Chapter 9

Muḥammad's descent from Quṣayy

Shortly after his birth he was handed over to a Bedouin nurse—Ḥalíma, a woman of the Banú Sa‘d—so that until heHis childhood.was five years old he breathed the pure air and learned to speak the unadulterated language of the desert. One marvellous event which is said to have happened to him at this time may perhaps be founded on fact:—

"He and his foster-brother" (so Ḥalíma relates) "were among the cattle behind our encampment when my son came running to us and cried, 'My brother, the Qurayshite! two men cladMuḥammad and the two angels.in white took him and laid him on his side and cleft his belly; and they were stirring their hands in it.' When my husband and I went out to him we found him standing with his face turned pale, and on our asking, 'What ails thee, child?' he answered, 'Two men wearing white garments came to me and laid me on my side and cleft my belly and groped for something, I know not what.' We brought him back to our tent, and my husband said to me, 'O Ḥalíma, I fear this lad has been smitten (uṣíba); so take him home to his family before it becomes evident.' When we restored him to his mother she said, 'What has brought thee, nurse? Thou wert so fond of him and anxious that he should stay with thee.' I said, 'God has made him grow up, and I have done my part. I feared that some mischance would befall him, so I brought him back to thee as thou wishest.' 'Thy case is not thus,' said she; 'tell me the truth,' and she gave me no peace until I told her. Then she said, 'Art thou afraid that he is possessed by the Devil?' I said, 'Yes.' 'Nay, by God,' she replied, 'the Devil cannot reach him; my son hath a high destiny.'"281

Other versions of the story are more explicit. The angels, it is said, drew forth Muḥammad's heart, cleansed it, and removed the black clot—i.e., the taint of original sin.282If these inventions have any basis at all beyond the desire to glorify the future Prophet, we must suppose that they referto some kind of epileptic fit. At a later period he was subject to such attacks, which, according to the unanimous voice of Tradition, often coincided with the revelations sent down from heaven.

‘Abdulláh had died before the birth of his son, and when, in his sixth year, Muḥammad lost his mother also, the charge of the orphan was undertaken first by his grandfather, the aged ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib, and then by his uncle, Abú Ṭálib, a poor but honourable man, who nobly fulfilled the duties of a guardian to the last hour of his life. Muḥammad's small patrimony was soon spent, and he was reduced to herding sheep—a despised employment which usually fell to the lot of women or slaves. In his twelfth year he accompanied Abú Ṭálib on a trading expedition to Syria, in the course of which he is said to have encountered a ChristianHis meeting with the monk Baḥírá.monk called Baḥírá, who discovered the Seal of Prophecy between the boy's shoulders, and hailed him as the promised apostle. Such anticipations deserve no credit whatever. The truth is that until Muḥammad assumed the prophetic rôle he was merely an obscure Qurayshite; and scarcely anything related of him anterior to that event can be deemed historical except his marriage to Khadíja, an elderly widow of considerable fortune, which took place when he was about twenty-five years of age.

During the next fifteen years of his life Muḥammad was externally a prosperous citizen, only distinguished from those around him by an habitual expression of thoughtful melancholy. What was passing in his mind may be conjectured with some probability from his first utterances when he came forward as a preacher. It is certain, and he himself has acknowledged, that he formerly shared the idolatry of his countrymen. "Did not He find thee astray and lead thee aright?" (Kor. xciii, 7). When and how did the process of conversion begin? These questions cannot be answered, but it is natural to suppose that the all-important result, on whichMuḥammad's biographers concentrate their attention, was preceded by a long period of ferment and immaturity. The idea of monotheism was represented in Arabia by the Jews, who were particularly numerous in the Ḥijáz, and by several gnostic sects of an ascetic character—e.g., the Ṣábians283and the Rakúsians. Furthermore, "Islamic tradition knows of a number of religious thinkers before Muḥammad who are described as Ḥanífs,"284and of whom the best known are Waraqa b. Nawfal of Quraysh; Zayd b. ‘AmrThe Ḥanífs.b. Nufayl, also of Quraysh; and Umayya b. Abi ’l-Ṣalt of Thaqíf. They formed no sect, as Sprenger imagined; and more recent research has demonstrated the baselessness of the same scholar's theory that there was in Pre-islamic times a widely-spread religious movement which Muḥammad organised, directed, and employed for his own ends. His Arabian precursors, if they may be so called, were merely a few isolated individuals. We are told by Ibn Isḥáq that Waraqa and Zayd, together with two other Qurayshites, rejected idolatry and left their homes in order to seek the true religion of Abraham, but whereas Waraqa is said to have become a Christian, Zayd remained a pious dissenter unattached either to Christianity or to Judaism; he abstained from idol-worship, from eating that which had died of itself, from blood, and from the flesh of animals offered in sacrifice to idols; he condemned the barbarous custom of burying female infants alive, and said,"I worship the Lord of Abraham."285As regards Umayya b. Abi ’l-Ṣalt, according to the notice of him in theAghání, he had inspected and read the Holy Scriptures; he wore sackcloth as a mark of devotion, held wine to be unlawful, was inclined to disbelieve in idols, and earnestly sought the true religion. It is said that he hoped to be sent as a prophet to the Arabs, and therefore when Muḥammad appeared he envied and bitterly opposed him.286Umayya's verses, some of which have been translated in a former chapter,287are chiefly on religious topics, and show many points of resemblance with the doctrines set forth in the early Súras of the Koran. With one exception, all the Ḥanífs whose names are recorded belonged to the Ḥijáz and the west of the Arabian peninsula. No doubt Muḥammad, with whom most of them were contemporary, came under their influence, and he may have received his first stimulus from this quarter.288While they, however, were concerned only about their own salvation, Muḥammad, starting from the same position, advanced far beyond it. His greatness lies not so much in the sublime ideas by which he was animated as in the tremendous force and enthusiasm of his appeal to the universal conscience of mankind.

In his fortieth year, it is said, Muḥammad began to dream dreams and see visions, and desire solitude above all things else. He withdrew to a cave on Mount Ḥirá, nearMuḥammad's vision.Mecca, and engaged in religious austerities (taḥannuth). One night in the month of Ramaḍán289the Angel290appeared to him and said, "Read!" (iqra’). Heanswered, "I am no reader" (má ana bi-qári’in).291Then the Angel seized him with a strong grasp, saying, "Read!" and, as Muḥammad still refused to obey, gripped him once more and spoke as follows:—

THE SÚRA OF COAGULATED BLOOD (XCVI).(1) Read in the name of thy Lord292who created,(2) Who created Man of blood coagulated.(3) Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent,(4) Who taught by the Pen,293(5) Taught that which they knew not unto men.

THE SÚRA OF COAGULATED BLOOD (XCVI).

(1) Read in the name of thy Lord292who created,(2) Who created Man of blood coagulated.(3) Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent,(4) Who taught by the Pen,293(5) Taught that which they knew not unto men.

On hearing these words Muḥammad returned, trembling, to Khadíja and cried, "Wrap me up! wrap me up!" and remained covered until the terror passed away from him.294Another tradition relating to the same event makes it clearthat the revelation occurred in a dream.295"I awoke," said the Prophet, "and methought it was written in my heart." If we take into account the notions prevalent among the Arabs of that time on the subject of inspiration,296it will not appear surprising that Muḥammad at first believed himself to be possessed, like a poet or soothsayer, by one of the spirits called collectivelyJinn. Such was his anguish of mind that he even meditated suicide, but Khadíja comforted and reassured him, and finally he gained the unalterable conviction that he was not a prey to demoniacal influences, but a prophet divinely inspired. For some time he received no further revelation.297Then suddenly, as he afterwards related, he saw the Angel seated on a throne between earth and heaven. Awe-stricken, he ran into his house and bade them wrap his limbs in a warm garment (dithár). While he lay thus the following verses were revealed:—

THE SÚRA OF THE ENWRAPPED (LXXIV).(1) O thou who enwrapped dost lie!(2) Arise and prophesy,298(3) And thy Lord magnify,(4) And thy raiment purify,(5) And the abomination fly!299

THE SÚRA OF THE ENWRAPPED (LXXIV).

(1) O thou who enwrapped dost lie!(2) Arise and prophesy,298(3) And thy Lord magnify,(4) And thy raiment purify,(5) And the abomination fly!299

Muḥammad no longer doubted that he had a divinely ordained mission to preach in public. His feelings of relief and thankfulness are expressed in several Súras of this period,e.g.—

THE SÚRA OF THE MORNING (XCIII).(1) By the Morning bright(2) And the softly falling Night,(3) Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither art thou hateful in His sight.(4) Verily, the Beginning is hard unto thee, but the End shall be light.300(5) Thou shalt be satisfied, the Lord shall thee requite.(6) Did not He shelter thee when He found thee in orphan's plight?(7) Did not He find thee astray and lead thee aright?(8) Did not He find thee poor and make thee rich by His might?(9) Wherefore, the orphan betray not,(10) And the beggar turn away not,(11) And tell of the bounty of thy Lord.

THE SÚRA OF THE MORNING (XCIII).

(1) By the Morning bright(2) And the softly falling Night,(3) Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither art thou hateful in His sight.(4) Verily, the Beginning is hard unto thee, but the End shall be light.300(5) Thou shalt be satisfied, the Lord shall thee requite.(6) Did not He shelter thee when He found thee in orphan's plight?(7) Did not He find thee astray and lead thee aright?(8) Did not He find thee poor and make thee rich by His might?(9) Wherefore, the orphan betray not,(10) And the beggar turn away not,(11) And tell of the bounty of thy Lord.

According to his biographers, an interval of three years elapsed between the sending of Muḥammad and his appearance as a public preacher of the faith that was in him. Naturally, he would first turn to his own family and friends, but it is difficult to accept the statement that he made no proselytes openly during so long a period. The contrary is asserted in an ancient tradition related by al-Zuhrí († 742a.d.), where we read that the Prophet summoned the people to embrace Islam301both in private and public; and that those who responded to his appeal were, for the most part, young men belonging to the poorer class.302He found, however, some influential adherents. Besides Khadíja, who wasThe first Moslems.the first to believe, there were his cousin ‘Alí, his adopted son, Zayd b. Ḥáritha, and, most important of all, Abú Bakr b. Abí Quháfa, a leading merchant of the Quraysh, universally respected and beloved for his integrity, wisdom, and kindly disposition. At the outset Muḥammad seems to have avoided everything calculated to offend the heathens, confining himself to moral and religious generalities,so that many believed, and the Meccan aristocrats themselves regarded him with good-humoured toleration as a harmless oracle-monger. "Look!" they said as he passed by, "there goes the man of the Banú ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib who tells of heaven." But no sooner did he begin to emphasise the Unity of God, to fulminate against idolatry, and to preachHostility of the Quraysh.the Resurrection of the dead, than his followers melted away in face of the bitter antagonism which these doctrines excited amongst the Quraysh, who saw in the Ka‘ba and its venerable cult the mainspring of their commercial prosperity, and were irritated by the Prophet's declaration that their ancestors were burning in hell-fire. The authority of Abú Ṭálib secured the personal safety of Muḥammad; of the little band who remained faithful some were protected by the strong family feeling characteristic of old Arabian society, but many were poor and friendless; and these, especially the slaves, whom the levelling ideas of Islam had attracted in large numbers, were subjected to cruel persecution.303Nevertheless Muḥammad continued to preach. "I will not forsake this cause" (thus he is said to have answered Abú Ṭálib, who informed him of the threatening attitude of the Quraysh and begged him not to lay on him a greater burden than he could bear) "until God shall make it prevail or until I shall perish therein—not though they should set the sun on my right hand and the moon on my left!"304But progresswas slow and painful: the Meccans stood obstinately aloof, deriding both his prophetic authority and the Divine chastisement with which he sought to terrify them. Moreover, they used every kind of pressure short of actual violence in order to seduce his followers, so that many recanted, and in the fifth year of his mission he saw himself driven to the necessity of commanding a general emigration to the ChristianEmigration to Abyssinia.kingdom of Abyssinia, where the Moslems would be received with open arms305and would be withdrawn from temptation.306About a hundred men and women went into exile, leaving their Prophet with a small party of staunch and devoted comrades to persevere in a struggle that was daily becoming more difficult. In a moment of weakness Muḥammad resolved to attempt a compromiseTemporary reconciliation with the Quraysh.with his countrymen. One day, it is said, the chief men of Mecca, assembled in a group beside the Ka‘ba, discussed as was their wont the affairs of the city, when Muḥammad appeared and, seating himself by them in a friendly manner, began to recite in their hearing the 53rd Súra of the Koran. When he came to the verses (19-20)—

"Do ye see Al-Lát and Al-‘Uzzá, and Manát, the third and last?"

Satan prompted him to add:—

"These are the most exalted Cranes (or Swans),And verily their intercession is to be hoped for."

The Quraysh were surprised and delighted with this acknowledgment of their deities; and as Muḥammad wound up the Súra with the closing words—

"Wherefore bow down before God and serve Him,"

the whole assembly prostrated themselves with one accord on the ground and worshipped.307But scarcely had Muḥammad returned to his house when he repented of the sin into which he had fallen. He cancelled the idolatrous verses and revealed in their place those which now stand in the Koran—

"Shall yours be the male and his the female?308This were then an unjust division!They are naught but names which ye and your fathers have named."

We can easily comprehend why Ibn Hishám omits all mention of this episode from his Biography, and why the factMuḥammad's concession to the idolaters.itself is denied by many Moslem theologians.309The Prophet's friends were scandalised, his enemies laughed him to scorn. It was probably no sudden lapse, as tradition represents, but a calculated endeavour to come to terms with the Quraysh; and so far from being immediately annulled, the reconciliation seems to have lasted long enough for the news of it to reach the emigrants in Abyssinia and induce some of them to return to Mecca. While putting the best face on the matter, Muḥammad felt keenly both his own disgrace and the public discredit. It speaks well for his sincerity that, as soon as he perceived any compromise with idolatry to be impossible—to be, in fact, a surrender of the great principle by which he was inspired—he frankly confessed his error and delusion.Henceforth he "wages mortal strife with images in every shape"—there is no god but Allah.

The further course of events which culminated in Muḥammad's Flight to Medína may be sketched in a few words. Persecution now waxed hotter than ever, as the Prophet, rising from his temporary vacillation like a giant refreshed, threw his whole force into the denunciation of idolatry. The conversion of ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭáb, the future Caliph, a man of 'blood and iron,' gave the signal for open revolt. "The Moslems no longer concealed their worship within their own dwellings, but with conscious strength and defiant attitude assembled in companies about the Ka‘ba, performed their rites of prayer and compassed the Holy House. Their courage rose. Dread and uneasiness seized the Quraysh." The latter retaliated by cutting off all relations with the Háshimites, who were pledged to defend their kinsman, whether they recognised him as a prophet or no. This ban or boycott secluded them in an outlying quarter of the city, where for more than two years they endured the utmost privations, but it only cemented their loyalty to Muḥammad, and ultimately dissensions among the Quraysh themselves caused it to be removed. Shortly afterwards the Prophet suffered a double bereavement—the death of his wife,Death of of Khadíja and Abú Ṭálib.Khadíja, was followed by that of the noble Abú Ṭálib, who, though he never accepted Islam, stood firm to the last in defence of his brother's son. Left alone to protect himself, Muḥammad realised that he must take some decisive step. The situation was critical. Events had shown that he had nothing to hope and everything to fear from the Meccan aristocracy. He had warned them again and again of the wrath to come, yet they gave no heed. He was now convinced that they would not and could not believe, since God in His inscrutable wisdom had predestined them to eternal damnation. Consequently he resolved on a bold and, according to Arab ways of thinking, abominable expedient,namely, to abandon his fellow-tribesmen and seek aid from strangers.310Having vainly appealed to the inhabitants of Ṭá’if, he turned to Medína, where, among a population largely composed of Jews, the revolutionary ideas of Islam might more readily take root and flourish than in the Holy City of Arabian heathendom. This time he was not disappointed. A strong party in Medína hailed him as the true Prophet, eagerly embraced his creed, and swore to defend him at all hazards. In the spring of the year 622a.d.the Moslems of Mecca quietly left their homes and journeyed northward. A few months later (September, 622) Muḥammad himself, eluding the vigilance of the Quraysh, entered Medína in triumph amidst the crowds and acclamations due to a conqueror.

This is the celebrated Migration or Hegira (properlyHijra) which marks the end of the Barbaric Age (al-Jáhiliyya) andTheHijraor Migration to Medina (622a.d.).the beginning of the Muḥammadan Era. It also marks a new epoch in the Prophet's history; but before attempting to indicate the nature of the change it will be convenient, in order that we may form a juster conception of his character, to give some account of his early teaching and preaching as set forth in that portion of the Koran which was revealed at Mecca.

Koran (Qur’án) is derived from the Arabic rootqara’a, 'to read,' and means 'reading aloud' or 'chanting.' ThisThe Koran.term may be applied either to a single Revelation or to several recited together or, in its usual acceptation, to the whole body of Revelations which are thought by Moslems to be, actually and literally, the Word of God; so that in quoting from the Koran they sayqála ’lláhu,i.e., 'God said.' Each Revelation forms a separateSúra(chapter)311composed of verses of varying length which have no metre but are generally rhymed. Thus, as regards its external features, the style of the Koran is modelled upon theSaj‘,312or rhymed prose, of the pagan soothsayers, but with such freedom that it may fairly be described as original. Since it was not in Muḥammad's power to create a form that should be absolutely new, his choice lay betweenSaj‘and poetry, the only forms of elevated style then known to the Arabs. He himself declared that he was no poet,313and this is true in the sense that he may have lacked the technical accomplishment of verse-making. It must, however, be borne inWas Muḥammad poet?mind that his disavowal does not refer primarily to the poetic art, but rather to the person and character of the poets themselves. He, the divinely inspired Prophet, could have nothing to do with men who owed their inspiration to demons and gloried in the ideals of paganism which he was striving to overthrow. "And the poets do those follow who go astray! Dost thou not see that they wander distraught in every vale? and that they say that which they do not?" (Kor. xxvi, 224-226). Muḥammad was not of these; although he was not so unlike them as he pretended. His kinship with the paganShá‘iris clearly shown, for example, in the 113th and 114th Súras, which are charms against magic anddiablerie, as well as in the solemn imprecation calling down destruction upon the head of his uncle, ‘Abdu ’l-‘Uzzá, nicknamed Abú Lahab (Father of Flame).

THE SÚRA OF ABÚ LAHAB (CXI).(1) Perish the hands of Abú Lahab and perish he!(2) His wealth shall not avail him nor all he hath gotten in fee.(3) Burned in blazing fire he shall be!(4) And his wife, the faggot-bearer, also she.(5) Upon her neck a cord of fibres of the palm-tree.

THE SÚRA OF ABÚ LAHAB (CXI).

(1) Perish the hands of Abú Lahab and perish he!(2) His wealth shall not avail him nor all he hath gotten in fee.(3) Burned in blazing fire he shall be!(4) And his wife, the faggot-bearer, also she.(5) Upon her neck a cord of fibres of the palm-tree.

If, then, we must allow that Muḥammad's contemporaries had some justification for bestowing upon him the title of poet against which he protested so vehemently, still less can his plea be accepted by the modern critic, whose verdict will be that the Koran is not poetical as a whole; that it contains many pages of rhetoric and much undeniable prose; but that, although Muḥammad needed "heaven-sent moments for this skill," in the early Meccan Súras frequently, and fitfully elsewhere, his genius proclaims itself by grand lyrical outbursts which could never have been the work of a mere rhetorician.

"Muḥammad's single aim in the Meccan Súras," says Nöldeke, "is to convert the people, by means of persuasion, from their false gods toThe Meccan Súras.the One God. To whatever point the discourse is directed, this always remains the ground-thought; but instead of seeking to convince the reason of his hearers by logical proofs, he employs the arts of rhetoric to work upon their minds through the imagination. Thus he glorifies God, describes His working in Nature and History, and ridicules on the other hand the impotence of the idols. Especially important are the descriptions of the everlasting bliss of the pious and the torments of the wicked: these, particularly the latter, must be regarded as one of the mightiest factors in the propagation of Islam, through the impression which they make on the imagination of simple men who have not been hardened, from their youth up, by similar theological ideas. The Prophet often attacks his heathen adversaries personally and threatens them with eternal punishment; but while he is living among heathens alone, he seldom assails the Jews who stand much nearer to him, and the Christians scarcely ever."314

The preposterous arrangement of the Koran, to which I have already adverted, is mainly responsible for the opinion almost unanimously held by European readers that it is obscure, tiresome, uninteresting; a farrago of long-winded narratives and prosaic exhortations, quite unworthy to be named in the same breath with the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament. One may, indeed, peruse the greater part of the volume, beginning with the first chapter, and find but a few passages of genuine enthusiasm to relieve the prevailing dulness. It is in the short Súras placed at the end of the Koran that we must look for evidence of Muḥammad's prophetic gift. These are the earliest of all; in these the flame of inspiration burns purely and its natural force is not abated. The following versions, like those which have preceded, imitate the original form as closely, I think, as is possible in English. They cannot, of course, do more than faintly suggest the striking effect of the sonorous Arabic when read aloud. The Koran was designed for oral recitation, and it must beheardin order to be justly appraised.

THE SÚRA OF THE SEVERING (LXXXII).(1) When the Sky shall be severèd,(2) And when the Stars shall be shiverèd,(3) And when the Seas to mingle shall be sufferèd,(4) And when the Graves shall be uncoverèd—(5) A soul shall know that which it hath deferred or deliverèd.315(6) O Man, what beguiled thee against thy gracious Master to rebel,(7) Who created thee and fashioned thee right and thy frame did fairly build?(8) He composed thee in whatever form He willed.(9) Nay, but ye disbelieve in the Ordeal!316(10) Verily over you are Recorders honourable,(11) Your deeds inscribing without fail:317(12) What ye do they know well.(13) Surely the pious in delight shall dwell,(14) And surely the wicked shall be in Hell,(15) Burning there on the Day of Ordeal;(16) And evermore Hell-fire they shall feel!(17) What shall make thee to understand what is the Day of Ordeal?(18) Again, what shall make thee to understand what is the Day of Ordeal?—(19) A Day when one soul shall not obtain anything for another soul, but the command on that Day shall be with God alone.

THE SÚRA OF THE SEVERING (LXXXII).

(1) When the Sky shall be severèd,(2) And when the Stars shall be shiverèd,(3) And when the Seas to mingle shall be sufferèd,(4) And when the Graves shall be uncoverèd—(5) A soul shall know that which it hath deferred or deliverèd.315(6) O Man, what beguiled thee against thy gracious Master to rebel,(7) Who created thee and fashioned thee right and thy frame did fairly build?(8) He composed thee in whatever form He willed.(9) Nay, but ye disbelieve in the Ordeal!316(10) Verily over you are Recorders honourable,(11) Your deeds inscribing without fail:317(12) What ye do they know well.(13) Surely the pious in delight shall dwell,(14) And surely the wicked shall be in Hell,(15) Burning there on the Day of Ordeal;(16) And evermore Hell-fire they shall feel!(17) What shall make thee to understand what is the Day of Ordeal?(18) Again, what shall make thee to understand what is the Day of Ordeal?—(19) A Day when one soul shall not obtain anything for another soul, but the command on that Day shall be with God alone.

THE SÚRA OF THE SIGNS (LXXXV).(1) By the Heaven in which Signs are set,(2) By the Day that is promisèd,(3) By the Witness and the Witnessèd:—(4) Cursèd be the Fellows of the Pit, they that spread(5) The fire with fuel fed,(6) When they sate by its head(7) And saw how their contrivance against the Believers sped;318(8) And they punished them not save that they believed on God, the Almighty, the Glorified,(9) To whom is the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth, and He seeth every thing beside.(10) Verily, for those who afflict believing men and women and repent not, the torment of Gehenna and the torment of burning is prepared.(11) Verily, for those who believe and work righteousness are Gardens beneath which rivers flow: this is the great Reward.(12) Stern is the vengeance of thy Lord.(13) He createth the living and reviveth the dead:(14) He doth pardon and kindly entreat:(15) The majestic Throne is His seat:(16) That he willeth He doeth indeed.(17) Hath not word come to thee of the multitude(18) Of Pharaoh, and of Thamúd?319(19) Nay, the infidels cease not from falsehood,(20) But God encompasseth them about.(21) Surely, it is a Sublime Koran that ye read,(22) On a Table inviolate.320

THE SÚRA OF THE SIGNS (LXXXV).

(1) By the Heaven in which Signs are set,(2) By the Day that is promisèd,(3) By the Witness and the Witnessèd:—(4) Cursèd be the Fellows of the Pit, they that spread(5) The fire with fuel fed,(6) When they sate by its head(7) And saw how their contrivance against the Believers sped;318(8) And they punished them not save that they believed on God, the Almighty, the Glorified,(9) To whom is the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth, and He seeth every thing beside.(10) Verily, for those who afflict believing men and women and repent not, the torment of Gehenna and the torment of burning is prepared.(11) Verily, for those who believe and work righteousness are Gardens beneath which rivers flow: this is the great Reward.(12) Stern is the vengeance of thy Lord.(13) He createth the living and reviveth the dead:(14) He doth pardon and kindly entreat:(15) The majestic Throne is His seat:(16) That he willeth He doeth indeed.(17) Hath not word come to thee of the multitude(18) Of Pharaoh, and of Thamúd?319(19) Nay, the infidels cease not from falsehood,(20) But God encompasseth them about.(21) Surely, it is a Sublime Koran that ye read,(22) On a Table inviolate.320

THE SÚRA OF THE SMITING (CI).(1) The Smiting! What is the Smiting?(2) And how shalt thou be made to understand what is the Smiting?(3) The Day when Men shall be as flies scatterèd,(4) And the Mountains shall be as shreds of wool tatterèd.(5) One whose Scales are heavy, a pleasing life he shall spend,(6) But one whose Scales are light, to the Abyss he shall descend.(7) What that is, how shalt thou be made to comprehend?(8) Scorching Fire without end!

THE SÚRA OF THE SMITING (CI).

(1) The Smiting! What is the Smiting?(2) And how shalt thou be made to understand what is the Smiting?(3) The Day when Men shall be as flies scatterèd,(4) And the Mountains shall be as shreds of wool tatterèd.(5) One whose Scales are heavy, a pleasing life he shall spend,(6) But one whose Scales are light, to the Abyss he shall descend.(7) What that is, how shalt thou be made to comprehend?(8) Scorching Fire without end!

THE SÚRA OF THE UNBELIEVERS (CIX).(1) Say: 'O Unbelievers,(2) I worship not that which ye worship,(3) And ye worship not that which I worship.(4) Neither will I worship that which ye worship,(5) Nor will ye worship that which I worship.(6) Ye have your religion and I have my religion.'

THE SÚRA OF THE UNBELIEVERS (CIX).

(1) Say: 'O Unbelievers,(2) I worship not that which ye worship,(3) And ye worship not that which I worship.(4) Neither will I worship that which ye worship,(5) Nor will ye worship that which I worship.(6) Ye have your religion and I have my religion.'

To summarise the cardinal doctrines preached by MuḥammadThe teaching of Muḥammad at Mecca.during the Meccan period:—

1. There is no god but God.

2. Muḥammad is the Apostle of God, and the Koran is the Word of God revealed to His Apostle.

3. The dead shall be raised to life at the Last Judgment, when every one shall be judged by his actions in the present life.

4. The pious shall enter Paradise and the wicked shall go down to Hell.

Taking these doctrines separately, let us consider a little more in detail how each of them is stated and by what arguments it is enforced. The time had not yet come for drawingthe sword: Muḥammad repeats again and again that he is only a warner (nadhír) invested with no authority to compel where he cannot persuade.

1. The Meccans acknowledged the supreme position of Allah, but in ordinary circumstances neglected him in favourThe Unity of God.of their idols, so that, as Muḥammad complains, "When danger befalls you on the sea, the gods whom ye invoke are forgotten except Him alone; yet when He brought you safe to land, ye turned your backs on Him, for Man is ungrateful."321They were strongly attached to the cult of the Ka‘ba, not only by self-interest, but also by the more respectable motives of piety towards their ancestors and pride in their traditions. Muḥammad himself regarded Allah as Lord of the Ka‘ba, and called upon the Quraysh to worship him as such (Kor. cvi, 3). When they refused to do so on the ground that they were afraid lest the Arabs should rise against them and drive them forth from the land, he assured them that Allah was the author of all their prosperity (Kor. xxviii, 57). His main argument, however, is drawn from the weakness of the idols, which cannot create even a fly, contrasted with the wondrous manifestations of Divine power and providence in the creation of the heavens and the earth and all living things.322

It was probably towards the close of the Meccan period that Muḥammad summarised his Unitarian ideas in the following emphatic formula:—

THE SÚRA OF PURIFICATION (CXII).323(1) Say: 'God is One;(2) God who liveth on;(3) Without father and without son;(4) And like to Him there is none!'

2. We have seen that when Muḥammad first appeared as a prophet he was thought by all except a very few toMuḥammad, the Apostle of God.bemajnún,i.e., possessed by ajinní, or genie, if I may use a word which will send the reader back to hisArabian Nights. The heathen Arabs regarded such persons—soothsayers, diviners, and poets—with a certain respect; and if Muḥammad's 'madness' had taken a normal course, his claim to inspiration would have passed unchallenged. What moved the Quraysh to oppose him was not disbelief in his inspiration—it mattered little to them whether he was under the spell of Allah or one of theJinn—but the fact that he preached doctrines which wounded their sentiments, threatened their institutions, and subverted the most cherished traditions of old Arabian life. But in order successfully to resist the propaganda for which he alleged a Divine warrant, they were obliged to meet him on his own ground and to maintain that he was no prophet at all, no Apostle of Allah, as he asserted, but "an insolent liar," "a schooled madman," "an infatuated poet," and so forth; and that his Koran, which he gave out to be the Word of Allah, was merely "old folks' tales" (asáṭíru ’l-awwalín), or the invention of a poet or a sorcerer. "Is not he," they cried, "a man like ourselves, who wishes to domineer over us? Let him show us a miracle, that we may believe." Muḥammad could only reiterate his former assertions and warn the infidels that a terrible punishment was in store for them either in this world or the next. Time after time he compares himself to the ancient prophets—Noah, Abraham, Moses, and their successors—who are represented as employing exactly the same arguments and receiving the same answers as Muḥammad; and bids his people hearken to him lest they utterly perish like the ungodly before them. The truth of the Koran is proved, he says, by the Pentateuch and the Gospel, all being Revelations of the One God, and therefore identical in substance. He is no mercenary soothsayer, he seeks nopersonal advantage: his mission is solely to preach. The demand for a miracle he could not satisfy except by pointing to his visions of the Angel and especially to the Koran itself, every verse of which was a distinct sign or miracle (áyat).324If he has forged it, why are his adversaries unable to produce anything similar? "Say: 'If men and genies united to bring the like of this Koran, they could not bring the like although they should back each other up'" (Kor. xvii, 90).

3. Such notions of a future life as were current in Pre-islamic Arabia never rose beyond vague and barbarous superstition,Resurrection and Retribution.e.g., the fancy that the dead man's tomb was haunted by his spirit in the shape of a screeching owl.325No wonder, then, that the ideas of Resurrection and Retribution, which are enforced by threats and arguments on almost every page of the Koran, appeared to the Meccan idolaters absurdly ridiculous and incredible. "Does Ibn Kabsha promise us that we shall live?" said one of their poets. "How can there be life for the ṣadá and the háma? Dost thou omit to ward me from death, and wilt thou revive me when my bones are rotten?"326God provided His Apostle with a ready answer to these gibes: "Say: 'He shall revive them who produced them at first, for He knoweth everycreation" (Kor. xxxvi, 79). This topic is eloquently illustrated, but Muḥammad's hearers were probably less impressed by the creative power of God as exhibited in Nature and in Man than by the awful examples, to which reference has been made, of His destructive power as manifested in History. To Muḥammad himself, at the outset of his mission, it seemed an appalling certainty that he must one day stand before God and render an account; the overmastering sense of his own responsibility goaded him to preach in the hope of saving his countrymen, and supplied him, weak and timorous as he was, with strength to endure calumny and persecution. As Nöldeke has remarked, the grandest Súras of the whole Koran are those in which Muḥammad describes how all Nature trembles and quakes at the approach of the Last Judgment. "It is as though one actually saw the earth heaving, the mountains crumbling to dust, and the stars hurled hither and thither in wild confusion."327Súras lxxxii and ci, which have been translated above, are specimens of the true prophetic style.328

4. There is nothing spiritual in Muḥammad's pictures of Heaven and Hell. His Paradise is simply a glorified pleasure-garden,The Muḥammadan Paradise.where the pious repose in cool shades, quaffing spicy wine and diverting themselves with the Houris (Ḥúr), lovely dark-eyed damsels like pearls hidden in their shells.329This was admirably calculated to allure his hearers by reminding them of one of their chief enjoyments—the gay drinking parties which occasionally broke the monotony of Arabian life, and which are often described in Pre-islamic poetry; indeed, it is highly probable that Muḥammad drew a good deal of his Paradise from this source. The gross and sensual character of the Muḥammadan Afterworld is commonly thought to betray a particular weaknessof the Prophet or is charged to the Arabs in general, but as Professor Bevan has pointed out, "the real explanation seems to be that at first the idea of a future retribution was absolutely new both to Muḥammad himself and to the public which he addressed. Paradise and Hell had no traditional associations, and the Arabic language furnished no religious terminology for the expression of such ideas; if they were to be made comprehensible at all, it could only be done by means of precise descriptions, of imagery borrowed from earthly affairs."330

Muḥammad was no mere visionary. Ritual observances, vigils, and other austerities entered largely into his religion,Prayer.endowing it with the formal and ascetic character which it retains to the present day. Prayer was introduced soon after the first Revelations: in one of the oldest (Súra lxxxvii, 14-15) we read, "Prosperous is he who purifies himself (or gives alms) and repeats the name of his Lord and prays." Although the five daily prayers obligatory upon every true believer are nowhere mentioned in the Koran, the opening chapter (Súratu ’l-Fátiḥa), which answers to our Lord's Prayer, is constantly recited on these occasions, and is seldom omitted from any act of public or private devotion. Since theFátiḥaprobably belongs to the latest Meccan period, it may find a place here.

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