently than every other day (or occasion
ally)." I have been informed by al-i/asan b. 'Arafah, that
he had beeu informed by 'Abd al-Salam b. fiarb, who said
that he had it from Yazyd b. Khalid, who had it from Aby-1-
'Ala Awdy, who had it from Uomayd b. 'Abd al-RaAman,
who heard from one of the companions, " that the prophet
combed only now and then (or every other day)."*1
It is generally believed that the traditions were preserved,
during the first century of the Hijrah, solely by memory.
European scholars, under the erroneous impression that had-
dathand, (I have been informed by,)3 the term by which tradi-
(1.) The Calcutta edition has nahd, (i. e. MoAammad forbade to his followers),
instead of nohiya.
(8.) Shamdyil of Tirmidzy, p. 50.
(3.) " The terms Aaddathana, or akhbarana, " I have been informed,'' " I have
received intelligence," are used both if the pupil reads a tradition before his
master, and if the master reads it before his pupil." — (Abii Hanyfah ami
Boston.) Some authors give to these two terms a still wider meaning, and use

THE COLLECTING OF TRADITIONS. 67
tions are usually introduced, means exclusively oral informa
tion, are of opinion that none of the traditions contained in
the collection of Bokhary had been written down- before
him. This, however, appears to be an error. Ibn 'Amr,1
and other companions of MoAammad, committed his sayings
to paper during his life-time ; and their example was follow
ed by several of the Tabi'ys.'2' When 'Omar b.'Abd al-'Azyz
came to the throne (A. H. 99,) there was only one man alive
who had heard the prophet ; 3 and even many of the Tabi'ys
had died away. The necessity of writing down every authen
tic record of MoAammad, which could be collected, being
urgent, the Khalif issued a circular order to that effect ; and
commissioned Abii Bakr b. MoAammad more especially with
the task of collecting traditions.4 His efforts were seconded

them if the student has obtained his information by book or letter, and not in
the presence of his master. — Ibidem. The term for indirect communication,
where the intermediate authorities are not known, is qala folanora 'an folanin ;
and a tradition thus propagated is called mo'an'an.
(1.) 'Abd Allah b. 'Amr b. al-'Ac died in A. H. 63. He says, (apud Abii
Dawiid), " I was in the habit of writing down every word I heard from the pro
phet ; but the Qorayshites wished to prevent me ; and they said, Art thou writ
ing down all his sayings, though he is but a tuan, who is lead by his likings and
dislikings ? Upon this I gave it up, until I mentioned it to the prophet. Point
ing with his finger to his mouth he said, Write ; for, by God, nothing but truth
comes from my mouth." That Abii 'Amr used to write down the sayings of
MoAammad is confirmed by traditions in Tirmidzy and Bokhary.
(2.) Abu Shahab also wrote down traditions : " 'Abd Allah b. 'Amr says,
I was with Abu Shahab when a book was brought to him by some people,
who asked him, whether he knew this book? He answered, yes; it is mine.
Upon this they were pleased with the book. He did not read it to them ; nor
did they read it before him ; but they copied it, and propagated it, (saying, We
have been informed (Aaddathana) by Abu Shahab.") — Bostdn of Abii-1-Layth.
" Kaby' b. Anas says, My grandfather Zayd and his brother Ziyad used to
visit Salman (died in 3.5) at night ; and he related to them traditions, and they
were occupied with wriing them down till morning." — Bostdn.
(3.) " Names of the companions of MoAammad, who died latest: The last
who died at Kufah was 'Abd Allah b. Aby Awl'a; he died in A. H. 86. The
last who died at Madynah was bahl b. Sa'd Sa'ydy, A. H. 91, one hundred
years old. At al-Bocrah, Anas b. Malik, A. H. 91 or 93. In Syria, 'Abd
Allah b. Bosr, A. H. 88. Wathilah b. al-Asqa' died at Damascus, in 85, at an
age of 98 years. Last of all died Abu-1-Tofayl 'Amir b. Wathilah ; he died
after A. H. 100. He was in all the wars of 'Alyy, and standard-bearer of Mokh-
tar. He believed in the millenium (raj'ah). (This doctrine was introduced, un
der 'Othman, by a Jew, of the name of 'Abd Allah b. Saba.")— Waqidy, apud
Ibn Qotaybah, Kitdb al-Ma'drif.
(4.) QasMany, Comm. on Bokhary, pref. c. 2.— Abu Bakr b. MoAammad
b. 'Amr b. ffazm died in 120, at an age of 84 years.

68 THE COLLECTING OF TRADITIONS.
by the spirit of the age ; and so extensive was Arabic litera
ture, consisting chiefly of books containing traditions, in the
beginning of the third century, that Waqidy, who died in
A. H. 207, A. D. 822, left a collection of books, which it
took twelve hundred men to remove. The writings of that
early period, however, were generally rather memoranda
than systematic books.1 Towards the end of the third centu
ry all the traditions, which were at all to be relied upon,
had been collected in works, many of which are existing till
this day ; but it is certain that most of them had received a
stereotype form previous to the beginning of the second cen
tury. Therefore the nearest view of the prophet which we
can obtain is at a distance of one hundred years ; and though
we see him through the eyes of believers, our knowledge of
their bias enables us to correct the media, and to make them
almost achromatic. As all biographies of MoAammad rest
on these ancient books, I name here such as may illustrate
my subject. Among these the six canonical collections of
the Sunnies,*1 and the four of the Shiahs3 are the most
(1.) Yaqlit's Biography of men of letters ; and Fihrist of Ibn Ya'qub Na
dym. (2.) They are — 1. Cahyh of Bokhary, born in 194, died in 256 ; it is being
lithographed at Delhie. 2. That of Moslim, born 204, died 261. 3. The Sonan
of Abii Dawud, (which has been lithographed at Lucknow), born 202, died 275.
4. That of Tirmidzy, died 279; it is being lithographed at Delhie. 5. That of
Nasay, (which has been lithographed at Delhie), died 303. 6. Ibn Majah, born
209, died 273. Besides these there are some other collections, (mostly founded
on the preceding ones), which are much esteemed among the Sunnies, as that of
Darimy, died in 255 ; that of Daraqotfny, died in 385 ; of Abu No'aym, died
430 ; of Isma'yly, born 277 ; of Barqany, born 336, died 425 ; of AAmad Sonny,
born 364 ; of Bayhaqy, born 384, died 458 ; of .ffomaydy, died 408 ; of Kha«a-
by; ofBaghawy, died 516; of Razyn, died 520 ; of Jazary Ibn al-Athyr (Mo-
barik), died 606 ; of Ibn al-Jawzy, died in 597 ; of Nawawy, died 676. The
Taysyr al-wogul Ua al-oi)ul, and the Mishkdt, which I frequently quote, contain
the traditions of the six canonical books ; but the sanad, or string of authorities,
is omitted in them. I also frequently used Nawawy's Commentary on Moslim,
of which I possess a very correct copy.
(3.) They are — 1. Kdfy, of Kolyny, (Abii Ja'far MoAammad b. Ya'qub), died
in 328. This is a very large work ; and even at Lucknow good copies are rare.
2. Man la yahdhoroho al-faqyh, by Abu Ja'far MoAamma-l b. 'Alyy b. al-flbsayn
b. Babawayh Qommy, died 381. 3. Tahdzyb -, and 4. Istibqdr ; both by Abii
Ja'far MoAammad b. al-Hasan b. 'Alyy Tusy, died in 460. Some add— 5.
Madynat al-'ilm, by Ibn Babawayh. Owing to want of time I used these books
but very rarely, with the exception of the istibtjdr, of which I have an ex-

ibn ishXq. 69
important in a theological point of view, and contain much
information respecting the biography of the prophet. The
records of the Shiahs, however, are infinitely less faithful
than those of the Sunnies.
The first author of a biography of MoAammad was Ibn
IsAaq, a Tabi'y, who died in A. H. 151, A. D. 768. His
book was written at the request of the Khalif al-Mancur ;
and the author used to lecture upon it. Ibn IsAaq was en
dowed with a faithful memory, and brilliant talents. His
taste is refined, his style elegant, and his language powerful ;
but his book is written with a deep design ; and he may be
considered as the father of MoAammadan mythology.1 In
collecting traditions he was not critical ;* and he suffered
himself to be guilty of inventing new ones,3 and forging the
authorities ;4 and for this reason he was not relied upon by
early authors.5 His object is to edify and amuse his readers ;
and to this object he sacrifices not only truth, but in some
instances even common sense.
I doubt whether the book of Ibn IsAaq is extant in its
cellent copy ; but, taking it for granted that the flayat al-qoliib contains all
the Shiah traditions on the life of MoAammad, I read it. I had also the use of
some volumes of the Bihar aUanwdr, which is a work in twenty-five or six
volumes quarto, and contains all that a Shiah needs to know.
(1.) Even MoAammadan authors discerned that he attempted to shape the
biography of their prophet according to the notions of the Christians. See Beh
lo'l, Kanz al-Jawdhir.
(2.) Abii-1-FatA MoAammad b AAmad b. Sayyid an-Nas Ya'maryy Raba'yy,
died in A. H. 734, the author of a work on the Biography of MoAammad,
entitled 'Oyun al-athr, (MS. of Royal Library of Paris, No. 771), complains
that Ibn IsAaq does not always mention the companion of the prophet from
whom he had received the tradition.
(3.) Ibn Qotaybah says, " I heard Abii flatim saying, on the authority of
Acma'y, that Mo'tamir said, ' Take no tradition from Ibn IsAaq : he is a great
liar.' " Ibn Khallikan, Engl. Transi. vol. II. p. 678, informs us that Malik b.
Anas had an unfavorable opinion of Ibn IsAaq.
(4.) Ibn Qotaybah and Ibn Khallikan relate the following anecdote : — Ibn
IsAaq quoted Faftmah, the wife of Hisham b. 'Orwah, as an authority for some
tradition. When her husband heard it, he exposed him by saying, Has he ever
paid a visit to my wife ?
(5.) Bokhary, and to the best of my knowledge Waqidy, takes no tradition at
all on tbe authority of Ibn IsAaq ; and Moslim b. al-Hajjaj only one See Ibn
Khallikan, Loco Citato, and Abulfeda ad annum 150. But Waqidy quotes him
on genealogy.

70 madXviny.
original form. Ibn Hisham, (died in 213, A. D. 828), a
pupil of Bakayy/ who had attended the lectures of Ibn IsAaq,
made a new edition of it, which is the best known and most
ancient biography of MoAammad extant ;a but unfortunately
the additions of Ibn Hisham are even less critical than the
text of Ibn IsAaq. Yet this is the only original source which
has hitherto been used by European historians.
Another early biographer of MoAammad was Abii IsAaq,
who died in 188. He is more honest, but his accounts are
full of errors.3 We have no book of his ; but he is constant
ly quoted in the history of Abu i/atim Ibn iTabban, which is
still extant, and sometimes even by Waqidy.
Madayiny, who died in 225, compiled no less than twenty-
nine books on the biography of his prophet ; but it seems that
his writings became scarce very early ; for they are rarely
quoted. Not one of his numerous works is at present known
to exist. The same seems to have been the fate of the de
tailed labors of most other authors of that critical age ;4 aud
I omit mentioning those, whose works have not even indi
rectly contributed to our knowledge.
Towards the end of the second century Waqidy5 compiled
several books that have reference to the biographies of Mo-
(1.) Sara'any says of Ziyad Bakayy (died 183), that he made awful blunders,
gave free scope to his imagination, and that his accounts cannot be considered
conclusive unless they are confirmed by others.
(2.) Fven of this book copies are rare, (Ewald, Zeitschr. zur Kunile d. Morgl.)
I used an abridgement, talkhyi;, made at Damascus in 707, by AAmad b. Ibra-
hym b. 'Abd al-RaAman Wasi^f. At first I had the beautiful autograph of the
abbreviator at my disposal ; but subsequently I had a copy made from it for my use.
(3.) Ibn Qotaybah says, "He was a very good and excellent man ; but he
is guilty of many blunders in tradition."
(4.) Major Rawlinson, C. B. Resident at Baghdad, has in his collection a MS.
of the Siyar al-anbiyd wasyrat nabyynd, by Abii AAmad al-Zfasan 'Askary
(died in 382). which promises to be a very valuable work.
(5.) "Abu 'Abd Allah MoAammad b. 'Omar h. Waqid, of the Aslam tribe, re
sided originally at Madynah, but was, during the last four years of his life, Qa-
dhy. of'Askar al-Mahdy, (i. e. the eastern part of Baghdad) ; born A. H. 130,
died in 207." — Ibn Qotaybah. He left at his death six hundred boxes (qimafr)
of books, each of wliich was a load for two men. The boxes made one hundred
and twenty camel loads (the term is wiqr in Sam'any, and Aaml in Dzohaby).
He was a sectarian of 'Alyy, whom he considered a miracle of MoAammad.
Among other maBters he heard Ibn JorayA. — Fihrist and Ansdb Sam'dny.

WAQIDY.

71

Aammad, of his disciples, and of the traditionists after them ;*
and they were collected into one gigantic work of fifteen large
quarto volumes by his secretary,*1 who made numerous addi
tions, and gave it the name of Tabaqdt Kabyr ; but it is ge
nerally called the Tabaqdt Waqidy. ,3 The first volume con
tains the life of MoAammad, and of those of his companions
who fought at Badr. This is by far the best biography of
the Arabic prophet ; but being rare it has never been used
by an European scholar. The veracity and knowledge of the
author have never been impugned by his contemporaries, nor
by good early writers ; and the unsupported attacks on him
by modern authors reflect the greatest credit on him.
Shocked by some of his disclosures, they call him a har ; and
disgusted with his impartiality, the Sunnies accuse him of a
Shiah bias.* His book contains merely traditions. They
(1.) 1. Syrat 'biography of MoAammad) ; 2- Wafdt al-Nabyy (death of
MoAammad) ; 3. Tdrykh wa-l-Maghdzy wa-l-MaV ath (chronology, military
career and prophetic mission of MoAammad) ; 4. Azwdj al-Nabyy (the wives of
MoAammad) ; 5. Tabaqdt (biographies chronologically arranged).
It is stated in the Fihrist of Tusj, (died in 460), that " Some good Sunny au
thors assert, that all the works, which bear the name of V. aq'dy, were compiled
by Ibrahym b. MoAammad b. Aby YaAya Abii IsAaq. who was a client of the
Aslam tribe, and flourished about A. H. 114; and that Waqidy transcribed
them, and claimed them as his own works. We, however, (the Shiahs), are
not aware that any of Waqidy's writings are ascribed to Ibrahym b. MoAam
mad." (2.) Abii 'Abd Allah MoAamn.ad b. Sa'd b. Many Zohryy, died at Baghdad
in 230. Ibn Khallikan, III. p. 66, gives him a very high character for learning
and veracity. In Baron Slane's translation of Ibn Khallikan, it is stated that he
died in 203. This is a typographical error ; for he died after Waqidy. In
Tydeman's Consp. and in Dzohaby, A. H. 230, A. D. 844, is given as the date
of his decease.
(3.) In Ibn Qotaybah, and other old writers, the author is simply called Waqidy,
probably for the sake of brevity. In the title-page of a very correct copy of the
first volume, which was executed in A. H. 718, the author is called aZ-Katib al-
Waqidy, and not Katib al- Waqidy. Yet in the book itself the author constantly
says " I have been informed by Waqidy," 1 found this book quoted in Persian
authors under the title of Tabaqdt Hamadany. For the sake of brevity I call the
author Waqidy.
(4.) The error arises from their confounding the well-known romances, which
bear the name of Waqidy, with the traditions of that author ; and again, from
their considering the Tabaqdt Kabyr as the work of Waqidy himself. The au
thor of the Kanz al-Jawdhir, who flourished in A. H. 1136, goes so far as to
stigmatize the Syrat of Waqidy, (meaning the first volume of the Tabaqdt
Kabyr), as a texture of falsehood. Were a refutation of this calumny required,
it might be observed, that wherever the canonical collections contain traditions

72 TABARY.
are short, and carefully traced to an eye-witness through war
ranted authorities. Sometimes several versions are given of
the same traditions ; and for every version the channel is
mentioned. There is no trace of a sacrifice of truth to de
sign, or of pious fraud, in his work. It contains few mira
cles ; and even those which are recorded in it admit of an
easy explanation. This book has always been the principal
source of information for critical Musalman biographers of
their prophet.
The traditions, containing a description of the person,
manners and character of MoAammad, collected by Tirmidzy,
(died in A. H. 279, A. D. 892), are not numerous, but au
thentic ; and have been printed in Calcutta and Luck
now.1 Another man, of great learning and integrity, who collect
ed traditions ou the biography of the prophet, is the great
historian Tabary, who died in A. H. 310, A. D. 929. At
present, however, the portion of his annals which contains
the history of the origin of the Islam is available only in the
Perian translation, which cannot be fully relied upon.
Much incidental information, respecting the age of the pro
phet, and matters connected with the previous history, is con
tained in the Kitdb al-Aghany , or Song Book, of Abu-1-Faraj
of Ispahan ; but the author is too fond of the marvellous to
be implicitly relied upon. His principal authorities on the
prophet are Ibn IsAaq and Thbary.
To this list of original sources may be added the Kashshdf,
and other commentaries on the Qoran, which contain many
authentic records not to be found in other works. The
author of the Tdrykh Khamys, (died in A. H. 966), one of
the most modern biographers, has consulted them to great
on subjects treated on by Waqidy, they are either identical, or agree in sense
with his, though his authority is not quoted.
(1.) The Calcutta edition cannot always be relied upon. I possess an old MS.
copy, which did me good service. The Lucknow edition is called Behar i Kbold.
I did not use it.

ONLY TRADITIONS. ARE SOURCES. 73
advantage. We must, however, use the commentators with
great distrust. The Qoran contains many passages, which
are not in harmony with the ideas of the Moslims ; and
MoAammad was obliged to make many confessions, which
were not creditable to him. The skill of a commentator
consists in perverting the sense aud misleading the reader.
It is singular that, as far as I know, none of the very ancient
commentaries is in existence now. They were probably too
true to be preserved.1
Much valuable information is contained in the lives of the
companions of the prophet, on which we have three very
large works.*1
On examining the Arabic historians, who flourished after
the fifth century of the Hijrah, it appears that they had few,
if any, original sources of information regarding the life of
MoAammad, to which we have not access. It would, there
fore, be superfluous to swell this list with the names of late
authors. The number of good traditions referring to the life of
MoAammad, though great, is limited; and all accounts, in
whatever author they may be found, rest ultimately on them.
I thought it, therefore, necessary to follow the example of
good MoAammadan historians, and to refer to the original
traditions, stating in what collection or history they are to be
found. To consider late historians, hke Abulfeda, as authori
ties, and to suppose that an account gains in certainty be
cause it is mentioned by several of them, is highly uncritical;
(1.) The commentaries ascribed to Ibn 'Abbas and to Imam 'Asqary are la
ter compilations of their traditions regarding the Qoran. The most ancient com
mentary now in vogue is the Kashshdf of Zamakhshary, who died in 538. The
author was learned and acute, but not honest, yet more so than Baydhawy.
(2.1 They are the Jsty'db of Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, who died in 463, (see Hajy
Khalfa, N. 631) ; the Osod al-Ghdbahby Ibn al-Athyr Jazary, who died in 630,
(see Hajy Khalfa, N. 637) ; and the I^dbah by 'Asqalany, who died in 852, (see
Hajy Khalfa, N. 810). I have seen these three works, but had an opportunity
to use only the two last mentioned; and of tbe Osod al- Gtidbah I had the use
of the first half only. J

74 LATER HISTORIANS NOT AUTHORITIES.
and if such a mistake is committed by an orientalist, we
must accuse him of most culpable ignorance in the history of
Arabic literature.

SECOND BOOK.

FIRST CHAPTER.
Birth of Mohammad ; his sojourn in the desert ; his nervous
fit ; death of his mother ,- goes to Syria, and meets the monk
Sergius ; is reduced to tending sheep ; marriage with Kha-
dyjah ; rebuilding of the Ka'bah ; description of Moham
mad's person ; his dress and habits ; his character ; what
led him to assume his prophetic office ; his mission.
MoAammad was born at Makkah on Monday, the 13th of
April, A. D. 571, or the 13th of May, 569.1 Both his pa
rents were of the Qoraysh tribe. His father, JAbd Allah,
(1.) Tabary apud flamzah, p. 146, and Nawawy, in hi- commentary on Mos
lim, say that all authorities agree that MoAammad was born on a Monday, in the
first half of Raby' I. ; but they differ on the year and on the date of the month.
Most traditions say that he died at an age of 63 years. If this is correct, he was
born in 571. There are, however, good traditions in Bokhary, Moslim and Tir-
raidzy, according to which he attained an age of 65 years, which would place his
birth in 569. With reference to the date, his birth day is celebrated on the 1 2th
of Kaby' I. by the Musalmans. and for this day are almost all traditions This
was a Thursday in 571, and a Tuesday in 569 ; and supposing the new moon of
Raby' I. was seen one day sooner than expected, it was a Monday in 569. A
tradition of Abu Ma'shar is for the 2d of Raby' I., which was a Monday in
571 ; but Abii Ma'shar was a mathematician ; and his account may possibly be
a calculation, and not a tradition. There are also traditions for the first Monday
and for the 10th day of the month.

76 BIRTH OF MOHAMMAD.
was the son of 'Abd al-Mo#alib ; and he followed, like the
other members of bis family, the profession of a caravan mer
chant. His mother, Aminah, was the daughter of Wahb,
an Elder of the Zohrah family. The prophet was the only
child of his parents, and his father died two months before
his birth, at the early age of twenty-five years, at Madynah,
on his way home from a mercantile journey to Ghazzah in
Syria. The youthful widow felt her bereavment so severely,
that her health gave way under her grief. Frequently, in
a half-waking condition, she fancied that she was visited by
ghosts, for which her friends recommended her to tie pieces
of iron on her neck and arms.1 The nervous temperament,
and the unequal developement of the mental faculties of Mo
Aammad, were apparently an inheritance from his mother.
When she had given birth to the prophet, she sent for his
grandfather, and related to him that she had seen in a dream
a light, proceeding from her body, which illuminated the pa
laces of Bostra.*1 Owing to this favorable omen 'Abd al-
MoWalib called the child Mohammad, which means "praised;"3
and he took him into the interior of the Ka'bah, and, stand
ing before the idol Hobal, he thanked God and invoked his
blessing upon the infant.4
Aminah was too weakly to suckle her own child.s It was
for a short time nursed by Thowaybah,6 a slave women of Abu
(1.) 'Alyy b. Yazyd b. 'Abd Allah b. Wahb b. Zam'ah heard from his father,
who heard it from his aunt, that Aminah said : " There came to me a comer,
and I was between sleeping and waking."
(2.) Abii Hatim says, " in a dream." According to a tradition of Ibn al-
Qobfyyah, and one of Abu Omamah Bahily (apud Waqidy), it appeared to Ami
nah that a light was proceeding from her : raat kainnaho kharaja rainha niir n.
(3.) ¦' Among the Arabs a name is given to the infant immediately on his bir li.
The name is derived from some trifling accident, or fro ti some object which had
struck the fancy of the mother, or any of the women present at the child's birth."
— Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins, I. p. 97.
(4.) A tradition of Ibn Zam'ah, from his father, from his aunt, apud Waqidy.
The circumstance is also mentioned by Abu .ffatim.
(5.) According to some accounts, she suckled him one week ; according to
others, not at all.
(I ) The name of her own child was MasruA. She had suckled, before Mo-

MOHAMMAD S TIRST TTT.

77

Lahab ; but not long after its birth ten women of the tribe of
Sa'd, who pastured their flocks in the neighborhood of Tayif,
came to Makkah to find children to nurse. iJalymah/ one
of them, after some hesitation, took charge of the orphan pro
phet. It was the habit of the richer inhabitants of Makkah,
to send their children, in charge of Bedouin wet-nurses, into
the desert, that they might avoid the pestilential climate of
the city,*1 accustom themselves from their infancy to hardships,
and imbibe the genuine Arabic character and language, which
were at home only in the desert.3
MoAammad remained five years, under the care of JTaly-
mah,' in the country of the Banii Sa'd. When he was four
years old he had a nervous fit, whilst playing, at a short dis
tance from the encampment of the tribe, with the children
of the nurse. His foster brother immediately called iJalymah.
When she, with her husband, arrived at the spot, they found
him on his legs, but looking very pale. They thought he
suffered from epilepsy ;* and, as this disease was ascribed, in
ancient times, to supernatural influence,5 they believed that
Aammad, ii/amzah, the son of Halah, a daughter of Wohayb and neice of Aminah,
who had been married to 'Abd al-Mo«ulib at the same time when Aminah was
married to his son 'Abd Allah. Both marriages took place in the house of Wo
hayb. Thowaybah suckled, with or after MoAammad, with the same milk, Abii
Salmab, a Makhzumite. These were, consequently, foster-brothers of MoAam
mad. When MoAammad had married Khadyjah, she wished to purchase Tho
waybah from Abu Lahab, with the view of giving her her freedom. He refused
to sell her ; but after the flight of MoAammad he set her free. After MoAammad
had come to power, he sent presents to Thowaybah ; but she and her son were
dead, and had left no issue.
(1.) After MoAammad had married Khadyjah, there was a drought in the
country of the Sa'dites ; and .Halymah came to Mohammad complaining that all
her cattle had died. MoAammad spoke to Khadyjah, and she gave her forty
sheep, and a camel, accustomed to carry a haudah. She was also received with
veneration by Abii bakr and 'Omar.
(2.) Waqidy and Ibn IsAaq.
(3.) The words are from the Rawdhat aldhbdO, and they are confirmed by a
tradition of Zakariya b. YaAya b. Yazyd Sa'dy, (apud Waqidyj, accoi ding to
which MoAammad said, " I speak best Arabic ; for I am a Qorayshite, and speak
the dialect of the Banii Sa'd."
(4.) The husband of i?alymah said to her, " I am afraid this boy had an epi
leptic fit (qad ocyba) ; take him to his family before it is known." — Ibn IsAaq,
p. 33. See also Weil, p. 26.
(5.) Even the civilized Romans called this disease morbus divinus.or morbus sacer.

78 REPETITION OF FITS.
he was possessed by an evil spirit,1 and therefore she took
the child to a soothsayer (kahin),*1 and then to his mother.
Aminah related to her the vision which she had shortly be
fore his birth ; and assuring her that the evil spirits had no
power over her child she prevailed on her to take him back
into the desert. A year after .Halymah brought him again
to Makkah, aud could not be prevailed upon to take any
longer charge of him, though his mother was most anxious
that she should.3 He had probably had another paroxysm.*
MoAammad has made a miracle of his illness, of which he
(I.) '_fter some evasive answers of iifalymah, the mother of the prophet said,
" Are you afraid that he is in the power of the devil (shaytfan) ?" And .Halymah
answered, " Yes." — Ibn IsAaq.
(2 ) Rawdhat alahbdb, and Tdrykh Khamys. According to the latter autho
rity, people said to .Halymah : A^abaho lamamon aw tfayiftm min aljinn — " He
suffers of a disease resting on supernatural influence, or of an incubus from
among the jinn."
(3.) The account is from a tradition of Zakariya b. Yahya b. Yazyd, of the
Sa'd tribe, who had it from his father, (Waqidy, lol. 20 v.) ; and from a tradition
of 'Abd Allah b. Ja'far in Ibn IsAaq; and from the account of Abu flatim.
These three accounts agree almost literally in the marvellous, but they differ in
the facta. According to the tradition in Waqidy, after MoAammad had been two
years with .Halymah she took him to Makkah, on a visit to bis mother, but re
turned with him into the desert. After two years more he had a fit, which
frightened .Halymah and her husband, and they went again to Makkah with him.
They were, however, prevailed upon by Aminah to take him back into the desert,
where he remained one year longer. When he was five years old .Halymah
brought him back to Makkah, and would not keep him any longer ; for she had
observed that wherever he went he was shaded by a cloud, which frightened her.
MoAammad now remained with his mother. According to Ibn IsAaq, Halymah
brought him on a visit to Makkah when he was two years old; and be had the
fit some months after his return into the desert. She took him to Makkah after
the fit -, but it is not stated whether she took him back into the desert. The
account of the interview between .Halymah and Aminah ends with the words of
the latter — " Leave him and go your way" — from which we might conclude that
he did not return to the Sa'dites. There are two reasons for supposing that Mo
Aammad remained at least five years with the Sa'd tribe : first, he spoke their
dialect ; aud secondly, both Ibn IsAaq and Waqidy relate that be was lost on his
way to Makkah, in or near the city; and that he was found by Waraqah. A
child of two years and a few months is not likely to run away.
The reason why all authors agree in the marvellous part of this story is, because
it rests on MoAammad's own statement.
(4.) The following fits of MoAammad are recorded : — " According to the Mo-
wdhib alladonnyyah his chest was split (i. e. he had a fit) again in the cave of
mount Hara, when Gabriel brought him the revelation ; also during his transfigu
ration ; and also when he was ten years of age ; or, according to one tradition,
when he was in his fifth year before he had grown into a young man." — Tdrykh
Khamys.

DEATH OF AMINAH.

79

is his own witness ; for though his foster brother, who was
then four years of age, is said to have related to his mother,
that two angels had opened his chest, and washed his intes-
nes in snow, no argument but the sword could prevail upon
the Sa'dites to believe in his prophetic mission.
Aminah did not long survive the return of her child.
When MoAammad had attained six years of age, she went
with him to Madynah, on a visit to the family of her hus
band's grandmother ;J and remained there one month. On
her way home she died at Abwa,*1 and was buried there. Ba-
rakah, her slave woman, took charge of the infant prophet,
and brought him to Makkah. The next two years MoAam
mad lived under the roof of 'Abd al-Mo/^ahb, who cherished
him with the usual fondness of a grandfather. The patriarch
died, at the age of eighty-two years, when the prophet was
eight years old, and was buried in the cemetery of al-Hajun.
On his death-bed he recommended the orphan to his son,
the noble-minded Abii Talib, who brought him up to the
caravan commerce, and took him, as soon as he had attained
twelve years of age, to Syria,3 on a commercial journey.
Near Bostra they became acquainted with a monk of Arabic
origin, of the name of BaAyra, or Sergius.* Abu Talib found
it necessary, for some unexplained reason, to send his nephew
back.5 BaAyra took charge of him, and went with him to
Makkah.8 The traditionists, and original biographers of Mo-
(1.) Her family was called banu Sa'd. She lived in the house of Nabighah,
in which her husband had died, and where he was buried in the court-yard, at
the left hand side from the entrance.
(2.) Al-Abwa is situated halfway from Makkah to Madynah, being 126 miles
from the former, and 125 from the latter city. In the neighborhood is Waddan.
Idrysy, p. 52, and Ibn Khordadbah.
(3.) MoAammad, it is said, in his sixteenth year accompanied his uncle Zo
bayr on a mercantile journey to Yaman. I have no good authority for this state
ment. (4.) He was of the 'Abd al-Qays tribe. — Mas'udy, English transi. I. 150.
(5.) A tradition of 'Alyy in Tirmidzy, (Taysyr, p. 458) ; one of Abii Musa
Ash'ary, (ibid, and Mishkdt, II. p. 716, ; and one of Abu Moljaz (Waqidy).
(6.) The Secretary of Waqidy says : — " I have been informed by MoAammad

80 ACQUAINTANCE WITH SERGIUS.
Aammad, who usually cover events, which might be injurious
to their prophet, with miracles, all maintain, with the excep
tion of Waqidy, that MoAammad was sent back from Bostra
to Makkah in charge of Abu Bakr, who was then only ten
years of age, and of Bilal, who was not yet born.1 Early
Christian biographers assert that MoAammad received his reve
lations from Sergius ; and he himself pleads guilty of having
been accused by the Makkians of being instructed by a fo
reigner.* The mystery in which his followers envelop his ac
quaintance with Sergius certainly gives color to the assertion
of his adversaries.
The great object of a young Bedouin, says Burckhardt,'
is to make himself independent of his father, and to possess
a tent of his own ;4 and we may supp ose that the same feel
ing prevailed among the young men at Makkah. The Arabs,
like all southern nations, marry early. A tent and a mare, or
camel, is a sufficient outfit ; activity procures the rest. " Seek
not to purchase my mare ; she is not to be bought or borrow
ed. I am a strong castle on her back ; and in her bound
are glory and greatness."5 MoAammad had a great predi
lection for the fair sex, and his living to the twenty-fifth year
b. 'Omar (i. e. WSqidy), that he was informed by MoAammad b. £aliA b. 'Abd
Allah b. Ja'far, and by Ibrahym b. Isma'yl b. Aby .Halyf, who [both] had;it
from Dawiid b. al-Hocayn : when the prophet of God was twelve years of age,
Abu Talib took him to Syria in company with the caravan, with which he pro
ceeded thither for the sake of commerce. They were staying with the monk Ba
Ayra, who told Abu Talib respecting the prophet what he told him, and recom
mended him to take care of him. Abu Talib sent him, consequently, with him
(i. c. BaAyra) back to Makkah. The prophet grew into a young man in the
house of Abii Talib, and God protected him, and guarded him against the abomi
nations of paganism ; for he intended to manifest his miracles on him. But he
followed the religion of his countrymen."
(1.) This anachronism is committed in a tradition of 'Alyy in Tirmidzy, [Tay
syr, p. 458] ; and one of Abii Musa in Razyn, [ibid, and Mishkdt, II. p. 716],
and in Abii jffatim, who follows Abu IsAaq. Abu Bakr was two years younger
than MoAammad. Bilal died in A. H. 20, nt the age of sixty years ; and was,
consequently, thirteen years younger than MoAammad.
(2.) Qordn, 16, 1P5; 25, 6; and 44, 13.
(3.) Notes on the Bedouins, I. p. 355.
(4.) Ibidem, I. 114.
(5.) Antar, a Bedoueen Romance, translated by T. Hamilton, I. p. 22.

MOHAMMAD TENDING SHEEP. 81
of his age unmarried, and on the charity of his uncle, is to
be ascribed to bis want of activity. He had the same patri
mony which had enabled his father to begin life, consisting
of a house which was worth twenty dinars,1 or about nine
pounds sterling, five camels, a flock of sheep, and a female
slave, whom his father had kept for the comfort of his wife.
He would not have granted to her this indulgence, had he
not considered himself in prosperous circumstances. Besides,
MoAammad had good connexions, and his uncles appear to
have been anxious to bring him forward ; yet when he was
asked whether he should not like to marry, he answer
ed, "Undoubtedly; but whence shall I get the means?"*1
Owing to his unfitness for the common duties of life he was
reduced to the necessity of pasturing sheep, which is consid
ered the most humiliating occupation for a man amongst
the Arabs.3 But with his usual skill he turned his humilia
tion into a sign of his prophetic office, and told his followers
that, God sent no man as a prophet who had not tended
the sheep ; and that David, Moses, and other prophets had
followed this occupation.4
When MoAammad was twenty-five years old, his uncle
Abu Talib said to him, "I am a poor man, and in narrow
(1.) It was sold for this sum by 'Aqyl, a son of Abu Talib and a cousin of
MoAammad, to a Qorayshite. — Tabary.
(2.) A tradition of Nafysah, daughter of Monyah, apud Waqidy.
(3.) Among the Arabs of Sinai, and those of the Egyptian Sherkieh, it is an
established rule, that neither men nor boys should ever drive the cattle to pasture ;
this is the exclusive duty of the unmarried girls of the camp, who perform it by
turns. Among other Bedouins, slaves or servants take the flocks to pasture.
Among the Sinai Arabs a boy would feel himself insulted were any one to say,
" Go, and drive your father's sheep to pasture." — Burckhardt, Notes on the
Bedouins, I. 351, 352. Antar says, (transi. of Hamilton, II. p. 121), by way
of humiliating himself, "I am indeed your slave, and the shepherd of your
flock." (4.) A tradition of Abii Horayrah, one of Abii Salmah b. 'Abd al-RaAman, one
of Sabir b. 'Abd Allah, and one of 'Obayd b. 'Omayr apud Waqidy, who consi
ders the subject so important that he devotes a separate chapter to it. See also
J bn IsAaq, and the Mishkdt, II. p. 320 and 51. According to the last passage
his wages were a few qyrats (per head ?) In Syria 24 qyrats, and in most other
countries 20, make a dynar. A qyrat is, therefore, equal to about five pence.
K

82 MARRIAGE WITH KHADYJAH.
circumstances. A caravan of this city will shortly start for
Syria. Khadyjah requires a man of our tribe to send in
charge of her merchandize ; thou hadst better offer thy ser
vices." The prophet agreed, and his uncle spoke with
Khadyjah; "but," he said, " I hear thou intendest to give
only two young camels : we could not take less than four for
the services of MoAammad." " To a stranger," answered
the lady, "I would U3t give more; but, as he is a friend
and relation of ours, I accede to thy demand." The mes
senger of God, having been well recommended by his rela
tions to his fellow travellers, made his second journey to
Syria. Khadyjah, who is considered the pattern of a Musalman
matron, was a widow of the Asad family. She was forty (lunar)
years of age, and had been twice married.1 Being a woman
of superior mind, the mild and pensive character of MoAam
mad could not fail to make an impression upon her ; and on
his return from Syria she offered him her hand.*1 He and his
family were delighted, at the prospect that he would be pro
vided for ; but the father of the lady refused his consent ;
and, as the miracles which were wrought by Providence, with
a view of inflaming the heart of Khadyjah, made no impres
sion upon the hardened old man, the supernatural powers of
wine were required to obtain it. His devoted daughter fill
ed him the goblet more than usual ; and in his intoxication
he united the two lovers. The next morning he repented,
and he and his family took up arms against the Hashimites ;
but the happiness of his daughter pacified him before it came
(I.) Khadyjah was first married to Abu Halah b. Zoratah Tamymyy, and had
by him two sons, Halah and Hind. Then she married 'Alyy b. Khalyd, a Makh-
zumite, and had by him a daughter called Hind.
(2.) According to some authorities Maysarah, a slave of Khadyjah, who had
accompanied MoAammad on his journey to Syria, was the messenger of love be
tween his mistress and MoAammad. But according to one tradition in Waqidy,
Khadyjah offered him her hand through Nafysah ; and, according to another tra
dition, through her own sister.

REPAIRS OF THE KA'BAH. 83
to violence.1 Khadyjah was an affectionate wife ; and Mo
Aammad treated her with the deference due to a mother ;*
and their union was blessed by several children, notwith
standing her advanced age.3 MoAammad was never entrust
ed with the administration of his wife's property ; whatever
he wanted he had to ask her for. His dependance upon her,
and the mature age and clear intellect of Khadyjah, gave her
a great moral influence over him. He was very steady;4
and as long as she was alive he contracted no other mar
riage. When MoAammad was thirty -five years of age, the tor
rent, which descends from the Jorf and flows through Mak
kah, threatened to destroy the Ka'bah. The Qorayshites
were afraid that the two golden gazelles, which were inlaid
with precious stones, and other property belonging to that
(I.) This account rests on a tradition of Abii Mijlaz, and on other traditions
in Waqidy, the authorities of which are not mentioned. It is natural that the
MoAammadans should be scandalized at this runaway match of their prophet.
They, therefore, have invented a tradition, wuich -hey ascribe to Ibn 'Abbas, ac
cording to which the father of Khadyjah was dead, and she was married by her
uncle 'Amr. Later authors describe minutely the wedding, and marriage festivi
ties, to give more credit to the story.
(2.) Mishkdt, II. 790.
(3.) When Khadyjah married MoAammad she was near thirty-nine solar years
of age. She had six children by him, one every year, and therefore she gave
birth to the last when she was forty-five years old. The first child was al-Qasun ;
and after him MoAammad is called Abu-1-Qasim i. e. father of Qasim. He
died in infancy. 2. Zaynab, a daughter, who wa smarried to Abu-1-'A9, and died
during her father's life-time. 3. Roqayyah, a daughter, first married to 'Otbah a
son of Abii Lahab ; then to 'Othman, the third Khalif. 4. Fa/iinali, married to
'Alyy, by whom she became the mother of al-i2assan and al-.Hosayn, and through
them of the millions of Sharyfs and Sayyids. 5. Omm Kolthum, a daughter,
who was first married to 'Otaybah a sou of Abu Lahab, and subsequently to
'Othman. 6. A son, whose name was 'Abd Manaf, i. e. the slave of the idol
Manaf. He died in infancy. The Musalmans were early scandalized, that the
son of their prophet should have this name ; and therefore they called him 'Abd
Allah (slave of God), or Tayyib, or Mofciyyab, or Tahir, or Morahhar — (these
four names mean pure, undefiled) — and in order to remove every suspicion that
he had had his name from an idol, they say that he was born after MoAammad had
assumed his prophetic office. Khadyjah had passed the fifty-third solar year of
her age when MoAammad first proclaimed himself a prophet.— (Weil, p. 39 ;
Waqidy, fol. 25 and 179, and Taysyr, p. 456.)
(4.) Several traditions say that he was not in the habit of visiting the bazars,
nor was he boisterous, nor was he given to talking scandal, or making use of ob.
scene express ons.

84 Mohammad's figure.
shrine, might be stolen ; and therefore wished to rebuild it.
It happened that at the same time a Greek vessel was wreck
ed off the coast of Joddah. The Qorayshites not only ob
tained the wood of the wreck, but they prevailed upon Ba-
qum, the captain of the unfortunate vessel, who was an
architect, to superintend the reconstruction of their temple.
When the black stone was to be put into its place, a dispute
arose as to who should have the honor of locating it. They
agreed to leave the decision to fate : the first man who might
enter by the Shaybah gate was to be chosen. This man
happened to be MoAammad. He placed the stone on his
mantle, and requested four shaykhs, who represented the
families that took part in the construction, to raise it ; and
when it came to a level with the place where it was to be
put, he pushed it into it with his hands.
MoAammad was never a man of importance1 previous to
his mission ; yet his marriage had made him free from cares,
and he could follow the natural bent of his mind, which was
to ascetic exercises and religious speculations. Khadyjah
had probably set him the example.
Before speaking of the mission of the prophet, it is neces
sary to introduce him to our readers, and to acquaint them
with his character. MoAammad was of middling size, had
broad shoulders, a wide chest, and large bones ; and he was
fleshy, but not stout. The immoderate size of his head was
partly disguised by the long locks of hair, which in slight
curls came nearly down to the lobe of his ears.*1 His oval
face, though tawny, was rather fair for an Arab, but neither
pale nor high colored. The forehead was broad, and his fine
and long but narrow eyebrows were separated by a vein, which

(1.) Qordn, 43, 30.
(2.) This description of the person, dress and habits of MoAammad contains
almost every thing that is in the Shamayil of Tirmidzy. Most of the tradi
tions of that book are also in Waqidy, and many of them in Bokhary, Moslim,
and the other books of the Sittah,

HIS PERSONAL HABITS. 85
you could see throbbing if he was angry. Under long eye
lashes sparkled bloodshot black eyes through wide slit eyelids.
His nose was large, prominent and slightly hooked, and the
tip of it seemed to be turned up, but was not so in reality. The
mouth was wide ; he had a good set of teeth, and the fore
teeth were asunder. His beard rose from the cheekbones,
and came down to the collar-bone ; he clipped his mustachios,
but did not shave them. He stooped, and was slightly
hump-backed.1 His gait was careless, and he walked fast
but heavily, as if he were ascending a hill ;a and if he looked
back, he turned round his whole body. The mildness of his
countenance gained him the confidence of every one ; but
he could not look straight into a man's face : he turned his
eyes usually outwards. On his back he had a round fleshy
tumor of the size of a pigeon's egg ; its furrowed surface
was covered with hair, and its base was surrounded by black
moles.3 This was considered as the seal of his prophetic
mission, at least during the latter part of his career, by his
followers, who were so devout that they found a cure for
their ailings in drinking the water in which he had bathed ;
and it must have been very refreshing ; for he perspired pro
fusely, and his skin exhaled a strong smell.
He bestowed considerable care on his person, and more
particularly on his teeth, which he rubbed so frequently with
a piece of wood, that a Shiah anthor was induced to consider
it as one of the signs of his prophetic mission. He bathed
frequently, washed several times a day, and oiled his head
profusely after washing it. At times he dyed his hair and

(1.) Fyhi janaon. This particular is in Waqidy, but not in Tirmidzy.
(2.) Ten traditions say, " as if he were going down-hill ;" which gives us the
same, but a less clear, idea of a heavy walk. In two traditions it is " as if he
were going up-hill."
(3.) A woman, who had seen it, compared it with the buttons on the curtain
of a bridal bed. No surgeon could describe this tumor clearer than it is described
in the traditions of Tirmidzy.

86 HIS DRESS.
beard red, with henna, iu imitation of his grandfather, who
imported this habit from Yaman. Though he did not comb
himself regularly, he did it now and then. At first he wore
his hair like the Jews and Christians ; for he said, In all in
stances, in which God has not given me an order to the con
trary, I like to follow their example; — but subsequently
he divided it, like most of his countrymen. Every evening
he applied antimony to his eyes ; and though he had not
many grey hairs even when he died, he concealed them by
dyeing or oiling them,1 in order to please his wives, many of
whom were young and inclined to be giddy ; and whose num
bers he increased in proportion as he became more decre-
pid. The prophet was usually dressed in a white cotton shirt, or
blouse, (qamyc), with pockets, and sleeves which reached to
his wrists. He had a skull-cap and a turban on his head,
the extremities hanging down the back; and sandals, with
two leather straps over the instep, on his feet. In the house
he wore merely a piece of cloth ('icabah) tied round his
temples, leaving the crown of the head uncovered. Some
times he wore, instead of the shirt, a "suit of clothes"
(Aollah),'1 which consisted of an apron (izar), that is to say,
a piece of cloth tied round the waist and hanging in folds
down to the legs, hke a woman's petticoat ; and a sheet (rida),3
(1.) " Propheta pilos pudendorum depilatorio illiniens penem manu prehensum
avertit." — Tradition of flabyb in Waqidy, confirmed by several others.
(2.) Hbllah has, besides this, a more extensive meaning, and implies any two
garments, though they cover the same part of the body ; as with us a jacket and
waistcoat. MoAammad went to high prices for his dress. We are informed,
" The prophet bought a Aollah, or perhaps a thawb (cloth), for twenty-nine she-
camels (naqah)." — A tradition of MoAammad b. Shyryn apud Waqidy. "The
prophet bought a Aollah for twenty-seven ounces (uqayyahj." — Ibidem. Accord
ing to the law property-tax is to be paid from five ounces, or two hundred dir-
hams ; and it is therefore believed that one ounce was equal in value to forty dir-
hams, or about seventeen shillings. — [See Tahqyq al-Awzdn, p. 4.] " The bpr-
dah and rida. of the prophet cost eight dynars." — Tradition of Isma'yl apud Wa
qidy. A dynar is equal to about nine shillings. These high prices lead us to
suppose that his garments were of fine texture.
(3.) In Europe the word rida is translated by cloak, and in India by chadar,

HIS FOOD.

87

or square shawl, which was thrown over the left shoulder and
wrapped round the body under the right arm. Sometimes
he wrapped himself in a blanket (mirf).
Though he usually took refreshments three times a day, he
made only one substantial meal, which consisted chiefly of
bread, or chapatties ; that is to say, unleavened dough shaped
into thin cakes, and baked upon a plate of iron. He ate
the bread with dates, or honey, or oil, or vinegar. He was ge
nerally so poor that he had rarely two days in succession barley
bread enough to eat ; and as to bread baked of wheat, it was
considered such a dainty, that a man, to whom it is said God
promised any favor he might wish for, asked to have white
bread to eat every day of his life. A dish, which the prophet
ate very frequently, was cooked in the following manner : —
Flour was put into a pan ; then it was mixed with oil, a little
pepper, and some other spice ; and it was cooked. Some
times he had fowls or mutton made into a kind of Polish
stew. He was particularly fond of the shoulder and knuckle.
Bread soaked in gravy with meath was so favorite a dish
with the prophet, that he compared his beloved 'Ayishah
with it. Another favorite dish was dates, honey and milk
mixed ; or bread, butter and dates blended together into a
paste. He was fond of sweets, and liked to drink milk,
honey, or water sweetened with dates.
Instead of a table he dined on a round piece of leather.
It was spread on the ground, and he and his guests sat a-
round it. He carved for his guests ; that is to say, he cut
off for every person a large piece of meat ; but it was not
cut into small pieces. They tore it with their hands and
which means a sheet. The latter meaning seems to be correct, in reference to
the time of MoAammad. In a tradition of Waqidy we read, " Idza ta'attafa bi-
ridaihi lam yohit bihi fahowa motaabbitoho taAta iMihi." " If he dressed in a
sheet, he carried it round his body under the armpit, and did not wrap
himself up in it." This is the manner in which the chadar is most frequently
worn in India. MoAammad's rida was four cubits long and two cubits and a span
wide.

88 HIS FURNITURE.
teeth, and gnawed the bones without the assistance of a
knife. After dinner he Hcked his fingers, and sometimes also
the dish. We have an account of two entertainments, in
which MoAammad was present. On one occasion he accept
ed the invitation of a tailor to dinner. He was treated with
soup, with cucumbers boiled in it, and salted meat, which,
cut into small pieces, had been dried in the sun. On the
occasion of his marriage with ^affyyah he gave to his guests
dates and parched barley, which had been ground and mixed
with some kind of sweetmeat. And at another marriage he
killed a sheep, and treated his guests with bread and mutton.
Before and after dinner he used to say grace, " Praise be
to God, who has given us to eat and to drink, and who has
made us musalmans." He also used to bless the first fruits
that came in every season, and then to give them to chil
dren. His bed consisted first of a mat, or a double sheet of sack
cloth ; but when he had come to power he slept on a leather
mattress stuffed with the husk of the date tree. His other
household furniture was equally simple. The water was
kept in a bag of untanned skin without hair, which was hung
up on the wall ; and he drank out of the water-bag, or of a
wooden goblet. Several bags (ohab) of skin were hung up
in his room, for keeping butter, milk, oil, and the hke ; and
if they were not in use they were blown up. When he was
sitting down (on the ground) his back or left elbow were
usually supported by a leather pillow ; but he disaproved of
indulging in such a comfort at dinner. In his campaigns he
took with him an ivory comb, collyry, teeth-cleaners, consist
ing of pieces of the fibrous wood of a certain tree, a looking-
glass, and oil for anointing his hair. These articles, put into
a bag, formed his dressing-case. The only pleasures in
which he indulged were women and perfumes ; among the
latter he was particularly fond of musk, which was mixed

HIS NERVOUS TEMPERAMENT. 89
with other substances and made into cakes by his wives. He
abhorred the use of strong stimulants, and forbad it to his
followers. The temperament of MoAammad was melancholic, and in the
highest degree nervous. He was generally low spirited, think
ing and restless ; and he spoke little, and never without ne
cessity. His eyes were mostly cast to the ground, and he sel
dom raised them towards heaven.1 The excitement under which
he composed the more poetical Surahs of the Qoran was so
great, that he said that they had caused him gray hair ;* his
lips were quivering and his hands shaking whilst he received
the inspiration.3 An offensive smell made him so uncomfort
able that he forbad persons who had eaten garlic or onions to
come into his place of worship. In a man of semi-barbarous
habits this is remarkable. He had a woollen garment, and was
obliged to throw it away when it began to smell from perspi
ration, " on account of his delicate constitution."* When he
was taken ill, he sobbed hke a woman in hysterics ; or, as ' Ayi-
shah says, he roared like a camel ; and his friends reproach
ed him for his unmanly bearing.5 And during the battle of
Badr his nervous excitement seems to have bordered on frenzy.
The faculties of his mind were extremely unequally developed;
he was unfit for the common duties of life, and even after his
mission he was lead in all practical questions by his friends.
But he had a vivid imagination, the greatest elevation of
mind, refined sentiments, and a taste for the subhme. Much

(1.) Tradition of Hind b. Aby Halah, a step-son of MoAammad, apud Tir
midzy, pp. 20 and 234, and Waqidy.
(2.) He said that the Surahs, which he composed under the greatest excite
ment, were the 11th, 56th, 77th and 78th. They are indeed as wild as dithy
rambs. — Tradition of Ibn 'Abbas and Abii JoAayfah, apud Tirmidzy, p. 56, and
Waqidy. (3.) Two traditions of Ibn 'Abbas apud Waqidy. See also .Hbsayny's Comm .
on the Qoran, 72, 6.
(4.) Mishkdt, II. p. 350.
(5.) Two traditions in Waqidy. L

90 NOTIONS OF GOD  SUPERSTITIONS.
as he dishked the name, he was a poet;1 and a harmonious
language and sublime lyric constitute the principal merits of
the Qoran. His mind dwelt constantly on the contempla
tion of God ; he saw his finger in the rising sun, in the fall
ing rain, in 'the growing crop ; he heard his voice in the thun
der, in the murmuring of the waters, and in the hymns which
the birds sing to his praise ; and in the lonely deserts and
ruins of ancient cities he saw the traces of his anger. His
imagination peopled these fastnesses with jinn, who were cre
ated like ourselves to praise God. His notions of the Divi
nity, however, are far from being as pure as they are gene
rally beheved to be. The God of MoAammad is not the re
sult of abstraction ; he merely possesses those epithets, which
man covets, in a superlative degree. His ascribing to him
ninety-nine attributes would by itself be sufficient to convince
us how concrete his ideas were respecting his divine nature.
The prophet was not free from superstition ; he beheved in
jinn, omens and charms, and he had many superstitious ha
bits. The jinn were, according to his opinion, of three kinds :
some have wings and fly ; others are snakes and dogs ; and
those of the third kind move about from place to place hke
men.*1 Again, some of them believed in him, and others did
not. He gave instructions to his followers, if a fly falls into
a dish of victuals, to plunge it in completely, then to take it
out and to throw it away ; for in one of its wings is a cause
of sickness, and in the other a cause of health ; and in failing
it falls on the sick wing ; and if it is submerged the other
wing will counteract its bad effect.3 To make a bad dream
(1.) He was particularly fond of the verses of Omayyah b. Aby al-9alt, (see
page 38 supra), and of Labyd. Of the latter he frequently repeated the verse —
Ala kollo shayira ma khala-llaha ba/ilo» — " is not every thing vain without
God ?" The Qorayshites saw that he was a poet, and for this reason he pro
tested against this name, {Qordn, 36, 68.) Yet in a few instances he forgot him
self, and made verses. — Tirmidzy, Sham. p. 258.
(2.) Mishkdt, II. pp. 311— 314, and Qordn 72.
(3.) Ibidem, p. 310.

FANATICISM AND CRUELTY. 91
harmless he thought it necessary to spit three times over the
left shoulder. He was very careful to begin every thing from
the right side, and to end with the left ; aud he smeared the
antimony first in the right eye. His ideas of omens, however,
were more sensible : he admitted lucky omens, but forbad to
believe in unlucky ones.
The energy and enthusiasm of MoAammad claim our high
est admiration. The following pages contain instances of his
extraordinary firmness and perseverance. His followers,
however, admit that in his trials he was greatly supported by
the endurance of his wife Khadyjah.1 His dark and bloody
fanaticism fills us with horror, and his cunning weakens our
faith in his honesty of purpose. When he was on the grave
of his mother, he publicly declared that her soul was condem
ned for having worshipped idols ; and his judgement on his
uncle and protector, the noble-minded Abu Talib, was equally
severe. His actions were, in some instances, as cruel as his
poetry : some apostates from his faith were sentenced by him
to have their hands and feet cut off, and their eyes pierced
with hot irons. In this condition they were thrown on the
stony plains of Madynah. They asked for water, and it was
refused to them ; and so they died. Such instances of cruelty
are the more characteristic of his fanaticism, as he was natu
rally mild, and even soft.
(1.) " Khadyjah was the support of tbe prophet in his duties, and she was the
first who believed in him. God ordained it thus to make his office easy to him :
as often as he had to hear unpleasant language, or was accused of falsehood, or was
downcast, she cheered him up ; and when he came home she inspired him with
courage and said, Thou speakest the truth ; and she consoled him." — Ibn IsAaq.
" Whenever the prophet mentioned Khadyjah (after her death) he used to speak
highly of her.and one day he was crying. 'Ayishah said to him, What makes thee
cry for an old woman with red corners of the mouth (Aamrao-lshidq : this is pro
bably an idiom meaning meddling and talkative.) Has God not given thee better
wives than that old Asadite woman ? No, God has not given me better women.
She (Khadyjah) used to say: Thou speakest the truth, when the public accused
me of falsehood. She consoled and supported me with money when I was treat
ed like an outcast ; and God has given me children by her and none by any other
wife." — AAmad (i. c. Ibn i/anbal,) Mosnad apud Shahrashub, Mandqib dl Aby
Tdlib, Vol. VIII.

92 PLAINNESS OF DRESS.
MoAammad rose with the sun ; and after his private devo
tions he attended at the public morning prayers, which were
generally followed by a breakfast of milk and dates. This
duty over, he attended to his domestic avocations, milked the
goats, cleaned his clothes from vermin, and attended to his
person.1 At noon, before or after prayer, he took another
meal and his siesta, in the apartments of one of his wives,
usually merely resting his head on his arm. No one was al
lowed to ask for admission during the time. He retired early
in the evening, and spent part of his restless nights in pray
ers. Extravagance was, in his eyes, the mother of vices;*1
and he studiously gave to his followers an example of patri
archal simplicity of manners, which is much vaunted by the
moralists, who lived in the times of the luxurious Khahfs.
Costly presents of dresses and utensils, which he received to
wards the end of his career, he gave to his friends. On one
occasion he received a silken garment : he cut it into two
pieces, and gave one to 'Alyy ; for he thought his wife would
look well if she were to wear it round her head. On another
occasion a Syrian frock was given to him : he wore it once at
prayers, and no more ; for he said he was admiring it the
whole time, and could not attend to his devotions. For some
time he had a golden ring ; but observing in the mosque that
his followers imitated his example, he rebuked them, and
never wore it again. He liked, however, precious arms ; and
we are informed that he indulged in the luxury of wearing
boots. He had two pairs, one of which he had received from
the king of Abyssinia. His wives would have liked to
live more in style, and several times they rose in open rebel
lion against the man of God ; but a revelation from heaven,
to rebuke them for their ingratitude, and the blows of their

(1.) A tradition of 'Ayishah apud Tirmidzy, p. 376.
(2.) Qordn, 17, 27, and passim.

TREATMENT OF WOMEN. 93
relations,1 soon brought them to submission. He was affec
tionate towards his relations ; and, notwithstanding the gra
vity of his office, he was playful with his wives, 'i^yishah,
being only nine years of age when she married him, brought
her toys into his house ; and he occasionally played with her.
She also used to race with him. Of an evening he would
sometimes tell stories to his wives ; such as the adventures of
a man who had been carried away by the jiun, and after a
long stay with them- returned to his family ; or, of the eleven
ladies, who agreed to describe to each other the characters of
their husbands, and to reveal the secrets of their matrimo
nial alliances.
He was kind to women ; never beat one ; and entertained
more respect for them than is usual with nations addicted to
polygamy. He frequently protected women who came to
him for refuge ; and the ladies of Madynah exercised some
influence ou his legislation, as we learn from the following in
stance. He forbad the believers to beat their wives ; but on
the remonstrance of 'Omar, who said that the wives would
have the upper hand over their husbands, he allowed it. Upon
this a great number of ladies came to his house, and prevailed
upon him to disapprove of their being ill-treated.
Towards his followers he was affable and patronizing ; when
he met his friends he shook hands with them; and he did
not allow them to rise from their seats when he came near
them. Being importuned with questions, he found it neces
sary to keep the believers at a distance, and to forbid trou
bling him with queries, by a Qorcin verse.* When in compa
ny, as long as the conversation turned on worldly subjects,
(1.) A scene of this description is mentioned in the Mishkdt, II. p. 112.
There are also two domestic scenes alluded to in the Qoran ; one arose from his
penchant for a slave woman (Surah 23) ; and another out of his jealousy. He
reproves his wives for their ostentation ; orders them to remain at home, and not
to be too complaisant in speech ; and he threatens them a double punishment if
they should forget themselves.
(2.) Qordn, 5, 101 ; 23, 50. More stringent injunctions are in the traditions.

94 DOUBTS CONCERNING IDOLATRY.
he was cheerful, and sometimes even jocose. He liked to
hear the tales of olden times, and the national poetry. But,
if speaking on religion, he was grave and serious ; he spoke
slowly, pronounced the long vowels with great emphasis,
made frequent pauses, and repeated almost every sentence
three times ; and he understood, as well as men of importance
iu our days, to answer in general terms. He had some com
mon-places, which were made to suit every occasion, where
he was afraid of compromising himself. Yet it would appear
that he was naturally hasty, and that his slowness and cau
tion were the result of his position.1 We see that the pro
phet of the Arabs was, as he frequently admitted, a man like
ourselves, sharing the amiable foibles and selfish virtues of
our species.
Up to his fortieth year MoAammad devoutly worshipped
the gods of his fathers.1 The predominance of his imagina
tive powers, and his peculiar position, gave him a turn for re
ligious meditation. He annually spent the month of Rama-
dhan in seclusion in a cave of mount .ffara,3 where the Qo
rayshites used to devote themselves to ascetic exercises.4 In
this retreat he passed a certain number of nights in prayers,*5

(I.) Compare Qordn, 75, 17.
(2.) Qordn, 93, 9 ; and a tradition of Sodyy apud Waqidy to that verse. See
also p. 80, note.
(3.) A tradition of 'Obayd Allah b. 'Omayr Laythy apud Ibn IsAaq.
(4.) Mount Hark is three miles from Makkah, on the left hand side from the
road to Mina. The cave is, according to the Ma'drij alnab. four yards long, and
its width varies from one to three yards.
(5.) The term is, he performed the taAannoth. This term means, according
to a tradition of 'Ayishah, see Taysyr, p. 461, " worshipping God a certain
number of nights," or a kind of Novenna, which seems to have been in use among
the Qorayshites. Ibn IsAaq explains it by tabarror, or piety. According to
Jawhary taAannoth has etymologically the same meaning as taaththom, i. e. to
do pennance ; but in the tradition alluded to he and other lexicographers are of
opinion that it means to pray and give up idolatry. Their authority can be of
but little weight in comparison with a tradition reported by Bokhary and Mos
lim. Shahrashub, Mandqib dl Aby Talib, Vol. VIII. says: "'Abd al-Mo«alib
was the first who performed the taAannoth on mount fiara. TaAannoth means
taaloh, worshipping God. He (Abd al-Mo«alib) began it with the new moon of
Ramadhan, and continued it during the whole of that month." rabary says:

COULD HE READ ? 95
fasted, fed the poor, and gave himself up to meditation ; and
on his return to Makkah he walked seven times round the
Ka'bah before he went to his own house.
When he was forty years of age the first doubts concerning
idolatry arose in his mind. The true behevers ascribe this
crisis to a divine revelation, and therefore carefully conceal
the circumstances which may have given the first impulse.
It is hkely that the eccentric Zayd, whom he must have met
in mount .ffara, (see page 41 supra), first instilled purer no
tions respecting God into his mind, and induced him to read
the Biblical history. To abjure the gods, from whom he had
hoped for salvation, caused a great struggle to MoAammad,
and he became dejected and fond of solitude. He spent the
greater part of his time in .ffara, and came only occasionally
to Makkah for new provisions. Undisturbed meditation in
creased his excitement, and his over-strained brains were,
even in sleep, occupied with doubts and speculations. In one
of his visions he saw an angel, who said to him, " Read !"
He answered, "I am not reading."1 The angel laid hold of
" It was the habit with the Qorayshites, who aspired to being thought very
pious, to spend the month of Rajab on mount Sara in seclusion and silence
This habit was more particularly observed by the Hashimites. Every family
had its separate place on mount Sara for this purpose, and some had buildings in
which they resided during their seclusion."
(1.) The expression in Bokhary and Moslim is "Ma ana biqariira," which
means " I am not reading" in the same way as " Jaany rasiilo-llahi, falla-llaho
'alayhi wa sallama, laysa birakibi baghlm" means " The prophet came to me,
and he was not riding a mule." (Tirmidzy, Sham. p. 376.) But at the time
of MoAammad this idiom sometimes implied a refusal. Thus when the Qoray
shites said to 'Abd al-MoWalib, "Let us have a share in the well of Zamzam,"
he answered, " Ma ana bifa'ilin" — ¦' I am not doing it," or I will not do it,
(Waqidy, fol. 15.) In the same sense answered 'Alyy, in a tradition of Bokha
ry, when requested to erase a word from a letter which he had written — " Ma
ana billadzy amAaho" — " I am not the one who erases it" — that is to say, I will
not do it. Yet modern MoAammadan writers say that this idiom implies that
MoAammad did not know reading ; and European orientalists have been misled
by them ; witness Weil, p. 46, note. In Ibn IsAaq's garbled version of this
tradition the expression is, " Ma aqrao," which may mean, " I do not read,"
or " What shall I read ?" The author of the flayat alqoliib takes it in the
latter meaning ; and so it is to be taken the third time, but not the first and
second time.

96 COULD HE READ?
him and squeezed him, until MoAammad succeeded in making
an effort. Then he released him, and said again, " Read \"
MoAammad answered, " I am not reading." This was re
peated three times ; aud at length the angel said, " Read in
the name of thy Lord, the Creator, who has created man of
congealed blood ; — read ; for thy Lord is most beneficent.
It is he who has taught by the pen (has revealed the scrip
tures) ; it is he who has taught man what he does not know."
These are the initial words of a Surah of the Qor&n, and the
first revelation which MoAammad received. If this dream was
as momentous as authentic traditions make it, it must have
been the crisis, which caused MoAammad to seek for truth in
the books of the Jews and Christians. The words of the an
gel admit hardly any other sense : after much hesitation he
determines to study the tenets of another faith, which was
hostile to that of his fathers. His resolve is sanctioned by a
vision, and he thanks the Creator, whom the Qorayshites al
ways considered the greatest among their gods,1 for having
sent a revelation to direct man.*1
It is certain, however, that no Musalman will admit the
sense which I give to these verses of the Qoran; and MoAam
mad himself, in the progress of his career, formally denied
having read any part of the scriptures before the Qoran had
been revealed to him.3 This, however, can only be true if he
(1.) Qordn, 31, 24, and passim.
(2.) Ibn IsAaq, who gives a garbled version of this tradition of 'Ayishah, says
that the angel had a piece of brocade in his hand, which contained a book. If
this were the case " read" would not mean " apply thyself to reading the Scrip
tures," but, " read this book." I may mention that qara, the Arabic word for
reading, means technically to read, or cbant, a sacred book, or to say prayers,
though from memory.
(3.) God says in the Qoran, 29, 46 and 47, " In like manner (as we have sent
revelations to former prophets) we have revealed the Book (i. e. the Qoran) to
thee  Thou didst not read any book (of revelation) before it, nor didst thou
transcribe one with thy hands. Were this not the case the worldly-minded would
be in doubt.'' Baydhawy says that this verse means that MoAammad did not
know reading ; but how he finds this sense in it I am at a loss to understand.
'Alyy b. Ibrahym a Shiah commentator on the Qoran, who flourished in the fourth
century of the Hijrah, gives to this passage the same meaning in which I take it.

WHO INSTRUCTED MOHAMMAD ? 97
meant the first verses of the Qoran, that is to say, those men
tioned above ; for in the following revelations he introduces
the names of most prophets, he holds up their history as an
example to the Makkians, he borrows expressions from the
Bible which he admired for their sublimity, he betrays his ac
quaintance with the gospels by referring to an erroneously
translated verse of St. John for a proof of his mission,1 and
he frequently alludes to the legends of the Rabbins and Chris
tians. Whence has the prophet of the Gentiles obtained his
knowledge of the Biblical history ? He answers the ques
tion himself: It is God who has revealed it to me.*1 This
assertion satisfies the believer, and is a hint to the inquirer in
tracing the sources of his information. He would hardly have
hazarded it had he not obtained his instruction under con
siderable secresy. The spirit of persecution at Makkah,
which manifested itself againt Zayd, made caution necessary
for MoAammad, though originally he may have had no ulterior
views, in making himself acquainted with another faith. Yet
with all his precautions, the Qorayshites knew enough of his
history to disprove his pretensions. He himself confesses, in
a Surah revealed at Makkah, that they said that the Qoran
was a tissue of falsehood; that several people had assisted
him ; and that he preached nothing more than what was con
tained in the "Asafyr of the Ancients," which he used to
write, from the dictation of his teachers, morning and even
ing.' Who were the men, who instructed MoAammad? It
(1.) Christ said that he brought tidings of an apostle, who would come after
him, and whose name would be AAmad, Qoran, 6 1 , 6. — The passage to which ihis
verse of the Qoran alludes is St. John, 16 : 7, &c where Christ said, I go to my
father, and the Paraclete shall come. It appears from Ibn IsAaq, who quotes St.
John, that the Syriac translator read Periclyte, the illustrious or praised, instead of
Paraclete -, and that the word was rendered in the Arabic version, which was made
from the Syriac, by AAmad, i. e. praised. The meaning of MoAammad is the same.
(2.) Qoran, 11, 51 ; 12, 103 ; 12, 3 ; and passim ; but in another passage, 44, 13,
MoAammad allows that the Qorayshites said, that he had been taught.
(3.) '• Those who disbelieved said, This is nothing but a fiction which he has in
vented, and there assisted him in it other people, who had come by outrage and lie
(to this country.) They say (his doctrine is) the asa/yr of the ancients, which he has
M

gg SOURCES OF
is not likely that he would have dared to declare before them,
that the doctrines, which he had received from them, had
been revealed to him; nor is it likely that, had they been
alive after the new religion had become triumphant, they would
have allowed him to take all the credit to himself. Those
who exercised an influence upon MoAammad were his disci
ples ; but we find no instance in which he appeared to buy
secresy by submitting to the dictation of others. I am in
clined to think, therefore, that his instructors died during his
early career ; and this supposition enables us to ascertain the
names of some of them. The few specimens of the sayings
of Zayd, which have been preserved, prove that MoAammad
borrowed freely from him, not only his tenets, but even his
expressions ; and Zayd did not long survive MoAammad' a as
sumption of his office. It is likely that Waraqah, the cousin
of Khadyjah, who, it would appear, brought about her marri
age with MoAammad,1 who was the first to declare that the
Great Law would be revealed to him, and who expressed a wish
to assist him during the persecutions to which every prophet
was subject, was one of his teacher's. Waraqah died shortly
before the time when he publicly proclaimed his mission.
The defence of the prophet, that the man, of whom his
countrymen said that he assisted him in writing the Qoran,
written for his own use, and which used to be dictated to him morning and
evening." Qoran, 25, 5 and 6. The sentence, which I translate " who had come
by outrage and lie," is usually supposed to mean that in making this assertion the
Qorayshites ill used and slandered MoAammad. Though the sentence might ad
mit of this sense, if it run bitzolm instead of tzolm, the pluperfect, which is used
with more regularity in Arabic than in any other language, gives sense only if the
pronoun refers to " other people." The meaning may possibly be that the teach
ers of MoAammad had taken refuge in Arabia for offences and heresies. Baydhawy
surpasses himself in perverting the sense of these two verses of the Qoran ; but I
have the second half of an Arabic commentary of the Qoran, which is (erroneously)
ascribed in the flypage to the Imam 'Asq-ary ; and in this the sentence in question
is explained : " And those teachers who helped MoAammad hud come with (or
brought) this doctrine," &c.
(1.) Ibn JsAaq says that Khadyjah told her cousin, that MoAammad, during
his journey to Syria, which he undertook on her account, was shaded by two
angels ; and that he answered, " Be of good cheer ; he will be the prophet of
this nation ;" and on this assurance she married him.

Mohammad's knowledge. 99
was a foreigner, and unable to write so pure Arabic as the
language of the Qoran was, leads us to suspect that one of
his chief authorities for the Biblical legends was 'Addas,1 a
monk of Niniveh, who was settled at Makkah. Aud there
can be no doubt, that the Rabbins of the ffijaz communi
cated to MoAammad their legends. The commentators upon
the QDran inform us further, that he used to listen to Jabr
aud Yasar, two sword manufactures at Makkah, when they
read the Scriptures ; and Ibn IsAaq says, that he had inter
course with 'Abd al-Rafanan, a Christain of Yamamah ; but
we must never forget that the object of these authorities, in
such matters, is not to instruct their readers, but to mislead
them. It is certain, from the context, where the expression
occurs, and from the commentators on the Qoran, that
" Asa/yr of the Ancients" is the name of a book ;* but we
have very little information as to its origin and contents.'
(J.) Qordn, 16, 105 ; Baydhawy on 25, 6. See also farther on.
(2.) The term in Arabic is " Asityr alawwalvn." Baydhawy, 25, 6, ex-
pliins these words by " Ma sararaho-lmotaqaddimun" — " what the ancients have
written," or the writings of the ancients. In the Tafs. Jaldlaun, 83, 13, p.
276, the term is explained by " The stories which were committed to writing in
ancient times ; thu singular of asatfyr is osfurah or is^arah." J hese authors de
rive the word israrah or osriirah (the change of the vowels of these two forms is
analogous to that in the imperative ; the original form may have been isrora)
from sair, which means to write ; but it appears to me that it is a corruption of
the Greek word isloria ; because the plural form afd'yl or afd'il is most frequent
in foreign words or quadiiliterals, as qamamio. from qomec, a Count ; asaqif,
from asqaf, a Bishop ; barariq, from batfryq, a patrician ; Jalaliq. from Jalliq, a
Gallician, &c. A passage in Soyu7y's Iiqdnfy 'ilmi-lqordn, cap. 37, throws
some farther light on this subject ; he says " Jowaybir (?) states in his Com
mentary on the Qoran, on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas, to the words of the Qo
ran 17, 60, fy-lkitabi masruran, masrur means the same as maktiib, i. e. writ
ten ; it is a word of the dialect of the Hiinyarites, who call a book os<urah."
According to this explanation asaryr alawwalyn would mean the bookB of the
ancients, and it would appear that not even the root str was known before Mo
Aammad, in the Hijaz, in any other meaning than in that which it has in Hebrew,
i. c. to rule with a mister, ruler, or as a mosay/ir, magistrate. It may further
be observed, that isfora occurs in the Qoran only in the plural, and only in con
nexion with alawwalyn, ancients.
(3 ) The book was probably translated from the Greek, as the title would in-
dicate. Should Sergius have been the author or translator of it ? How anxioui
the Mo^ammadans are to mislead us as to the nature of the book, may be seen
from the Kashshaf. It is said in the Qoran, 8, 31 : — " If our (God's) revelation

100 ASATYR ALAWWALYN.
That dogmas were propounded in it, besides Biblical legends,
appears from several passages of the Qoran, where it is said
that it contained the doctrine of the resurrection.1 It is also
clear that it was known at Makkah before MoAammad ; for
the Qorayshites told him that they and their fathers had been
acquainted with it before he taught it, and that all that he
taught was contained iu it.a MoAammad had, in all likeli
hood, besides, a version of portions of the Scriptures, s both
of the genuine and some of the apocryphal works ;4 for he
refers his audience to them without reserve. Tabary informs
us that when MoAammad first entered on his office, even his
wife Khadyjah had read the Scriptures, and was acquainted
with the history of the prophets.5
is read to them, they say, We have already heard this, and we can tell similar
things ; this is nothing more than the asa^yr alawwalyn." On this verse it is ob
served in the Kashshaf : — " It is said that the man who made use of these wordi
was al-Nadhr b. al-flarith, who was executed (by order of MoAammad after the
battle of Badr. ) Wben he heard God relating ( through the mouth of his pro
phet) the stories of past generations, he said, ' If I choose I can relate similar
stories.' He said so, for it was he who brought from Faris a copy of the story
of Rostom and Isfendiyar ; and he was under the impression that it was Uke
these legends, end that it formed a part of the asaiyr."
(1.) Qordn, 27, 70 ; 46, 16.
(2.) Ibidem, and 68, 15.
(3.) It is preposterous to suppose that, though the Arabs in the north and
west of the Peninsula were Christians, and had a great number of monasteries,
no translation of the Bible, or at least of a popular work containing the Scriptu
ral History, was then extant in Arabic. When the Musalmans conquered Hyrah,
they found in tbe citadel young priests, who were Arabs, engaged in multiplying
copies of the Bible. I have above, in page 40, note, asserted tha1: the words of
a tradition of 'Ayishah, which made some persons believe that Waraqah first
translated the Scriptures into Arabic, mean simply that he knew to write Arabic,
and that he copied in Arabic part of the Bible. I have since come into possession
of a copy of Zarkashy's commentary on Bokhary. This author confirms the
reading, which I have chosen, by observing on the words , He used to write He.
brew, " This is the reading of Bokhary in this passage ; but the reading in Mos
lim is, He used to write Arabic ,- and this is also the reading of Bokhary in the
chapter on Dreams ; and this must be received as the correct reading, because
both Bokhary and Moslim agree on it." He farther observes, on the words He
wrote the gospel in Hebrew, " The Qadhy says, this is the reading in this pas
sage ; but the correct reading is in Arabic ; and this expression is an idiom,
The reading in Moslim is also, He wrote the gospel in Arabic."
(4.) In the Qoran the book of Abraham is mentioned ; and it seems that
MoAammad made much use of it. It is supposed that Abrahami liber de Idola-
tria is meant by it. Compare Fabricius Cod. Pseuden. Vet. Test. 1722. Vol.
I. p. 400. r
(5.) Bal'amy's Persian translation of Thbary. This fact is mentioned on the

UMMYY MEANS GENTILE. 101
In spite of the three passages of the Qoran quoted above,1
the meaning of which they clumsily pervert, almost all mo
dern Musalman writers, and many of the old ones, deny that
MoAammad knew reading or writing. Good authors, how
ever, particularly among the Shiahs,*1 admit that he knew
reading ; but they say he was not a skilful penman. The
only1 support of the opinion of the former is one passage of
the Qoran, 7, 156, in which MoAammad says that he was
the prophet of the ummyys, and an ummyy himself. This
word, they say, means illiterate ;* but others say it means a
man who is not skilful in writing ;5 and others suppose it to
mean a Makkian or an Arab.6 It is clear that they merely
guess, from the context, at the meaning of the word.1 Um
myy is derived from utnmah, " nation," (Latin gens, Greek
ethnos) ; and on comparing the passages of the Qoran, in
which it occurs, it appears that it means gentile, (Greek eth-
nicos.)* It is said in the Qoran, that some Jews are honest,
occasion of Khadyjah's visit to Waraqah. The words of the original are —
" Khadyjah bikitabhay pyshyn khwandah bud, wa khabrhay payghambaran da-
nistah." (1.) Page 96, and ibid, note 3, and p. 97, note 3.
(2.) The Shaykh Mofyd, i. e. MoAammad b. MoAammad b. No'raan, who
died in A. H. 413, wrote a monography to prove that MoAammad knew writing.
See Najashyy.
(3.) Some ignorant authors strengthen their argument by the sentence in the
tradition of 'Ayishah, explained in page 95, note.
(4.) Baydhawy on Surah 2, 73 ; and 7, 156.
(5.) Zamakhsharyy on Surah 2, 73 — " ma yaAsono-lkatba."
(6.) They derive it from Umm alqora, which is a modern name for Makkah.
— Haydt alqolub.
(7.) If it occurs in an Arabic author, it has that sense which he conceived it
implied in the Qoran. In Qodury, p. 19, edition of Delhie, and in other Sunny
law-books, in the chapter, Who is to be the Imam in prayers 1 it means illite
rate ; but in the Kaldyib al Kafawyyah the nations are divided into three class
es, with reference to their religion ; viz — ahl alkitab, those who believe in reve
lation, like the Jews and Christians ; shobah alkitab, of whom it is doubtful
whether they have a revelation, like the Magi ; and ummyyun alkitab, or pagans.
(8.) God addresses himself to the Jews, and says, " We have raised among
the gentiles a prophet from among themselves," 62, 2. " Say to those, to whom
the Bible has been given, and to the gentiles, Are you Moslims ?" 3, 19. In the
traditions it has the same meaning. Ibn Cayyad, a Jewish boy, when asked by
MoAammad whether he considered him as a prophet, answered, " Yes, thou art
the prophet of the Gentiles, i,but not of the Jews)."— Mishkdt, II, p 375 ; Tay
syr p 413 See also page 412. Tbis tradition is in Bokhary and Moslim.

102 FORMATION OF HIS OPINIONS.
but others think there is no harm in wronging the ummyys.1
Imam Cadiq observes, on this passage, that the Arabs are
meant under ummyys, and that they are called so, though
they knew writing, because God had revealed no book to them,
and had sent them no prophet.*1 Several instances in which
MoAammad did read and write are recorded by Bokhary, Na-
say, and others. They will be mentioned in the progress of
these pages. It is, however, certain that he wished to ap-
pear ignorant, in order to raise the elegance of the composi
tion of the Qoran into a miracle.
After these digressions, let us return to the account of the
struggles of the prophet alluded to above. They were the
labors under which he gave birth to a new religion ; and, in
all likelihood, many of the poetical effusions of this period
were subsequently, by himself and others, considered as re
velations, and inserted iu the Qor&n. According to one re
cord, the doubts, indecision, and preparation of the prophet
for his office lasted seven years ;3 and so sincere and intense
were his meditations on matters of religion, that they brought
(1.) Surah 3, 69. Even Baydhawy explains ummyy, in this instance, " those
who do not believe in the Bible, and who are not of our (the Jewish) reli-
gion." (2.) XXaydt alqolub, Vol. 2, u. 6, 2. The Imam also pointed out the contra
diction which there would be in the verse (62, 2) of the Qoran, if ummyy meant
illiterate : " He who sent among the illiterate an illiterate man, that he might
read to them his signs." Still more direct is the testimonv of Farra, one of the
most learned and earliest grammarians, having died in A. H. 207. He remarks,
apud Ibn al-Raghib. Vocab. Qor. "The gentiles are the Arabs, who had no
[revealed] book; homo-1'arabo-lladzyna lam yakon lahora kitabon." — It is easy
to explain how an erroneous interpretation was given to ummyy. In Surah 2,
73, the word is defined by " ummyyoB man la ya'rifo alkitaba," this may mean,
" ummyy is a person who is not acquainted with the Bible ;" or, " ummyy is a
person who is not acquainted with writing." As kitab means always a revealed
book, when it occurs in the Qoran, the former must be the meaning.
(3.) " The prophet dwelt at Makkah fifteen years (after he had been called.)
He used to hear a voice and to see a light for se en of these years, but nothing
else; and for eight of these years he received revelations." — Ibn 'A bbas in Bo
khary, in Moslim and in the Mishkdt, II. p. 677. These hallucinations are
confirmed by 'Orwah in Waqidy, and by some other traditions ; but that they
lasted seven years is stated by Ibn 'Abbas only. They were subsequently
turned into a miracle. " The prophet did not go near a hill or a tree but they
said, Peace be to thee, O Messenger of God."— Trad, of 'Alyy in the Mishkdt,
II, p. 717.

FORMATION OF HIS OPINIONS. 103
him to the brink of madness. In the Qoran we can trace
three phases in the progress of the mind of MoAammad, from
idolatry to the formation of a new creed.1 First, the religion
of the Ka'bah, in which he sincerely believed, seems to have
formed the principal subject of his meditations. The con
templation of nature, probably assisted by instruction, lead
him to the knowledge of the unity of God; and there is
hardly a verse in the Qoran which does not shew how forcibly
he was struck with this truth. By mystifying the faith of his
fathers he tried to reconcile it with the belief in one God ;
and for some time he considered the idols round the Ka'bah
daughters of God, who intercede with him for their worship
pers. But he gave up this belief, chiefly because he could
not reconcile himself to the idea that God should have only
daughters, which was ignominious in the eyes of an Arab ;
and that men should have sons, who reflect honor on a fami
ly. He also connected the idolatrous worship of the black
stone, and the ceremonies of the .ffajj, and almost all the
other pagan usages of the flaramites, with their father Ab
raham. This idea was not his own. We have seen, in pages
38 and 39, that the sceptics, who preceded him, held the same
opinion ; yet it was neither ancient nor general among the
pagan Arabs. We find no connexion between the tenets of
Moses and those of the iJaramites; and though Biblical

(1.) It is very difficult to fix the chronology of this period. The original in
formation consists of detached traditions. Arabic biographers consider them
selves justified in taking any liberty with them, as long as their account is pious
enough. Starting with the conviction that he was by a miracle converted into a
prophet, they are anxious to ascertain the exact date when he was gazetted, and
omit every mention of the transition period, which is said to have lasted seven
years. One tradition, in the Haydt atqolub, places the beginning of his office in
the 3Sth year of his life. Let us suppose that at that age he began to meditate
on idolatry. The dream, in which he was ordered to read, and with which the
second phase, i. e. the fatrab , began, he had after he had completed his fortieth year.
It lasted upwards of two years ; and he was probably in his 43d year when he
had the apparition of the angel, and the fit, to be mentioned below. Three years
he preached privately ; but we must count these three years from his 4 1 st
year ; so that it would appear that he publicly assumed his office when be was
in his 44th year. I shall enter farther into this chronology in a note below.

104 TRANSITION PERIOD.
names are very frequent among the Musalmans, we do not
find one instance of their occurrence among the pagans of
the ffijaz before MoAammad.
It has been mentioned that the vision, in which he was
ordered to read, caused him finally to renounce idolatry. We
are told that after this vision an intermission of revelation,
called fatrah, took place, which lasted upwards of two years.1
The meaning of fatrah is simply that, though this vision was
a revelation, he did not assume his office for two or three
years. It is certain that he composed many Surahs of the
Qoran during this time ; and it must have been during this
period that the tenets of the Jews and Christians seriously
occupied his mind. Before the vision he was an idolator ;
and after the fatrah he possessed the acquaintance with the
Scriptural history, which we find in the Qoran. Even after
he had declared himself a prophet he shewed, during the
beginning of his career, a strong leaning towards, and a sin
cere belief in, the Scriptures and Biblical legends ; but in
proportion to his success he separated himself from the Bible.
This is the second phase in the progress of the prophet's
mind. His belief in the Scriptures does not imply that he
ever belonged to the Christian or J ewish church. He never
could reconcile his notions of God with the doctrine of the
Trinity, and with the divinity of Christ ; and he was disgust
ed with the monkish institutions and sectarian disputes of
the Christians. His creed was : " He is God alone, the eter
nal God ; he has not begotten, and is not begotten ; and
none is his equal." Nothing, however, can be more errone
ous than to suppose, that MoAammad was, at any period of
his early career, a deist. Faith, when once extinct, cannot
, J1-) " And after instructions coming to MoAammad, (i. e. after the words
ktVa ft"' Were revealed t0 him)> and after hia prophetic mission being esta-
unshed (by the fact of his having received one revelation), the instructions stop.
pea tor some time ; some say three years, others six months, and others two
years snd a half."— Mishkiit, II. p. 679.

MENTAL EXCITEMENT. 105
be revived; and it was his enthusiastic faith in inspira
tion that made him a prophet. Disappointed with the Jew
ish and Christian religions, he began to form a system
of faith of his own ; and this is the third phase of the
transition period. For some time, it seems, he had no
intention to preach it publicly;1 but circumstances, as
well as the warm conviction of the truth of his creed,
at length prevailed upon him to spread it beyond the cir
cle of his family aud friends.
The mental excitement of the prophet was much increased.
during the fatrah; and like the ardent scholar, in one of
Schiller's poems, who dared to lift the veil of truth, he was
nearly annihilated by the light which broke in upon him.
He usually wandered about in the hills near Makkah, and
was so absent that on one occasion, his wife being afraid that
he was lost, sent men in search of him.* He suffered of hal
lucinations of his senses ; and, to finish his sufferings, he se
veral times contemplated suicide, by throwing himself down
from a precipice.' His friends were alarmed at his state of
mind. Some considered it as the eccentricities of a poetical
genius;'1 others thought that he was a Kahin, soothsay
er;* but the majority took a less charitable view, and declar
ed that he was insane ; and, as madness and melancholy are
ascribed to supernatural influence in the east, they said that
he was in the power of Satan and his agents, the jinn.6 They
(1.) God reprehends him in the Qoran, for unwillingness to preach what
had been revealed to him. In the traditions we are told, that be declared, that
if no one would believe him, he was sent for himself; and Waqidy informs us,
that for the first three years he preached secretly. (2.) Ibn IsAaq, p. 61.
(3.) "MoAammad was sorrowful at the suspension of the instructions, so
much so that he wished to throw himself from the top of a hill, and destroy him
self." — Tradition of 'Ayishah, Mishkdt, II. p. 679. It is asserted by Waqidy,
that several times an invisible power kept him back from destroying himself.
(4.) " These are the words of an apostle, and not of a poet or kahin. They
are' a revelation." — Qoran 69, 41 ; 21, 5; and passim.
(5.) Qordn, 69, 40; 21, 5, ani passim. " Thou art, by the grace of God,
not a kahin, soothsayer nor majnun." — Qordn, 52, 29. See also 69, 42.
(6.) This is the accusation against which MoAammad defended himself more
N

106 DOUBTS OF HIS SANITY.
called in exorcists j1 and he himself doubted the soundness of
his mind. " I hear a sound," he said to his wife, " and see a
light. I am afraid there are jinn in me."*1 And on other
occasions he said, " I am afraid I am a kahin.'" " God will
never allow that such should befall thee'," said Khadyjah;
" for thou keepest thy engagements, and assistest thy rela
tions."4 According to some accounts she added, " Thou wilt
be the prophet of thy nation." And, in order to remove
every doubt, she took him to her cousin Waraqah ;5 and he
said to her, "I see thou (i. e. thy explanation) art correct;
the cause of the excitement of thy husband is the coming to
him of the great nemos, law, which is Hke the nomos of Mo
ses." If I should be alive when he receives his mission, I
frequently than against any other. " Thou art, by the grace of God, not
majnun." — Qordn 68, 2. This verse was revealed during the fatrah, whilst
Khadyjah was gone to the monk 'Addas. Majnun means both mad, and pos
sessed by jinn. " They say, He is certainly majnun." — Qordn, 68, 51. See
also 81, 22 ; 15, 6 ; 26, 26 ; 44; 13 ; 51, 39 ; 37, 35 ; and passim. There occur
other expressions in the Qoran, which have the same import as majmin ; as —
" There is none of the jinn in your countryman :" — 34, 45. " It is not the de
vils, who reveai the Qoran." — 26, 210. And, " They follow a man who is be
witched." — 17, 50. It is remarkable that MoAammad seldom or never alluded
to any of these ugly insinuations against the soundness of his mind, when he
was at Madynah, and firmly established.
(1.) The Qorayshites, according to Ibn IsAaq, said, " Thy doctrine comes
from a Raiyy, (i. e. an incubus, or one of the jinn >, who besets thee. W e have
repeatedly spent money, to find a remedy, which might cure thee." In the Mish-
kat, II. p. 687, it is said that Dimad, who understood to charm the mad, (i. e.
who was an exorcist), offered to cure MoAammad.
(2.) Hammad b. Salamah in Wadidy.
(3.) In a tradition of Ibn 'Abbas the prophet said, " O Khadyjah, by God, I
dislike nothing more than these idols and the kahins ; yet I am afraid I am a
lahin myself." In a tradition of 'Orwah he in like manner says, " I fear I am
a kahin." And in the well known tradition of 'Ayishah, which is in Bo
khary and Moslim, he says, " I fear for myself."
(4.) Waqidy ; and in a somewhat different form in the Taysyr. Mo-
Aammad repeats this assurance of Khadyjah in the Qoran, 26, 21 and 222—
" Shall I declare unto you upon whom the devils descend ? They descend upon
every lying and wicked person."
(5.) That it was on this occasion, during the fatrah, that Khadyjah took Mo
Aammad to Waraqah, and not immediately after the revelation in which he was
ordered to read, appears from two traditions in Waqidy. According to some
authorities, Bhe went alone to Waraqah ; and according to one, she sent Abii
Bakr. (6.) Nomos has the same meaning in Arabic as in Greek, i. e. the Law ; and
whenever it occurs in the traditions it gives a good sense only if taken in this

KiHINS. 107
would assist him ; for I believe in him." After this Khady
jah went to the monk 'Addas, and he confirmed what Wara
qah had said.1 Waraqah died soon after, before MoAammad
entered on his mission.
The words of MoAammad, " I am afraid I am a kahin," re
quire some explanation. The Arabs, previous to the promul
gation of Islam, believed in kahius, soothsayers ; aud even in
our days they have greater faith in saints and inspired per
sons than other equally uncivilized nations. Such a belief is
so necessary a limitation of the personal freedom of the Be
douins, which knows no other bounds, that I consider it as
the offspring of liberty. Even the most refractory spirit sees
no humiliation in confessing his wrong-doings to a helpless
seer, and in submitting to his decisions ; and by doing so, if
he has embroiled himself, he can return to peace with himself
and with society. We find, therefore, in the ancient history
of Arabia, that litigations were frequently referred to cele
brated kahins. These, it would appear, were excentric per
sons, of great cunning, and not without genius. The speci-
manner ; yet, as later authors pervert every thing, they say it means the angel
Gabriel. Compare Reiske to Abulfida, Adler's Edit. I. p. 28, and Nawawy
Comm. on Moslim.
(1.) " When Khadyjah had seen Waraqah, she went to 'Addas, who was a
christian monk, and was very learned. He was an old man, and his eyelids hung
down over his eyes. She asked him the same question, and he gave her the same
answer, as Waraqah ; but he added : — It sometimes happens that the devil as
sumes the shape of an angel. Take this book to thy husband : and if he is pos
sessed by jinn, or by Satan, he (MoAammad) will flee from it ; but if God is
with him, it will do him no harm. When Khadyjah came home, she found Mo
Aammad sitting ; and the angel Gabriel revealed to him this verse of the Qoran,
68, 1 and 2, ' Nun, by the pen, and by what they write with it, thou art, by the
grace of God, not possessed by jinn. Verily there is prepared for thee an ever
lasting reward ; for thou art of a noble disposition.' Upon this 'Addas came to
see him." — Kaydt alqolub, and Ma'drij alnabuioat. The authority for this impor
tant tradition is, unfortunately, not mentioned. According to Ibn IsAaq, p. 137,
'Addas was a slave of the sons of Raby'ah ; and though residing at Makkah, he
had never heard of MoAammad's new creed. Accidentally he was sent by bis
masters to him, and heard him say, " In the name of God ;" and "I am the bro
ther of Jonas, for I am a prophet like him ;" and he at once embraced his reli
gion. Whenever Ibn IsAaq tells a story there is something to conceal. It ap
pears from the Rawdhat alahb. that Sergius (on whom see p. 79), had a son of
the name of 'Addas. Should these two men be identical ?

108 JINN AND K.AHINS.
mens, which we have, of their oracles, are obscure, and usu
ally in rhymed prose and incoherent sentences ; and they are
frequently preceded by a heavy oath to the truth of what
they say, hke some of the Surahs of the Qoran.1 It was be
lieved that they knew what was concealed from the eyes of
common mortals ; but they were looked upon with awe ; for
the Arabs conceived that they were possessed by, or allied
with, Satan and the jinn.*1 The evil spirits used to approach
the gates of heaven by stealth, to pry into the secrets, which
were being transacted between God and the angels, and to
convey them to the kahins. Existing prejudices left no al
ternative to MoAammad, but to proclaim himself a prophet,
who was inspired by God and his angels, or to be considered
a kahin, possessed by Satan and his agents, the jinn. Kha
dyjah and her friends advised him to adopt the former course;
and, after some hesitation, he followed their advice, as it
would appear, with his own conviction. His purer notions of
the Deity, his moral conduct, his predelection for rehgious
speculations, and his piety, were proofs sufficiently strong to
convince an affectionate wife, that the supernatural influence,
under which he was, came from heaven. But, as the pagan
Arabs had very imperfect notions of divine inspiration, it was
necessary for him to prove to them, by the history of the
prophets, that some seers were inspired by God ; and to this
end, he devoted more than two-thirds of the Qoran to Bib
lical legends, most of which he has so well adapted to his own
case, that if we substitute the name of MoAammad for Moses
and Abraham, we have his own views, fate and, tendency.
And, in order to remove every doubt as to the cause of his
excitement, MoAammad subsequently maintained, that since
he had assumed his office heaven was surrounded by a strong
guard of angels ; and if the jinn venture to ascend to its pre-
(1.) The 85th, 86th, 89th Surahs, and many others.
(2.) Mas'udy, cap. 52 ; Qordn, 72, 8 ; 6, 121 and 112, &c.

HE SUPPOSES HE SEES GABRIEL. 109
cincts, a flaming dart, that is to say, a shooting star, is thrown
at them, and they are precipitated to the lower regions;1 and,
therefore, the kahins ceased with the commencement of his
mission. The declaration of Waraqah, and of the monk 'Addas,
that the great nomos would descend upon him, and the faith
of his wife, neither conveyed full conviction, nor gave they
sufficient courage, to MoAammad, to declare himself publicly
the Messenger of God ; on the contrary, they increased the
morbid state of his mind. A fatalist, as he was, it was a
hallucination and a fit, which decided him to follow their ad
vice. One day, whilst he was wandering about in the hills
near Makkah, with the intention to destroy himself, he heard
a voice ; and, on raising his head, he beheld Gabriel between
heaven and earth ; and the angel assured him that he was the
prophet of God.*1 This hallucination is one of the few clearly
stated miracles to which he appeals in the Qoran.' Not even
an allusion is made, in that book, to his fits, during which his
followers believe that he received the revelations. This bears
out the account of Waqidy, which I have followed in the pre
ceding pages, and proves that it was rather the exalted state
(1.) Surah 72, and 67, 5.
(2.) " After the prophet had received the revelation on mount .ffara, in which
he was ordered to read, he did not see Gabriel for a loDg while ; and he became
very melancholy, so much so, that he went sometimes on mount Tbabyr, and
sometimes on mount ffara, with the intention of throwing himself down from it.
One day, when the prophet was walking, in this state, to one of these hills, he
heard a voice from heaven, and he stood like one petrified ; then he raised his
head, and saw Gabriel sitting with crossed legs between heaven and earth ; who
said, ' O MoAammad, thou art in reality the prophet of God, and I am Gabriel.'
MoAammad returned. God had cheered him, and strengthened his heart. After
this one revelation followed another." — A tradition of Ibn 'Abbas in Waqidy.
(3.) After a heavy oath God says, in Surah 81, 19—26, " This is the doc.
trine of an honorable prophet, who has power and influence with the Lord of the
throne; he is obeyed and trusty : your countryman is not majnun, (i. e. ir spired
by jinn, or-mad) ; for he has seen him, (the angel, who inspires him), in the open
horizon, (that'is to say, above the horizon, where we see the sun about half an
hour after his rising, and therefore at a very great distance) ; nor does he
grapple (like a kahin) with the secrets of heaven ; nor does he preach the doc
trine of a cursed devil." He repudiates all imput-itions, and declares himself a
prophet, on the strength of this apparition.

110 CHRONOLOGICAL NOTE.
of his mind, than his fits, which caused his friends to believe
in his mission. Frightened by this apparition, he returned
home ; and feeling unwell he called for covering. He had a
fit, aud they poured cold water upon him ;J and when he was
recovering from it he received the revelation, " O thou cover
ed, arise and preach, and magnify thy Lord, and cleanse thy
garment, and fly every abomination;"'1 and henceforth, we
(1.) Bokhary on the 74th Surah.
(2.) This is the fittest place farther to illustrate the chronology of the transi
tion period of the prophet, and to shew the cause of some errors into which all
European and most Arabic historians have fallen. For an outline of the supposed
chronology I refer to page 103, note. According to Bokhary's version of the
tradition of 'Ayishah, on the beginning of the revelation, which has served to most
biographers as a guide, MoAammad went, after the vision, in which he was ordered
to read, to Khadyjah, had the fit, and received the revelation " O thou covered ;"
and then the fatrah took place. But according to a tradition of Jabir, which is
equally recorded by Bokha'y, and rests on stronger authority than Bokhary's ver
sion of 'Ayishah's tradition, and according to some other traditions, and accord
ing to the opinion of Nawawy apud Mawdhib alladonnyyah, the fit, and the re
velation " O thou covered," happened after the fatrah. The words of Jabir
run, " The prophet heard once the fatrah mentioned in conversation, and he
said, Whilst I was walking I heard a voice from heaven ; and I raised my
eyes, and there was the angel who had appeared to me on mount ffara, sitting
on a throne between heaven and earth ; and I was very much frightened, and
threw myself on tbe ground ; and when I came to my family I said, Wrap me
up ; and then I received the revelation, O thou covered, (and this ended the fat
rah.)" Waqidy's version of the tradition of 'Ayishah agrees literally with that
of Bokhary in the narrative of tbe vision, but it stops there ; for Khadyjah's
visit to Waraqah, and the following details, he gives separate traditions, and he
places these events at different times. It would therefore appear that Bokhary
put three different accounts into the tradition of 'Ayishah. Some consider the
revelation " O thou covered" as the first ; because after it MoAammad virtually en
tered upon his mission. YaAya b. Kathyr said, I asked Abu Salamah b. 'Abd
al-RaAman, what verse of the Qoran was first revealed .' and he answered,
" O thou covered." I said, But they maintain that the first verse was
" Read in the name of thy Lord ;" and Abu Salamah answered, I asked
Jabir on this point, and I made the same observation which thou makest,
and Jabir answered, I tell you only what the prophet told me. The pro
phet said, I staid on mount ffara one month ; and when my stay was over
I descended, and (on my way) I heard a voice calling me. I looked to
my right, and saw nothing ; and I looked to my left, and saw nothing ; and I
looked behind me, and saw nothing. Then I raised my head, and I saw some
thing. I went to Khadyjah and said, Cover me ; and they poured cold water
over me; and then I received the revelation, "O thou covered I" — (Mish
kdt, Eng. transi. II. p. 682.) Those who adopt this opinion vitually deny the
fatrah. It is clear we must make a distinction between his first revelation and
his assumption of the prophetic office, and this distinction has been neglected by
them. Assuming that the fatrah lasted two years, the dispute as to which
verse of the Qoran was firs*, revealed may clear up the discrepancy on the age at
which MoAammad died. (See page 75, note.) All authors say that he was
forty years of age when he had the vision in which he was ordered to read,

RESEMBLANCE OP ENTHUSIASTS. Ill
are told, he received revelations without intermission ; that is
to say, the fatrah was at an end, and he assumed his office.
This crisis of MoAammad's struggles bears a strange re
semblance to the opening scene of Goethe's Faust. The poet
paints, in that admirable drama, the struggles of mind, which
attend the transition, in men of genius, from the ideal to the
real — from youth to manhood. Both in MoAammad and in
Faust the anguish of the mind, distracted by doubts, is dis
pelled by the song of angels, which rises from their own bosoms,
and is the voice of the consciousness of their sincerity and
warmth in seeking for truth ; and in both, after this crisis, the
enthusiasm ebbs gradually down to calm design, and they now
blasphemously sacrifice their faith and God to self-aggrandize
ment. In this respect the resemblance of the second part of
Faust to MoAammad's career at Madynah is complete. As the
period of transition in the life of the prophet has hitherto
been completely unknown in Europe, Goethe's general picture
of this period, in the life of enthusiasts, is like a prediction
in reference to the individual case of MoAammad.
Some authors consider the fits of the prophet as the princi
pal evidence of his mission ;"* and it is therefore necessary to
say a few words on them. They were preceded by great depres
sion of spirits ; he was despondent, and his face was clouded ;*
and that he lived ten years at Madynah ; but some say he remained thirteen
years at Makkah after the first revelation, and others say fiftt en. The former
seem to take " O thou covered" for the first revelation, and the latter " Read in
the name of thy Lord." If this conjecture is well founded, MoAammad attained
an age of sixty five years.
(1.) Ibn Khaldim says, in his Introduction to History, in the 6th moqadda-
mah, " The sign that a man is inspired is, that he is at times completely absent,
though in the society of others. His respiration is stertorous, and he seems to
be in a cataleptic fit, or in a swoon. This, however, is merely apparent ; for in
reality such an exstasis is an absorption into the invisible world ; and he has
within his grasp what he alone is able to conceive, which is above the conception
of others. Subsequently these spiritual visions descend, and become perceptible
to tbe faculties of man. They are either whispered to him in a low tone, or an
angel appears to him in human shape, and tells him what, he brings from God.
Then the exstasis ceases, and the prophet remembers what he has heard.
(2.) Obadah b. al-Cimit in Waqidy, and in the Mishkdt, II. 680. His words
are : Idza nazala 'alayhi-lwaAyo, karaba laho, wa tarabbada wajhoho.

112 MOHAMMAD'S FITS.
and they were ushered in by coldness of the extremities
and shivering. He shook, as if he were suffering of ague,"
and called out for covering.*1 His mind was in a most pain
fully excited state. He heard a tinkling in his ears, as if
bells were ringing;3 or a humming, as if bees were swarming
round his head;4 and his lips quivered; but this motion was
under the control of volition. If the attack proceeded be
yond this stage, his eyes became fixed aud staring, and the
motions of his head became convulsive aud automatic.' At
length prespiration broke out, which covered his face in large
drops ; and with this ended the attack." Sometimes, how
ever, if he had a violent fit, he fell comatose to the ground,
like a person who is intoxicated ;7 and, (at least at a latter
period of his life), his face Avas flushed, and his respiration
stertorous,8 and he remained in that state for some time.
(1.) Tabarany relates that Zayd b. Thabit said, " I was in the habit of wri
ting down the revelations for the prophet ; and when he received it a violent
ague seized him, and he perspired very much. The drops of perspiration were
as large as pearls: — akhadzat-ho boraAaon shadydaton, wa 'ariqa 'araqan shady-
dad mithl aljoman." — Mawdhib allad.
(2.) " I (MoAammad) went to Khadyjah, and said, from fear, Wrap me up ;
and they wrapped me up, and poured cold water over me.'' — A tradition of Jabir
in Bokhary, aud in the Mishkdt, II. 0S3.
(3.) A tradition of 'Ayishah in Bokhary and in Waqidy.
(4.) A tradition of 'Omar in the Taysyr, p. 461.
(5.) 'Othman b. Matz'tin, (who was one of the most intimate friends of Mo
Aammad), was one day sitting with him. Whilst they were engaged in conver
sation, on a sudden he observed that the eyes of the prophet were for some time
fixed towards heaven, and then to the right side. During this time his head was
moving as if he were conversing. Then, after some time, he looked again to
wards heaven, and then to the left, and then to 'Othman, who observed that his
face was covered with perspiration. When he asked him ti e cause, he said, A
verse of the Qoran (16, 92) has been revealed to me, viz . — " Verily God com-
mandeth justice, and the doing of good, and the giving unto kindred what shall
be necessary ; and he forbiddeth wickedness and iniquity and oppression ; he ad-
monisheth you, that you may remember." — Ibn Tawas, from Imam Baqir, in
the Haydt alqolub and Rawdhat al^afd
(6.) " 'Ayishah said, I saw him, when the revelation descended upon him on
a very cold day. Then the inspiration left him, and his forehead was covered
with perspiration." — Bokhary.
(7.) 'Ikrimah in Waqidy: — Kana, idza lihiya ibi rasiilillah calla-llaho 'alayhi
wa sallama, woqidza lidzalika sa'atan kahiyati-lsakran.
(8.) " Ya'la b. Omayyah used to say, I wish I could see the prophet when he
receives the revelation. One day the prophet was at al-Ji'ranah, and his gar
ment was spread over him in such a manner as to afford shadow, and many peo-

Mohammad's tits. 113
The bystanders sprinkled water in his face ; but he himself
fancied that he would derive a great benefit from being
cupped on the head.1
This is all the information which I have beeu able to col
lect concerning the fits of MoAamniad. It will be observed,
that we have no distinct account of a paroxysm, between the
one which he had in his infancy, and the one after which he
assumed his office. It is likely that up to his forty-fourth
year they were not habitual. The alarm of the nurse, under
whose care he had been two years before he had the former
of these two fits, shews that it was the first ; aud the age
aud circumstances, under which he had it, render it likely
that it was solitary, and caused by the heat of the sun and
gastric irritation. The fit, after which he assumed his office,
was undoubtedly brought on by long continued and increasing
mental excitement, and by his ascetic exercises. We know
that he used frequently to fast, and that he sometimes devo
ted the greater part of the night to prayers. The bias of the
Musalmans is, to gloss over the aberration of mind, and the
intention to commit suicide, of their prophet. Most of his
biographers pass over the transition period in silence. We
pie were with him. Then came a man, who was profusely perfumed ; and he
said, What dost thou think of a man, who performs the pilgrimage in a quilted
jacket (jobbah) and anointed with perfume ? The prophet looked for some
time, and then came a revelation to him, and 'Omar made a sign to Ya'la to
come ; and Ya'la. came and put his head (under the garmenf, under which Mo
Aammad lay) ; and he saw that his face was red, and he snored in this manner
for some time ; then the attack left him. Then he said, Where is the man who
asked me. just now, respecting the pilgrimage ? and when he was brought to him
he said. Wash off the perfume which is on thee three times, and take off thy
quilted jacket, and then perform the pilgrimage." — Trad, of Cafwan, a son of .
Ya'la, apud Bokhary. This is one of the most authentic traditions on the epi
leptic attacks of Moftjmmad. The words, in which the attack is described in the
original, are : faidza ho.va moAamarro-lwajhi yaghWo kadzalika sa'atara thomma
sorriya 'anho. This happened in the eighth year after the Hijrah, during the ex
pedition to Tiiyif. Al-Ji'ranah, or al-Ji'irranah, is between Makkah and Tayif.
Soiriya 'anho, '• the attack left him," means, literally, he was uncovered ; and,
therefore, ihe opposite of jonna 'anho, which means, literally, he was covered.
The latter term was applied to MoAammad by the unbelievers, in the sense, He
is possessed by evil spirits, or he is subject to fits, or he is mad.
(1.) Waqidy, folio 86. They used horns for cupping.

114 A MOHAMMADAN VIEW
may, therefore, be justified in stretching the scanty informa
tion, which we can glean from them, to the utmost extent ;
and in supposing that he was for some time a complete maniac ;
and that the fit, after which he assumed his office, was a
paroxysm of cataleptic insanity. This disease is sometimes
accompanied by such interesting psychical phcenomeua, that
even in modern times it has given rise to many superstitious
opinions. After this paroxysm the fits became habitual,
though the moral excitement cooled down, and they assumed
more and more an epileptic character.
Before closing this chapter, I will mention the view, which
some Musalman philosophers take, of revelation. I quote
the words of Ghazzaly,1 the Plato of the Musalmans ; because
he was orthodox, and his opmions are those of all philosophi
cal 9ufy writers. " Man, in his foetal state, is a raw mass,
and has no perception of things around him. Yet the worlds
of God are innumerable; or, as it is said in the Qoran,
'None knows the signs of God but he himself.' He becomes
aware of things by the means of the senses and other facul
ties ; every sense opens to him a new world of beings. The
first sense developed in man is that of feeling : he perceives
through it various things, such as heat and cold, wet and dry
ness, softness and hardness, &c. ; but he cannot perceive,
through it, colour nor sound ; and they do not exist for him.
After this the sight, the most far reaching of all the senses,
through which he perceives colour, — and then the sense of
hearing, through which sounds and melodies come to his
.knowledge, — are developed; and they open to him new
worlds. And last of all comes the sense of taste. But the
perception does not stop here. About the seventh year of
his age the faculty of discrimination shews itself. This is a
new phase in his life. He now perceives things which he
(1.) Risdtah Monqidz.

OF REVELATION. 115
could not perceive by his senses. And after this he rises still
higher — the reasoning power is developed, by which he ob
tains a notion of things whose existence is necessary, of
things whose existence is contingent, and of things whose ex
istence is impossible; and of other things, of which he had
no perception in any of the preceding phases. But there is
a phase in man's life, which is even higher than that of rea
son : an eye opens in his mind, by which he sees mysteries,
the future, and other things, which are not within the reach
of our reasoning powers, in the same manner as the notions
acquired by reason are not within the grasp of the senses.
This higher faculty is called nabuwat, prophecy.1 Some men
of reasoning deny the existence of this higher faculty, and of
its ideals, because they are not endowed with it ; but their
objections are as absurd as if a man born blind were to deny
the existence of colour, and of the sense of seeing. A speci
men of the faculty of prophecy in man are dreams, in which
what will happen shews itself to him, either clearly, or alle-
gorically. In the latter case an explanation of the dream is
required. This ought to convince those who deny it, of the
existence of this faculty. We are also told, that some men
drop to the ground in a swoon, and they are like dead — the
seeing, hearing and other senses are sealed, and in this con
dition they behold the mysteries." Lower down Ghazzaly
says, many discoveries, in medicine and astronomy, cannot
be the result observation ; for it would require a thousand
years to deduce them from experience ; and that they must

(1.) Jonayd, the greatest, ani one of the earliest of the 9'ifies, (he died in A.
H. 297), in the same sense says : " Alma'rifat ma'rifatan : ma'rifat ta'arrofire
wa ma'rifat ta'ryfira" — gnosis is of two kinds: the gnosis of instinct, and the
gnosis of demonstration. That is to say, we may arrive at the knowledge of the
existence and nature of God either by intuition ; or by the contemplation of his
works, and by reasoning. The 9unes consider the latter as most unsatisfactory,
and condemn reasoning. This aphorism of Jonayd is very frequently used by the
Mystics, and is alluded to in ffajy Khalyfah, voce ta'arrof ; but the allusion has
not been understood by the translator.

116 A MOHAMMABAN VIEW
be ascribed to the prophetic faculty, by which he means ge
nius; but, like all idealistic philosophers, he assigns to it an un
limited sphere, and believes in intuitive knowledge. Accord
ing to this theory, MoAammad was endowed by Providence, for
a special object, with a more elevated genius than any other
man: and the revelations were sparks of his genius. All yiifies
aspire to prophecy, in the sense in which Ghazzaly takes the
word; that is to say, to intuitive knowledge of truth; but in a
lower degree than MoAammad possessed it. Their discipline is
calculated to induce a wild exaltation of the mind, which they
consider as the symptom of inspiration. The sincere (^ufies
live in solitude, fast, pray and incessantly meditate on the
nature of God and eternity. At the same time they give
themselves up to debilitating vices, and to the use of destruc
tive stimulants, particularly opium. At times they meet in
the wildest revels; they listen to singing, dance, and use
every means to work themselves into fits of frenzy, which
they call exstases. In this manner they ruin the health of
mind and body, and induce a sickly exaltation of mind.
Some of them even succeed in bringing on cataleptic insani
ty, which is the highest degree of perfection in ascetic life.
Some philosophers go one step farther than Ghazzaly, in
explaining revelation. They identify the angel Gabriel, the
messenger of God to MoAammad, with the highest heavenly
sphere, or the ether, which, in their opinion, is an ocean of
pure reason, and the demiurg from which the lower spheres
of the heaven, (each of which is an ocean of truth and in
tellect), and all other created beings emanate.1 By mortify-
(1.) The dialectic philosophers differ slightly from the pantheists on this point.
The theory of the former is more complicated, but not more sound. As it is
little known, 1 quote the words of Abhary, whose Isagoge is the principal school
book on philosophy in all MoAammadan countries. He entitles one chapter,
" On the Angels ; that is to say, the Pure Logoi, Reasons — fy-lmalayikah wa
hiya-l'oqul almojarrad ;" and says in it — "It has been proved above, that the
Being, whose existence is a postulate, is one. Its first creation is the pure logos,
('aql, i. e. reason) ; and the heavenly spheres are the creations of the logoi. But
in the heavens is plurality ; and they must, therefore, arise from many origins ;

OF REVELATION. 117
ing or subduing the flesh, the mind of man may succeed,
during exstatic moments, in stepping out of the bounds of
individuality, and being merged in these oceans of intellect.
The less perfect are merged in the lower spheres, and the
more perfect in the higher. MoAammad had not only con
stant communications from Gabriel, the personification of the
highest sphere, but in two tranees he was absorbed into the
Divinity itself. According to this opinion, the Qoran is a
translation of the highest demiurg"1 from reality into words.
There has probably never been a Musalman philosopher,
who disbelieved the miracles related of the prophet or of the
saints. From the heavenly spheres emanate the souls of the
for it has been proved, that from the one only the one can come. Now the
logos, from which that heavenly sphere proceeds, which surrounds the uni
verse, is a plurality ; not because it emanates from the self-existing God,
but because its nature ( has two sides, whereas the unit is like a dot ) :
in reference to itself its existence is only possible, and in reference to its
causation its existence is a postulate ; that is to say, in reference to the
universe its existence is necessary, and in reference to itself its existence
is a mere contingency. By one of these two relations the logos becomes
the cause of the second logos, and by the other it becomes the cause of
the universal sphere. It stands to reason, that the higher creation emanates
from the higher bearing of the first logos ; and therefore the second logos
must emanate from the first logos, in consequence of the existence of the first
logos being a necessity ; and the universal sphere must emanate from it, in
consequence of its existence being merely a contingency. In this manner
emanates from every logos another logos, and a heavenly sphere, down to
the ninth logos, from which the sphere of the moon and the tenth logos
emanate. There are ten spheres of the heavens : seven correspond to the
seven planets, and two are above them, and one below them. The tenth
logos is the productive, or diversifying source of emanation ; it rules the sub
lunary regions ; and is also called the operative logos, and the molecules of
the elements emanate from it, and also the shapes of the species." — Compare
Avicenna's Nijdh, printed at Rome, with the Arabic edition of the Canon, in
1593, pp. 75 et seq.
(2.) The first demiurg is also identified with the tablet of fate, mentioned in
the Qoran. MoAy al-Dyn 'Araby wrote a monography on this subject. Faust,
in Goethe, conjures equally the Macrocosmos, who, like Gabriel, is a demiurg ;
as appears from his own words : —
" So schafF ich am sausenden Webstuhl der Zeit,
Und wirke der Gottheit lebendiges Kleid."
But Faust had not advanced so far as MoAammad, and he is unable to compre
hend him. The Macrocosmos, therefore, reproves him for the presumption of
having called him, and tells him to invoke a lower spirit. After that Mephis-
topheles volunteers his services ; they are accepted ; and henceforth he is the
Mentor of Faust, as Gabriel is of MoAammad. How strangely, sometimes, fic
tions resemble each other !

118 ORIGIN OF THE BELIEF IN THE
earth;1 aud men, who are in communication with them, not
only know their intention, i. e. the future, beforehand ; but
they can influence them in their actions. The theories of
MoAammadan mystics are fantastic enough to explain any
thing marvellous : their difficulties begin when they come to
facts. Why should the prophet, whose whole life they consi
der as an uninterrupted series of miracles, have met any
hardship or difficulty? Why should not the world have been
converted, in an instant, by a miracle ? Jamaly, a mystical
poet, and author of a biography of MoAammad in Persian
verse, gets over this difficulty by representing his life as an
allegory. It was a play, enacted in reality, and expressive of
the nature of God and the laws of the universe.

SECOND CHAPTER.

Origin of the belief in the supernatural powers of Mohammad ;
t he three miracles mentioned in the Qordn ; how they were
subsequently enlarged; the mi'raj, or transfiguration; tri
fling events turned into miracles by Mohammad himself;
legendary history of the first forty years of his life; Sergius,
Nestor, the Jews and astrologers recognize in him the pro
phet ; peculiarities in his appearance betokening his voca
tion ; the manner in which he received the revelations.
Nothing could be more remote from the ideas which the
Makkians entertained of a Messenger of God, than that he
should stand in need of nourishment, and walk in the streets,
(1.) One stage in the manifestation of God, and consequently, according to
some, one heavenly sphere, is therefore called 'dlam almithdl; which means,
the world in which things exist as living ideas, but not yet united with
matter.

SUPERNATURAL TOWERS OF MOHAMMAD.

119

like other men.1 In addition to the strongest proof of his
mission, they required of him some amusement, and subs
tantial advantages, in return for their faith. They expected
nothing less than that he should cause a spring of water to
gush forth for them out of the earth ; that he should produce
gardens of palm trees and vines ; and cause rivers to spring
forth from the midst thereof in abundance ; or that he
should command heaven to fall down upon them in pieces;
or that God and his angels should descend to vouch for him;
or that he should have a house of gold ; or ascend by a lad
der to heaven, and bring back with him a book containing
the revelations.*1 The prophet answered, that he was a man
like others ; that all former prophets had been men walking
in the streets and eating food ; that he neither expected a
reward, or any other personal advantages, for his preaching ;
that God had ordered him to admonish them ; and that, if
they would not listen, they would see the miracles of the
Lord, who speaks in thunder and lightning ; and those mira
cles would be their destruction.3 When they would see the
punishment approaching, they would believe, and they would
pray to God for another trial ; but it would not be granted ;
for it would be of no use — as soon as the fright was over,
they would return to their former life. He asks them, whe
ther their caravans had never passed the Dead Sea? and
whether they had not seen the destroyed cities of former na
tions ? They were standing miracles. The inhabitants of
those cities were more powerful and wealthier than the Mak
kians; God sent prophets to them, who, like MoAammad,
were merely men. The unbelievers accused them of impos
ture, and asked for other signs than those, which they
wrought ; and the sign which God did grant to them was

(1.) Qordn, 25, 8.
(2.) Qoran, 17, 92 to 95.
(3.) Qoran 6, 5 and passim.

120 belief of Mohammad's friends.
their destruction. This answer to the request of the people,
to authenticate his mission by miracles, is repeated, more or
less explicitly, in most of the early Surahs of the Qoran.
The Qorayshites asked him when their punishment would
come ? and he evaded their question by saying that " the hour"
is one of the five things, which God alone knows.1
The friends of MoAammad, and those who went with the
spirit of the times, were enchanted by the spell of his genius
and the warmth of his enthusiasm. The flowing language in
which he condemned idolatry, and preached the one God,
conveyed conviction, not only that his doctrine was true, but
that the man who preached it was the Messenger of God.
They believed that at times, particularly during his paroxysms,
the Spirit descended upon him; and they did not doubt
that the angel Gabriel had visibly appeared to him ; and in
this manner a belief grew up in his miraculous powers during
his life time. He fostered it with great caution, and took
(1.) In this argumentation there was less design than might appear. MoAam
mad himself, having an extremely melancholy temperament, was firmly persuaded
that the end of the world was close at hand. Even at Madynah he was not free
from this fear. " The prophet said, I have been sent at the breathing (beginn ng)
of the hour ("or resurrection) ; and I precede it, as this precedes this. In saying
so he pointed to his fors finger and middle finger." — A trad, of al-Mostawrid b.
Shaddad in Tirmidzy. The latter part of the tradition is also in Bokhary and
Moslim, on the authority of Anas. — " Some Bedouins came to the prophet and
asked him, when the hour would come ? He looked at the youngest of them and
said, This man, if he live, will not attain his decrepid age before your hour comes
upon you." — A trad, of 'Ayishah in Bokhary and Moslim.
Towards the end of bis life be found a Jewish boy, of the name of Ibn 9ayyad,
at Madynah, of whom he declared that he was the Antichrist. This boy was
blind of one eye and had long teeth; and it is said of him, as it is said of Mo
Aammad, that though his eye might be asleep, his heart was awake ; and he said
of himself that be saw the throne of God (in a vision) swimming on water ; and
that he saw paradise, the earth of which was as white as flour twice sifted, and
the smell of which was as sweet as musk. The Jews seem to have considered
him as a prophet ; and it was very likely this vision of Ibn 9ayyad, which in
duced MoAammad to cram his followers witb the story of his ascent to heaven.
Ibn 9»yyad also asserted, that two spirits used to come to him, one of whom told
him truth, and the other falsehood. MoAammad, with a view of trying him, said
he had received a revelation, and made him guess the contents. Ibn 9ayyad said,
In it mention is made of dokh, dokh. It was indeed the verse of the Qoran, 44,
9, in which the word dokhan, smoke, occurs. Being in a trance he was not able
clearly to pronounce the word dokhan.— Mishkdt, II. p. 375, et seq.

MIRACLES. 121
care not to abuse it ; at least during his early career. After
his death this legendary history was expanded into a system
of symbolics, which is highly poetical, and has much
meaning. Its details are so extensive, that to enter into
them would be tedious. I therefore content myself with lay
ing bare its nucleus ; with shewing, by an example, the way
and spirit in which it was first developed ; and with relating
some of the best known legends.
He appeals in the Qoran to three or four miracles.1 The
first has been related in the preceding chapter, p. 109. The
account of the second is coupled with that of the first in the
following words : — " By the star when it passeth away, your
countryman does not err, nor is he led astray, in what he
preaches ; he has not his own way, but a revelation he does
say; a mighty one, of great sway,"1 personally appeared to
him iu open day, where there rises the sun's ray ; high in the
sky, he did fly ; then he drew nigh in his array, and only two
bows' distance from him he did stay, that the revelations,
which he had to say, he might to his servant convey. How
can MoAammad's heart a falsehood state ? Why do you with
him on his vision debate ? He saw him another time, in the
(1.) As the fourth miracle alluded to in the Qoran, most authors consider
the splitting of the moon. " ' he moon was split, at the time of the prophet,
into two parts ; one part was above (according to another version beyond) the
mountain, and the other this side ot it ; and the prophet said to the people, Be wit
nesses." — A tradition of Ibn Mas'iid. " The inhabitants of Makkah requested the
prophet to show them a sign, and he showed to them the moon split into two
parts ; and mount ffara was between them." — A tradition of Anas. These two
traditions are both in Bokhary and Moslim ; but Waqidy makes no mention of
this miracle. The words of the Qoian, which are supposed to allude to it, do
not, however much we may distort them, admit such a sense. It is said, in Su
rah 54, 1, " The hour of judgment) has approached, and the moon has been
split. Whenever they see a sign, they say, This is a well devised trick of slight
of hand. They have accused the prophets of falsehood, and follow their own
lust ; but every thing is fixed. A message had come to them, (before this sign
came to pass), to warn them," &c. He reminds the Makkians, in these words,
of the day of judgement. And all Mohammadans believe that on that day the
moon will be split.
(2.) Some Commentators consider these words as a paraphrase of the name of
Gabriel which means, The Powerful of God. P

122 THE VISION OF GABRIEL.
same state ; at the sidrah tree1 of the limit he did wait ;
there to the garden of repose is the gate ; and whilst the tree
was covered, with what at the top of it hovered, MoAammad
attentively looked, and his eyes from the sight did not de
viate ;* for he saw the greatest of the signs of his Lord.'"
These words seem to admit of only one meaning. He again
appeals to his interview with Gabriel, which he had mention
ed in a former Surah ;* and adds, that he had appeared to
him a second time. Though this explanation is confirmed by
good traditions,5 most Mussalmans maintain that it was God
who appeared to him. This they say is proved by the words
" that the revelations which he had to say, he might to his
servant convey ;" for it would amount to idolatry had Mo
Aammad called himself the servant of Gabriel. They also
say the words " he saw the greatest of the signs of his Lord,"
mean, that God appeared to him, over the sidrah tree of the
limit, face to face. All authorities agree, that during this ap-
(1.) Sidrah is a prickly plum tree, which is called Ber in India. It is the
zizyphus Jujuba of Lineus. It is very.frequent in India. The fruit, which
ripens in February, is eaten ; and a decoction of the leaves is used, by the Musal.
mans of all sects in this country, to wash the dead, probably on account of the sa-
credness of the tree. The decoction is also used externally in inflammatory fe
ver. Sprengel and Sontheimer suppose the sidrah to be the Zizyphus Lotus.
(2.) I suppose he means to siy he was not labouring under an optical error.
(3.) Qordn. 53.
(4.) Qordn, 81, 19 — 26. See for a translation p. 109, note 2.
(5.) " It is the angel Gabriel, with six hundred wings, who was two bows'
distance from the prophet." A tradition of Ibn Mas'ud in Bokhary and Tirmid
zy. In Moslim it runs, " He saw in this instance the angel Gabriel in his proper
shape." " Masruq said, I went to 'Ayishah and asked her whether MoAammad
had seen God ? end she replied, Thou hast said a blasphemy, at which my hair
stands. I -aid, Keep quiet; and I repeated to her the words, For he saw the
greatest of the signs of his Lord(i. e. God himself.) 'Ayishah replied, Gabriel is
here meant. V'ho has told thee that MoAammad saw his Lord, or that he con
cealed any order that he received from God, or that he knew the five things
which God alone knows, among which are the time of the day of judgement and
the time when it will rain ? MoAammad has seen Gabriel in his proper shape
only twice; once at the sidrah of the limit, and once in Ajvad (which is the name
of ahill below or South of Makkah). He has six hundred wings ; and on the latter
occasion he shut the horizon." — A tradition of Sha'by in Bokhary and Mosilm.
Taysyr, p 77.— See also Hottinger, Hist, orientalis, Zurch, 1660. Hottinger
quotes, in page 403, an interesting passage of Kisay bearing on the above verses
of the Qordn, and tbe substance of which is fully borne out by the Qoran, 7, 139.

THE ISRA. 123
parition he received the command to say prayers at stated times
every day ; but on the time when he saw it a great diversity of
opinions prevails : from the context, however, it is clear, that
it happened soon after the first, that is to say, soon after hia
mission.1 In all traditions, with the exception of one of 'Ay
ishah, it is stated, that the sidrah of the limit, the place where
the prophet had the apparition, is the seventh heaven ; and
this was probably MoAammad's tale at Madynah. As long,
however, as he was at Makkah, he seems to have allowed, that
it was near that city.*1 The following pages will explain what
gave rise to such a diversity of opinions on these verses of
the Qoran.
The third miraculous event alluded to in the Qoran is the
isra or nightly journey to Jerusalem, which he made about a
year before the Hijrah.3 "Glory to him, who carried his
servant, during the night, from the sacred place of worship of
Makkah, to the farther place of worship at Jerusalem, which
we have surrounded with our blessing, with a view to shew
(1.) This is also apparent from the order in which the Surahs of the Qoran
were revfaled, and confirmed by good authorities. The Surah, in which the first
time the first apparition of the angel is appealed to, is, according to the Fihrist
of Ibn Aby Ya'qub Nadym, the 7th in chronological order ; and that in which it
is coupled with the second apparition, is the 2-'d. It will been shewn in the-
following chapter that the latter Surah was revealed six or seven years before the
ffijrah. It appears from Ibn I«Aaq, that he received the command of
praying five times a day, which 1 take to be synonymous with the second appari
tion, before 'Alyy, the second convert, embraced his religion ; and it is stated
in the Ma'drij alnab. that some authors place it in the first year of his mission.
In a tradition of Shorayk, and in one of Kathyr b. Khonays, from Anas apud
Mawdhib allad. he had this apparition before he entered on his office, that is to
say, during the transition period. Tabary. in the Arabic text, says the first
command which MoAammad received after God had taught him His unity and
the vanity of idolatry, was the daily prayers ; and he relates the apparition of
Gabriel, in which he conveyed this command to the prophet, in the words of Ibn
IsAaq. Waqidy erroneously .places it on the 17th Ramadhan, eighteen months
before the flight ; and other authors identify it with the nightly journey to Jerusa
lem, and place it one year before the ffijrah.
(2.) Ibn IsAaq says that Gabriel appeared to MoAammad, in the neigh
bourhood of Makkah, to communicate to him the order of the daily prayers,
and to show him the ceremonies to be observed.
(3.) Waqidy says it took place on the 17th of Raby' I. a twelve-month before
theffijrah. The Siirah in which it is n entioned is the 47th in chronological
arder.

124 THE 1SRA.
him some of our miracles."1 It is stated in authentic tradi
tions, that he spent the night, on which he made this jour
ney, under the roof of Omm Hany ; and that, though she be
longed to the flock of the faithful, she declared that he had
never left the house; and advised him not to divulge the
miracle which she considered a dream, in order not to be ridi
culed. The angel Gabriel, however, commanded him to reveal
it, and he went to the Ka'bah and related it to the assembled
Qorayshites. Those who had seen Jerusalem asked him how
many gates the temple had, and other questions, with a view
of testing his veracity. He was able to answer their queries,
because the angel Gabriel held Jerusalem, whilst he was
speaking, before his eyes. All good traditions agree on the
latter part of the story, though they differ in all other details ;*
and therefore taking this miracle in connection with his
assertion, that the biblical history had been revealed to him,
I consider it as an unblushing forgery : he sold a description
of the temple of Jerusalem, which he may have obtained from
books, or oral information, to the best advantage ! The as
sertion, that he acted on his conviction in proclaiming him
self a prophet, will not be considered inconsistent with this
accusation by men who know human nature. Enthusiasm,
in its progress, remains as rarely free from fraud, as fire
from smoke ; and men, with the most sincere conviction of
(1.) Qordn. 17, 1.
(2.) " I heard the prophet saying, When the Qorayshites sccused me of impos
ture, I was in the ffijr near the Ka'bah, and God showed to me Jerusalem. I
was thus enabled to tell them its signs (or to give them a description of Jerusa
lem) ; for I was looking at it." A tradition of Jabir in Bokhary, in Moslim,
and in Tirmidzy, confirmed by a tradition of Abii Horayrah in Moslim and in
Bokhary, and a tradition of Omm Hany in * aqidy. In the latter tradition it is
stated, that Gabriel held Jerusalem before him, because he had forgotten what he
had seen when he was there. The Musalmans early saw that his being able to
describe Jerusalem was not a sufficient proof of his nightly journey ; and they
added, that he gave also an account of Makkian caravans, whom he saw on the
road ; and on tbe arrival of the caravans at Makkah it turned out correct. There
is, neither in the Mishkat nor in the Taysyr, a tradition for this addition to the
story ; but it U mentioned by Ibn IsAaq, and alluded to by Waqidy.

THE I RA 125
the sacredness of their cause, are most prone to commit pious
frauds. It is said that some of his followers could not believe
this miracle, and left him ; but it made a very strong impres
sion upon those who remained stanch— it being the only one
in proof of which he could adduce some evidence. They ask
ed him respecting the manner iu which he made his journey,
and for a description of the prophets who, he said, had been
awaiting his arrival in the temple of Jerusalem ; for an ac
count of the conversation, which he held with them ; and a
thousand other questions ; and in measure as their faith and
number increased, he enlarged his narrative. As long as he
remained at Makkah a journey to Jerusalem and back
again, performed in one night, might be miraculous enough
to convince caravan merchants, whose occupation it was to
toil through the desert, longing to attain the end of their
journey, of his divine mission; but it was different at Mady
nah. The Jews of that city professed to acknowledge that
he was the prophet of and for the gentiles, but not for the
Jews or Christians ;' and in opposition to him they related
the history of their prophets, adding endless rabbinical le
gends ; a boy among them went so far as to pretend, that he
saw the throne of God and the gardens of paradise, and that
he was himself a prophet. MoAammad had allowed at Makkah,
(Qoran, 7. 141), that Moses had been raised by God above
all other men, by having, on mount Sinai, been called into
his presence. His followers would not have been satisfied,
had their prophet not received a similar or greater favor ;*
(1.) There is reason to suppose that he originally professed the same opinion.
(2.) MoAammad says in a tradition of Abii Sa'yd apud Mawdhib allad. — " Mo
des said. The Israelites are of opinion that I am the most glorious prophet in the
eyes of God; but MoAammad is more glorious than I am " In Omawyy's ver
sion of this tradition is added, " If MoAammad was alone this might be the case,
(i. e. Moses might be superior to MoAammad) ; but with him is a nation, which is
the noblest of nations in the sight of dod." There are numerous traditions, and
some verses of the Qoran revealed at Madynah, which show that he wished to be
considered the greatest of all prophets.

126 THE MI RAJ.
therefore taking advantage of their belief in his nightly jour
ney to Jerusalem, he added from time to time such details as
might counterbalance any thing that might be said of the
Jewish prophets or of Christ. It is true, the new additions
were not always consistent; but the contradictions added
mysteries to the miracle. By degrees the nightly journey
became the most gorgeous fiction ever invented by the wild
est imagination. It would furnish many subjects for the
pencil of Mr. Martin, and has been the theme of thousands
of Persian poems. Though the accounts, which we find in
Arabic and Persian authors, are not free from later additions,
the numerous records of MoAammad's own words give us the
assurance, that the narrative, in its main features, emanated
from himself. There is no event in his life, on which we
have more numerous and genuine traditions than on his
nightly journey.1 As he pretended to have ascended from Je
rusalem to heaven, it is also called Mi'raj. This term means
originally ladder, but may be freely translated by transfigura
tion. I will now give a brief account of the Mi'raj. The angel
Gabriel roused the prophet from his sleep, and said, " The
Lord sends for thee, and I will take thee to him ; for he in
tends to bestow glory upon thee, the like he has not bestowed
on any other being, nor will he bestow it on any other. No
ear has heard it, nor has it come into any man's heart, what
is prepared for thee." The prophet wished to perform first
the sacred ablutions, and the angel brought him water from
the Kawthar, a pond of Paradise, for the purpose. When he
(1.) It is stated in the Rawdhat alahbdb, and in the Ma'drij ahiab., that there
are traditions of twenty companions of the prophet extant on the mi'raj. The
names of most of them are mentioned in ihe Mawdhib, and all the traditions
were collected by the ffafiz 'Abd al Ghanyy. They filled two juz, or 40 pages
quarto. Some traditions contain an account of the whole mi'raj, others only of
details, or sights which he saw during the mi'raj, such as the pond cilled Kaw
thar, &c.

the mi'raj. 127
was purified, he performed the ceremony of seven times encom
passing the Ka'bah ; and the angel cut open his body, took
out his heart, washed it in Zamzam water, and having filled
it with faith and knowledge he put it again into its place.
He dressed him in a robe of light, and put a turban of Ught
on his head. In the turban forty thousand times the words,
Mohammad is the prophet of God ! Mohammad is the friend
of God ! were interwoven in rays of light of various colours.
It had existed seven thousand years before the creation of
Adam, and had been guarded by forty thousand angels, who
were constantly occupied with the praise of God and benedic
tions on his prophet, and who accompanied Gabriel when
he took it to the prophet, and formed part of his escort.
After these preparations the Boraq was brought, which, ac
cording to some authorities, was the horse of all the pro
phets ; but others are of opinion that there are forty thou
sand Boraqs grazing in the garden of Paradise ; and that on
the forehead of the one, which had the honor of being select
ed on this occasion, the words were inscribed, There is no
God but the God, and MoAammad is the prophet of the God.
When the Messenger of God first acquainted his countrymen
with his journey to Jerusalem, their interest centred in the
wonderful animal, which carried him in so short a time there
and back again ; for the Arabs were passionately fond of ra
cing, and great connoiseurs of horse flesh. The angels and
prophets attracted their attention much later. The earliest
account of MoAammad, therefore, contains a very detailed
description of the Boraq, but hardly any other details. He
was larger than a donkey, and smaller than a mule; had
the face of a man, the ears of an elephant, the hair and mane
of a horse, the neck and tail ofa camel, and the hoofs of a
bull ; his red chest sparkled like a ruby, and his white
back like a pearl; and to his shoulders wings were at-

128 THE MI'RAJ.
tached, which, when spread reached from the eastern point
of the horizon to the western-; and such was his swift
ness, that he went at every step as far as the eye could
sec. When the prophet mounted, Gabriel had the ho
nor to hold the stirrup, and he ran along side the Boraq;
Michael put the reins into his hands, and Israfael took off
the cloth, with which the saddle had been covered to keep it
clean, threw it over his shoulders, and ran behind the Boraq ;
aud when the prophet intimated, that he did not wish that he
should give himself so much trouble, the angel said, " Centu
ries after centuries I have been serving under the throne of
God ; at length my services were approved of, and God offered
me a reward. I answered, The favor which I crave is, that I
may be permitted to serve one hour the friend of God, whose
name is inscribed in the steps of thy throne. My prayers
were listened to, and God said, In the night of his glory thou
shalt have the honor to carry his saddle cloth from Makkah
to Jerusalem." The Boraq, not having been ridden since the
time of Christ, was somewhat fresh. Gabriel put his hands
on the mane, reproved him for his impatience, and told
him that the greatest of all prophets was on his back ; aud
he Avas so frightened that his face was covered with perspira
tion ; and now they started. MoAammad said, If I let the
reins loose he ran ; and if I gave him the spur he flew. The
number of angels which escorted him is variously stated,
from forty to fifty thousands. On the road he made three
halts for saying prayers — at Madynah, at Madyan aud at
Bethlehem. He met with but few adventures : once he heard
a voice from his left, aud then one from his right, and after
that he saw a beautiful woman before him, calling on him to
stop ; but he paid no attention. Subsequently he was in
formed by the angel, that had he listened to the first voice,
his followers would have embraced Judaism ; and if he had

THE mi'raj. 129
answered the second call, they would have turned Christians ;
and if he had attended to the lady, who was a personification
of the world, they would have sacrificed Paradise for the plea
sures of this life. The moral condition of the faithful in our
days furnishes a strong reason for suspecting, that he did not
sufficiently resist his natural penchant for the fair sex in this
instance. When he arrived at Jerusalem, legions of angels
were drawn up before the temple, (i. e. the church of the resur
rection), to pay him homage, and to convey to him the greet
ings of God. Gabriel tied the Boraq to the door of the tem
ple, on the very same ring on which the prophets used to fas
ten him ; but according to one account, he pointed with his
forefinger to a stone, and by doing so he bored a hole through
it, in which he tied the Boraq. In the temple all the prophets
were assembled. They were presented to him by Gabriel, and
greeted him cordially as their elder brother. He observed
that Moses was a lean man, and you would have taken him,
for an Azdite. Jesus resembled 'Orwah, one of the friends
of MoAammad; and Abraham was more hke MoAammad
himself than any man he had ever seen. After the presenta
tion the company, including the angels, said prayers; and
the messenger of God, as the greatest among them, acted as
Imam, or priest. Most of the prophets then made a speech,
in which they praised God, and thanked him for the favors
bestowed on them.
First spoke Abraham, and last MoAammad. Christ adress-
ed the assembly as follows : " Praise and glory be to God, the
cherisher of the world, that God who has made me his Word,
and created me like Adam from nothing : he formed him of
clay and said, Be, and he was. He has taught me the Gos
pel, and given me wisdom, and endowed me with such mira
culous powers that I shaped a fowl of clay, and breathed into
it, and it became a living being ; and he cured through me
Q

130
the blind-born aud healed the leper ; and he made me ascend
to heaven, and purified me.1 He protected my mother
against the devils, whilst she was pregnant, in order that they
might gain no sort of power over us." After these speeches
Gabriel took the Messenger of God by the hand, and led him
to the rock, upon which the mi'raj, Jacob's ladder, stands.1
One side of the ladder is of ruby, and the other of emerald ;
and one leg is of gold and the other of silver ; both are in
laid with precious stones. It reaches from earth to heaven,
and is divided into fifty stages, each of which is seventy years'
journey long. By this ladder the angels descend from hea
ven and ascend again, and the souls of the dead wander by
it into the other world.
The prophet rode up the ladder on the Boraq. At the top
of it he saw an angel, who held between his two hands the
seven earths and the seven spheres of heaven ; and he told
him that he had been located there twenty five thousand years
before the creation of Adam, and that he had all this time
been anxiously looking forward for his arrival. Beyond this
angel he came to the ocean of sublunary life, in which every
living being exists (as an idea) before it descends on earth
and becomes a reality ; and to which every living thing re
turns when it leaves the earth. It is suspended in the air,
and of a blue hue, and gives that color to the skies. Above
this ocean are the winds. They are fettered with seventy
thousand chains, and every chain is superintended by seventy
thousand angels. After this he had to pass through the lowest
planetary sphere — to every heaven corresponds such a sphere —
aud finally he arrived at the gate of the heaven of the world.
At the gate of this heaven, which is called the gate of the
(1.) So far this speech is an allusion to Qoran, 3, -10 et seqq.
(2.) Gagnier, La vie de Mahomet, I. p. 265, informs us, that this is the foun
dation stone of the temple; and that on the same stone Jacob saw the ladder of
heaven.

THE Ml'RXj. 131
guardian angels, endless legions of angels held watch. Ga
briel knocked at the gate ; and when the porter had been in
formed, that he brought the Messenger of God, he was admit
ted and received with the greatest attention. The prophet was
struck with the myriads of angels who peopled those regions,
and all of whom were in postures observed by the Musalmans
in their prayers. Gabriel informed him that they were
eternally employed in praising God. When he advanc
ed further he observed a magnificent throne of precious
stones, and upon it a man was seated dressed in light.
This is thy father Adam, said Gabriel ; go and greet him.
At the right and left of the father of mankind the souls of the
deceased were drawn up like armies, and passed in review be
fore him. At those on the right he looked with joy and satis
faction, but at those on his left with displeasure and grief; for
they were the souls of sinners and unbelievers. Farther on
there was at the right the gate of paradise, and at the left
that of hell. Those who had been neglectful in their prayers
had their heads beaten with stones by angels ; the avaricious,
who refused to assist the poor and to the give the legal alms,
were naked, hungry and thirsty; aud they were driven to
the food and drinking places of hell, as beasts are driven to
pasture. Robbers, thieves and cheats were seated at a table
covered with every imaginable delicacy, but they were not
allowed to partake of it — their food was carrion. Scoffers
and slanderers had to carry heavy logs of wood with immense
spikes in them, which tore their flesh, as they had wounded
the feelings of their brethren. Thus he saw every sin
punished in an appropriate manner.
The other six heavens do not essentially differ from the
first. In every one MoAammad found the door shut and
guarded by angels ; but he was readily admitted on his name
being mentioned by Gabriel. In every one he found myriads

132 THE MI'RAJ.
of angels praising God ; and in most of the heavens he found
a division of the inmates of hell, undergoing various tor
ments. In the second heaven he met Christ and John the
Baptist ; in the third Joseph and David. He also saw in it
the sea, the overflow of which had caused the deluge. In
the fourth heaven was Enoch, and the sphere which answers
to the sun, which is one hundred times larger than the earth.
In the fifth heaven he found Aaron; in the sixth Moses, who
was so jealous, that he and his sect had been surpassed by
MoAammad and his sect, that he shed tears. In the highest
heaven he met Abraham.
In the sixth heaven he met an angel, who was larger in sta
ture than the seven heavens, and one of whose eyeballs exceed
ed the earth in size. He was dressed in black, and held a club
in his hand, which was so heavy, that all mankind, the dead
and living together, would be unable to raise it from the
o-round. His expression was so stern and sour that even the
meeting with the prophet of God could not make him smile.
He was preceded by legions of angels, who were armed with
clubs of fire. They praised God in the words, " Glory he to
the Lord, who is revengeful against his enemies." The pro
phet was so frightened at his appearance that he could hardly
stand on his legs. He asked Gabriel who he was ? " This
is Malik, the angel of hell, who is appointed by God to pu
nish the enemies of thy rehgion." Let me see the fire of
hell, said MoAammad. He removed the cover, and out burst
the flames with such violence that there seemed to be danger
that they would destroy heaven and earth ; and the Messen
ger of God requested him to order them to draw back, and
to close up the hole.
MoAammad continued his journey above the seventh hea
ven, and came to the sidrah of the limit.1 In early traditions
(1.) In all traditions on the mi'raj, except the one of Abii Sa'yd Khodry apud

THE mi'raj. 133
this tree is described as having leaves as large as elephant's
ears, and fruits like water pots: later accounts enter into
more details. In one of the branches, which is thousands of
miles long, is the habitation of Gabriel; in another branch
myriads of angels are constantly employed in reading the
Pentateuch; in another the gospel is read; in one the
Psalms are sung by thousands of voices ; and in one branch
the Qoran is chanted. From under the tree four rivers
spring forth— two, the Nile and Euphrates, flow to the earth ;
and two are rivers of paradise. One of these is the river of
mercy, and the other feeds the pond Kawther, which God has
created for MoAammad and his followers. Whilst I was loi
tering about in the gardens of paradise, said the prophet, I
came all on a sudden to a river ; on both banks are domes
each consisting of a hollow pearl. I asked Gabriel, What is
this ? he said, This is the Kawther, which God has given to
Ibn IsAaq, MoAammad finds in the seventh heaven, or above it, the sidrah of the
limit. The apparition at the sidrah is thus made synchronous with the nightly
journey to Jerusalem, though the former took place at least eight years before the
latter. Waqidy, to remove this difficulty, speaks therefore of two nightly jour
neys — the first from Makkah to heaven, and the second from Makkah to Jerusa
lem ; and there is nothing in the traditions of the Mishkdt or Taysyr to oppose
this opinion ; but most Musalman authors are against it, and maintain that Mo
Aammad preceded from Jerusalem to heaven. The traditions, both from which
it appears that the sidrah is in heaven, and those from which it appears that it is
on earth, are so numerous and so authentic that it is clear that he taught at one
time the .one, and at another time tbe other doctrine. This is not a solitary in
stance in which MoAammad mystified verses of tbe Qoran, which had been re
vealed sometime back, and put another sense upon them than he had originally
given to them. I conceive that the words in Surah 53, " And there to the gar
dens of repose is the gate" — are a later addition, to justify the opinion that the
sidrah is in heavep.
It is characteristic of the blind faith of the followers of MoAammad, that there
exists the greatest difference on the number of his nightly journeys — (some au
thors say he made as many as four) — and on the date. Their surprise at the night
ly journey to Jerusalem was so great, that they seem to have forced upon him new
tales, without regard to consistency. This explains why we observe a tendency in
the Mi'raj to transfer events from earth to one of the seven heavens, and thence to
the regions above them. What had happened, according to early traditions, at
Jerusalem, is placed by later sayings of MoAammad in heaven. For example, it is
stated in very good traditions, that he was thirsty and drank milk at Jerusalem ;
and it is stated in equally good traditions, that he drank it in the seventh hea
ven. His meeting with the prophets, and his remarks upon them, are nearly
the same at Jerusalem and in the heavens, &c.

134 the mi'raj.

thee. Then I perceived that the ground was of pure musk,
and of piercing fragrancy. The pond is square, and one
months' journey in circumference, being as long as Arabia;
the water is as white as milk and sweeter than honey, and he
who drinks from it will never be thirsty again.1
MoAammad visited next the Bayt alma'mur, the chief place
of worship in paradise, which stands precisely above the Ka'
bah, so that, if it were to fall, it would exactly cover it. Near
it is a tank filled with light, in which Gabriel bathes every
morning ; and when his light mingles with the light of the tank
seventy thousand angels start into existence. They proceed
to the temple ; and as often as they ejaculate the words, Praise
be to God ! a new angel proceeds from every one of them.
There is not a drop of water in the sea, nor a leaf on a tree,
nor a span of space of the heavens, which is not guarded by
an angel who praises God.*1 The conception of MoAammad,
in extending the universe millions of miles beyond this earth,
and in peopling it with creatures who praise God, is like an
anticipation of the wonders revealed to us by the telescope.
MoAammad being thirsty, asked for something to drink ;
and there were three vessels brought to him : one contained
wine, the other milk, and the" third honey. He chose the
milk; and Gabriel said, Milk is religion, and thou and thy
sect will be on it.
According to some authors, Gabriel and the Boraq pro-
(1.) A tradition of Anas, one of 'Abd Allah b. 'Amir, and one of Abu Horay"
rah and one of Thawban The farmer three are in Bokhary and Moslim, and
the latter is in AAmad, in Ibn Majah, and in Tirmidzy
(2.) Gabriel appears here as the highest demiurg, as in the system of MoAam-
madan pmlosophers (see page 116, note); but though it is quite certain, that
he seven heavens of MoAammad have their origin in the views of the astrologers,
tVZT0n% °n r 1»\t'he,?T °n the oriSin of the a"S^ is basedfare
Tr/Th wveyarer^°f-tb,Ul^ayrah' °ne of Ibn Mardawayh, and one of
nh^t £7 T? » V°aAlr all%donniy^ and one of 'Ati, and Moqatil and
of Fathr'autn R'1' ' ^fr™1*™ Abbas ; ibi*™> and in the Taf syr Kabyr
ot *akhraldyn Razy. But that MoAammad took a very enlarged view of the
universe, and peopled it with myriads of angels, is attested by many and ver good
traditions, and by many verses of tbe Qoran. y g

THE Mi'BAJ. 135
ceeded but a short distance beyond the regions of the sidrah,
which is called the sidrah of the limit, because the knowledge
of the angels does not go beyond it. After he had been left
alone, he heard a voice saying, Approach ! He made a step, and
in this single step he passed through as much space as there
is from the earth to the spot where he had been left alone. He
was again called upon to approach, and in the step which he
made he went through twice as much space as in the first.
The voice was repeated one thousand times, and he made
one thousand steps, and the length of each succeeding step was
twice as great as the preceding. According to some authors
he had seventy-seven, and according to others he had many
hundred screens to pass, all of which were shut again as soon
as he had passed them. When the last curtain had been
raised he found himself two bows' distance from the throne of
God. The MoAammadan authors do not presume to describe
what he saw here ; but they content themselves by repeat
ing the words of the Qoran, " He saw the greatest of the
signs of his Lord." There was a deep silence, and no noise
was heard except that of the reed, by which the decrees of
God are inscribed on the tablets of fate. God communicated
to MoAammad the order for the faithful to pray fifty times a
day, and he invested him with the habit of the Cufy order ;
then he returned towards the earth. When he had come
back to Moses, this prophet asked him, what commands he
had received from God ? He said, To pray fifty times a day.
I know from experience, replied Moses, that the faithful will
not be able to act up to this command; return to God, and
pray that he may remit some of the devotional exercises.
MoAammad followed his advice, and they were reduced to
forty. When he came again to Moses, he advised him again
to go to God, and to ask for a further reduction. The Lord
again took off ten prayers ; and the prophet continued to go

136 THE M.'llAJ.
backwards and forwards between God and Moses, and to bar
gain for a further reduction, until the prayers were limited
to five a day. How far the devotions even of the most pious
fall short of what men ought to do !
Here ends the mi'raj of MoAammad. Musalman authors
discuss two points connected with it : first, whether his night
ly journey was a mere vision, or whether he was bodily trans-
fered to Jerusalem and to heaven ? All historical records are
for the latter opinion ; the former is upheld by some sceptics
only. .The other disputed question is, whether he saw
God face to face, and spoke with him, or not ? We have
numerous and authentic traditions for both opinions;1 and
it is clear that neither MoAammad nor his intimate friends
believed that God could be seen by mortal eyes ; but it
is equally clear that in the progress of his career he gave
way to the coarseness of the notions of the greater part of
his followers, and said that he had seen God face to face ; or at
all events he acquiesced in their error. We must never for
get, that when his religion was victorious he was surrounded
by the most enthusiastic admirers, whose craving faith could
be satiated only by the most extravagant stories. Their
(I.) From the traditions on the mi'raj in the Mishkdt, which are to be consi
dered as the most authentic, it appears that MoAammad maintained that he had
seen God, and spoken with him, during his transfiguration ; though it is not
stated in plain terms. " Abu Dzarr says, I asked the prophet whether he
had seen God? He answered : Nuron, inny araho ; i. e. I have seen him,
in the shape of a light. But instead of inny, some read anny. In this case
the meaning is, He is a light ; how could I see him ? (light being the
medium, and not an object of vision.") This tradition is in Moslim.
" Ibn Abbas said, according to Tirmidzy, MoAammad has seen his Lord. 'Ikriniah
remarked, Is it not said in the Qoran, 6, 103, that the eyes cannot
perceive him ? Ibn 'Abbas replied, This applies to seeing God when he mani
fests himself in his light; that is to say, the light which is his own light.
But the prophet has seen God twice " Compare Mishkdt, Eng. translation, II.
page 630. It is not explained in this tradition how God showed himself to
MoAammad. It is said in the Qoran, 75, 23, " Some countenances shall be
light, (on the day of resurrection), and looking at their Lord." It is argued
upon this, that MoAammad may have seen God during the transfiguration,
in the same manner in which the saints in heaven see God, which, as he
said, constitutes their greatest happiness, even greater than that derived from
the society of the //dries.

Mohammad's heart washed. 137
heated imagination would invent them by itself; he only
needed to give the key, and to nod assent, to augment the
number of his miracles to the infinite. So convinced were his
followers of his miraculous powers, that their wives and slaves
every morning, when they fetched water for the daily con
sumption, took the supply to his house, that he might put his
hands into it.
Besides the miracles recorded in the Qor&n, the prophet
encouraged his friends in ascribing events in his life, which
had attracted their attention, to supernatural influence, as
appears from his own words. " The prophet was one day
requested to give an account of himself, and he said, Very
well : I was called by Abraham, and predicted by Jesus the
Son of Mary ; and my mother saw, when she gave me birth,
that a light proceeded from her, which illuminated the palaces
of Syria. I was nursed among the banu Sa'd b. Bakr ; and
whilst I was with a foster-brother of mine behind the tents,
tending some flocks of ours, there came two men dressed in
white robes with a basin full of ice. They took me and slit
open my body ; then they took out my heart, which they slit
equally open, and removed some congealed black blood from it,
which they threw away ; and they washed my inside and my
heart in the snow. Then he (one of the angels) said, Weigh
him against one hundred persons of his nation ; they weigh
ed me, and I was found heavier ; then he said, Weigh him
against one thousand ; they weighed me, and I was found hea-
vier ; then he said, Leave him ; if you weigh him against his
whole nation he will be found heavier."1
These are the most prominent and celebrated miracles of
the prophet of the Arabs, and the nucleus of a most extrava
gant legendary history, which was as much enriched by his
enemies as by his sincere followers. When the conservatives of
(l.) Tradition of KMlid b. Ma'adan in Waqidy, fol. 28.
R

138 LEGENDARY MIRACLES.
Makkah had at length succumbed to the arms of MoAammad,
he forced his religion upon them, and they found it expedient
to profess that they had been convinced by miracles, and not
by the sword. One man, who arrived from a journey about
the time of the conquest of Makkah by MoAammad, said that
he had observed in the Tihamah that on the leaves of every
tree these words were inscribed in characters of light: "MoAam
mad is the Messenger of God." Jobayr1 relates that, during
the time of the persecutions of MoAammad he happened to go
to Syria. On passing a convent he was invited to stay there ;
and after he had received three days' hospitality the head of
the establishment took him into the interior of the building,
where there were many pictures, and asked whether any of
them resembled the man who, he had been informed, claimed
to be a prophet in Arabia ; and he saw there not only a breath
ing likeness of MoAammad, but also of Abu Bakr.*1 Some of
those who had taken flight in the battle of Badr now declared
that they had been driven back by legions of angels, who as
sisted the faithful. Abii Sofyan, the arch foe of MoAammad,
happened to be at Damascus when Heraclius received the pro
phet's letter, in which he called upon him to embrace the Is
lam. The Emperor, startled by its contents, inquired whether
there was a man to be found who could give him some further
information respecting the person, who considered himself
the Messenger of God. Abu Sofyan and several other Qo
rayshites were introduced into his presence, and he put to
(1.) Jobayr b. Mot'im b. 'Adyy b. Nawfal b. Abd Manaf embraced the Islam
before the conquest of Makkah. He was well versed in the genealogy of the
Qorayshites, and died in A. H. 54, or 57. A similar story is related by Abyary
of .Hakym b. Hizam, who did not embrace the Islam before the conquest of Mak
kah. He was a cousin of the first wife of MoAammad, the proprietor of the town
hall, and a very rich man and one of the chiefs of Makkah. He died in A. H.
54. To him the Emperor showed the picture of MoAammad.
(2.) Jamy, > hawdhid alnubuwat, Chap. ]. Jamy does not explain how the
convent had obtained their poi traits. Nowayry, Ma. of Leyden, p. 890, informs
us very seriously that the ark of ihe covenant not only contained the portrait and a
description of MoAammad. h-' '«> if the first four' Khalifa.

THE EMPEROR HERACLITJS. 139
them through an interpreter the following questions: Q.
Is he of a good family? A. Yes, he is of one of our best
families. Q. Has any one of his ancestors been a king? A.
No. Q. Was he reputed to be a liar before he proclaimed
himself a prophet ? A. No. Ou the contrary he was known
under the name of Amyn, the trust-worthy, on account of his
veracity.1 Q. Who are his followers, the rich or the poor ?
A. The poor. Q. Does his flock increase or decrease ? A.
It is on the increase. Q. Are there many who, after havin°-
embraced his faith, leave it again ? A. There are none. Q.
Do you fight with him ? A. Yes, we do. Q. And what is the
result of your battles ? A. Not always the same ; sometimes
(1.) The MoAammadans felt how necessary it was to prove that the veracity of
their prophet was acknowledged even by his enemies. The Qadhy 'lyadh Shif'd
Chap. 2, adduces the following testimonies, which are prooably all he could col
lect : 1. Ibn IsAaq says, that he was called Amyn, the trust-worthy, on account
of his blameless character. And when the Qorayshites differed as to who should
put the black stone into its pi ice, (see page 84), they agreed to leave the decision to
the person who might first enter the Ka'bah ; it happened to be MoAammad; and
they said, We will abide by his arbitration, for he is the Amyn. This testimony lo
ses much of its weight by being substantiated by tbe only instance, in which, owing to
a chance, MoAammad occupied a conspicuous position before his mission. — 2. Al-
Raby' b. Khothaym says that MoAammad used to be chosen as arbitrator before
he assumed his office. This is one of the traditions called aAad, single, or unsup
ported in the historical criticism of the Musulmans. Were the assertion true we
should have a score of testimonies. The most insignificant facts, which reflect ho
norably upon the prophet, such as that he was permitted when a boy to sit upon
the carpet spread for his grand-father, are mentioned by a host of authors, and
raised into signs of his mission • — 3. Abu Jahl said to MoAammad, " We do
not consider thee as a liar, but we consider what thou preachest as a lie ;" and on
this occasion the verse of the Qoran, 6. 33, was revealed, " Thou art grieved by
what they said. However, they do not call thee a liar ; — but the unjust deoy tbe
signs of God." It is clear that MoAammad means to say, They do not give the lie
to me, but to God ; and therefore this testimony must fall to the ground with its
peg. — 4. It is said that Abu Jahl bore witness to the veracity of MoAammad in
a private conversation with al-Akhnas b. Shorayq at Badr. — 5. The testimony
of Abii Sofyan before Heraclius, mentioned in the text, is adduced — 6. Al-
Nadhr b. al-i/arith said to the Qorayshites, When MoAammad was a young man
no one was a greater favorite with you than he, nor was any one more truth-loving
in what he said, nor more trust-worthy ; and now, since the hair of his temples has
turned giey, he preaches to you what he preaches, and you say he is a juggler ; but,
by God, he is not a juggler. It is impossible to reconcile this testimony with
the relation in which MoAammad stood to al-Nadhr b. al-i/arith, and which will
be explained helow. Most statements of MoAammadan authors, in praise of their
prophet, produce, if sifted, the contrary impression upon an impartial reader fro in
the one which they are intended to produce.

140 LIES OF APOSTATES.
he is victorious, and at other times we. Q. Is he treacherous ?
A. I am not aware that he ever behaved treacherously. Q.
Has ever any one before him preached the doctrine which
he teaches ? A. No, nobody. Q. And what does he preach ?
A. He orders his followers to pray, to fast, to be kind to rela
tives, and to abstain from all that is sinful or impure. This
account satisfied the Emperor that he was a Messenger of
God; for he not only resembled in every respect the prophets,
but, as none of his ancestors had been a king, it was clear that
he was not actuated by the ambition of regaining his father's
dominion ; and as his followers remained all staunch the Em.
peror was convinced that they were animated by true faith,
and not merely by fanaticism.1
The converts from the Jewish and Christian religions
amused the faithful with endless fables. A Copt related that
one day he was reading the Bible, and finding that two
eaves were glued together he separated them, and found a
prophecy regarding the prophet of the Gentiles, containing a
detailed description of him, and an account of the time and
place where he would appear. His father severely punished
him for his curiosity; but he added that it lead to his salvation;
for he went forthwith in search of the new faith.*1 Most of
the biblical legends, and many of those fables in the his
tory of the Arabs which refer to MoAammad, are traced to
Wahb Ibn Monabbih3 or Ka'b,* a converted Jew. Some
(1.) Mishkdt, II. p. 688.
\1.) Waqidy. — Jamy, Shawdhid alnab., Ch. 1, relates a similar story of Wahb
b. Monabbih, a converted Jew : " When my father taught me the Scripture he
withheld one volume from me, and kept it locked up in a box. After his death I
took out the book, and found writ'en in it that a prophet would appear who would
be born at Makkah, and take flight to Madynah, and his followers would on all
occasions praise God, and be raised above all other nations on the day of judgment.
(3.) Wahb b. Monabbih b. Kamil b. Sayj, of Persian origin, was of Dzimar, a
place in Yaman two days journey from £an'a, and died A. H. 114 or 110. 
Nawawy, Tahdzyb alasmd, p. 619.
(4.) Ka'b alAibr, or, the Kabbin, was a native of Yaman, and of the flimyarite
tribe. He embraced the islam under Abii Bakr or 'Omar, and was much in the
society of the latter ; and he died under 'Othman. Nawawy, p. 523. According

RELICS. 141
legends have been invented by Ibn Sawda, equally a converted
Jew, who flourished under 'Othman. The latter of these three
fathers of the MoAammadan church found it so profitable to
embrace the Islam, that he went four times through the cere
mony of initiation — once in the Hijaz, then at Bacrah, then
at Kufah, and then at Damascus.1
The sale of relics added equally to the number of miracles.
Bogha, the commander of the Pretorian guard of the Khalif
Mota'cim, bought a sword for two hundred dinars, of which
the following story was related. At the battle of OAad 'Abd
Allah b. JaAsh broke his sword. The prophet gave him the
dry branch of a palm tree, and it instantly turned into a
sword.*1 It is well known that the trade of relics was carried
to a great extent in Europe during the crusades. As one of
the objects of curiosity at Venice, the stool of St. Peter is
shown us to this day. I examined it, and found it to be a
MoAammadan tomb stone with an Arabic inscription.
Having explained the origin of the miracles of MoAammad
I will briefly relate the legendary history of the period com
prized in the preceding chapter.
Qotaylah, a sister of Waraqah, or, according to others, Fa-
tfimah, a woman of the Khath'am tribe, who had read the
Scriptures, observing the prophetic light between the eyes of
the father of MoAammad, did all she could to gain his affec
tions even after his marriage with Aminah. On one occasion
he passed her house, and she requested him to step in. He re
fused, but after some time he returned and shewed himself
ready to comply with her wishes. His advances were now
refused ; for Aminah was in the way of becoming the mother

to Nowayry, MS. of Leyden, p. 834, he was still alive under Mo'awyyah, and
was called to his court.
(1.) Nowayry, MS. of Leyden, p. 1056. The full name of Ibn Sawda waj 'Abd
Allah b. Saba.
(2.) Mawdhib allad. in the account of the battle of OAad.

142 AMI.VAH'S PREGNANCY.
of the prophet, and the light had disappeared from his fore
head.1 The marriage of the parents of MoAammad was ce
lebrated in heaven Avith joy and solemnity; and the angel
Gabriel descended upon the Ka'bah, and made known to the
world that the last and greatest of the prophets would be born.
The whole animated creation on land and sea rejoiced at these
tidings. A copious rain embellished the country with verdure,
which had suffered four years previous from drought and fa
mine. The evil spirits were sunk to the bottom of the sea, and
complained on mount Abii Qobays near Makkah that idolatry,
drinking wine, and other abominations of paganism would be
at an end ; one of the assembly, however, consoled them that
the Arabs would soon degenerate.*1
When Aminah was pregnant she did not feel the slightest
inconvenience ; indeed she would not have been aware of her
interesting condition if she had not been told in a vision that
she would give birth to the lord and prophet of his nation.
In another vision she was ordered to call the child which she
would bring forth Ahmad.3
The prophet was born clean,4 his navel was cut and tied,
and he was circumcised;5 with him a light issued from the
womb of Aminah, which illumated the whole world, and she
saw the camels at Bacra, Bostra in Syria,6 raising their heads

(1.) Traditions of 'Orwah, of Jobayr b. Mot'im, of Ibn 'Abbas, of Hisham
Kalby from Abu Fayyadh Khath'amy and Abii Yazyd of Madynah,— (all apud
Waq. c. 20). The story -s also mentioned by other writers. The authorities
are so strong that it is likely that some scandal has been converted into a miracle.
— Jamy, Shawdhid, and other modern authors, by the way of exaggeration, say that
she offered to 'Abd Allah one hundred camels.
(2.) Rawdhat aldhbdb.
(3.) Several traditions in Waqidy. It is also mentioned by Ibn IsAaq and
Abii .ffatim. The latter says that Aminah dreamt that she was to give to her
child the name of MoAammad. The prophet liked to be called AAmad, because
this name was said to be in the Gospel ; but it was no more his name than that of
a man called Theodat is Khodabakhsh.
(4.) A tradition of IsAaq b. 'Abd Allah in Waq.
(5.) A tradition of 'Abbas apud Waq. and Ablilfeda.
(6.) A somewhat different version of this tradition, on the authority of Shad-
dad b. Aws, is in the Rawdhah of MoAammad b. AAmad b. Amyr, who compiled

HOW MOHAMMAD WAS BORN. 143
to heaven to thank God. MoAammad immediately after his
birth placed himself in a praying position and raised his eyes
to the sky.1 Heaven and earth were in agitation at this great
event. The stars inclined towards the earth and came almost
down on the head of Aminah to do homage to the prophet.*1
The palace of the Kisra, trembled, and twenty -four of its
turrets felt to the ground; and the sacred fire of the Magi,
which had burned for a thousand years, was extinguished.3
The original of iJalymah's narrative of her adventures
on her journey to Makkah, in an old tradition,4 equals
in naivete and elegance any pastoral poem of the Greeks.
" There was a drought in our country, and we were in great
distress. I left our home with my husband and my infant
son, in company of other nurses of our tribe, to go to Mak
kah, and to find a foster-child. I rode on a white donkey.
We had a she-camel, but she gave no milk. My child cried
the whole night for hunger, and kept us restless; for my
breasts were dry, and so was the camel. Every prospect of
again enjoying blessing and^joy had disappeared. I proceed
ed very slowly, to the annoyance of my fellow travellers ; for
the donkey which I was riding was miserably thin. At
length, however, we arrived at Makkah. We looked out for
foster-children; and there was not a woman among us to
whom the infant prophet was not offered. They refused to
the book about A. H. 71 8. There this passage runs : " And my mother saw in a
dream that what was in her womb proceeded in the form of a light ; and she said,
I followed the light with my sight (bacry), and it remained before my sight
(bacry) until it illuminated the east and the west for me.'' The author seeing the
absurdity that the light should have illuminated Baora, read bacry, my sight,
instead, and clumsily changed the sentence. There is no doubt that Basra is the
right reading. We have a dozen of original versions of this tradition, and in all
the reading is Bacra.
(1.) Various traditions in Waqidy. Jamy adds that he pronounced distinctly
the words " there is no God but the God."
(2.) Rawdhatalahbdb, where a tradition of 'Othman b. Abd-l-'Ac is quoted.
(3.) A tradition from Bayhaqy, apud Abujfeda.
(4.) It is related nearly in the same words by Ibn IsAaq and Waqidy, though
they both quote different authorities.

144 I-IALYMAIl's NAllllATIVE.
take him, saying, Oh, he is an orphan. We expected to be
handsomely rewarded by the fathers of the children, and were
in the habit of saying ; Oh, an orphan ! it is not likely that
his mother or grand-father will pay handsomely. Por this
reason we refused to take charge of him. All the women
found wards except myself ; and when we were ready to star^
for our home, I said to my husband, I do not like to return
among my friends without a foster-child. Shall I take that
orphan ? He replied, There is no harm. Perhaps God will
bless us. And so I took him. I should certainly not have
accepted him had I found another child. I returned to our
encampment, and gave him my breast. He drank ; and after
he had been stilled there was milk enough left for my own
child, and we could now sleep at night. My husband went
to the she-camel, and found her udders full, and she gave as
much milk as we could drink, and we spent a happy night.
Our companions said, iMymah has found a blessed child.
The next day we started ; I mounted my donkey with the
prophet in my arms, and he went on with snch speed that the
others could not keep up with me, though they were much
better mounted. They said to me, O daughter of Abu
Dzowayb, do not race in this style ; is this .not the donkey
which thou wast riding when thou leftest home ? I rephed,
Certainly ; it is the very same. They observed, This is a
splendid animal. On our arrival in our country, which is the
driest place on the face of the earth, we found in the evening,
when the sheep and goats came home, that they had plenty
of milk, whilst the flocks of other people were perfectly dry.
They said to their shepherds, Drive them on the same pasture
on which flalymah's goats graze. This, however, was of no
use ; they remained thin and dry. God was with us, and we
enjoyed in every thing his blessing. When the prophet was
two years of age he was a very fine boy, and I weaned him,

SERGlUSj oit bahyrX. 145
and went with him to his mother; but having enjoyed so
much blessing through him we were exceedingly anxious that
he should stay with us ; and we said to Aminah, Leave him
with us until he is older ; I am afraid the pestilential air of
Makkah will hurt him. His mother consented, and he re
turned into the desert." On her way back from Makkah
•ffalyniah met some christians of Abyssinia, who at once re
cognized him to be the prophet ; and they said, Give this boy
to us, and we will take him to our king. She refused to give
him up ; and being afraid that they might eventually take
him away by force, she soon after returned him to his mother.
The remainder of the legendary history of the early life of
MoAammad is entirely occupied with an account of inspired
or learned men, who recognized in him the prophet. The
Christians, Jews, Astrologers and Soothsayers have each
their representatives among them. The most celebrated
Christians who did homage to the Messenger of God, long
before he assumed his office, are Sergius and Nestor. The for
mer was a monk or hermit. His cell was in a village six stages
from Bostra. He was celebrated for his learning and piety,
and the village iu which he lived was usually called the dayr,
hermitage, of Ba&yra, though its proper name was Kafr.
Being acquainted with the description and predictions of pro
phets, he knew that the time was come when the prophet of
the Arabs would pass by that road on his way to Bostra ;
and he had been looking out for him for many years. He
did not leave his hermitage ; but merely watched, as often
as a Qorayshite caravan passed by, whether it was accom
panied by those signs which betoken prophets. At length
he observed the heavenly cloud hovering over an approaching
Qorayshite caravan, and steadily accompanying it ; and he
suspected that he was in it. His suspisions became cer
tainty as the caravan drew near ; for every stone and tree
S

]46 NESTOR.
exclaimed, Hail to thee ; 0 Messenger of God ! The Qoray-'
shites encamped just under his hermitage, and Abii Talib,
whom MoAammad accompanied, pitched under a tree, which
was partly withered. The cloud stood over it, and it became
instantly green. The hermit now ordered his disciples to
prepare a repast for the Qorayshites, and in inviting them he
requested particularly that none might absent himself from
it. They were somewhat surprized at his invitation, as he
had never on any former occasion spoken with them, but they
accepted it. When his guests had assembled, BaAyra said,
Some one of you is absent. They replied, Yes ; a boy of Abii
TSiib's has been left in the camp, in charge of the goods.
BaAyra told them that it was just that boy whom he wanted
to see. They sent for MoAammad, and he came shaded by
the cloud. After the repast, the hermit said to AM Tihh,
I have a few words to speak with thee. The other Qorayshites
with drew, and Abii Talib remained sitting with Baftyra ; aud
he said, Is this thy sou ? the Arab answered, Yes. This is
impossible, observed BaAyra, for he must needs be an orphan.
Abii Talib now allowed that he was his nephew ; and the
hermit recommended him to take great care of him, and to
watch him, particularly agamst the designs of the Jews.
They knew that a prophet would arise among the Arabs at
this time, and would recognize him ; and as all the prophets
had hitherto been of their nation, they would be anxious to
put him to death out of jealousy. Bostra, he declared, would
be a very dangerous place ; aud he prevailed on Abu Talib to
send him back to Makkah.
Another Simeon of the Islam was the monk (or hermit)
Nestor, who met the prophet when he came the second time
to Syria. He undertook this journey for Khadyjah; but it
would appear from the Ilawdhat alaAbab that Khozaymah b.
iJakym, a relation of hers, was in charge of her goods, and

MOHAMMAD SHADED BY ANGELS. 147
that the prophet was merely his assistant. Nestor recognized
MoAammad by his reposing at Bostra under a tree, un
der which only prophets were in the habit of sitting. In or
der, however, to be quite certain that he was a prophet, he
approached him and said, I conjure thee by al-Lat and al-
'Ozza, (two idols at Makkah), tell me thy name ! MoAam
mad replied, Begone ! there is no expression in Arabic which
I dislike more than the one thou hast made use of.1 The
hermit, being now certain that he was the messenger of God,
opened a book which he had in his hand, and read a prophecy
in which he was described, and in which his history was pre
dicted to Khozaymah and his companions.
This journey is celebrated for several other miracles. He
restored to two worn-out camels their vigour, by putting his
hands on their legs ; and he was all the way shaded by two an
gels, who in the shape of birds hovered over his head. Khar
dyjah, who was sitting in a balcony when he returned to
Makkah, witnessed this miracle ; and we are seriously told
that God wrought it with a view of inflaming the heart of the
old lady. " High praises, endless honours you have won,
" And mighty trophies, with your worthy son !
" Two gods a silly woman have undone '"L
The Christians are represented, in the history of the early
career of the prophet, as encouraging, and I might say,
patronizing the new religion. The Jews appear in a much
less amiable light. Actuated by jealousy, the chosen nation
attempted, on several occasions, by assassination, to rid them
selves of a competitor of their prophets.
( 1 . ) According to Waqidy MoAammad had a dispute with a merchant, and being
requested to swear by al-Lat and al-'Ozza, he said that he would rather give up
his claims than swear by idols. According to this authorily Nestor recognized
him by observing a certain redness in his eyes, which he knew was peculiar to the
last of prophets.
(2.) Pope's Virgil, jEn. 4, 92.

148 THE JEWS KNEW MOHAMMAD.
In the sacred books of the Jews MoAammad was so distinct?
ly described that they knew him as well as their own children.1
The time and place of his birth were predicted in clear terms;
the name of his family was mentioned ; and it was said that
he would take refuge iu Madynah.*1 Ibn al-Hayyaban,8 a
Jew of Syria, who was remarkable for his punctuality in say
ing the five daily prayers, came several years before the Is
lam to Madynah, and settled there. Whenever the country
suffered of drought the people came to him, and asked him
to pray for rain. His answer was, I cannot comply with
your wishes before you have given alms. Every body was
obliged to give a certain quantity of dates and grain. When
they had done so, he proceeded with them to an eminence
near the town, and they had hardly arrived there when the
clouds were seen gathering, and the rain descended. Ibn
Hayyaban said, on his death bed, " The reason why I left
my home, which is a country of plenty, and took up my
abode in this desert, was that I knew that the prophet, whose
time is coming, will emigrate to this city ; aud I was in hopes
that I would live to see him. In this case I should have been
one of his followers. If you hear that he is coming, do not
attempt to cope with him ; for he sheds the blood of his ad-.
versaries, aud reduces their wives aud children to slavery.
(1.) Qoran 2, 141 ; and 6, SO.
(2.) This assertion of Musalman authors is not even fully borne out by the
prophecies which they invented, as will appear from these specimens : "The pro
phet said, There is written in the Pentateuch, My servant AAmad the elect. His
birth place is Makkah, and the place to which he will make his hijrah is Mady
nah ; or, according to one version, al- Tayybah, (which is another name for Ma
dynah) ; and his followers will praise God under every circumstance." A tradi
tion in the Shifd of 'Iyadh. The foUowing two prophecies are from Waqidy.
" MoAammad b. Ka'b Qoratzy, (the son of a converted Jew), says, God revealed
to Jacob, I will raise from among thy descendants kings and prophets until the
ilfaramite prophet (alnabyy alAaramy) shall restore the temple of Jerusalem,
He is the seal (last) of the prophets, and his name is AAmad." God said to
Abraham, according to Sha'by, Thy children will increase into tribes and tribes,
until the gentile (ummy) prophet shall be born, who is the seal of the prophets."
Prophecies like these appear to have been made use of in propagating the islam.
Later authors apply prophecies, referring to Christ, to MoAammad.
(3.) This name is also spelt Ibn al-Hiyyaban and Ibn al-Hayyibiin.

meteors. 149
Nothing can save you except submission ; for he is greater
and prior to your prophets."1 Having thus spoken the pa
triarch died. The night before the Jewish tribe called Qorayt-
zah was overpowered by MoAammad, Tha'labah and Osayd,
two sons of Sa'yah (i. e. Isaiah), and Asad b. 'Obayd said to
their tribe,*1 this is the man whom Ibn al-Hayyaban predicted:
fear God and follow him. The Jews protested, he is not the
man ; but these three men insisted that he was the same ;
and they surrendered to the prophet and embraced his faith,
whilst the other Jews persevered in their obstinacy.
When the Jews had heard that 'Abd Allah, of whom they
knew that he would be the father of the prophet of the Gen^.
- tiles, was born, seventy of their rabbins conspired to put him
to death, and went to Makkah and waited for an opportunity
to carry their plans into execution. One day their intended
victim was alone in a valley at a great distance from the city.
The Jews surrounded him ; but Wahb had obtained informa
tion of his danger, and was on the point of hastening with
some young men of Makkah to his assistance, when he ob
served that a legion of angels descended from heaven, rescu
ed 'Abd Allah, and dispatched his enemies. This miracle in
duced Wahb to offer the hand of his daughter Aminah to
'Abd Allah, and she became by him the mother of the pro
phet.3 Shooting stars were exceedingly frequent about the time
when MoAammad assumed his office ; and this phenomenon
continues to be observed ever since ; yet it was unknown be
fore his time.4 The first Arab tribe who saw this new pheno-

(1.) I follow the version of Waqidy. That of Ibn IsAaq, which is also in the
'Oyvn alathr, differs from it in this sentence.
(2.) They were of the Hadzal tribe, which was closely connected with the
Qoraytzah. These three men were the chiefs of their tribe in the Islam. The
whole story is probably a mere justification of the treachery of ttiese three men.
(3.) Jamy, Shawdhid alnabuwat, i. e. Testimonies for the prophetic mission.
(4.) MoAammad himself allowed that shooting stars had been observed before
him, but he gave the explanation to this phenomenon which the Jews gave to it.

150 IDOLS, KAHINS AND VICTIMS
menon were the Thaqyfites, who inhabited Tayif. They
went to 'Amr b. Omayyah,1 one of the most shrewd men in
Arabia, and they said, Hast thou not noticed this new pheno
menon iu heaven ? what is its meaning ? He answered, ob
serve what stars are falling. If those fall by which men are
guided in their voyages and travels through deserts, and those
by which we mark the mansions of the moon in summer and
winter, the end of the world is near, and this creation will
cease to exist ; but if other stars fall, it indicates that God
has decreed something else, and that he will raise up a prophet
among the Arabs.*1 It has been observed above, page 109,
that shooting stars are flaming darts, which are thrown at the
Jinn, who presume to pry into the secrets of heaven.
Idols, calves and other victims destined to be sacrificed,
spoke on many occasions, and bore witness to the mission of
the prophet, either complaining that their time was over, or
calling on their votaries to destroy him. Astrologers and
Kahins, or seers, as long as the jinn by whom they were
beset had access to the gates of heaven, knew that a prophet
would arise in Arabia, and predicted several circumstances
connected with him. When ilalymah, the nurse, took charge
of MoAammad, his mother requested her to consult some seer
respecting his destiny. TTalymah visited for this purpose the
fair of 'Okatz, to show the child to a celebrated kahin of the
Hodzayl tribe, who used to predict the fate of children. The
moment he saw the child he exclaimed, O Hodzaylites ! 0
We must, however, not suppose that the Musalmans have never attempted to
find the natural causes of this phenomenon. Abhary, whose work is a school
book in all MoAammadan countries, says, (Edit. Lucknow, A. H. 1262, p. 100,)
" If vapours rise to the regions of fire, and if they are thin, they are set on fire,
and converted into a burning mass ; but they burn with such rapidity that only
their extinction is seen." Tiisy, in his comoienta'-y on Avicenna's Isharat apud
Maybodzy, says that " first the upper part of the vapour is ignited, whence the
fire extends to the other extremity. We therefore observe that tbe ignition runs
in the direction of the vapour."
(1.) According to one tradition in Abii Dawlid, to 'Abd Yalyl b. 'Amr.
(?,.) Waqidy and 'Oyun alathr. The last sentence is only in Waqidy.

PREDICTED HIM. 15l
Arabs ! Many persons assembled around him, and he conti
nued : Kill this child ! Luckily iTalymah snatched it away,
and returned as fast as she could to her home. The seer ex
plained to the assembled multitude : — I swear by all the gods,
this child will kill those who belong to your faith ; he will
destroy your gods, and he will be victorious over you.1
The Jouob tribe had a seer, who used to live in solitude on
the summit of a mountain. When they had heard that a pro
phet had arisen at Makkah, they consulted their seer regard
ing him. One morning at sunrise, when the whole tribe
was assembled at the foot of the mountain, the seer descend
ed, and leaning on a bow he raised his head to heaven, and
remained for a long time motionless; at length he said,
" God has distinguished MoAammad, and he has elected him,
and he has cleansed his heart, and he has inspired him. He
will stay but a short time with you." Having said so the
seer returned to the heights of the mountain.
MoAammad was perfect in body and mind. He was descend
ed from Abraham, and claimed relationship to all the prophets.
The Arabs are the best of nations, the Qorayshites the noblest
among all Arabic tribes, and his was the most distinguished
among the Qorayshite families.*1 The mothers of his ancestors
were the daughters of the founders of Arabic tribes, or of
other distinguished men ; and there was not a tribe in Arabia
(1.) This is from Waqidy. Ibn IsAaq relates a story, which is probably only
a different version of this. According to him an astrologer of the Lihb, one of
the Azd tribes, which, (according to Abii 'Obaydah apud Qalqashandy), was cele
brated for its astrologers, used to come to Makkah, and people brought their
children to him, that he might make out their horoscope. When Mo
Aammad was shown to him he recognized in him the prophet, and wished to kill
him. (2.) A well known tradition of 'Abbas, found in every biography of MoAammad.
Tirmidzy has the following tradition of Wathilah b. al-Asqa'. " The prophet
said, God has selected Ishmael from among the children of Abraham, and he has
selected the banu Kinanah from among the Ishmaelites ; and he has selected tbe
Qorayshites from among the banii Kinanah ; and he has selected the Hashimites
from among the Qorayshites ; and he has selected me from among the Hashim.
ites."

152

HIS SENSES AND SECRETIONS.

to whose chiefs he was not related.1 Ibn Kalby collected arf
account of five hundred mothers, and mothers of mothers, of
the prophet ; and he found that none of them was guilty of a
false step or of any of the outrages, which were considered
lawful among the pagan Arabs.
He was of surpassing beauty, and endowed with many pecu
liarities, which no prophet possessed before him. Between his
two shoulders the seal of his office was impressed ; and he had
a peculiar redness in his eyes, which betokened the prophet,
and by which those who had read the Scriptures recognized
him at once. His sight was so sharp that he could see eleven
stars in the Pleiades ;** moreover he could see in the darkest
night, and what passed behind his back. His hearing was
equally acute. The exhalations of his body, and particularly of
his perspiration, were more fragrant than any perfume;3
and he threw no shadow on the ground, neither in the sun nor
in moonshine. During his sleep he was aware of what was
passing, and his dreams were revelations. His sleep, and the
swoons to which he was subject, were very different from
those of any other man.4 The description of his intellectual

(1.) The Qadhy 'Iyadh says, in reference to the words of the Qoran, 9, 129,
" A noble prophet has come to you from among yourselves," that there was no
Arabic tribe to which MoAammad was not related, and to which had not belonged
some one of his grandmothers* ' The genealogies of MoAammad are construct
ed on this principle : The mothers of his earliest ancestors are the daughters of
the supposed founders of the various Arabic tribes.
(2.) 'Iyadh in the Shifd.^ " You must have the eye of the prophet to discern
So minute and distant an object," is a proverbial expression. See Ibn Qotaybah,
Addb alkottdb.
(3.) If the prophet put his hand on the bead of a child, one could recognize it
by the exquisite perfume, which his hand had imparted to it. One day the pro
phet was sleeping in the house of Anas, and he was perspiring. The mother of
Anas collected the drops of perspiration ; and when the prophet asked her why
she did so, she said, We put this into our smelling bottles, for it is the most re
freshing perfume. Bokhary says in his history, you could recognize the street
through which the prophet had passed, by the perfume which he left behind.
'Iyadh, Shifd. Nonnulli tradunt, cum propheta cacaret aut mingeret terram
patuisse, ut fceces et urinam excipiat ; et odorem jucundum eShallasse. 'Iyadh
in libro Shifd.
(4.) " According to Abii Himii it is inconsistent with the office of a prophet
that he should be subject to fits of madness (jonun), or to swoons (aghma) of

Mohammad's chastity. 153
and moral qualities is less amusing. Musalman historians, in
matters connected with their religion, are sometimes guided
by reasoning a priori. Thus they say, Liberality, mildness,
generosity,1 perseverance, bravery, &c. are virtues ; ergo, the
prophet possessed these qualities. I content myself with
mentioning one of his virtues :
The reader will be somewhat startled to hear, that the
Mussalmans vaunt the chastity of their Prophet. They say
that he was only twice tempted to deviate from the path of
virtue, and both times he was saved by the interposition of
Providence. When he was tending the sheep he requested
one of his companions to take care of his flocks, and went
into the city to amuse himself hke other young men. At
the first houses of Makkah the music of a nuptial feast at
tracted him, and whilst listening to it he fell asleep without
carrying his intentions into effect ; and he did not awake be
fore the following morning.*1 His followers draw a parallel
in this respect between him and our Saviour. I will not dis
figure these pages by a blasphemy so gross as such a com
parison must appear even to a MoAammadan who has read
the Gospel. The faithful observe that abstinence in itself is
no virtue, unless it has an object; and this object can only
be, that the mind may remain wholly occupied with God.
In the case of MoAammad sensuality did not interfere with
his piety ; on the contrary, in measure as he increased the
number of his wives, he became more devoted. Therefore
the amorous disposition of the messenger of God is consider-
long duration. Balqyny, in his glosses to the Rawdhah, differs from him.
Sobky thinks that the swoons of the prophets differ as much from those of other
persons as their sleep." Soyuiy, Anmuzaj allabyb fy Khatfdyiv alhabyb.
(I.) 'Iyadh relates an amusing instance of generosity in the prophet. " When
at the battle of OAad a canine tooth of the prophet had been broken, and when
he had been wounded in the face, his friends were much grieved, and advised him
to curse his enemies ; but he answered, I have not been sent to curse, but to
preach. I am the prophet of mercy. O God, guide my people ; for they are in
ignorance." (2.) Tabary, Arabic text, p. 62. See also 'Iyadh, Shifd.
T

154 REVELATIONS HOW GIVEN.
ed as a virtue by most of his followers ; and by Imam C/adiq
it is raised into a sign of his prophetic office.1
The revelations were communicated to the prophet in va
rious ways: — 1. In dreams; 2. Gabriel inspired him with
out appearing tohim;*1 3. Gabriel appeared to him in hu
man form, mostly resembling a man of the name ef DoAy-
ah (or DiAyah) Kalby, and he conversed with him ; 4. Ga
briel appeared to him in his angelic form ; 5. He saw God
himself, as in the mi'rai ; 6. He heard a tinkling, or an in
distinct sound. If he received the revelations in this man
ner, he was always under great excitement, and he became
so heavy that on one occasion he nearly weighed down a
camel on which he was riding ; it foamed at the mouth, its
eyes started out from its head, and its legs were bent.3
( 1.) Eximiam ejus coeundi facultatem omnes laudant. Anas perhibet prophe-
tam unius horse apatio quandoquidem omnes suas uxores compressisse, quarum
habebat undecim. Ab eodem, et ab Abu Rati' traditur, apud Nasay, prophets
triginta virorum coeundi facultate prseditus fuisse. Tawus vero et £afwan D-
Solaym asserunt ei quadriginta virorum potestatem fuisse. Salma ejus libertus
tradit, Cum prophets? novem uxores essent, cuilibet una nocte concubuisse et
qualibet vice semet lavasse.
(2) Qordn, 20, 193 and 194.
(3.) Rawdhat alahb'db. A very critical enquiry on the manner in which the
revelations descended upon MoAammad is in the Mawdhib allad,, but it is too
long for insertion.

Mohammad's doctrine not original. 155

SECOND CHAPTER.
Mohammadanism existed before Mohammad; account of the
first converts ; persecution ; first emigration to Abyssinia ;
the prophet allows that what he had published as a revela
tion had been prompted to him by the devil; second emi
gration to Abyssinia ; fruitless attempts to spread the Islam
at Makkah and among the pilgrims ; the inhabitants of Ya-
thrib (Madynah) invite the prophet to take refuge in their
city, and promise to protect him.
It has been asserted, in page 44, that the prophet of the
Arabs, in founding a new religion, did nothing more than
gather the floating elements, which had been imported or ori
ginated by others. The doctrine which he preached was not
of his own invention; it had been begotten by the spirit of
the time. It is so important to clear mankind from the libeL
that an enthusiast or impostor should have succeeded in
misleading a large proportion of the population of the globe,
and in imposing laws upon it, which have lasted more than a
(thousand years ; that, before proceeding with his history, I in
sert the scanty information, which I have been able to cull
from early authors, on his first converts, with a view of
throwing light on the origin of the Islam. It will be shown
by facts, that it existed, in its main features, before him ; and
we have to this effect the distinct testimony of early authors.
Waqidy, fol. 38, says, on the authority of MoAammad (Zoh-
ry ?), " The most intelligent among that class of men, who
preached the name of God, and who led a pious life, and de
clared that they were Musalmans, were of opinion that he
(MoAammad) was a messenger of God."1 And Nawawy,
(*-•) y** Sy^a.1 ^ j Jas'0 ^e, — jy: U l&iAs*. ^)\ 'i^jSb {J.\L]
*U| Jyw, jd> JXi ^aWI ^ ^Jl Jtf 3 WU J*c _, iii) ^J) (e<i

156 FIRST CONVERTS.
Biogr. Diet. p. 177, says of Bilal, that he had embraced the
Islam before MoAammad received a revelation ; and that he
was one of the first of those men who publicly professed
their Islam.
The chronology of the first conversions of MoAammad is
extremely obscure. Ibn IsAaq gives us a list of fifty-three
persons,1 who embraced the new religion before the prophet
publicly proclaimed his mission, which he did in the fourth
year after the first revelation ; but in this list occurs the name
of 'Ayishah, who was born about that time. We must there
fore use it with caution. There are, however, some points
on which all authorities agree ; and these must form the basis
of our inquiry. They all state that the family circle of Mo
Aammad, comprising his wife Khadyjah, his cousin 'Alyy,*1
and his adoptive son Zayd b. Harithah, were the first to ac-

(1.) These.persons are : 1 . Khadyjah ; 2. 'Alyy ; 3. Zayd b. Harithah ; 4. Abu
Bakr ; 5. 'Othman b. 'Arian ; 6. al-Zobayrb. al-'Awwam ; 7. 'Abd al-RaAmanb.

ther Qodamah— [ Abu ijatim says, His two brothers Qoddmah and 'Abd Allah;']—
14. al-Arqam, a Makhziimite ; 15. 'Obaydah b. al-i?aritb. b. 'Abd al-Mo«alib
b. 'Abd Manaf; 16 Sa'yd b. Zayd; 17. His wife Fafimah, a sister of 'Omar b.
.1 TT\.r.iiAU . 1 Q A ^w.^ ., .l~.,.-l..  C A U/. T»-i_.. t r. tt . . ...... ....

ther Qodamah — [s1
14. Vi.  , —  j„_.  j— » --¦ « -uivuw j- tu mi ail, a. a in lci ui VJUiar 0.
al-Khattab ; 18. Asma, a daughter of Abu Bakr ; 19. Her sister 'Ayishah— [Abu
Hit\m omits the name of 'Ayishah ;]— 20. Khabbab b. al-Aratt ; 21. 'Omayr b.
Aby Waqqac, a brother of ^a'd mentioned in No. 8 ; 22. 'Abd Allah b. Mas'iid ;
23. Mas'iid b. Qary ; 24. Solay* b. 'Amr, of the banii 'Amir b. Lo'wayy ; 25.'
'Ayyash; 26. His wife Asma; 27. Khonays— [Abii Hitim omits this name;]— 28.
'Amir b. Raby'ah ; 29. 'Abd Allah b. JaAsh ; 30. His brother Abu AAmad ;
31. Ja'far b. Aby Talib; 32. His wife Asma ; 33. Hatib b. al-i7arith ; 34. His
wifeFaiimah; 35. H is brother Hattab ; 36. Fokayhah, the wife of Hattib ; 37.
Ma'mar, a brother of Hatib and of Hattab; 38. al-Sayib, a son of 'Othman
mentioned under No. 12; 39. al-M0«alib; 40. His wife Ramlah ; 41. NaA.
Aam; 42. 'Amir b. Fohayrah ; 43. Khalid b. ta'yd; 44. His wife Amynah •
45. Hatib b. 'Amr ; 46. Abii Hodzayfah ; 47. Waqid ; 48. Four sons of all
Bokayr (or Abu-1-Bokayr) ; 52. Ammar b. Yasir ; 53. Cohayb. Abii i?atim
Ibn Habban, who gives nearly the same list, adds the name of Bilal.
(-2.) In a year of famine MoAammad went to his uncle al-'Abbas, who was a
rich merchant, and said, Thy brother Abu Talib has a large family, and is in dis
tressed circunisiances ; let us go to him, and I will take one of his sons off his
hands, and do -tiiou take another. Al-'Abbas consented, and took care of Ja'far •
and the prophet took care of 'Alyy, who continued henceforth to be a member
of his family, and subsequently married his daughter Farimah. 'Alyy was thirtv
years younger than MoAammad, and about six years of age when he came into
his house, and ten when MoAammad first assumed his office.

FIRST CONVERTS. 157
knowledge him as a prophet ; and the only man who disputes
with them the priority is Abu Bakr. But if we compare the
original traditions on this subject, we come to the conclusion
that these four persons followed the mind of MoAammad in
its doubts and speculations. They came with him to the con
viction of the truth of the unity of God, and the other lead
ing tenets of the Islam ; they were in the habit of fasting
and saying prayers with him ; and subsequently, when his fit
had stamped him as a man who was in communication with
supernatural beings, they considered him as the Messenger of
God, deputed to sanction the doctrine which they had follow
ed.1 They were prior to other converts, not because they
entertained earlier the same sentiments on religious subjects
as MoAammad ; but because their faith in the one God grew
up along with his ; and because they first acknowledged him
as a prophet.
Another fact, on which all authorities agree, is that the
prophet had, up to the end of the sixth year of his mission,
not more than fifty followers ;* but though most of them ac
knowledged him as a prophet, as soon as he proclaimed him
self as such, only six men professed publicly their faith in him,
at the beginning of the sixth year.3 It is clear we must dis-
(1.) " 'Abbad b. 'Abd Allah said, I heard 'Alyy declaring, I am the servant of
God and the brother of the prophet  I was in the habit of saying the
prayers seven years before other people." 7abary, p. 102. It will be observed
from p. 102, that there is a good tradition, in which a duration of seven years
is attributed to the transition period. Similar accounts are extant regarding Abu
Bakr. Tabary says that 'Alyy never worshipped the idols ; he was brought up by
MoAammad in a purer faith.
(2 ) " 'Omar early embraced the Islam, towards the end of the sixth year after
the mission. He was preceded in his conversion by forty men and eleven women ;
some say, by thirty-nine men and twenty-three women ; and some say by forty-
five men and eleven women ; and it is stated, on the authority of Sa'yd b. al-
Mosayyib, that 'Omar was converted after forty men and ten women." Nawawy,
Biogr. Diet. p. 448. — Ibn Qotaybah asserts that thirty-nine persons, (literally men
and women), professed the Islam before 'Omar, and that he was the fortieth. Ibn
Qotaybah is certainly under a mistake. Abu i?atim Ibn Habban says, that when
'Omar embraced the Main MoAammad was surrounded by near forty persons,
men and women, in the house of al-Arqam. This, however, was not the whole
flock of Musalmans ; for fourteen men and four women had emigrated to Abyssinia.
(3.) " 'Ammar and fohayb embraced the Islam simultaneously, at the time

158 TIRST CONVERTS.
tinguish three periods in the conversion of the earliest believ
ers. 1. When they came first to the knowledge of the unity of
God. Therein most of them preceded MoAammad. 2. When
they first considered MoAammad as a prophet. Only five
persons,1 besides the four mentioned above, seem to have
at once beheved in him ; most of the others remained undecid
ed for some time. 3. When they first publicly professed their
faith, aud placed themselves as a new sect in opposition to
their countrymen. In some traditions the conversion of any
one of these fifty persons is calculated from the first, and in
other traditions from the second or third of the above periods ;
and hence the confusion.
Instead of following Musalman authors in their childish
disputes on the seniority of their saints in the Islam, I will
divide the first fifty converts, of whose early history we
possess any information, into groups, with a view of throwing
light on the origin of the doctrine ascribed to MoAammad.
To the first group belong slaves and foreigners, who imported
purer rehgious notions into Arabia. The second group is
composed of men, of whom it is known that they were scep
tics before they followed MoAammad ; and to the third group
belong converts of Abu Bakr, most of whom were near rela
tions of MoAammad.
Many of the slaves of Makkah derived their origin from
when the prophet was in the house of al-Arqam. He ('Ammar) was converted
after thirty odd men. It is related on the authority of Mojahid, that the first
who publicly professed the Islam were Abu Bakr, Bilal, Khabbab, 9ohayb, 'Am
mar and his mother Somayyah." Nawawy, Biogr. Diet. p. 4ff6. — MoAammad
was in the house of al-Arqam in the sixth year after his mission. — In the Isty'db
it is said, on the authority of 'Abd Allah b. Mas'iid, "First there were seven
persons who publicly professed the Islam, viz. the Prophet, Abii Bakr, 'Ammar,
his mother Somayyah, 9ohayb. and al-Miqdad."
(1.) Tabary mentions the following persons ; and says of each of them, that he
is considered the fourth or fifth convert : Khalid b. Sa'yd b. al-'A'v and his wife,
Abu Dzarr Ghifary, 'Abasah Solamy and al-Zobayr. Having made mention of
these persons 7'abary proceeds to say, that MoAammad preached the first three
years secretly, andto relate how he commenced to preach pnblicly. It would
therefore appear that these were, besides his family, Abii Bakr and a few slaves,
the only followers of MoAammad up to the fourth year of his mission.

SLAVE CONVERTS. 159
Christian countries. Some of them had been carried away
from their homes in their youth, and others were born of
Christian parents at Makkah. Their notions of the Christian
religion were imperfect, and almost smothered by pagan su
perstitions ; but the few remnants which they had preserved
were sacred to them, not only on account of the intrinsic me
rits of our faith, but because they were connected with their
recollections of freedom, home and youth. Men of this descrip
tion no doubt prepared the way for the Islam by inculcating
purer notions respecting God upon their masters and their bre
thren. These men saw in MoAammad their liberator; and
being superstitious enough to consider his fits as the conse
quence of an inspiration, they were among the first who ac
knowledged him as a prophet. Many of them suffered tor
tures for their faith in him ; and two of them died as martyrs.
The excitement among the slaves, when MoAammad first
assume'd his office, was so great that 'Abd Allah b. Jod
'an, who had one hundred of these sufferers, found it neces
sary to romove them from Makkah, lest they should all turn
converts.1 Abu Bakr fostered it by purchasing and manumit
ting several of those who had been tortured.*1
The most important man among the slaves is Zayd b. H&-
rithah.' He was of the Kalb, which was one of the Qodh-
(1.) Abyary, in his account of Bilal.
(2.) Abu Bakr bought and manumitted seven slaves, who had been tortured
for professing the Islam : viz. 1. Bilal; 2. 'Amir b. Fohayrah ; 3. Zonnayr ; 4.
Omm 'Obays ; 5. Nahdyyah ; 6. Her daughter ; 7. A slave woman of the banii
'Adyy. Waqidy, fol. 227, mentions, among those who were tortured, 'Ammar,
9ohayb, Abu Fokayhah, Bilal, 'Amir b. Fohayrah, " and many other Musal-
mans." To them alludes the verse of the Qoran, 16, 111," Those who emigrate
after they have had a hard trial."
(3.) His name and genealogy are, Abu Osamah Zayd b. .ffarithah b. SharaAyl —
[Ibn Ishaqandlbn Hisham insert here " b. Ka'b"] — b. 'Abdal-'Ozziib. Amry-1-
Qays b. 'Amir b. al-No'man b. 'Amir b. 'Abd Wodd b. 'Awf b. Kinanah
t— [Ibn Hisham inserts " b. Bakr"] — b. 'Awf b. 'Odzrah b. Zayd al-Lat b. Rofay-
dah b. Thawrb. Kalb b. Wabarah b. Taghlib b. i/olwan b. 'Amran b. AlAaf b.
Qodftd'ah. Thus the genealogy runs in Waqidy and in Ibn Hisham. In Nawa
wy, p. 260, it differs considerably from it, but is certainly less correct. They
all agree that he was a Kalbite ; and this is important for our subject.

160 ZAYD B. HAKITHAH.
a' ah tribes, and the greater part of which professed the
Christian rehgion.1 Waqidy says, that one day he went with
his mother on a visit to her own tribe the Ma'nites. They
were overtaken on the road by robbers of the tribe al-Qayn
b. iJabs,*1 and Zayd was carried away as a captive into
Sham, which implies both Syria and Arabia Petrea. Subse
quently flakym b. .Hlzam bought him with other slaves,
and gave him to his aunt Khadyjah, because he was a most
excellent attendant. This was after she had married MoAam
mad. Her husband took a liking to him, and she made a pre
sent to him of the slave. The prophet gave him his nurse
Omm Ayman, who must then have been about forty years of
age, in marriage ; and before he received the first revelation
he gave him his freedom, and adopted him as his son ; aud
so great was his affection for Zayd that he is called al-ffibb,
or the beloved of the prophet.3 There can be little doubt
that Zayd had been brought up in the Christian faith. He
was born in a Christian tribe, and came from a Christian
country; for the inhabitants of Syria and Arabia Petrea
then professd that rehgion. The intimacy which subsisted
(1.) Ibn Qotaybah, in the chapter on tbe religions of Arabia before MoAam
mad, says — ' ' The Christian religion prevailed among the Raby'ah tribes, among
the Ghassanites, and among some of the Qodha'ah tribes and Kalbites." Ibn
Sa'yd apud Qalqashandy, Nihdyat alarab, says with reference to his own time,
" The remnants of the Kalb tribe are now living in great numbers on the straits
of Constantinople. Some of them are Musalmans, and some are Christians."
The position of the Kalbites throws much light on their religion and social condi
tion. It appears from Waqidy that they were not far from the Ma'n, which was
one of the Tayy tribes. These occupied the mountain of Shammar, which is cal
led by poets " The two hills of the Tayyites." It would therefore appear that the
Kalbites resided in the north west of Arabia ; and we may be justified in identi
fying them with the Colpitse of Strabo, who lived along tbe mercantile road from
Babylonia to Syria. The tribes of those parts of Arabia were all Christian before
MoAammad. (2.) Ibn Qotaybah mentions the al-Qayn among the Qodha'ah tribes, but gives
no genealogy. It is likely that al-Qayn b. Habs is a mistake for al-Qayn b.
Yasr. If this is the case the genealogy of the tribe runs : al Qayn (i. e. the
smith ; the name of the patriarch was al-No'man) b. Yasr b. Shay' Allah — [Qal
qashandy writes Shay' al-Lat]— b. Asad b. Wabarab b. Taghlib b. .Holwaa
b. 'Amran b. AlAaf b. Qodha'ah.
(3.) Ibn IsAaq.

BILAL. 161
between him and the prophet; the circumstance that some au
thors assert that he embraced the Islam before 'Alyy, though
the latter avers that he used to say prayers with MoAammad
seven years before other converts — that is to say, long before
he assumed his office; and above all, the palpable attempts of
Musalman writers to mystify his early history, lead us to sus
pect that he had a great share in originating the new doctrine.
Waqidy says, that flakym b. Hizwoa bought him at 'Okatz, and
omits mentioning that he had come from a Christian country ;
but he admits that he was of the Kalb tribe. And Nawawy
states that he was only eight years of age when Khadyjah
bought him; but he contradicts himself; for he admits that he
soon after married Omm Ayman; it is moreover certain that he
was upwards of fifty four years of age when he was killed, and
his death took place in A. H. 8. He must therefore have been
twenty- two years of age when Khadyjah married MoAammad,
and he came into her possession after her marriage. Nawawy
can have no other object in deviating from the truth than to
make his readers beheve that, though Zayd had been born of
Christian parents, and came from a Christian country, he
could not have been initiated into our faith, owing to his youth.
Another slave, who early acknowledged MoAammad as a
prophet, was Bilal.1 He was born in servitude at Makkah ;
but his father KabaA was an Abyssinian, and in all likelihood
a Christian.*1 Bilal was the favorite servant of his master; but
drew the full measure of his wrath upon himself when he re
nounced idolatry and worshipped the one God. This happened
before MoAammad assumed his office ;** for Bilal, as we have
(1.) " One tradition says that the first woman who believed in MaAammad was
Khadyjah, and the first freed-man was Zayd, and after him Bilal." Syrati Kd-
zaruny. (2.) According to one tradition in Waqidy, Bilal was a native of the Sarat or
highlands between al-2ayif and Yaman. This however is contradicted on the
most positive proofs by Ibn Qotaybah, and by Waqidy himself. Bilal died at
Damascus in A. H. 20, at the age of 60.
(3.) Abyiiry. This statement is confirmed by Ibn IsAaq, who says that Wa-

162 JABR AND YASAR.
seen above, was a Musalman before the prophet himself.
'Omar entertained so high an opinion of him that he called
him one of the leaders of the Faithful.1 As soon as the pro
phet received the first revelation he believed in him, and was
one of the first six men who publicly professed their faith.
Jabr, a Christian, of whom it is said that he taught Mo
Aammad the Scriptures, (see p. 99), was equally an early
convert to the Islam ; but being tortured he denied his faith,
until his master al-fladhramy came himself to the conviction
of the truth of the doctrine of the prophet ; and they now
both joined his standard.'1 The name of Yasar, who is
mentioned along, with Jabr, as having taught the Scriptures
to MoAammad, does not appear among his followers. He
was probably dead ; but we find among them his daughter
Fokayhah, her husband Hattab, her two brothers-in-law Hi-
t\b% and Ma'mar, and the wife of the former.
Another Christian, who early embraced the Islam, was £o-
hayb Biimy, or the Eoman. He had been brought up in the
Greek territory, and probably born there. His descendants
asserted that he was a native of the Greek empire ; that he
ran away from his home, came to Makkah, and placed himself
under the protection of 'Abd Allah b. Jod'an, with whom he
remained till his (Ibn Jod' an' s) death.4 The Arabic language
and manners became so familiar5 to him, that he passed for an
Arab ; and it was probably this circumstance which gave rise to
the story, that he was a native of the tribe al-Namir b. Qasif ;

raqah was alive when Bilal was tortured. As Waraqah died before MoAammad
assumed his office, he must have been tortured the first time when he renounced
idolatry. (1.) '"Omar used to say, Abu Bakr is our leader (Sayyid), and he has manu-
mitted our leader, meaning Bilal." — Waqidy, fol. 234.
(2.) Zamakhshary, Kashshdf, 16, 108.
(3.) Hatib b. al-.ffarith b. Ma'mar b. Habyb b. Wahb b. iJodzafah b. JomaA.
riuj w j7tf ^Tafim8h' a "avgnter of al-Majallal b. 'Abd Allah b. Aby Qays b.
Abd Wodd b. Nacr b. Malik b. //isl b. 'Amir b. Lowayy.
(4.) Waqidy, fol. 223.
(5.) Ibn Qotaybah.

C0HAYB. 163
that his father was governor for the Chozroes of al-Obollah,
and resided at Thany near Mosul ; and that Cohayb was during
his infancy carried away by the Greeks, who had taken his fa
ther's castle by surprise ; and that he was brought up in the
Greek dominions. There he was bought by Kalb, who took
him to Makkah and sold him to 'Abd Allah b , Jod'an as a
slave. Subsequently he was manumitted by his master, but
he remained under his protection. He joined the new sect
when the prophet was in the house of al-Arqam ; and though
upwards of thirty persons had preceded him in acknowledg
ing MoAammad as a messenger of God, he was one of the
first six persons who publicly professed their faith. As he
was without protection, the Qorayshites attempted by tor
tures to make him deny his conviction, but in vain ; he re
mained staunch. He had acquired considerable wealth at
Makkah ; and therefore, when he intended to emigrate to
Madynah with the prophet, the Qorayshites reproached hira
for his ingratitude, saying, " Thou earnest to this city as a
poor man ; now, as thou hast made thy fortune, thou leavest
us. We shall not permit thee to act in this manner." And
they forcibly detained him. If you wish, he replied, I will
leave all that I have behind. They consented to his emigrat
ing on these terms, and he joined MoAammad. When the
prophet heard of the sacrifice which he had made, he said,
£ohayb is the gainer in the bargain ; Cohayb is the gainer.1
(I.) Beside the above, the following slaves or foreigners are mentioned among
the earliest converts : J . 'Amir b. Fohayrah, whose genealogy is not known. He
was probably not of Arabic origin. He was originally a slave of Tofayl b. al-Zfarith,
a maternal brother of 'A'yishah. 'Amir embraced the Islam before MoAammad
went into the house of al-Arqam, and being tortured for it Abii Bakr bought and
manumitted him. He was killed A. H. 4, at an age of 40 years. — Waqidy, fol.
223. 2. 'Amir (b. Raby'ah b. Malik b. 'Amir?) b. Raby'ah the younger b. i/ojayr
b. Salaman b. Malik b. Raby'ah the elder b. Rofaydah b 'Abd Allah, who is called
'Anz, b. Wdyil b. Qasi< b. Hanab (Hinb ?) b. Afi;a b. Do'my b. Jadylah. He
was adopted as a son by 'Amir b. KhaWab, and embraced the Islam before the
prophet went into the house of al-Arqam. 3. Yasir b. 'Amir b. Malik of the
'Ans tribe, which is one of the MadAij tribes, and consequently related to the Mo-
rad tribe. He came from Yaman to Makkah, and placed himself under the pro-

164

AMR B. ABASAH.

The first convert of MoAammad from among those men,
who had been sceptics before he received revelations, was
'Amr b.- 'Abasah, of the Solaym tribe.1 He relates him
self what caused him to doubt the truth of idolatry. An
Arabic tribe, which was in the habit of worshipping stones
happened to be without a god. One of their chiefs went in
search of one. He found four stones which he admired, and
selected the finest of them as a god for his clan to worship.
Ashe proceeded, he found a much finer stone ; and he took
it, and cast away the former. Before he reached home, he
met with a stone, which pleased him better still, and he again
enchanged the former for it. This, he says, convinced me
that idols can do neither good nor harm. Later authors say,
tection of Abii Ubdzayfah b. al-Moghyrah Makhzumy, and married Somayyah a
slave woman of Abii Hodzayfah. She gave birth by him to 'Ammar, to whom
Abu iZodzayfah gave his freedom. When the Islam was promulgated Yasir, his two
sons 'Ammar and 'Abd Allah, and his wife Somayyah embraced it, and the latter
was put to death by Abii Jahl. When she was put to death she was no longer
the wife of Yasir but of al-Azraq a Greek slave, who was probably a Christian.
Al-Azraq was at al-Tayif, and joined the prophet at the siege of that city. 4. Khab-
bab b. al-Aratt b. Jonadilah b. Sa'd b. Khozaymnh b. Ka'b of the tribe of Sa'd
b. Zayd Manah b. Tamym. He was sold as a captive at Makkah, and bought by
Omm Anmar a Khoza'ahite woman, who was a confederate of 'Awfb. 'Abd 'Awf
a Zohrite. Some however say that he was born at Makkah. It does not appear
when he obtained his freedom. He was the sixth convert to the Islam. 5. 'Abd
Allah b. Mas'ud b. Ghafil b. i?abyb b. Shamkh b. Far b. Makbziim b. yaAilah
b. Kahil (Kahal?) b. al-i?arith b. Tamym b. Sa'd b. Hodzayl, a confederate of
'Abd Allah b. al--Harith b. Zohrah. He was one of the first eighteen converts.
He was well informed, a pleasant companion, and his attachment to tbe prophet
was boundless. He was mostly about his person, and had charge on his journeys
of his toilet bag, (see p. 88), slippers, &c. He collected, previous to the flight,
what had been revealed of the Qoran. The mother of 'Abd Allah was equally in
constant attendance on the prophet, and they were like his domestic servants.
6. Mas'ud b. Raby'ah al-Qary b. 'Amr b. Sa'd b. 'Abd al-'Ozza b. Himal b. Ghalib
b. MoAallim b. 'A'yidhah b. Sobay' b. al-Hun b. Khozaymah was a confedeiate
of the Zohrah family, and embraced the Islam before MoAammad was in the
house of al-Arqam.
(1.) 'Amr b. 'Abasah b. 'Amir — [in the 'Oyun al-athris the name of Monqilin
the place of 'Amir] — b. Khalid b. Ghadhirah b. 'Attab (or 'Affan) b. 'Amr al-Qays
b. Kohthah b. Solaym b. Manciir b. 'Ikrimah b. Khacafah b. Qays 'Aylan b.
Modbar. According to a tradition in Moslim he was the fourth who embraced
the new faith. He wished to remain with the prophet at Makkah, but was re
commended by him to return to his tribe until he might hear that he had left
Makkah. Ibn 'Abasah therefore joined him at Madynah after the battle of the
ditch. He and Abu Dzarr had the same mother, but different fathers. Her
name was Ramlah. Ibn 'Abasah died at .ffimc in Syria.— Nawawy, Biogr. Diet.
p. 480,

ABU nZARR, GHIFARY. 105
that he communicated his doubts to a Jew, and he informed
him that a prophet would arise in Arabia, who would lead
him to the true faith ; and he directed him to go to Makkah.
'Amr followed his advice, and arrived there just when Mo
Aammad received the first revelations. When 'Amr came to
MoAammad he asked him, Who are thy followers ? He said,
A free man, meaning Abu Bakr, and a slave. Well, rejoin
ed 'Amr, this being the case, I form one-fourth of your com
munity.1 The conversion of Abu Dzarr Ghifary,*1 one of the most
thinking men of the new sect, of whom 'Alyy used to say, that
he was covetous of knowledge, is contemporaneous with that
of 'Amr b. 'Abasah. They were half brothers, having had
the same mother. These two men remained but a short time
at Makkah. They returned to their tribes ; but rejoined the
prophet at Madynah. Abii Dzarr had equally renounced
idolatry before MoAammad;3 and he was remarkable for
his abstemiousness, and his contempt for the goods and
pleasures of the world. He considered it sinful to accumu
late more than was absolutely necessary for sustaining life.
'Obayd Allah b. JaAsh, a cousin of MoAammad,4 of whom it
(1.) This answer is in Ibn Qotaybah and Nawawy ; but the former ascribes it
to 'Amr b. 'Abasah, and the latter to Abii Dzarr. The story of 'Ami's com
municating his doubts to a Jew I found in Abyary only.
(2. Abii Dzarr Jondob b. Jonadah b. Sofyan b. 'Obayd b, al-Rafy'ah b.
.ffarram b. Ghifar b. Molayl b. Dhamrah b. Bakr b. 'Abd Manah b. Kinanah
b. Khozaymah. Abu Dzarr died at al-Rabadzab A. H. 32. — Nawawy, Biogr.
Diet. p. 714.
(3.) It is stated in the Insdn al-' Oyun that Abii Dzarr used to say prayers
three years before the mission of MoAammad. Bokhary says that as soon as he
heard that a prophet had risen at Makkah, he sent his brothers to make inquiries,
and subsequently he went himself ; and after he had satisfied himself that he was
really a prophet, he exclaimed at the Ka'bah, " I declare there is no God but the
God, and MoAammad is the Messenger of the God." But according to other ac
counts MoAammad recommended him to conceal his faith, and to return to his
country. The account of Bokhary, like many others of his traditions, is certainly
a lie. It is stated, that he was the first who greeted the prophet with the words
Salam 'alayka. This became henceforth the form of salutation usual among
Musalmans. (4.) 'Obayd Allah b. JaAsh b. Riyab b. Ghanm (Ya'mor ?) b. £abarah b.
Morrah b. Kathyr b. Ghanm b. Duddn b. Asad b. Khozaymah. His mother

166 'OBAYD ALLAH B. JAHSH.
has been said, in p. 40, that he renounced publicly the reli
gion of his fathers before the mission of the prophet, was one
of his earliest followers ; and with him his two brothers, his
three sisters,1 and their husbands,*1 became converts; and before
the hijrah the whole of the family of Dudan, to which 'Obayd
Allah belonged, embraced the new faith. 'Obayd Allah pub
licly professed his new religion ; and with a view of avoiding
the persecutions of the Qorayshites he took flight to Abyssi
nia. There he embraced the Christian religion, aud died in
it. His brothers and sisters kept their faith secret up to the
sixth year of the mission ; but they remained staunch ; and
when the hijrah took place the whole family of Dudan emi
grated to Madynah and locked up their houses.3
was Omaymah, a daughter of 'Abd al-MoWalib. He was therefore a cousin of
MoAammad. The Mme when he and his relations embraced the new religion is
not specified, but it is said by Waqidy and Nawawy, p. 337, that they were con
verts of MoAammad before he went into the house of al-Arqam, and therefore
very few can have preceded them.
(1.) His brothers were 'Abd Allah the Mutilated, who was killed at the battle
of OAad at an age of forty years, and 'Abd. His sisters were Zaynab, a wife of
MoAammad, Omm .ffabybah, and ffamnah, (see Nawawy, Biogr. Diet. p. 337.)
According to the Qdmus p. 174, ffamnah was a slave woman, and had to un
dergo tortures for having embraced the islam ; but was bought by Abu Bakr and
set free.
(2.) Moy'ab al-Khayr b. 'Omayr b. Hashim b. 'Aod Manaf b. 'Abd al-dar
b. Qocayy was the husband of ffamnah. He formally joined the new sect when
MoAammad was in the house of al-'Arqam, but he concealed his faith for fear of
his mother and of his family. After some time, however, it became known to
them, and thev confined him until he took refuge in Abyssinia. His parents
were rich, and his mother was the most elegant and well dressed woman in Mak.
kah. Moc'ab was a very handsome young man, and brought up in every luxury;
but when he came back from Abyssinia he was in the most deplorable condi
tion, and had to hear the most insulting language from his mother. He bore
his misery with fortitude. MoAammad sent him subsequently in advance to Ma
dynah, to instruct the inhabitants in the Qoran. He was killed in the battle of
OAad, in which he fought with the utmost bravery, in A. H. 3, at the age of 40
years. He died in the greatest poverty.
(3.) The Dudan family was in confederation with ffarb b. Omayyah and his
son Abu Sofyan. The members of the Dudan family who emigrated to Mady
nah, besides the family of JaAsh, are Okashah b. Mihi;an b. fforthan b. Qays
b. Morrah b. Kathyr b. Ghanm ; his brother Abu Sanan b. MiAcan ; his son
Sanan b. Aby Sanan ; Shoja' b. Wahb b. Raby'ah b. Asad b. 9ohayb b. Malik
b. Kathyr b. Ghanm ; Arbad b. ffomayrah ; Ma'bad b. Nobatah ; Sa'yd b.
Roqaysh; Yazyd b. Roqaysh ; MoAriz b. Nadhlah b. 'Abd Allah b.'Morrah b.
Kathyr b. Ghanm ; Qays b. Jabir ; 'Amr b. MiAfan b. Mdlik ; Cafivdn b. 'Amr •
his brother Thaqf or Tliiqaf ; Raby'ah b. Aktham ; and al-Zobayr b. 'Obayd

ZAYD THE SCEPTIC. 167
Zayd, the sceptic, who has been mentioned above, in p. 41,
died five years before MoAammad received the first revelations,
and was buried at the foot of mount iTara.1 It was he who
prepared the way for the prophet. " Zayd," says a tradition
in Waqidy, fol. 255, "was in search of the true religion.
He disapproved of the tenets of the Christians and Jews, as well
as of idolatry and the worshiping of stones ; and he publicly at
tacked the religion of his countrymen, and would not worship
their gods, nor eat the flesh of animals which had been sacri
ficed to idols. * He said to 'Amir b. Raby'ah, I have separated
from my tribe, and I follow the religion of Abraham; and I wor
ship the God whom he and his son Ishmael worshipped. They
were praying towards this Qiblah (the Ka'bah), and I expect
that a prophet will arise from among the children of Ishmael ;
and though I fear I shall not live to see him, I believe in
him ; and I bear witness that he is a prophet. If thou, O
'Amir, livest long enough thou wilt see him." — " The prophet
one day met Zayd, before his mission, in the lower part of
BaldaA ;* and he offered him a dish of meat. Zayd refused
to partake of it, saying that he would not eat the flesh of an
animal which had been sacrificed to idols, or which had been
slaughtered without the name of God being invoked upon it.
He used to blame the Qorayshites for the manner in which
they slaughtered animals, saying, The sheep has been created
by God, and fed by God ; for it is he who sends water from
heaven, and produces grass from the earth. Yet you slaugh
ter it invoking another name than His. You thus neglect to
acknowledge His bounty, and you offend Him."3 " Zayd b.
'Amr went to Syria to enquire after the religion, and to fol
low it. He met a learned Jew, and asked him respecting
his creed, saying, Perhaps I shall embrace your faith. The
(1.) Two traditions in Waqidy.
(2.) " BaldaA is a wady before (east of?) Makkah, or a hill on the road to
Joddah." Qdmis, p. 267.
(3.) A tradition of 'Abd Allah b. 'Omar, in Bokhary and Waqidy.

168 MEANING OF ISLAM AND HANYF.
Jew answered, Thou canst not follow our faith without load
ing a share of the wrath of God upon thee. Zayd rejoined, I
avoid nothing more than the wrath of God, and I will as long
as I can take care not to load it upon myself; but point out
to me what the true religion is, if it be not Judaism. The Jew
answered, I know nothing better than that thou shouldst be
a iJanyf. What is the ilanyf ? asked Zayd. It is the religion
of Abraham ; he was neither a Jew nor a Christian ; he wor
shipped nothing but God. After this Zayd met a learned
Christian. He asked him the same questions, *and received
the same answers. When Zayd had left them and was alone,
he raised his hands aud exclaimed, O God, I bear witnesB
that I follow the religion of Abraham."1 Every word res
pecting Zayd is important ; and every word which he uttered
we find again and again repeated in the Qoran. Like Zayd,
MoAammad professes to be a H&wji, and to follow the religion
of Abraham, of whom he says, "Abraham was not a Jew nor
a Christian ; but he was a iJanyf, a Musalman, and not one
of those who associate false gods with God."*1 In another
passage of the Qoran, 30, 29, he calls this the natural reh
gion; or, as he expresses it, the religion made by God, to
which man has been created.
It has been observed above, that the term Islam, which is
the name most frequently applied by MoAammad and his fol
lowers to their faith, had be:n borrowed by them from Zayd;
and it appears, from the tradition just quoted, that the word
iJanyf, by which the new sect frequently distinguished itseK
from the followers of other religions, had equally been used
by that sceptic. It may not be out of place here to explain
the proper meaning of these two terms. Islam is the verbal
noun, or infinitive, and Moslim, which has been corrupted
into Musalman, is the participle of the causative form of salm,

(1.) Ibidem, on the same authority.
(2.) Qordn 3, 60.

MEANING OF ISLj(m AND HANYF. 169
which means immunity, peace. The signification of Islam is,
therefore, to make peace, or to obtain immunity,1 either by
compact, or by doing homage to the stronger, and acknow
ledging his superiority, and surrendering to him, the object
of the dispute. It also means simply to surrender.*1 In the
Qoran it signifies in most instances to do homage to God, to
acknowledge Him as our absolute Lord to the exclusion of
idols.3 Sometimes, however, it occurs in that book in its
technical meaning, as the name of a religion.
The root from which Aanyf is derived means generally, to
turn from bad to good> or from good to bad ; and it seems,
therefore, to answer to conversion and perversion. Al-Raghib
informs us that the Arabs before MoAammad called a man Aa
nyf, who had been circumcised, and who had performed the pil
grimage to the Ka'bah. In the Qoran usually the words " and
he did not associate false gods with the God," are added to
Aanyf by the way of explanation ; and it seems, therefore, to
mean a man who turns, or has been converted from idolatry
to the worship of the true God. That this is the signification
of the word is clearly demonstrated by the following passage,
Surah 22, 31 and 32, " Avoid the abominations of the idols,
and avoid false doctrines ; be Aanyfs (converts) to the God,
and do not associate false gods with Him."
(1.) Al-Raghib, Diet, to the Qordn, explains Islam by "entering into salm
(peace) with another, so that both parties may enjoy immunity from each other's
harm." He also brings islam into connexion with salam, which means to give
money in advance on the harvest, which is to be delivered on a fixed date. Per
haps we might push the analogy of the meaning of salam and islam farther than
this author, and suppose that the Arabs conceived that religion is a compact with
God, in virtue of which we earn everlasting happiness in our future life by the
good works done in this.
(2.) It has this meaning in the following sentence of the Qoran, 3, 18. " I
have surrendered my face ^i. e. myself) to God."
(3.) That this is the sense of the word i9lam is particularly clear from the fol
lowing verse of the Qoran, 6, 14. "Will you acknowledge a lord besides the
God ; besides Him who is the Creator of heaven and earth ; besides Him who
provides us with nourishment and requires no nourishment himself ? I have orders
to be the first who does Him homage (i. e. acknowledges him as the Lord) ; be
not of those who associate false gods with him."
V

170 SA YD B. ZAYD.
Sa'yd, the son of Zayd,1 and his disciples, were among the
first converts of MoAammad ; but some of them kept their
faith secret out of fear of the 'Adyy family, with which they
were united, until 'Omar, who was the most energetic man
of the tribe, embraced the Islam. Among the disciples of
Zayd was 'Amir b. llaby'ah,*1 who joined the party of Mo
Aammad before he entered the house of al-Arqam, the four
sons of al-Bokayr, (or Abu-Bokayr"1), and probably also Wa-
qirl,4 Abu Bakr and MoAammad himself.
The first believers in MoAammad after his family, and those
who contributed most towards the progress of the new doc
trine, were Abii Bakr and his friends. Abu Bakr' was a
wealthy merchant of the Tayni family. His straightforward
ness in his dealings, and his benevolence, gained him the
(1.) Sa'yd b. Zayd b. 'Amr b. Nofayl was a nephew of 'Omar b. al.Khaf-
tib. He embraced the Islam before MoAammad entered the house of al-Arqam.
He was one of the most sincere and devoted followers of MoAammad, and died
at 'Aqyq in A. II. 50 or 5 1 , at the age of 70 years.
(2.) 'Amir b. Raby'ah 'Arzy. His genealogy runs, according to Ibn al-Kalby
apud 'Oydn alathr, 'Amir b. Raby'ah the younger b. ffojayr b. Salaman b. Ma
lik b. Raby'ah the elder b. Rofaydah b. 'Abd Allah, who was called 'Anz, b. Wa-
bil b. Qasitf b. Hinb b. Afca b. Do' nay b. Jadylah b. Asad b. Raby'ah b.
Nizar. (3.) It is stated by Waqidy, fol. 195, that the whole of the family of al-Bokayr
(or Abu-1-Bokayr — there is some doubt regarding his name) embraced the Islam
before the flight, and emigrated to Madynah. Four sons of al-Bokayr are named,
viz. Ghafil, whose name MoAammad changed into 'Aqil, Khalid, Jyas and
'Amir. The genealogy of al-Bokayr is b. 'Abd Yalyl b. Nashib b. Ghorrah (some
write 'Ayazah, and some Ghyrah)b. Sa'd b. Layth b. Bakr b. Bakrb. Abd Manah
b. Kinanah. He was a confederate of Nofayl b. 'Abd al-'Ozza, the father of the
eccentric Zayd, mentioned in p. 41 ; and his four sons were the first who swore
fidelity to MoAammad in the house of al-Arqam, 'Aqil was killed at B«dr in A.
II. 3, at an age af 43 years ; and Khalid was killed in A. H. 4, at an age of 34
years. (4.) Waqid b. 'Abd Allah b. 'Abd Manaf b. 'Ozayr (in Waqidy 'Azyz) b. Tha'
labah b. Yarbu' b. ffantzalah b. Malik b. Zayd Manah (Yazyd Manah ?) b. Ta
mym was sold by his own relatives to al-Kha«ab the son of Nofayl and father of
'Omar, who subsequently manumitted him and adopted him as his son. Waqid
swore fidelity to MoAammad before he entered the house of al-Arqam, and died in
the beginning of the Khalifat of 'Omar.
(5.) Abii Bakr means the father of the virgin. He was called so because his
daughter 'Ayishah was the only woman whom MoAammad married as a maiden ;
all his other wives had been married before. The name of Abu Bakr before the
Islam was 'Abd al-Ka' bah ; the prophet changed it into 'Abd Allah. His sob
riquet was 'Atyq, the old or excellent. His father's name was Abu QoAafah
'Othman. He was a Uornyshite of the Taym family. — Ibn Qotaybah.

ABIT BAKR. 171
confidence and affections of his fellow-citizens. He was a
pleasant companion, and possessed an unusual share of com
mon sense ; but he was defective in originality of ideas. His
energy was the result of cool reflection and a conviction of
right, and his perseverance was neither heightened into impe
tuosity by sudden impulses, nor ever damped by disappoint
ments. He was staunch as a friend, and made by nature to
work out the ideas of others. The originality and sublimity
of the genius of MoAammad, who was only two years older
than Abu Bakr, fettered him from his childhood to his per
sou ; and owing to his unlimited devotion to him he is called
Ciddyq, or the bosom friend of the prophet. It is stated
that he believed in the unity of God previous to the mission
of the prophet;1 and many authors assert that he was the
first to believe in .him after Khadyjah. The prophet said,
All my converts hesitated for some while before they acknow
ledged my mission, with the exception of Abu Bakr. He
was to all appearance the confident and friend of the pro
phet, with whom he discussed, during the transition period,
his doubts and speculations. When the fit of MoAammad
gave a supernatural character to his ideas on religion, Abii
Bakr must have felt as much satisfaction, and he must have
been as ready to consider him as a prophet, as Khadyjah and
the rest of his family. The faith of Abii Bakr is, in my opi
nion, the greatest guarantee of the sincerity of MoAammad
in the beginning of his career ; and he did more for the
(1.) Tanqyh of Ibn al-Jawzy. In a fragment of a commentary on Bokhary (?)
in my possession an ancient verse is quoted to prove that Abii Bakr believed in
the unity of God before the mission. According to the Insdn al'oyim it was
BaAyra who foretold to Abu Bakr the advent of a prophet. In the same work it
is stated, on the authority of Dzohaby, " Waraqah, and persons like him, as for
instance BaAyra, were people of the fatrah, aud not of the islam ;" and lower
down it is said, " people of the fatrah are those who died after MoAammad had
received the first revelation (nabuwah), and before be assumed his office (risalah),
This is the opinion of Dzohaby. The prophet assumed his office after the words
" O thou wrapped up" was revealed tohim ; and the first revelation was " Read."
This goes far to confirm what has been said in page 80, and in pages 97 et seqq.

172 EARLY CONVERTS.
success of the Islam than the prophet himself. His having
joined MoAammad lent respectability to his cause; he spent
seven eighths of his property, which amounted to 40,000 dir-
hams, or a thousand pounds, when he embraced the new
faith, towards its promotion at Makkah ; and he continued
the same course of liberality at Madynah ; and six of the ear
liest and most talented and respectable converts, who joined
MoAammad, did so at his persuasion ; and they had been
evidently prepared by him long before the mission. They
are 'Othman b. 'Affan, a cousin of MoAammad, who was
subsequently elected his third successor ;** al-Zobayr, a ne
phew of Khadyjah and a cousin of the prophet;*1 'Abd al-
BaAman b. 'Awf,3 an active and wealthy merchant of the Zoh
rah family, who was only ten years younger than the pro
phet ;4 Sa'd b. Aby-1-Waqqac, a cousin of MoAammad, who
was only sixteen years of age;*5 and ZalAah." To these may
be added the name of Khalid b. Sa'yd, who was the fifth con
vert.' These again induced their friends to acknowledge
(1.) 'Othman b. 'Affan, a cousin of MoAammad by his mother Arwa, a daugh
ter of Baydha a daughter of 'Abd al-Mo«alib. He married successively two
daughters of the prophet, and died as the third Khalif in A. H. 35.
(2.) Al-Zobayr b. al-'Awwam b. Khowayled. This Khowayled was the father of
Khadyjah. Al-Zobayr's mother was 9affyyah, a daughter of 'Abd al-Motffadib,
and therefore a sister of MoAammad's father. Al-Zobayr was killed in A. H. 36,
at an age of 67 years.
(3.) 'Abd al-RaAraan b. 'Awf was a man of great talents and activity. He
spent his money liberally in charity, and in promoting the cause of the Islam.
He died in A. H. 32.
(4.) Sa'd a son of Abii Waqqac;, who was a brother of 'Aminah the mother of
MoAammad. He was a Zohrite ; and according to some he was the fifth, and ac
cording to others the seventh convert. He died in A. H. 55.
(5.) TalAah b. 'Obayd Allah, of the Taym family, was a relation of Abii Bakr.
MoAammad called him the Good TalAah (TalAah al-khayr.)
(6.) It would appear that he believed in the immortality of the soul before
MoAammad, for it is said that he was induced to follow him hy a dream, in which
he saw himself on the brink of hell fire and on the point of falling into it. His
father attempted to save him, but in vain. Then came MoAammad and took him
by the girdle, and he felt himself in safety. The example of Khalid was early
followed by his brother 'Amr, and subsequently by Aban another brother of his.
Khalid was much ill-treated by his father for his faith, and took refuge with Mo
Aammad, with whom he lived until he took flight to Abyssinia. He was the first
who em igrated to that country.
(7.) Waqidy informs us in fol. 256, (also Nawawy, Biogr. Diet. p. 414, quoting

EARLY CONVEUTS. 173
MoAammad as a prophet ;' so that the group of early con
verts, which was headed by Abii Bakr, may be estimated at
Ibn Sa'd, i. e. Waqidy), that along with 'Abd-al-Rahman b. 'Awf four other
men went to MoAammad and became his followers befol-e he went into the house
of al-Arqam, viz. 'Obaydah b. al-Harith b. al-Mo^alib b. 'Abd Manaf b.
Qocayy ; Abii Salamah, a Makhzumite ; 'Obaydah b. al- JarriiA, the Trust-wor
thy, of the banii Fihr ; and 'Othman b. al-Matz'un, a JomaAite. The example
of 'Othman b. Mat'ziin was followed, before MoAammad went into the house of
al-Arqam, by his son al-Sayib", by his brothers 'Abd Allah and Qodamah, and
by Ma'mar b. al-ffarith a JomaAite, who was 'Othman's grandson by his daugh
ter Qotaylah. 'Othman was of a reflective and melancholy disposition, and ab
stained from the use of wine during the time of paganism. He was fond of
ascetic exercises, and would have lived in solitude and abstained from women had
MoAammad permitted him to do so, " One day the wife of 'Othman b. Matz'un
paid a visit to the wives of the prophet, and she found them well attired and com
fortable ; and they said to her how thou dost look ! (how ill dressed thou art I)
yet there is no man richer among all the Qoraysh tribe than tby husband. She
said, We do not enjoy life ; at night he prays, and in the day he fasts. They re
ported this to the prophet. When he met 'Othman, he said, Thou hast an ex
ample in me. 'Othman answered, By my father and my mother, what doest
thou mean ? The prophet replied, Thou fastest during the day, and prayest du
ring the night. 'Othman said, Yes ; I do so. But you must not do it, Said the
prophet ; thy eye has claims upon thee, thy body has claims upon thee, and thy
family has claims upon thee. Fray and sleep, fast and eat. When 'Othman's
wife came again to MoAammad's house, she was perfumed like a bride. Well
done ! said the wives of the prophet. She replied, We are now living like other
people." 'Othman died in the third year after the hijrah. It is stated by Waqidy,
fol. 196, that the whole of the family of Matz'un, men and women, were con
verted before the hijrah, and emigrated to Madynah.
The example of 'Obaydah b. al-ffarith was followed by his two brothers — al-
Tofayl, who died in A. H. 32, at an age of 70 ; and al ffocayn, who was married
to a niece of Khadyjah, and died in A. H. 32, a few months after his brother ;
and by his kinsman Mhtah b. Othathah b. 'Abbad b. al Mo«alib, who died in
A. H. 34, or according to Nawawy in 37, at the age of 56. Misteh was, by his
mother, a relation of Abi Bakr.
(1.) The following were originally the trades of those men, who rose to high
importance through the introduction of the islam : " Abii Talib sold perfumes and
sometimes wheat ; Abii Bakr, 'Othman, TalAah and 'Abd al-RaAman b. 'Awf were
merchants (shop-keepers) ; Sa'db. Aby Waqqac manufactured arrows ; al-'Awwam
the father of al-Zobayr was a grain merchant [according to one copy he was a tay-
lor] ; al-Zobayr, 'Amr b. al-'Aij, and 'Amr b. Korayz were butchers ; al-'A?? b.
Hisham, the brother of Abd Jahl, and al-Walyd b. al-Mozgyrah were blacksmiths ;
'Oqbahb. Aby Mo'ay* was a wine merchant ; 'Othman b. TalAah, to whom MoAam
mad gave the keys of the Ka'bah, and Qays b. Makhramah were taylors ; Abu So
fyan b. ffarb traded in raisins and red leather (of Yaman manufacture) ; 'Otbah b.
Aby Waqqac was a carpenter ; Omayyah b. Khalaf sold wheat [according to one
copy stone pots] ; 'Abd Allah b. Jo'dan was a coppersmith,— he also kept public
women and sold their children ; al-' Ac b. Wayil the father of 'Amr cured horses and
cameis ; al-Nadhr b. al-ffarith b. Kaldah, and al-ffakam b. Aby-l-'Acc the father
of Marwan, played the harp and sung ; fforayth b. 'Amr the father of 'Amr, Qays
Fihry the father of DhaAAak, Ma'mar b. 'Othman the grand father of 'Omar b. 'Abd
Allah— [according to one copy 'Amr b. 'Obayd Allah] — and Syryn the father of
MoAammad, were equally musicians ; MoAammad the son of Syryn was a merchant.
Abii-1-ffasan Madayny relates, thatYazydb. al-Mohallib had a garden laid out in

17-1 EARLY CONVERTS.
twelve or thirteen men, all of whom were of good family, ac
tive, endowed with extraordinary firmness, energy and ta
lents ; and most of them were set up in business and weal
thy.1 This dozen of men, (to whose number we must add
'Omar), were, as long as MoAammad was alive, his principal
advisers ; and after his death they founded an empire which
surpassed that of the Bomans. Those who call these men hot
headed fanatics must take fanaticism as synonymous with
wisdom and perseverance. We find that in all their ac
tions they were guided by the most consunmate prudence
and by cool reflection ; and their objects were in most cases
noble, and the means which they employed were rarely ob
jectionable. From the preceediug account of early converts, and it em
braces nearly all those who joined MoAammad during the
first six years, it appears that the leading men among them
held the tenets, which form the bas's of the rehgion of the
Arabic prophet, long before he preached them. They were not
his palace in Khorasan. When Qotaybah b. Moslim succeeded'to tbe Government
he put his camels into it. The Marzaban of Marwan said to him, This was a gar
den, and you make a camel-stand of it. Qotaybah answered, My father was a
camel driver, and tbe father of Yazyd was a gardener. Mojammi' the ascetic
was a weaver ; Ayytib sold morocco leather, and he is called the leather-seller ;
al-Mosayyab the father of Abii Sa'yd was an oilman ; Maymun b. Mehran was a
merchant ; Malik b. Dynar sold paper and copied books (the Qoran) ; Abii ffa-
nyfah the founder ofa sect was a raw-silk merchant." Ibn Qotaybah, kitdb al-
ma'drif, p. 357.
(1.) " At the hour of prayer MoAammad went out with 'Alyy secretly for fear
of 'Alyy's father Abii Talib ana his other relations, into the narrow vallies
round Makkah to attend to their devotional exercises, and returned in the even
ing. They went on in this manner for some time. Accidentally Abii 7&lib passed
by them whilst they were saying their prayers, and he said to MoAammad, What
is the religion of which as 1 observe thou art a follower ? This, replied the pro
phet, is the religion of God, his angels, and his prophets, and of our father Abra
ham, or something to the same effect. And he continued saying something
to the following effect : God has deputed me as his messenger to his servants.
Thou, O uncle, hast the greatest claims that I should give to thee good advice, and
that I should call thee to the true faith ; embrace it, and assist me in propogating
it. Abu Talib replied, I cannot leave my faith, which is the faith of my fathers -, but
as long as I live, I will protect thee." — 7 abary from Ibn IsAaq and others. —
Henceforth it appears he went (as long as the persecution did not run very high)
to the Ka'bah to say his prayers, as appears from the following tradition.

'oMAlt's INFLUENCE. 175
his tools, but his constituents. He clothed the sentiments,
which he had in common with them, in poetical language ;
and his malady gave divine sanction to his oracles. Even
when he was acknowledged as the messenger of God, 'Omar
had as much or more influence on the development of the Is
lam as MoAammad himself. He sometimes attempted to over
rule the convictions of these men, but he succeeded in very
few instances. The Islam is not the work of MoAammad;
it is not the doctrine of the Impostor ; it embodies the faith
and the sentiments of men who, for their talents and virtues,
must be considered as the most distinguished of their nation,
and who acted under all circumstances so faithful to the spi
rit of the Arabs that they must be regarded as their repre
sentatives. The Islam is therefore the offsping of the spirit
of the time, and the voice of the Arabic nation. And it is
this which made it victorious, particularly among nations
whose habits resemble those of the Arabs, like the Berbers
and Tatars. There is, however, no doubt that the Impostor
has defiled it by his immorality and perverseness of mind,
and that most of the objectionable doctrines are his.
During the first three years MoAammad preached his reli
gion secretly, and he concealed himself with his followers in
the ravines near Makkah to say prayers.1 Besides his own
family, some slaves, and Abu Bakr, none of his followers pro
fessed his faith publicly during this period.*1
(I.) 'Afyf a Kindite, who was a half brother of al-Ashath b. Qays, they both ha
ving had the same mother, said, I was an intimate friend of al-'Abbas b. 'Abd al-
Mottalib, who used lo visit Yaman, and to buy ottar, with a view of selling it again
during the pilgrimage. One day whilst I was in company of al-'Abbas at Mina
(according to two other traditions at tbe Ka'bah) there came a man, made seven
ablutions, stood up and said prayers ; and then came also a woman and a youth, who
did the same. I asked al-'Ab'bas who they were ; and he said, This is my ne
phew MoAammad. He believes that God has sent him as a messenger ; and this
is my nephew 'Ally, who is a follower of MoAammad." Tabary, original text, p.
105, three traditions.
(2.) " 'Ammar b. Yasir said, I saw the prophet when he had no other follow
ers but five slaves, two women and Abu Bakr." A tradition in Moslim. The
names of these persons are mentioned in a note in page 177. We must add to
them the name of 'Alyy.

If 6 OPPOSITION AND RlDldULE.
In a small community like that of Makkah, the fits and
subsequent pretensions of a member of a respectable family
could not fail to create a great sensation. Many young men,
particularly of the poor classes, which are always favorable to
changes, believed in his mission.1 But they were not prepar
ed to undergo martyrdom for the new faith ; and being with
out protection, they deserted him in the hour of trial. They
were seeds fallen upon stony places.
The aristocracy of Makkah first viewed his pretensions with
pity, and contented themselves with ridiculing him. When
they saw him they would say, " Here comes the son of 'Abd
Allah, who brings tidings from heaven." Only a few of them
Went early to extremes and heaped gross insults upon him.*1
The first part of his Creed, " there is but one God," is self-evi
dent ; and to believe the second part " MoAammad is a mes
senger of God" requires no greater stretch of faith than to
consider him possessed by jiuu. Many of them were there-
(1 ) The " prophet called to the. islam publicly and secretly, and such as liked
listened to him from among the young men and weak (unprotected) people. In
this manner the flock of tbe faithful became numerous. Tbe unbelievers among
the Qorayshites did not deny the truth of what he said. When he passed a place
where they were assembled they used to point at him saying, ' The boy of 'Abd
al-Motolib talks from heaven (.inspiration).' Thus matters went on until he
spoke ill of their gods, whom they worshipped besides Him, and declared that
their fathers, who had died disbelieving, were lost ; then they assumed a hostile atti
tude towards him." A tradition of Zohfy in Waqidy. " MoAammad b. Sa'd
says, I asked my father, Was Abu Bakr the first among you who believed ? and he
answered, No : there were more than fifty persons who embraced the islam before
him ; but he was the most distinguished among them." Tabary, p. 111. This
tradition refers to the slaves and foreigners mentioned above, who believed in the
one God before MoAammad.
(2.) In the Kashshaf, 15,95 the following five names are mentioned : al-Walyd
b. al-Moghyrah, al-'A? b. al-Wayil, al-Aswad b. 'Abd Yaghiith, al-Aswad b.
'Abd al-Mo«alib and al-ffarith b. al-Tolaftlah ; they all died previous to the bat-
tie of Badr. According to Waqidy; fol. 38, the most inveterate enemies of the
prophet were Abu Jahl b. Hisham, Abii Lahab b. 'Abd al-MoMalib and 'Oqbah
b. Aby Mo'ay*. Less spiteful were al-Aswad b. 'Abd Yaghiith, al-ffarith b. Qays
b. 'Adyy, who is usually called Ibn Ghayralah, Ghayfalah being his mother, al-
Walyd b. al-Moghyrah, Omayyah and Obay, two sons of Khalaf, Abu Qays b. al-
Fakih b. al-Mcghyrah, al-'Ac b. Wayil, al-Nadr b. al-ffarith, Monabbih b. al-
ffajjaj Zohayr b. Aby Omayyah, al-Sayib b. Cayfy b. 'Ayidz, al-Aswad b. 'Abd
al-Asad, al-'Ao b. Sa'yd b. al-'Ac , al-'Ac b. Hashim, al-ffakam b. 'Aby-l-'Ar,
anil Adyy b. al-ffamra. They were neighbours of MoAammad, and annoyed him
very much ; but he bore their spite with great patience.

JlRST PUBLIC PREACHING. 177
fore half inchned to believe in him.1 The great obstacle
against their entire conversion was, no doubt, their jealousy :
they could not be prevailed upon to acknowledge the man,
who had been compelled to earn his livelihood by tending
their sheep, as their superior.
Finding no serious opposition he resolved, in the fourth
year of his mission, to convey the message which he had re
ceived from heaven in a solemn manner to his countrymen.
The sentiments which animated him, when he hazarded this
step, are expressed in the following words of the Qoran, 15,
94 — 99, in which God admonishes him courageously to fulfil
his call : " Profess publicly the command which God has giv
en to thee ; separate thyself from the polytheists ; we are a
sufficient protection for thee against the scoffers, who acknow
ledge other gods besides the God. They will soon know (i. e.
be punished). We know that thy heart is contracted by what
they say ; but persevere in the praise of God ; be one of those
who prostrate themselves and serve thy Lord until the cer
tainty (death?) may overtake thee." He ascended the Cafa,
a slight eminence in one of the principal streets of Makkah,
(1.) " When MoAammad first publicly preached the Islam, his countrymen did
not separate themselves from him, nor did they oppose him, according to the in
formation which I possess, until he mentioned their gods and condemned them.
But when he did so it created a great sensation : they placed themselves in op
position to him, and his adversaries and enemies made common cause with each
other." — Ibn IsAaq. " At first when he, that is to say, the Messenger of God,
preached to his people tbe doctrine which God had revealed to him, and began to
diffuse the light which God had sent to him, they did not much differ from him,
and they were half inclined to listen to him, (i. e. to follow him ;) but when he
mentioned their Taghiits, shrines of idolatrous worship, there came some men of
the Qoraysh tribe, from Tiyif, who had property. They denied the truth of what
he said; they were very violent against him, and disapproved of his preaching; and
they encouraged their followers to be insolent against bim ; and the generality of
the people left him, and only those whom God preserved remained staunch.
They were few, and matters remained thus, as long as God had decreed that
they should remain. At length the heads of the families of Makkah agreed to
force those of their children, brothers and kinsmen, who followed him, to forsake
the religion of God. This persecution entailed great hardships upon his follow
ers. Some forsook him, but as many as God pleased remained staunch. When
the Moslims were exposed to these persecutions, the prophet ordered them to
emigrate into Abyssinia." A letter of 'Orwah, who died in A. H. 94, to fhe
Khalif 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan, in Tabary'i orig. text, p. 137.
w

178 POLICY OT HIS ENEMIES.
not far from his own house, and exclaimed : " O Qoray
shites !" — Many persons assembled round him to see what he
had to say. He asked them, " If I were to tell you that there
is an army on the other side of that mountain, would you be
lieve me ?" " Yes," they answered, " we do not consider
thee to be a liar." He continued, " I come to you as an ad-
monisher ; I am preceded by a great punishment ; and if you
do not believe in me, a great punishment will befal you. — 0
children of 'Abd al-Motfalib, O children of 'Abd Manaf, 0
children of Zohrah — he enumerated in this manner all the
Qorayshite families — God has commanded me to admonish
my kinsmen ; and I bring no luck for you in this life, nor sal
vation in the life to come, unless you pronounce the words
" There is no God but the God." Abu Lahab said, " Mayst
thou be bereft of the remainder of thy days ! is that what thou
calledst us for ?" On this occasion the Surah was revealed,
which begins, " Destruction on the hands of Abu Lahab."
MoAammad now formally separated himself from the poly
theists, and condemned their religion, exposing the folly of
worshipping idols, which " can do neither good nor harm."
He used the bitterest invectives against his adversaries, and
went so far as to declare that their and his own fathers, having
died in idolatry, were undergoing eternal punishment in hell.
These declarations, and above all the progress of the new sect,
which roused the jealousy of the aristocracy of Makkah, caus
ed his enemies to combine, and to act more systematically.
They were joined by men of moderate councils, like 'Otbah
and Shaybah, two sons of al-Baby'ah, and by Abu Sofyan,
who appears henceforth as the leader of the Qorayshites.
It has been observed in the preceding pages, that the life
and property of an Arab is guaranteed solely by his kinsmen
and their allies. He could therefore only have been coerced
by his family in the same manner as Zayd was put under re
straint by his relations (see p. 43). At all events, they might

PROTECTION BY CLANSMEN. 179
have threatened him, that if he would not desist from his in
novations, they would withhold their protection from him ;
but Abu Talib his uncle considered it inconsistent with his
honor to pursue such a course. He, on the contrary, promis
ed him his protection ; and his brothers and cousins the Mot-
tfalibites stood by him, though most of them, like Abu Talib,
remained faithful to the religion of their fathers. It was ho
nor alone which bound them to their most sacred engage
ment : to guarantee the fullest liberty to their kinsmen, a
duty which was in their eyes infinitely more imperative than
religion. The Qorayshites could therefore take no violent
measures against the prophet, unless they were prepared to
exterminate his whole family. Abu Bakr, and apparently
others of his followers, were similarly situated ; their families
thought it their duty to protect their lives.1 The enemies of
the new rehgion sent a deputation to Abu Zalib, to represent
to him that his nephew was speaking in blasphemous terms
of their gods and religion ; that he was accusing them of folly ;
and that he maintained that their fathers were condemned to
eternal punishment; and they tried to prevail on him either to
force MoAammad to relinquish this course, or to give him
up to them. Abu Talib gave them an evasive answer. After
some time they again waited upon him, and threatened that
(1.) " First were seven persons who publicly professed the Islam: the pro
phet, Abii Bakr, Bilal, Khabbab, 9ohayb, 'Ammar and Somayyah the mother of
'Ammar. The prophet was protected by his uncle, and Abii Bakr by his family;
but the other five persons (being freed slaves) were without protection, and were
ill-treated." Waqidy, in the account of Bilal.
The clans did not protect those of their number, who had joined MoAammad,
against ill-treatment ; but they protected their lives, ibn IsAaq relates that the
Makhzumites came to Hisham b. al-Walyd b. al-Moghyrah, who was a most vio
lent adversary of MoAammad, and demanded that he should give up his brother al-
Walyd, who had embraced the Islam. He readily complied with their wish, and al
lowed them to ill-treat him to any extent. But he added, " Take care do not put
him to death ; if you do, I kill one of your chiefs, and unceasing war shall rage be
tween us and you." The Bedouin notions of honor demand the protection of
the lives of their clansmen only. It is certain that had the Qorayshites killed
MoAammad, so many of his followers would have sacrificed their lives that most
of the families of Makkah would have had to revenge the blood of a relative
against his enemies, and that the latter would have been the losers.

180 NEGOTIATION WITH ABU lALlB.
if he would not comply with their wishes, they would go to
extremes. They concluded their speech with the words : " We
will no longer bear his blasphemy towards our gods, nor his
insults towards us ; if thou givest him protection, we will fight
with him and with thee, until one of the two parties shall have
been extinguished." Abu Talib was much grieved that he
should live on such terms with his countrymen ; and he sent
for MoAammad, and explained to him into what a disagreeable
situation he had brought him, and to what danger he had
exposed him and the whole family. The prophet thought
that his uncle would yield to necessity, and withhold his. pro
tection from him ; and he said, " By God, O uncle, if they put
the sun to my right side and the moon to my left, I will not
give up the course which I am pursuing until God gives me
success, or until I perish," Abu Talib was moved, and assured
him that he would not surrender him, whatever he might
preach. Among the followers of the prophet were representatives of
most of the families of Makkah; and his enemies could not count
on much assistance, if they were to rush into civil war. They
went therefore a third time to Abii Jalib, and offered to give
him 'Omarah b. al-Walyd, a youth of good family and prepos
sessing appearance, in exchange for MoAammad, whom they
wished to put to death. To Europeans such an offer must
appear preposterous and incredible. But the strength of a
family consisted in its numbers, and the position and safe
ty of an individual depended on the strength of his family.
The loss or accession of an active young man to a clan was
therefore a matter of great consideration. Abii Talib refused
this offer with scorn, and the Qorayshites left, repeating their
threats. On the evening of the same day, MoAammad was
missing. Abu Talib assembled the young men of the families
of Hashim aud al-Mo«alib, and told them to take their swords
and to follow him to the Ka'bah. Every one was to single

PERSECUTIONS. 181
out one of the chiefs of the Qorayshites, and at a given sign
they were to fall upon them by surprise, and to dispatch them.
They all agreed, though they were not followers of the Is
lam ; but when they were on the point of carrying out their
plan, Zayd b. ifarithah came to Abii Talib, and assured him
that MoAammad was alive. Abu Talib swore that he would
not return to his house before he had seen him. Zayd has
tened to the prophet, who was concealed, with his followers,
in a house near the C^fa (viz. the house of al-Arqam), to in
form him of what was going on. MaAommed went to Abii Ta
lib, and assured him that he had not been injured. Abii Talib
told him that he might go to his own house, and that he
would stand for his safety. The next morning he came to
the prophet, took him by the hand and went with him to the
place where the Qorayshites were assembled, followed by the
Hashimites and Mo^alibites; and he said to them, Qorayshites,
do you know what my intentions were ? He told his follow
ers to uncover their swords, which they had concealed under
their clothes, and continued to say, " Had MoAammad been
killed, not one of you would have been spared. We and you
would have rushed into destruction." When the chiefs saw
that, they were all thunderstruck, more particularly Abu Jahl,1
This determined attitude of Abii Talib deterred the Qoray,
shites from attempting the Ufe of MoAammad. Each tribe
now tormented those of its members, who were suspected of
being his followers. Even men of wealth and importance did
not escape insults and imprisonment ; but the weight of the
persecution fell chiefly on Mostadha'ifs,*1 that is to say, per
sons without protection; they starved them, refused them wa
ter, beat them, and threw them at noon on the hot sand un-
(1.) Waqidy. This author speaks only of one deputation of the Qorayshites
to Abii Talib. Ibn IsAaq mentions three.
(2.) " The Mostadha'ifiin were persons who had no relatives at Makkah, and were
without protection or power. The Qorayshites therefore tortured them, &c."
Wfiqidy, fol. 227.

182 abu* jahl's violence.
der a scorching sun, and inflicted every imaginable torture
upon them, until they nearly expired. Most of them denied
their faith and worshipped al-Lat and al-'Ozza. Among the
few who had fortitude enough to bear the tortures were Bilal,
who was protected by Abu Bakr, and Sommayyah, a slave
woman, who was stabbed by Abii Jahl, and who died the first
martyr of the Islam.
Abu Jahl was the arch enemy of the new religion. If a
man of a good family, who could count on the protection of
his kinsmen, embraced it, he blamed and insulted him, say
ing: " Thou hast forsaken the religion of thy fathers; we shall
henceforth consider thee as a fool ; we shall place no weight
on thy councils, and we shall treat thee like an out-cast of so
ciety." If the new convert was a merchant, he would say :
" We shall ruin thy commerce and thy property ;" and if he
happened to be a mostadha'if, he beat him, and encouraged
others to do the same.1
At length persecution ran so high, and so mauy apostatized,
that MoAammad advised some of his followers to leave Mak
kah, lest Ms whole flock might desert him. " In Abyssinia"
he said, " rules a pious and just king ; his country is in a
flourishing condition, and it is one of the most profitable
markets of our tribe ; Abyssinia is your refuge." Eleven
men aud four women, most of them of good families,"1 manag-
(1.) Ibnlslaq.
(2.) The persons who emigrated on this occasion to Madynah are : 1. 'Oth-
man b. Affan ; 2. His wife Roqayyah, a daughter of the prophet ; 3. Abii Hodzay-
fah b. 'Otbah, of the 'Abd Shams family ; .4. his wife Sahlah, daughter of Sohajl
b. 'Amr ; 5. al-Zobayr b. al-'Awwam, an Asadite ; 6. Moij'ab b: 'Omayr b. Hashim
(thus write Ibn IsAaq and Waqidy, but Tabary writes Hisham)- b. 'Abd Manaf b.
Abd al-dar ; 7. 'Abd al-RaAman b. 'Awf, a Zohrite ; 8. Abu- Salamah b. 'Abd al-
Asad (thus write Waqidy and Ibn IsAaq, but Tabary has 'Abd al-Ashhal), a
Makhziimite ; 9. his wife Omm Salmah, a daughter of Abii Omayyah b. al-
Moghyrah b. 'Abd Allah b. 'Omar b. Makhzum ; 10. 'Othman b. Matz'un ; 11.
'Amir b. Raby'ah, of the tribe of 'Anz b. Wayil ; 12. bis wife Layla ; 13. Abii
Sabarah b. Aby Rohm b. 'Abd al-'Oiza 'A'miry ;.U. ffa/ib b. ' Amr — according to
some he was the first who proceeded to Abyssinia ; 15. Sohayb b. Baydha, of the
bany al-ffarith b. Fihr j 16. 'Abd Allah b. Mas'ud (Ibn IsAaq omits this name,
but it is in Thbarj , who has two isnads for his list, and in Waqidy.) Ibn IsAaq
says that the chief of the emigrants was 'Othman b. Matz'un.

FIRST EMIGRATION TO ABYSSINIA. 183
ed, in the month of Rajab, the fifth year after the prophet had
entered on his office, aud the second after he had public
ly proclaimed himself a prophet, to escape from Makkah
without being noticed, some of them riding, and some
on foot. They safely reached the port of Sho'aybah, near the
modern Joddah, where they found two vessels destined for
commerce, which took them over the Bed Sea for half a dy-
nar. The Qorayshites pursued them to the sea shore, but
could not overtake them. The Najashy, or king of Abyssinia,
received them with the utmost hospitality. This is called
the first hijrah, or emigration to Abyssinia.1
After they had been two months in Abyssinia they receiv
ed the intelligence that the Makkians had in a body embrac
ed the religion of MoAammad. The following was the source
of this rumour.
In the month of Bamadhan, he went to the Ka'bah,
where he found many persons assembled, and read to them
the 53rd Surah of the Qoran : — " By the star when it pass-
eth away, your countryman does not err ; nor he is led astray,
in what he preaches ; he has not his own way, but a revela
tion he does say ; a mighty one, of great sway, personally ap
peared to him in open day, where there rises the sun's ray ;
high in the sky, he did fly ; then he drew nigh in his array,
and only two bows' distance from him he did stay, that the
revelations, which he had to say, he might to his servant con
vey. How can MoAammad's heart a falsehood state ? Why
(1.) There is a great confusion regarding the two flights to Abyssinia. The
facts mentioned in the following passage of the 'Oyun alath'ar, which clears up the
difficulties, seem to me to be well founded. " There were two emigrations to Abys
sinia : the first time 12 men and 4 women emigrated. They returned to Makkah
when they heard that a conciliation had taken place. But being again very
ill-treated they ' emigrated a second time to the number of 83 men, pro
vided 'Ammar was of the party, and 18 women. The Qorayshites twice sent
messengers to the Najashy, the first time after the flight to Abyssinia, and the
second time after the battle of Badr. In both instances 'Amr b. al-'Ao was one of
the messengers ; in the first instance he was accompanied by 'Omarah b. al-
Walyd, and the second time by 'Abd Allah b, Aby Raby'ah."

184 AL-LAT, AL-'oZZA AND MANAH.
do you with him on his vision debate ? He saw him another
time, iu the same state ; at the sidrah tree of the limit he
did wait ; there to the garden of repose is the gate ; and
whilst the tree was covered, with what at the top of it hover
ed, MoAammad attentively looked, and his eyes from the
sight did not deviate ; for he saw the greatest of the signs of
his Lord. Do you see al-Ldt, and al-Ozzd, and Manah, the
third idol of yours ? they are sublime swans* and their inter
cession will be of use to you before the Lord," S$c. The Qoray
shites it seems partly believed in his nightly journey to Jeru
salem, and in the apparition which he relates in this Surah ;
and they were highly delighted that he acknowledged their
gods ; and therefore when he prostrated himself they followed
his example. The old al-Walyd b. al-Moghyrah, who could
not bend himself so as to touch the ground with his forehead,
took up a handful of earth and touched his forehead with it, to
express that he followed the same rites as MoAammad. And
the whole congregation said, " We never doubted that it is the
God, who is the Lord of life and death, and who has created
every thing and preserves every thing; but our idols intercede
for us with God, and if thou allow of what is due to them,
we are with thee."*1 The news of the conciliation between
MoAammad and the Qorayshites spread rapidly, and when
they reached Abyssinia the refugees hastened to return to their
homes aud families; but in the month of Shawwal of the
same year, when they had arrived within a short distanee
(1.) " Ghornuq, swan, is the name of a water bird ; it also means a delicate
white youth. They were of opinion that the idols brought them nearer to God
and interceded for them ; they therefore compared them with birds, who rise to
wards heaven and ascend." — Mawdhib allad.
(2.) Ibn Hisham has omitted this story in his text of Ibn IsAaq, (without how
ever filling up or polishing off the lacua) ; and therefore it has been omitted or
denied by most later writers. But it was in the copy of Ibn IsAaq which Thbary
used ; it is in Waqidy ; and Tabary in addition to Ibn IsAaq quotes another autho
rity. The authenticity of the story has been proved most learnedly by the author
of the Mawdhib alladon. See my article on Thbary in the Journal Asiatic So
ciety Bengal, 1850, No. 2., where the passage from the Mawdhib is inserted.

INCONSISTENCIES. 185
of Makkah, they met some men of the Kinanah tribe riding
on camels. They asked them how matters stood in the city ?
and they said, "MoAammad had recognized the gods of the
Qorayshites; and a conciliation had taken place; but the fol
lowing day he repented and said, that the verse referring to
the idols had been prompted to him by the devil, and he rescin-
ed it ; and since that time the Qorayshites are more violent
ly opposed him than they ever were before." They were
much alarmed at these news, yet after consultation they pro
ceeded into the city. They all went to some friend as
guests, and by these means obtained his protection, it being
the duty of the host to protect his guest. Only Ibn Mas'ud
neglected to take this precautiou; and after a very short stay
at Makkah he again took flight to Abyssinia.
These inconsistencies1 of the Messenger of God may shake
the faith of the true believer ; and if they were not so well
authenticated they might appear in his eyes as scandals and
inventions of the enemies of his religion ; but they impress
those, who consider the Qoran as the work of MoAammad, with
a more favorable notion of his character than his other ac
tions are likely to do. By deviating from his conviction only
to the extent to which several truly pious Christian mission-
aries did not scruple to go, he might have extricated himself
from all persecutions and difficulties, the end of which he
could then not foresee ; and he might at once have placed him
self at the head of his nation ; but he disdained to gain this
victory at the sacrifice of his conviction, and declared that the
devil had prompted to him the objectionable verses. This is
the strongest proof of the sincerity of MoAammad during the
(1.) About the same time he compromised himself in a similar manner. One
day he was walking round the Ka'bah, and being insulted by the Qorayshites who
were assembled there, he said, " Listen, Qorayshites ; I swear by Him in whose
hands my life is, that God has commanded me to permit that the sacrifices (which
you are in the habit of offering) shall continue." They were all delighted, and
the bitterest opponents were now loudest in his praise ; but the following day they
repented and doubled their insults. — Ibn IsAaq.

X

186 INCONSISTENCIES.
beginning of his career. The beginning of the 80th Surah of
the Qoran breathes a similar spirit, and belongs to the same
period. God reprehends him for turning away from a poor
blind man, Ibn Omm Maktum, who was sincerely anxious for
instruction, whilst he was engaged in conversation with al-
Walyd b. al-Moghyrah, one of the chiefs of Makkah.
But towards the end of his career it was no longer his own
conscience, but his more sincere friends, who saved him from
compromise : Zamakhshary1 relates : " The Thaqyfites said
to the prophet, we will not submit to thy orders unless
thou grantest us certain privileges, of which we may boast
before other Arabs, viz. that we shall pay no tithes, that
we shall not be obliged to go to war for the religion, nor
to prostrate ourselves in praying : that usury which we may
make on others be our property, but usury which others make
on us be void ; and that we shall have the idol al-Lat one year
longer, and not be obliged to break it with our own hands at
the expiration of the year ; and that thou shalt defend us
against any one who may invade our valley of Wajj, or at
tempt to cut down our trees ; and if the Arabs ask thee, Why
hast thou made this agreement ? Say, Go'd has ordered me
to enter into it. They brought him the deed, and he dictat
ed : " In the name of the most merciful God, this is the do
cument of agreement between MoAammad, the messenger of
God, and the Thaqyfites, that they shall not be called upon
to pay the tithes, nor to assist in war." When this was written
they said, * and not prostrate themselves/ The prophet re
mained silent, and they said to the writer, Write ! ' and not
prostrate themselves.' The writer looked at the prophet.
'Omar stood up and drew his sword, and said, You have filled
the heart of our prophet with contagion ; may God fill your
hearts with fire ! They replied, We are not talking to thee ;
we are speaking with MoAammad. Then the verse of the Qo-
(1.) Kashshd/ to 17, 75.

CONVERSION OF HAMZAH AND 'OMAR. 187
ran 17, 75 was revealed. 'They nearly succeeded in mis
leading thee from what we have revealed to thee, and in caus
ing thee to invent something else in our name ; but at the
right moment a friend reprehended thee.' "
In the sixth year after the mission two very important
conversions took place : that of the Hamzah, an uncle of the
prophet, who was of the same age as himself, and who on ac
count of his bravery is called the Lion of God ; and that of
'Omar, the son of KhaWab, who was only twenty six years old.
One day on his return from hunting, a freed slave woman
of Ibn Jo'dan accosted Hamzah and said : I wish you had
heard the abuses and seen the ill-treatment which your ne
phew MoAammad received at the hands of Abu Jahl. .Ham
zah became very angry, and went up to Abii Jahl, who was
sitting with other Qorayshites at the Ka'bah, and struck him
with the bow on the head saying, " You "dare to ill-treat
him ? I follow his religion ; and profess what he professes ;
return the blow which I have given you if you dare." The
members of the Makhzum tribe who were there rose to as
sist Abii Jahl; but he said, Leave him, for I have really
abused his nephew very badly.
The conversion of 'Omar took place in the month of Dzii-
lAajj. He like St. Paul had been the most bitter enemy of
the Islam, and became its most zealous apostle. With the re
solution to murder MoAammad, whatever might be the conse
quences, he put on his sword and went to the house of al-Ar
qam at the foot of the hill of £afa, in which the prophet was
staying surrounded by his disciples, whose number amounted
to about fifty.1 On the road he met a man of the Zohrah
tribe. He asked him where he was going, and 'Omar informed
him of the object of his walk. " Do you think" said the
Zohrite, " that the children of Hashim and of Zohrah will
(1.) Nawawy Biogr. Diet, voce 'Omar. See also Waqidy. — Those who preced
ed 'Omar in his conversion have all been ennumerated above.

188 CONVERSION OF 'OMAK.
spare you, if you kill their kinsman?" "From what you
say," replied 'Omar, " it strikes me that you have become
an apostate from our religion." The Zohrite answered. It is
much more extraor-dinary that your own sister and brother-
in-law should have apostatized." On hearing this 'Omar went
straight to the house of his brother-in-law. "Fa&nah the sis-
ter of 'Omar was married to Sa'yd, a son of Zayd the sceptic,
who had prepared the path for MoAammad. Sa'yd and his wife
were both descended from the same family, called 'Adyy, and
had had opportunities from chidhood to imbibe purer notions
on religion. When 'Omar approached their house Khabbab
was in their company, and they were engaged in reading the
20th Surah of the Qor&n. 'Omar heard them and asked,
"What were you muttering just now ?" "We were engag
ed in conversation." " I fear," replied 'Omar, " You have
apostatized." His brother-in-law said, " Supposing another
religion should be the true one, where would be the harm ?"
On hearing this 'Omar rushed upon him, and Farimah came
to the assistance of her husband. Her brother struck her so
hard that she bled. She became angry and said, " Yes ;
another religion is the true one ; and I bear witness that
there is no God but the God, aild that MoAammad is the
prophet of God." 'Omar was moved when he saw her bleed
ing ; and as he was in the habit of reading books, he asked
her to show him the book from which they had been chanting.
She refused to give it to him before he had washed himself.
He complied, and when he had read fourteen verses, he said,
Show me where MoAammad is. Khabbab, who had concealed
himself when 'Omar entered, came now forth and conducted
him to the house of al-Arqam, where he pronounced the
profession of faith. The accession of 'Omar, who by his
energy commanded fear and respect at Makkah, was a great
triumph for the Islam. Hitherto the faithful were obhged
to conceal themselves when they said their prayers ; but

INCREASED PERSECUTION. 189
henceforth they assembled publicly at the Ka'bah to attend
to their devotions. After his conversion the number of follow
ers appears to have been doubled in a very short time. 'Omar
had the sway in the councils of MoAammad, and the prophet
himself conscious of his weakness gave in to him in all prac
tical questions.
The persecution of the Islam increased in proportion to its
success. At length its enemies agreed to remove MoAam
mad, who was the cause of all these evils. They offered to
his family to pay them the price of blood double if they would
promise not to revenge his death, and to hire an assassin who
might not belong to the Qorayshite tribe. The Hashimites
rejected every offer, and the family of al-MoWalib b. 'Abd Ma
naf continued to stand by them. But they found it necessary
to draw close together for the protection of their own persons,
and in the MoAarram of the seventh year after the mission, they
retired to the Shi'b or quarter of the town of the Hashim
ites1 for mutual protection. Most of the faithful who lived
in other parts of the town than the Shi'b emigrated to Abys
sinia. This is the second emigration,*1 in which one hundred
(1.) It appears from Burckhardt's desoription of Makkah (Travels in Arab.
pp. 185, 186, 225, and 232), that the quarters of that city which stretch along
the foot of the hill of Abii Qobays are called sha'b (or shi'b ?) the most southern
is now called sha'b 'Alyy. Qorb aldyn says in reference to this name, that the
birth-place of 'Alyy is in a sha'b called sha'b 'Alyy. The continuation of the
Sha'b 'Ally is called Sha'b almawlid, that is to say, the Sha'b in which MoAam
mad was born ; and the most northern quarter is called Sha'b 'Amir. In ancient
times the sha'b Alyy and sha'b almawlid together were called sha'b bany
Hashim, that is to say, the sha'b inhabited by the Hashimites. It is said in the
Tarykh Khamys — " The prophet was born in the street called the street of the
Mawlid, birth-place, which is situated in a sha'b called the sha'b of the Banii
Hashim ;" and Fasy places the birth-place of 'Alyy in the same sha'b, only some
what higher up.
(2.) Waqidy places the second emigration into Abyssinia previous to the con
finement of the Hashimites in the shi'b. But he says in the life of 'Omar, that
in the eleventh month of the sixth year the number of faithful amounted to about
50 persons ; and in fol. 39 he says 101 persons emigrated to Abyssinia, and besides
those some Musalmans remained at Makkah. It is not likely that in less than
two months, (for the confinement of the Hashimites, he tells us, took place
in the first month of the seventh year), so many persons should have been con
verted. I follow, therefore, the 'Oyiin alathar, though it differs from most
other authorities.

190 SECOND EMIGRATION.
and one persons took part.1 They were again well received
by the king. Forty one of them joined their prophet at Ma-
(1.) Ibn IsAaq and Abii ffatim give the following names of emigrants : a)
Hashimites : 1. J a'far b. Aby Talib ; 2. his wife Asma, who gave birth in Abyg.
sinia to 'Abd Allah, b.) Omayyides : 3. 'Othman b. 'Affan ; 4. his wife Roqay-
yah ; 5. 'Amr b. Sa'd b. al-'Ag b. Omayyah ; 6. his wife Fatfmah ; 7. his brother
Khalid ; 8. his wife Omaynah or Homaynah, who gave birth in Abyssinia to Sa'd,
and to a daughter called Amat ; 9. 'Abd Allah b. JaAsh ; 10. his brother 'Obayd
Allah ; 11. Omm ffabybah, wife of 'Obayd Allah and daughter of Abii Sofyan •
12. Qays b. 'Abd Allah, of the banii Asad b. Khozaymah ; 13. his wife Barakah,
a freed slave woman of Abu Sofyan ; 14, Mo'ayqyb, a Dawsite, and a client of the
family of Sa'd b. al-'Ag. c) Of the banii 'Abd Shams b. 'Abd Manaf: 15. Abii
Hodzayfah b. 'Otbah ; 16. Abu Musa Ash'ary. d) Of the banii Nawfal b. 'Abd
Manaf: 17. 'Otbah b. Ghazwan, a confederate of this family, e) Of the banii
Asadb. 'Abd al-'Ozza b. Qogayy : 18. al-Zobayr b. al-Awwam ; 25. his nephew
al-Aswad b. Nawfal b. Khowaylid ; 19. Zayd b. Zam'ah b. al-Aswad b. al-Motf-
<alib b. Asad ; 20. 'Amr b. Omayyah b. al-ffarith b. Asad. f ) Of the banii 'Abd
b. Qogayy: 21. Tolayb b. 'Omayr b. Wahb b. Aby Kathyr b. 'Abd. g) Of
the banu 'Abd aldar b. Qogayy : 22. Mog'ab b. 'Omayr b. ffashim b. 'Ahd Ma.
naf b. 'Abd aldar ; 23. Sowaybtf b. Sa'd b. fforaymilah or ffarmalah b. Malik b.
'Omaylah b. al-Sabbaq b. 'Abd aldar ; 24. Jahm b. Qays b. 'Abd b. ShoraAbyl
(or according to two copies 'Abd ShoraAbyl omitting ibn) b. Hashim ; 25. his
wife Omm ffarmalah ; 26 — 27. their son 'Amr and their daughter Khozaymah
or Khozamah ; 28. Abii b. Dawm, (according to one copy Abu-1-Rum) b. 'Omayr
b. Hashim ; 29. Firas b. al-Nadhr b. al-ffarith b. Kaldah b. 'Alqamah b. 'Abd
Manaf. h) Of the Zohrites : 30. 'Abd al RaAman b. 'Awf; 31. 'Amir b. Aby
Waqqag Malik; 32. MoWalib b. Azhar b. 'Abd 'Awf; 33. his wife Ramlah,
iwho gave birth in Abyssinia to 'Abd Allah ; 34. 'Abd Allah b. Mas'ud ; 35. his
brother 'Otbah ; 36. Miqdad b. 'Amr (though 'Amr was his father, he was call.
ei Miqdad b. al-Aswad. The last named three persons were confederates of the
Zohrites.) i) Of the banii Taym b. Morrah : 37. al-Harith b. Khalid (Khold ?)
b. Pakhr b. 'Amir b. Ka'b b. Sa'd b. Taym ; 38. his wife Rayiah, who gave
birth in Abyssinia to Musa, to 'Ayishah, Zaynab and Faflmah ; 39. 'Amr b.
'Othman b. 'Amr b. Ka'b. k) Of the Makhzumites: 40. Abii Salimah 'Abd
Allah; 41. his wife Omm Salimah Hind; 42. Shammas (i. e. 'Othman) b.
'Othman b. al-Tharyd; 43. Habbar b. Sofyan b. 'Abd alasad ; 44. bis brother
'Abd Allah ; 45. Hisham b. Aby ffbdzayfah b. al-Moghyrah ; 46. Salamah b.
Hisham b. al-Moghyrah (in the 'Oyun alathar this name is omitted) ; 47.
'Ayyash b. Aby Raby'ah b. al-Moghyrah ; 48. Mo'attib b. 'Awf. 1) Of the
JomaAites: 49. 'Othman b. Matz'iim. ; 50. his son al-S&yib ; 51 — 52. his bro.
thers Qodamah and 'Abd Allah, sons of Matz'iim ; 53. Hatib b. al-ffarith ;
54. his wife Faftmah ; 55. his brother Hattab ; 56. his wife Fokayhah ; 57.
Sofyan b. Ma'mar ; 58 — 59. his two sons Jabir and Jonadah ; 60. his wife
ffasanah; 61. her son ShoraAbyl b. 'Abd Allah ; 62. 'Othman b. Raby'ah b.
Ohban. m) Of the band Sahm : 63. Khonays b. ffbdzafah ; 64—65. his brothers
Qays and 'Abd Allah ; 66. Abu Qays b. al-Harith b. Qays ; 67. his brother
al-ffarith; 68. his brother Ma'mar; 69. his brother Bishr; 70— 71. his bro
thers Sa'd and al-Sayib ; 72. their maternal brother Sa'd b. 'Amr, a Tamymite ;
73. 'Omayr b. Riyab ffbdzayfah; 74. Makhmiyah b. al-Jax, or al-ffazz, a con
federate of the family ; 75. Ma'mar b. 'Abd Allah b. Nadhalah ; 76. 'Orwah b.
'Abd al-'Ozza ; 77. 'Adyy b. Nadhalah ; 78. his son al-No'man ; 79. 'Amir b.
Raby'ah, a confederate of the family of al-Khattab b. 'Anz b. Wayil ; 80. his
wife Layla ; 81. Aba Sabrah b. Aby Rohm ; 82. 'Abd Allah b. Makhramah ; 83.
'Abd Allah b. Johayl ; 84. Solay/ b. 'Amr ; 84. his brother al-Sakran ; 85. his

QORAYSHITE EMBASSY TO THE NAJASHY. 191
dynah as soon as they heard of his flight, and the others re*
mained until he applied to the Najashy to send them back to
him. The king sent them in two ships to the coast of Bawla,
and thence they proceeded by land to Madynah, which they
reached immediately after the conquest of Khaybar.
The Abyssinians seem, among all the neighbouring nations,
to have exercised the greatest influence on the rise of the Is
lam. We have seen above that Zayd, the freed slave of Mo
Aammad, was of Abyssinian origin ; and from Sayuty's list of
the foreign words which occur in the Qoran, it appears that
a great proportion, more particularly of the theological terms,
is derived from the Abyssinian language. The following
narrative of a lady, who was among the refugees, shows us
the manner in which the Najashy treated the Musalmans.
" When we arrived in Abyssinia we were received as guests
by the Najashy. He treated us with the greatest hospitality.
We followed our religion and worshipped God without being
annoyed, and without having to hear any thing unpleasant.
When the Qorayshites had been informed of our good recep
tion, they consulted among themselves, and agreed to send
two active men with presents. Among the presents was eve
ry thing that was exquisite at Makkah. The most precious
article was red morocco leather, of which they sent a large
quantity. They destined a separate present for every patri
cian. The two messengers were 'Abd Allah b. Aby Raby'ah,
and 'Amr b. al-' A9. They had particular instructions to bribe
the patricians before they mentioned to the Najashy the ob
ject of their mission ; then they were to give to the king the
wife Sawdah, a daughter of Zam'ah b. Qays ; 86 his brother Malik ; 87. his wife
'Amrah; 88. Abii ffaftb b. 'Amr ; 89. Sa'd b. ffawlah, of Yaman, a confederate
of the family of the banu al-ffarith b. Fihr ; 90. Abii 'Obaydah b. al- JarraA, i. e.
'Amir b. 'Abd Allah b. al- JarraA ; 91. Sohayl Ibn Baydha, i.e. Sohayl b. 'Awf;
92. Amr b. Aby SarA ; 93. 'Ayyadh b. Zohyar ; 91. his two nephews 'Amr b. al-
Harith b. Zohayr ; 95. 'Othman b. 'Abd Ghaum b. Zohayr ; 96. Sa'd b. Abd
Qays b. Loqayf ; 97. his brother ffarith ; and according to some 98. Ammar b.
Yasir.

192 DISCUSSION BEFORE THE NAJASHY.
presents destined for him, and to demand the extradition of
the Musalmans, before they should be able to speak with
him. On their arrival in Abyssinia they bribed the pa
tricians, and obtained a promise that they would influence
the king to expel the Musalmans. After this they laid their
presents before the king himself, and being graciously receiv
ed, they said, " O king, some silly young men of ours have
taken refuge in your country. They have seceded from
the faith of their fathers, yet they have not embraced your re
ligion. They have invented a new doctrine, with which nei
ther we nor you are acquainted. The chiefs of the Qoray
shites, that is to say, their own nearest relations, have sent us
to you to solicit their being surrendered to us. The chiefs are
much more far-sighted and know better to judge on those
matters, which these sectarians lay to their charge, than they."
The patricians supported the two messengers, who were par
ticularly anxious that they might be extraditioned before they
could have an interview with the king. But the king be
came angry, and said, No, by God, I will not surrender them.
They are my guests ; they have taken refuge in my coun
try ; and they put confidence in me, and come hither in
preference to taking refuge in any other place. Then he
sent for them to hear what they had to say, and he also sent
for the bishops. He asked them, What are the tenets, on
account of which you seceded from the faith of you fathers,
and remain aloof from other religions ? Ja'far, a cousin of
MoAammad, who was their spokesman, said, O king, we lived
in ignorance, worshipped idols, ate animals that had died a
natural death, committed fornication, violated the ties of
consanguinity and the rites of hospitality, and the stronger
opprossed the weak, until God sent us a prophet from among
ourselves, with whose descent, veracity, good faith and moral
ity of conduct we were all acquainted. This prophet preach
ed to us the one God, whom we were to worship to the exclu-

DISCUSSION BEFORE THE NAJASHY. 193
sion of other gods, and he forbad us to worship stones or
idols ; and he enjoined us to speak the truth, keep good faith,
assist our relations, fulfil the rights of hospitality, to abstain
from fornication, and from impure and illicit things ; and he
prohibited untruth, living on the property of orphans, accus
ing chaste women of adultery, and acknowledging gods besides
God. He also ordered us to say prayers, to give alms, and to
fast. In this manner they enumerated the principal duties
of the Islam. Then they continued, We believed in him, and
followed him ; but our countrymen persecuted us, exposed us
to tortures, and tried to make us forsake our religion, to
worship idols, and to commit what is sinful. To avoid the
persecution we have taken refuge in your country, having
particular confidence in you ; and we have thrown ourselves
under your protection. The King asked whether they had
any of the revelations of MoAammad ; and Ja'far read to him
the beginning of the 19th Surah, (which seems to have been
written on purpose to please the Christians, for it contains a
poetical account of the birth of John the Baptist, and of the
conception of our Saviour). The King and the bishops were
moved to tears when they heard this Surah; and he dismissed
the messengers of the Qorayshites . The next day he sent again
for the Musalmans, at their instigation, and asked them what
their faith was regarding Christ. Before they appeared be
fore him, they had agreed to say, that their prophet had giv
en them no information on this head. Ja'far, however,
answered the King thus : — " We say that he is the ser
vant and messenger of God, and the spirit and the word of
God, which He has sent into the virgin Mary the immacu
late." The King declared that Christ was nothing more
than what he had said. He returned the presents and dis
missed the messengers. The courtiers were much displeased
that their master should allow the term servant to be applied
to Christ ; and shortly after the people rose in open rebellion

194 LEAGUE AGAINST THE HASHIMITES.
against him, and compelled him to profess that Christ was
the Son of God. It is however said, that instead of- pro.
nouncing the words, Christ is the Son of God, he merely
said, Christ is the son of Mary, — an expression frequent
ly used by the Musalmans — and that his people were satis
fied.1 The Qorayshites were much vexed that the Musalmans
met with so favorable a reception from the King of Abyssinia;
and in order to force the relations of MoAammad to with
hold their protection, they entered into a formal agreement
among themselves, to declare them out-laws ;* no Qorayshite
was to intermarry with a Hashimite, (i. e. a relation of the
prophet), or to perform any mercantile transaction, or hold any
intercourse whatsoever. The document of this agreement
was preserved in the Ka'bah, or according to others iu the
house of an aunt of Abu Jahl, the arch foe of the prophet.
The Hashimites were in the greatest distress : the Qoray
shites refused to sell them provisions^ or even to admit any
into their quarter ; and they by themselves were not strong
enough to send and protect a caravan of their own. They
could not even venture to leave their quarter of the town
except during the annual pilgrimage; and if a caravan
passed by, the necessaries of life were charged to them, at
the instigation of the Qorayshites, at the most exorbitant
prices. It is said by most authors, that the man who had written
the document declaring that the Hashimites were to be treat
ed as out-laws, lost the use of his hand by a paralytic stroke ;
(1.) Bokhary informs us that the prophet performed the funeral service when
he heard of the death of the Najashy.
(2.) Waqidy states that the Hashimites retired to the Shi'b in consequence of
this agreement ; but according to the Mawdhib and the 'Oyun alathar this agree
ment was drawn up after they had retired into the Shi'b. Some authorities say
that they were three years confined in the Shi'b, and others say two. If the
agreement was drawn up a full year after they had retired thither, both statements
are correct. The Qorayshites again associated with the Hashimites in the tenth
year of the mission.

DISSOLUTION OF THE LEAGUE. 195
and that the document itself was destroyed by worms, with
the exception of the name of God, which stood in the initial
sentence. We are further assured that the angel Gabriel
informed the prophet of the destruction of the document.
He communicated this revelation to Abu Talib, who went
forthwith to the Qorayshites, and agreed to surrender his ne
phew that they might kill him, if, on opening the place where
the document was preserved, it should turn out that his reve
lation was an invention ; but that if it should prove correct,
they were to raise the blockade, and again to receive them
into their community. They found to their surprize that the
document was destroyed, with the exception of the name of
God ; and. this led to the conciliation.
Waqidy informs us that many of the idolators were dis
gusted at the severity with which the protectors of MoAam
mad were treated ; and it appears from Ibn IsAaq and T&-
bary, that it was dissension among the enemies, which led
to the dissolution of their league against them, and not a
miracle. Hisham b. 'Amr was one of the chiefs of tho 'Amir family.
His mother was a Hashimite woman, and he was therefore
closely connected with the family of the prophet. He spoke
with four of his friends,1 who were all leading men in their
respective tribes ; and obtained the promise that they would
support him in his endeavours to annul the document. They
assembled in the upper part of Makkah during the night, and
consulted on the best plan of proceeding. The next day, when
many of the Qorayshites were sitting near the Ka'bah, one of
these four men began to declaim on the cruelty of their con
duct towards the family of MoAammad ; the others, as if they
had been moved by the words of the speaker, and, as if there
(1.) They are Zohayr b. Aby Omayyah b. al-Moghyrah, of the Makhziim fa
mily ; Mot'im b. 'Adyy ; Abii Bokhtary b. Hisham ; and Zam'ah b al-Aswad b.
al-Mo«alib b. Asad.

196 DEATH OF KHADYJAH.
had been no preconcerted arrangement, came one by one to
second him. The Qorayshites, thinking that the feelings ex
pressed by the speaker were general, agreed to annul the
document ; and when they opened it they found it was de
stroyed by insects. This circumstance was magnified into a
miracle ; but people who have lived in a tropical climate will
find nothing extraordinary in it.
Three years1 before the Hijrah he lost his wife Khadyjah.
She was sixty five years of age when she died, and was hur
ried in al-flajun. The death of her who had guided him in
his speculations on religion, who first recognized him as a pro
phet, and who was his support in his trials, had the greatest
influence on his mind. His enthusiasm now gradually cooled
down ; and imposture took its place.
Shortly after Khadyjah's death Khawlah, (or Khowaylah),
daughter of i/akym and wife of 'Othman b. Matz'un, came to
the prophet, and asked him why he did not marry ? He an
swered, whom shall I marry ? She said, If thou wishest to
have a virgin, take 'Ayishah the daughter of your friend
Abii Bakr ; and if you want a widow, take Sawdah the daugh
ter of Zam'ah. She believes in thee. He instantly made up
his mind, and replied, I marry them both.
Sawdah had been married to her cousin al-Sakran b. 'Amr,
by whom she had a son. Both she and her husband early
embraced the Islam ; and they emigrated to Abyssinia, where
he died. After his death she returned to Makkah, and hved
in the house of her father. According to some authorities
her marriage with the Messenger of God took place within a
month after the death of his first wife ; it is more likely that
two months'1 had elapsed. He fixed her dowry at four hun
dred dirhams.
'Ayishah was only six years of age when she was be-
(1.) Tabary says, two years.
(2.) All authors agree on the following points: 1, Khadyjah died after Abu

DEATH OF ABU TALIB. 197
trothed to MoAammad, who was then a man of fifty. The ac
tual marriage took place three years later, when she was nine
years ; and she was not yet full twenty years of age when
he died. She was exceedingly clever and cheerful; and
though we have proofs that she was not always faithful to
her husband, her spirits were so great that she forgot her
misery, and cheered him. Moreover, nothing less than to be
the favorite wife of the prophet would have satisfied her am
bition. He doted upon her ; and notwithstanding the great
disparity of age, she exercised great influence over him, and
many of his arbitrary ordinances can be distinctly traced to
her. When she was older she became one of the most artful,
intriguing and cruel women that ever have disgraced her
sex. One month and five days after his wife he lost his uncle
and protector, the noble minded Abii Talib, whose name is
venerated by the Badowins of the .ffijaz up to this day, on
account of his high feelings of honor. When he was on his
death-bed the prophet did all he could to persuade him of
the truth of his doctrine, and to save his soul ; and on the
other hand, the enemies of the Islam made a last effort to
prevail upon him to surrender his nephew, who had embit
tered the evening of his life ; but he died faithful both to the
rehgion of his fathers, aud to his word and his duty towards
his kinsman.

Talib. 2. In Shawwal, three years before the flight, but after the death of
Abii Talib, he went to Tayif, and be was about a fortnight absent from
Makkah. 3. He married Sawdah after his return from Tayif. If, as Wa
qidy says, thirty-five days elapsed between the deaths of Khadyjah and of
Abii Talib, his marriage with Sawdah took place at least two months after the
death of Khadyjah ; but if, as Ibn Qotaybah asserts, only three days elapsed, it
may have taken place sooner. The following details I transcribe from the Ma
wdhib alladonnyyah, without subscribing to them. " When he was 49 years and
8 months and 11 days of age died his uncle Abu Talib, at an age of 87 years.
Some say he died in the middle of Shawwal of the tenth year (after MoAammad's
mission)- and Ibn Jazzaz (?) says three years before the Hijrah."— " In Rama-
dhan, ten years after his mission, died Khadyjah, after she had been married to
him twenty-five years."

198 VISIT TO TAYIF.
After these afflictions MoAammad was low spirited, and
seldom went out. He was now without protection, and his
enemies might have carried their plans of assassinating him
into effect without much fear that his relations would like
one man revenge his death, the man who had united them
being no more. Under these circumstances Abii Lahab, the
arch foe of his doctrine, but upon whom by the ties of rela
tionship his protection devolved, came forward and said, " 0
MoAammad, go wherever thou pleasest, and do what thou
usest to do when Abii Talib was alive ; by al-Lat, no harm shall
befall thee as long as I am alive." Ibn Ghay/alah insulted the
prophet, and Abii Lahab reprimanded him for it. Ibn Ghay-
falah said, " Abii Lahab has apostatized." " No," replied Abii
Lahab before the assembled Qorayshites, " No ; I have not
left the religion of 'Abd al-MoWalib ; but I protect my ne
phew against injuries, that he may enjoy his liberty." The
Qorayshites praised him for his noble conduct, and approved
of his protecting his relative. Some days after the enemies
of the prophet asked Abii Lahab, " Do you know what your
nephew says of your father ? He asserts that he is in hell ;
and you protect such a person !" Abu Lahab asked him
whether it was true ; and he answered, " Your father died as
an idolater ; and every idolater goes to hell." On this Abii
Lahab withdrew his protection from him. Towards the end
of the Shawwal of the same year he went to Tayif, a city se
venty two miles east of Makkah, to avoid the insults of his
enemies, and in hopes to find converts. He visited every man
of influence, and explained to them the doctrines of the Is
lam ; but in vain. After a stay of ten days they turned him
out, being afraid that he might turn the heads of young peo
ple; and the rabble pelted him with stones when he left their
town. On his way back to Makkah he remained several days at

RETURN TO MAKKAH. 199
Nakhlah, which is a short distance from the city, as it would
not have been safe for him to enter the town without being
protected by a resolute and powerful man. From Nakhlah
he sent a Khoza'ahite to Mot'im b. 'Adyy, an idolater who
had assisted in restoring the Hashimites to society when they
were confined to their Shi'b, and solicited his protection. It
was granted. Mot'im, his son, and relations, armed them
selves, and went to the Ka'bah ; and he exclaimed, " MoAam
mad is my guest ; no one is to injure him." Meanwhile the
prophet and his freed- slave Zayd, who had accompanied him,
arrived at the Ka'bah. He kissed the black stone, and Mot'im
was behind him on camel's back, and continued exclaiming,
ft MoAammad is my guest ; no one is to hurt him." After
that he and his family surrounded him, and brought him
safely to his home.
At Nakhlah he composed one of the most fantastic and art
ful chapters of the Qoran, a circumstance which is mention
ed by all his biographers. The reader would probably be
much disappointed if he was to find no further account of the
development of his mind and his schemes in this work than
under what circumstances he composed the Surah allud
ed to. It is the intention of the author to enter, in a se
parate volume, on the views and mode of teaching of MoAam
mad, by pointing out the chronological order of the Surahs
of the Qoran, with their special bearing and allusions ; and he
intends to give an analysis of his doctrine, and an account of
the means which he employed to convince his followers ; and
above all, illustrations of the peculiarities of the mind of Mo
Aammad, and of the spirit of the times as manifested in the
Qoran, in the authentic traditions, and in his disputations
with the adversaries of the Islam. The mind is the spring
of action, and the ultimate cause of great events ; and it is

2QQ PREACHING OF MOHAMMAD.
therefore the mind-the spirit of the age-with which the
reader wishes to become acquainted.
The ten years during which he preached the Islam publicly
at Makkah, he attended the fairs of 'Okatz, Majannah, Dzul-
Majaz ; he proceeded several stages to meet the pilgrims who
came to the Ka'bah, and accompanied them again when they
returned home, to convey to them the message with which
he was charged by God, and to obtain their protection and
assistance; and he promised that they would become the
rulers of all foreign countries if they would assemble under
his standards ; but none of the tribes listened to his preach
ing.1 MoAammad had failed every where to convince a whole
community of his divine mission ; and some of those indivit
duals, who had followed him, left him and embraced the
Christian religion. His sect would probably have enjoyed
but a short duration had not a singular circumstance favored
its triumph in Madynah. A man of that city says,*1 " We
were polytheists and idolaters ; and the Jews who lived among
us had a revealed book and possessed a knowledge which we
had not. We were constantly at feud with them. When
ever we did any thing to them which they dishked, they said
to us, The time is near when a prophet will come ; and then
we will slay you in the same manner in which the children
of 'Ad and Iram have been slain. We had constantly to
hear this tradition from them. When God sent his Messen
ger, and he called on us to embrace his faith, we hstened to
him, and found that there was some truth in their threats.
We therefore anticipated them, and at once joined him;

banfi^' Ji!fA"b<£ '° Th,om he Pre«<:hed the Isldm, specified by Waqidy, are the
Morrah "ianvfalf's^ ' ¥^rib b' IM*r<ah (°r Khafcah), Fazurah, Ghassan,
Kalb, a Jaritht' K %m.^bs' the barni Nadhr' the banu «1-Bakka, Kindah,
(2.) Ita I Aa'am? 'Ab?ryZ1'ah' a"d ^K^^^-

EXPECTATION AT MADYNAH. 201
whereas they did not believe in him. The verses 83 and 84 of
the second Surah of the Qoran refer to them and to us. ' When
a book, (i. e. the Qordn) had come to them from God, which
confirmed their Bible, and of which they knew, (that it
would come), they did not recognise it, though they had pre
viously expected victory over the unbelievers (through the
worldly Messiah whom they expected). The curse of God
falls on the unbelievers. It is a bad bargain for which they
sold their souls by disbelieving the revelation of God, because
he sent it in his mercy to whom he pleased, (i. e. to an Arab,
and not to a Jew.')' "
We have seen that before MoAammad rose as a prophet,
there was a circle of friends at Makkah, who had renounced
the religion of their fathers, and who believed in the one
God, and were anxiously seeking for a divine sanction of their
faith. The same was the case at Madynah. Abii-1-Hay-
tham Malik b. Tayyahan, of the Baly tribe, who lived at
Madynah as a confederate of the Ahl aldar, (i. e. the banii
(1.) Ibn IsAaq mentions also an individual case, in which the expectation of a
Messiah of the Jews caused some men of Madynah to embrace the faith of Mo
Aammad. " Salamah b. Salamah b. Waqsh, who fought at Badr (and died in A.
H. 45, at an age of 70 years,) and was one of the seven first persons of Madynah
who believed on MoAammad, said, We had a Jewish neighbour in the quarter of
the Banii 'Abd al-Ashhal. One day he came to us. I was the youngest in the
company, and was dressed in a bordah, (a kind of a shawl), on which I was lying
down in the open space in front of our house. He spoke of the day of the re-
surection, of the resuscitation of the dead, of the last judgement of the balance,
of paradise, and of the fire (hell), Sec. Those present were all polytheists ; they
worshipped idols, and did not believe that we should be resuscitated after our
death ; and they said, Dost thou really believe that we shall be resuscitated after
our death, and shall enter into a place where there is a garden and a fire, and
where we shall be rewarded for what we have done ? He said, Yes ; by Him,
by whom it is usual to swear, any one who is thrown into that fire would prefer
to be in the hottest furnace in the world. He is cast into this fire, and shut up
in it, so that he becomes like fire himself. They asked him, What is the sign of
this ? and he replied, A prophet is the sign or proof, who will be sent from this
country. Saying so he pointed with his hand towards Makkah and Yaman.
They asked him when he thought he would be sent ; and looking at me, who was
the youngest, he said, If this boy does not die prematurely he will live to see him.
The narrator went his way ; and by God, not twenty-four hours had elapsed before
God sent his prophet. The Jew was still alive. We believed in hin. ; but he did not
believe, out of obstinacy and envy ; and we said to bim, Have you not yourself
predicted to us the prophet ? He answered, Yes ; but this is not the one."
z

202 CONVERSIONS AT MADYNAH.
'Abd al-Ashhal), had given up idolatry, and used to converse
with his friends, As'ad b. Zorarah1 and Dzakwan b. 'Abd
Qays, on the unity and nature of God, and other religious
topics. The two last mentioned of these three men came two
years and three months before the Hijrah*1 to Makkah. They
heard some of the doctrines of MoAammad ;3 and Dzakwan
said to As'ad, " This is precisely your creed ;" and they went
to the prophet and professed the Islam. On their return to
Madynah As'ad related to Abu-1-Haytham, what they had
heard and done, and he answered, " I declare to you that he
is the Messenger of God." These were the first believers in
Madynah.4 According to other authorities there were three
or five other men with them, who embraced the Islam at the
same time.* The new sect spread rapidly in Madynah, and
in a short time there was hardly a family in which there were
not some professors of it.
The Arabs of Madynah were convinced that this was the
Messiah, with whom the Jews had threatened them. They
(1.) This name is spelt Zorarah in the Qamus ; but I believe it ought to be
Zararah. (2.) In the first half of July, A. D. 620.
(3.) To create effect the biographers of MoAammad represent events as un
expected, which came about gradually. Thus after he had preached seven years, u
a Christian, who had all the time been a resident of Makkah, was converted. Ibn
IsAaq says that he accidentally met MoAammad, and that he was struck by Mo
Aammad's saying bismillah (in the name of God) before he ate some fruits ; for
the Christian concluded from this that he was not an idolater. He had never
heard of his innovations ! In like manner they say that these men from Madynah
came to Makkah, where they heard MoAammad preaching to the pilgrims. Some
authors would have it that they had never heard of him before. There is a tra
dition of 'Orwah in 7'abary, which places these facts in a different light. " After
the refugees had returned from Abyssinia the number of the faithful increased
much ; for many people of Madynah embraced the Islam, and it spread in that
city ; and the people of Madynah used to come to Makkah to the prophet," &c.
This, the author continues saying, gave rise to the second great persecution, which
ended with the flight of the faithful to Madynah.
(4.) Waqidy.
(5.) Their names are i.l.Mo'adz b. 'Afra ; 2. Rati' b. Malik; 3. 'Obadahb. al-
9amit ; 4. Abii 'Abd al-RaAmiin Yazyd b. Tha'labah ; and 4. Abu-1-Haytham b.
al-Tayyahan. Others put, instead of Nos. 1, 3, 4, the names of 'Awf b. al-ffarith b.
Afra, Qofnah b. 'Amir, 'Oqbah b. 'Amir, Jabir b. 'Abd Allah. They all were
Khazrajites. — All traditions agree that As'ad b. Zorarah and al-Haytham b. al-
Tayyalnin were the founders and most zealous propagators of the Isliim ill Mady
nah, and they had abandoned the idols before MoAammad.

CONVERSIONS AT MADYNAH. 203
were glad to find that he was a gentile— a man of their own—
and hastened to join his standard. Consequently during
the next annual pilgrimage twelve men1 met the prophet in
the valley of 'Aqabah, formally to acknowledge him as their
prophet, and to enter into a positive engagement ; the form
of which was: "We will not acknowledge a god besids the
God ; we will not steal ; we will not commit fornication ; we
will not kill our children; we will not invent or give curren
cy to falsehood ; and we will not disobey the reasonable or
ders of the prophet." This is called the agreement of women,
because it does not contain the duty of fighting for the Islam.
In return he promised them paradise ; and he sent one of his
friends Moc'ab b. 'Omayr with them, to read to them the
Qoran.. Moc'ab had therefore the title of Moqry, Beader.
At the approach of the next annual pilgrimage the follow
ers of MoAammad at Madynah visited aud exhorted each
other to join the ceremony, and to proceed to Makkah to meet
their prophet, and to fulfil their duties towards him. The
pilgrimage was attended by upwards of seventy Awsites, and
five hundred Khazrajites. Some of the faithful from among
them waited on the prophet soon after their arrival at Makkah,
and it was arranged that they would meet him in the ravine to
the right of the way, just below 'Aqabah, on the night succeed
ing the day in which the victims are killed, and on which the
ceremonies in the valley of Mina, (where Aqabah is), being com-
(1.) They are : a) Of the banu Najjar : 1. As'ad b. Zorarah ; 2. 'Awf; 3. his
brother Mo'adz b. al-Uarith. These two men are better known by the name of
sons of 'Afra. b) Of the banii Zorayq : 4. Dzakwan b. 'Abd Qays ; 5. Rati' b.
Malik, c, Of the banii 'Awf b. al-Khazraj : C. 'Obadah b. al-9iimit ; 7. Abii
'Abd al-RaAman Yazyd b. Tha'labah b Khazamah b. Acram of the 13a!y tribe,
a confederate of the family, d) Of the banu 'Amir b. 'Awf: 8. 'Abbas b.
'Obadah. e) Of the banu Salimah: 9. 'Oqbab b. 'Amir, f) Of the banii
Sawad : 10. Qorfnah b. 'Amir. These ten men were of the Khazraj tribe, and
only the remaining two were of the Aws tribe, viz : 1 1. Abii-1- Haytham b. al-
Tayyahan, of the Baly tribe, a confederate of the Ahl aldar, i. e. the band 'Abd
al-Ashhal. He never believed in the idols, but worshipped the one G. d, and
exerted himself early and powerfully to spread the Islam at Madynah. 12.
'Owaym b. Sa'idah, who was of the banii 'Amr b. 'Awf.

204 CONFERENCE NEAR MAKKAH.
pleted, the procession returns to Makkah. He enjoined them
to proceed thither quietly, and not to be too late ; or, to use
his own words, not to awake the sleeping and not to wait for
the absent. About eleven o'clock at night they left their rela
tives one by one, or in pairs, and went to the appointed spot,
where they found MoAammad waiting. With him was his
uncle al-'Abbas, the son of 'Abd al-MoWalib. There were in
all seventy two men1 and two women of Madynah present.
(1.) Their names are: 1. Osayd b. ffbdhayr b. Simak b. 'Atyk b. Rafi' b. Am-
ru-1-Qays ; 2. Abu-1-Haytham ; 3. Salamah b. Salamah b. Waqsh ; 4. Tohayr
b. Rafi' b. 'Ady b. Zayd b. Josham b. ffarithah ; 5. Abii Bordah Hany b. Nayyar,
a Qodha'ahite ; 6. Nohayr b. al-Haytham b. Naby b. Majda'ah. The last three
men were of the family of al-Sawwaf b. Qays b. 'Amir b. Naby b. Majda'ah. 7.
Sa'd b. Haythamah b. al-ffarith b. Malik b. Ka'b b. al-NaAAa< b. Ka'b b. .ffa
rithah b. Ghanm b. al Salm ; 8. Rifa'ah b. 'Abd al-Mondzir ; 9. 'Abd Allah b.
Jobayr; 10. Ma'n b. 'Adyy b. al-Jadd b. al-'Ajlan, of the Bally tribe; 11.
'Owaym b. Sa'idah. The preceding eleven men are Awsites ; the following are
Khazrajites. 12. Abu Ayyub Khalid b. Zayd ; 13. Mo'adz b. al ffarith ; 14.
his brother 'Awf; 15. Ma'udz b. al-.Ha.rith ; 16. 'Omarah b. ffazm ; 17. As'ad
b. Zorarah b. 'Ods ; 18. Sahl b. 'Atyk b. No'man b. 'Amr b. 'Atyk ; 19. Aws
b. Thabit, a brother of .Hassan the poet, of the Hodaylah family ; 20. Abii
TalAah, of the same family ; 21. Qays b. Abu CVca'ah 'Amr ; 22. 'Amr. b.
Ghazyyah b. 'Amr b. 'Atfyyah b. ffansd b. Mabdziil ; 23. Sa'd b. al-Raby' of
the BalAarith ( he knew writing) ; 24. Kharijah b. Zayd b. Aby Zohayr; 25.
'Abd Allah b. Rawahah ; 26. Bashyr b. Sa'd (he knew writing) ; 27. 'Abd Allah
b. Zayd b. Tha'labah b. 'Abd Rabbihi ; (he knew writing, and he proposed to the
prophet to call the faithful to prayers instead of using bells ;) 28. Khallad b.
Sowayd b. Tha'labah b. 'Amr b. ffarithah b. Amrii-l Qnys b. Malik al-Aghirr ;
29. 'Oqbah b. 'Amr b. Tha'labah, (he was the youngest among those present ;)
30. Ziyad b. Labyd; 31. Farwah b. 'Amr b. Wadzafah, (or Wadaf'ah, according
to Ibn Hisham, ; 32. Khalid b. Qays ; 33. Rafi' b. Malik b, al-'Ajlan b. 'Amr
b. 'Amir b. Zorjyq ; 34. Dzakwan b. 'Abd Qays b. Khaladah ,or Khaldah)b. Mo-
khallad (or Makhlad) b. 'Amir b. Zorayq ; 35. 'Abbad b. Qays b. 'Amir b. Kha
lid b. Mokhallad ; 36. his brother al-ffarith ; 37. al-Barii b. Ma'rur b. CTakhr ;
38. his son Basbr ; 39. Sinan b. Cayfy b. £akhr b. Khansa ; 40. al-Tofayl b. al-
No'man b. Khansa (or ffansa) ; 41. Mo'qil b. al-Mondzir; 42. his brother
Yazyd ; 43. Ma'ud b. Yazyd ; 44. al-DhaAAiik b. ffarithah b. Zayd ; 45. Yazyd
b. Khodzam; 46. Jabbar b. Cakhr b. Omayyah'; 47. al-Tofayl b. Malik b.
Khansa; 48. Ka'b b. Malik b. Aby Ka'b 'Amr b. al-Qyn ; 49. Solaym b. 'Amr
b. ffadydah ; 50. Q,ort>ah b. 'Amr b ffadydah ; 51. Yazyd b. 'Amir b. ffady-
dah ; 52. Abii-1-Yasar Ka'b b. 'Amr b. 'Abbad ; 53. Cayfy D- Saw&d ; 54.
Tha'labah b Ghanamah b. 'Adyy b. Naby ; 55. his brother 'Amr; 56. 'Abs b.
'Amr b. 'Adyy b. Naby ; 57. 'Abd Allah, a Qodha'ahite ; 58. Khalid b. 'Amr b.
'Adyy b. Naby; 59. 'Abd Allah b. 'Amr b. Haram; CO. his son Jabir ; Gl.
Mo'adz b. 'Amr b. al-JomuA b. Zayd ; 62. Thabit b. al-Jadza' ; 63. 'Omayr b.
al-ffarith b. Labbadah ; 64. KhadyA b. Salamah, of the Bally tribe ; 65. Mo'adz
b. Jabal ; 66. 'Obadah b. famit ; 67. al-'Abbas b. 'Obadah b. Nadhlah ; 68.
Abii 'Abd al-RaAman Yazyd b. Tha'labah b. Khazmah (or Khazamah,) of tbe fa
mily of 'Oi;aybah, of the Bally tribe ; 69. 'Amr b. al-ffarith b. Labbadah b.
'Amr b. Tha'labah ; 70. Kifa'ah b. 'Amr, of the ffbbla' family; 71. 'Oqbah h.

CONFERENCE NEAR MAKKAH. 205
Al-'Abbas was an idolater ; but he had come as the natural
protector of his nephew ; and he . therefore opened the pro
ceedings by saying, " O Khazrajites ! you have invited Mo
Aammad, as you know. You are aware of the position which
he occupies among us, and that both those who believe in
him and those who do not believe him joined to protect him
in his native town. But now he intends to give up this pro
tection, and to go to you, and to live with you. If you think
you will keep to your word, and protect him against his ene
mies, your wish be done; fulfil what you undertake. But if
you intend to surrender and to betray him, after he may have
joined you, give him up now ; for he is protected in his own
country." They assured him of the sincerity of their intention
and their good faith, and requested MoAammad fo say under
what conditions he would join them. He read prayers out of
the Qoran, and exhorted them ; and then he said, "I join you
under the condition that you defend me against that, from
which you defend your wives and children." Their elder and
spokesman al-Bara, now took his hand and swore solemnly
the oath of allegiance : " By him, who has in truth sent thee,
we will protect thee even as we protect our family ! Come
to us, and receive us as thy lieges, O Messenger of God 1"
After this oath he continued, " O Messenger of God, we are
men of war and of unanimity ; we have inherited these quali
ties from our ancestors." Here he was interrupted by Abu-
1-Haytham, who said, " O prophet ! there exist treaties be
tween us and certain people, (he meant the Jews of Mady
nah) ; we will break through them; but will you return to
your own tribe whilst we are doing this ? After this God
will render your cause victorious." MoAammad answered,
" Our honor and interests are the same ; you are of me, and I
am you of you ; I will figfowhom you fight, and I will live
^b7rfftriribTBohthahb.'Ib7All^b.Gh.<a«Bi 72. Sa'd b. 'Obadah b.
Dolaym ; 73. al-Mondzir b. 'Amr, of the Sa'.dah family.

206 CONSPIRACY OF THE QORAYSHITES
in peace with whom you live in peace ;" (that is to say,
I will respect your treaties.)1 Having received the oath
of allegiance from all present, he told them to elect twelve
leaders (noqaba), who should fill the same office as the apos
tles of Christ and the elders of the tribes of the child
ren of Israel. According to Waqidy, he nominated them
himself, and said, " Those who have not been elected must
not feel offended, for I was guided in my choice by the an
gel Gabriel."
Notwithstanding the precaution, which the Musalmans had
taken to keep the meeting secret, their proceedings were
watched, and the next day the leading men of the Qoray
shites came into the camp of the pilgrims of Madynah. By
far the majority of the latter were idolaters, and know no
thing of the meeting of the preceding night ; and therefore
when the Qorayshites questioned them regarding it, they an
swered that they were in perfect ignorance of any such trans
action, and denied that there was any foundation for their
assertion. Those of them who were Musalmans remained
silent. The Qorayshites were obliged to content themselves
with ill-treating one of the Musalmans of Madynah, whom
they caught with only one comrade, who on their approach
ran away.
MoAammad had now conspired with another tribe against
his own, and his followers were implicated in this act of high
treason.*1 The persecution at Makkah rose therefore to the
highest pitch ; and we can only wonder that, since they had
(1.) The above is translated literally from Ibn IsAaq. I followed his authori
ty in preference to that of Waqidy, who differs in some details from him, because
it is supported by Tabary.
(2.) 2abary, p. 183, says, "When the Qorayshites saw that the messenger of
God had a party and followers from other tribes and from another place than
their own, and when they saw that his followers were remaining away from Mak
kah, they perceived that they settled in another place, and that they found pro
tection ; therefore they took measures that the messenger of God might not
escape and join them."

TO MURDER MOHAMMAD. 207
forfeited every claim to the protection of their relatives, they
were not extirpated by their furious adversaries. The author
of the Rawdhat al-AAbab places in this period the attempt of
Abii Bakr to take flight to Abyssinia ; and though it probably
took place sooner, I relate it here, because it shows how fa
vorable the AAabish, Khoza'ahites, and other tribes around
Makkah, were to the innovations of MoAammad. The aris
tocracy would therefore have had a very heavy struggle, if
they had gone to extremes ; particularly as there existed a
treaty between the Khoza'ahites and the family of the pro
phet. When Abii Bakr was one or two days' journey distant
from Makkah, on his way to Abyssinia, he met Ibn al-Do'on-
nah, or Ibn al-Doghaynah, the chief of the AAabish ;' and he
prevailed upon him to return to Makkah, and promised him
his protection. When they had together arrived at Makkah,
Ibn al-Do'onnah publicly proclaimed that Abii Bakr was un
der his protection ; but subsequently Abii Bakr voluntarily
released him from his engagement, because Abii Bakr used
to say his prayers near his own house, and the women and
young people, who used to look at him, manifested a great
interest in him ; and Ibn Do'onnah declared that such an
exhibition was a public nuisance, and that he could not
protect him against insults offered to him on this account ;
but he would protect him as long as he kept to his house.
The prophet now promulgated, in the name of God, the
law to fight their enemies, in order to put a stop to persecu
tions; and this became henceforth the watchward of his
bloody religion. His followers, who had to undergo impri
sonment or tortures, took the first opportunity to escape from
Makkah, and to join their brethren at Madynah. But Mo
Aammad, 'Alyy and Abii Bakr stayed nearly three months,
fl n To the AAabysh belonXblban"^ ^al-ffarith b. 'Abd 1 Manah b. Kinanah,
thea\ Hfinb Kbozlyarahb. Modrikah, and the banu Mo,Ad.q .who were a
KoSte tribe. They lived in the immediate vicinity of Makkah.

208 BEGINNING OF THE HIJRAH.
notwithstanding the anxiety of the latter to emigrate without
loss of time. At length the Qorayshites assembled in the
town hall, and after some discussion they passed a resolu
tion to murder him. A man was chosen from every family ;
he and they were all simultaneously to thrust their swords
into him, in order to divide the crime and to oblige his rela
tives (the banu 'Abd Manaf) to forego the blood revenge,
and to be contented with the price of the blood. It was now
high time for MoAammad to take flight. But the Qoraysh
ites were ou the look out, aud determined not to allow him
to escape. The moment he heard of their intentions, he
went, during the heat of the day, to Abii Bakr, and remained
during the day in his house ;* and in order to mislead the
Qorayshites, who were watching his movements, and, as it
appears, intended to carry their plot into effect the following
night, he told 'Alyy to stay in his (MoAammad's) house, to
put on his shawl, and to lay down in the place in which he
used to rest. At night, whilst the Qorayshites thought they
(1.) According to a tradition of 'Ayishah, preserved by Zohry, he goes during
the heat of the day to Abii Bakr. From Waqidy it would also appear, that he
proceeded at once to Abu Bakr, and that he remained there. Yet most biogra
phers, in order to find place for a miracle, say that Mohammad left his own house
in the evening after 'Alyy had laid down on his couch ; that he threw a handful of
dust into the face of his enemies who surrounded his house ; and that they became
unconscious until he had left ; and that they intended to dispatch him as soon as
he might be asleep. In the first place I would ask, would the family of Moham
mad have allowed his enemies openly to surround the house with the avowed • in
tention of killing him ? They can only have been spying round the house. Se
condly, if they had had the intention of kil.ing bim as soon as he might be
asleep, they would have rushed upon 'Alyy, whom they mistook for Mohammad ;
and on discovering their error they would certainly at once have gone to the
house of Abu Bakr. The whole story of the council of tbe Qorayshites, and
their resolution of assassinating him the very night on which he took flight, ap
pears to me to be apocryphal ; but I have no doubt that the means which he
employed to escape are correctly related.
According to one account, preserved by Tabary, p. 187, MoAammad went
straight from his house to the cave of Thawr ; and he left a message with 'Ally
for Aba Bakr to follow him, to send him food, to engage a guide, and to purchase
a camel for him. The version followed in the text is rendered somewhat doubt
ful by the fact that it rests on traditions handed down by persons of Abii Baler's
party, as 'Ayishah, Orwah, &c, who were anxious to enhance the merits of Abii
Bakr.

THE HIJRAH. 209
had well secured MoAammad, he slipped with Abu Bakr out
from a window at the back of Abii Bakr's house, and they es
caped into a cave of the hill of Thawr, which is about five
miles south of Makkah.1 When the Qorayshites discovered
their error, in mistaking 'Alyy for their intended victim, he
('Alyy) told them frankly that he had gone to Abii Bakr and
remained there till night.*1 They proceeded to the house of
Abu Bakr, and asked his daughter Asma where her father
had gone to ? She said that she did not know. Abii Jahl,
who, to use the lady's own words, was a blackguard and a ruf
fian, gave her such a box on her ear that she lost her ear-ring.
Abii Bakr had made the necessary preparations for the
journey. He had bought two swift camels for eight hundred
dirhams, and he kept five or six hundred dirhams in cash in
his house, to be provided with money ; and it appears that
he had also previously hired a guide. Asma, his daughter,
when MoAammad •ame into his house, roasted a lamb under
hot ashes, and tied it up in a round piece of leather, which
the Arabs spread on the ground to dine upon instead of a ta
ble, for the road.
They remained three days and three nights in the cave of
the hill of Thawr. It is in the opposite direction from the
road leading to Madynah, and their enemies had therefore
no suspicion that they were secreted there. 'Abd Allah the
son of Abii Bakr brought them every night the news of the
city, and Fohayrah his freed-slave pr6vided them with milk
and Asma, continued to send them provisions. In the fourth
night they started. MoAammad rode one of the two camels,
which Abii Bakr had purchased. Abii Bakr, and behind him
Fohayrah, rode the other. Their guide3 was a man of the

>

(1.) Burckhardt, Travels in Arabia, p. 176, says, the distance is about one
iiour and a half.
(30 Stag to a tradition in Waqidy, they had two guides.

2 A

210 REACH MADYNAH.
Dyl tribe. He was an idolater, but a trustworthy person.
The following day they rested during the heat of the day
at Qadyd. The Qorayshites had promised a reward of one
hundred camels to any one who would arrest MoAammad,
and bring him back. Soraqah (b. Malik ?) b. Ja'tham was
induced by this offer to oppose their progress, when they
startedirom their resting place ; but his horse shied at the
camels, and he was unhorsed ; and instead of capturing the
prophet, he was obliged to beg for his life, which was granted
to him under the condition that he would not betray him.
Some authors say his horse sank up to his knees into the
sand ; and they raise the circumstance, that MoAammad with
his two companions got the better over one man, into a mi
racle. MoAammad and his party proceeded down the valley, took
the western road to Madynah,1 and arrived there on the 12th
of Raby' I.,*1 24th September, A. D. 622,,
(1.) They took the following route : they proceeded down the valley of Makkah
till they were opposite the sea shore below 'Osofan (or 'Osfan) ; then they
went to Amaj, then Qadyd (or Qodayd,) then al Khirrar, then near Thannyyah
Marah, then Laqf, then Modlijah Laqf, then Modlijah Mijaj (or Mijakh,) then
MarAaj Mijaj, then near al-'Odhwayn (or al-'Adhawayn,) then they descended to
Dzy-1-Koshd, then up to 'Adayid (or al-ffadajid,) then up to al-Adzakir (or al-
Ahrad,) then to Ray', where they said the evening prayers ; then to Dzii Salm,
then to Aghda Modlijah, then to al- Athiyanah, then to al-Fajah (or al-QaAah,)
then al-FarA or al.'Arj ; (as the camels were tired the prophet hired in this place
a camel from a man of the Aslam tribe ;) then to al-'Ayir (or al-Ghayir,) which is
south of Rakuyan ; then they descended to Bain al-'Aqyq, (or Bate Ryni,) as far
as al- Jatbj&thah ; and then they proceeded to Qaba, which is a suburb of Madynah.
According to Thbary, al-Modlijah is the name of the road which they took after
they had passed Thanyyah al-Marah ; and this road runs between the road of 'Amq
and the road of al-RawAa ; and it brought them to al-'Arj.
(2.) Tabary, and Ibn IsAaq and Waqidy say, it was a Monday ; but the 12th
was not a Monday. Sohayly says, " They arrived on the 12th Raby' I., which
corresponded to the Aylul of the Syrians. Other authors say on the 8th ; and
Ibn al-Kalby says they left the cave of Thawr on Monday the first Raby' I., and
reached Madynah on Friday the 12th." According to Waqidy, some were of opi
nion that he arrived on the 2d. The first and eighth of Raby' I., were Mondays,
and Ibn al-Kalby may therefore be right. — The era of the Hijrah is calculated not
from the date on which MoAammad took flight, but from the beginning of the _Ju-
nar year in which he took flight, viz. from Friday, the 16th July, 622.