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which afterwards proved mortal. Mahomet, however, was now sixty years old, and it seems clear that he never swallowed any of the poison, which was probably the well-known datura, or juice of the hemlock. In the following year, he completed his pledge of visiting Mecca, and the Koreish, tired with contest, adhered to their agreement. For three days he was placed in possession of the shrine, and there for the first time he fulfilled all the rites of Islam in the appointed centre of the faith. He retired on the expiration of the three days; but the appointed hour was drawing near when the labour of a life was to be crowned with the full measure of success. The Prophet was growing old, and had as yet done little which could survive his death. He was master of Medina, it is true, general of a powerful army, suzerain of numerous tribes, and with a reputation which extended wherever the Arab orators contended for eloquence; but he was still only a local notability. The Arabs still looked to Mecca as the pivot on which the politics of the peninsula ought to turn; till Mecca was gained, Arabia as a whole was unsubdued, and the conquest of the sacred city became an object of intense burning desire. He resolved to make a final effort to secure it, and the Koreish gave him a fair opportunity. They allowed an allied sept to harry a small Meccan clan because they adhered to Mahomet, and thus, whether wilfully or otherwise, broke the treaty of amity. The injured family, the Beni Khozaa applied to Mahomet for redress, which he promised with a solemn asseveration. He at once raised his standard, and summoning his allies found himself at the head of eight thousand men. With this army he marched suddenly on Mecca, where a great change had apparently occurred. Abu Sófian had either been wearied out, or was aware that resistance was hopeless, while the Koreish may be presumed to have become doubtful of the wisdom of further war. They made no preparations for resistance, and Abu Sofian, who had gone out to reconnoitre, was taken, apparently a willing prisoner, to Mahomet. The scene which followed is probably as true as most historical anecdotes, and is exquisitely illustrative at once of Arab manners and Mahometan legendary style.

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"Out upon thee, Abu Sofian! cried Mahomet, as the Koreishite chief drew near. 'Hast thou not yet discovered that there is no God but the Lord alone?' 'Noble and generous sire! Had there been any God beside, verily he had been of some avail to me.' And dost thou not acknowledge that I am the Prophet of the Lord?' continued Mahomet. 'Noble sire! As to this thing there is yet in my heart some hesitancy.' 'Woe is thee!' exclaimed Abbas; it is no time for hesitancy, this. Believe and testify at once the creed of Islam, or else thy head shall be severed from thy body!' It was, indeed, no time for idle pride

or scruple; and so Abu Sofian, seeing no alternative left to him, repeated the formula of belief in God and in his Prophet. What a moment of exultation it must have been for Mahomet when he saw the great leader of the Koreish a suppliant believer at his feet! Haste thee to Mecca!' he said; for he knew well when to show forbearance and generosity. 'Haste thee to the city: no one that taketh refuge in the house of Abu Sofian shall be harmed. And hearken! speak unto the people, that whoever closeth the door of his house, the inmates thereof shall escape.' Abu Sofian hastened to retire. But before he could quit the camp, the forces were already under arms, and were being marshalled in their respective columns. Standing by Abbas, he watched in amazement the various tribes, each defiling, with the banner given to it by Mahomet, into its proper place. One by one, the different clans were pointed out by name, and recognised. 'And what is

is that black mass,' asked Abu Sofian,' with dark mail and shining lances? It is the flower of the chivalry of Mecca and Medina,' replied Abbas; the favoured band that guards the person of the Prophet. Truly,' exclaimed the astonished chief, 'this kingdom of thy uncle's is a mighty kingdom.' 'Nay, Abu Sofian, he is more than a king, he is a mighty Prophet! Yes; thou sayest truly. Now let me go.' 'Away!' said Abbas. 'Speed thee to thy people !'"

On the following morning the army divided into four columns, and entered the city on all sides, unopposed except by a few fanatics, who endeavoured on one side to keep up a running and ineffectual fight; and Mahomet stood at last lord of the city from which eight years before he had fled a hunted fugitive. It was still filled with enemies, but the magnitude of his triumph had softened his heart, and he spared all save four, the exceptions being men who had injured or insulted him or his family, and a woman who had circulated satirical verses,—an offence Mahomet never forgave. The effect of this generous conduct was instantly apparent. The Meccans gave in their adhesion in a body, and Mussulman writers record with admiration that among them, when they did at last give way, there were no disaffected. The strength thus added to Mahomet was important, but before using it Mecca was to be cleared of idolatry. The pictures of angels within the shrine had been removed on his first entry, and now Mahomet ordered the idols to be hewn down: Ozza and Lat fell with a terrible crash, and Mahomet, as he stood gazing on the destruction, an old man, with the work of twenty years at last accomplished, must have felt that he had not lived in vain. With Ozza and Lat, though he knew it not, crashed down the whole fabric of Arabian idolatry; and the land, though for twelve hundred years rent with strife, though the tribes whom he bound together have fallen asunder, and all other traditions have revived, has never gone back-never showed the desire to go back-to Pagan worship. That one work, small or

great, terminated then; but to Mahomet it seemed as if too much was still left to do.

Scarcely had Mecca been purified when the Prophet summoned its subject clans, and with an army swelled to 12,000 men set out to subjugate Tayif, the city which had stoned him. when, alone and unarmed, he visited it to demand obedience in the name of the Most High to a banished and powerless member of the Koreish. On his road he was met by the Beni Hawazin, the powerful tribe settled round Tayif, and narrowly escaped defeat. The Hawazin charged down a defile, and the army of Islam, taken by surprise, fell into a panic, and commenced a precipitate retreat. Mahomet, however, knew that no army existed in Arabia competent to face his own, and standing firm, he ordered a follower of stentorian lungs to summon the Medinese to his standard. They rallied round him instantly, and the dismayed Mahometans, re-forming behind them, charged upon the Beni Hawazin. The victory was complete, and the Prophet passed on unmolested to Tayif. He failed, however, before the city, chiefly from the Arab impossibility of keeping an army together without commissariat, and he returned to Mecca. The property of the Hawazin was, however, divided, and Mahomet exhausted his personal wealth in enriching his new allies. So lavish were his gifts indeed, that the Medinese murmured, and Mahomet had, for the fiftieth time, to appeal to his rare gift of eloquence to allay their discontent. Readers of Parliamentary debates will perhaps catch in this scene a glimpse of the true

orator.

"He then addressed them in these words: 'Ye men of Medina, it hath been reported to me that ye are disconcerted, because I have given unto these chiefs largesses, and have given nothing unto you. Now speak unto me. Did I not come unto you whilst ye were wandering, and the Lord gave you the right Direction ?-needy, and he enriched you?-at enmity amongst yourselves, and he hath filled your hearts with love and unity?' He paused for a reply. Indeed, it is even as thou sayest,' they answered; 'to the Lord and to his Prophet belong benevolence and grace.' Nay, by the Lord!' continued Mahomet, but ye might have answered (and answered truly, for I would have verified it myself),-Thou camest to Medina rejected as an impostor, and we bore witness to thy veracity; thou camest a helpless fugitive, and we assisted thee; an outcast, and we gave thee an asylum; destitute, and we solaced thee. Why are ye disturbed in mind because of the things of this life, wherewith I have sought to incline the hearts of these men unto Islam, whereas ye are already steadfast in your faith? Are ye not satisfied that others should obtain the flocks and the camels, while ye carry back the Prophet of the Lord unto your homes? No, I will not leave you for ever. If all mankind went one way, and the men of Medina another way, verily I would go the way of the men of Medina.

The Lord be favourable unto them, and bless them, and their sons, and their sons' sons for ever!' At these words all wept till the tears ran down upon their beards; and they called out with one voice, Yea, we are well satisfied, O Prophet, with our lot!'

Tayif did not escape. A converted chief agreed to keep the inhabitants within their walls; and tired out by a blockade which seemed endless, the citizens gave way. They asked privilege after privilege,-exemption from obedience, exemption from prayer, the safety of their idols; but Mahomet could not vield; and stipulating only for the safety of a hunting-forest, they surrendered themselves into his hands. He was by this time at home in Medina, whence he sent forth his collectors throughout the tribes which acknowledged his rule to collect the tithes. A new income-tax of ten per cent would be felt as onerous even in England; but the collectors were only once resisted, and usually welcomed with acclamation. He, moreover, either from policy or really alarmed, as he alleged, at a rumour that the Greek emperor was about to march on him, ordered a general levy of his followers. His power was not consolidated even in the Hejaz, and many of the Arabs refused to obey. The Medinese, weary with exertion, stayed at home; but still the gathering proved that the fugitive had become a mighty prince. An army such as had never been seen in Arabia, an army of 20,000 foot and 10,000 cavalry, followed him to the Syrian border, and subdued for him the whole of the Christian or demi-Christian tribes in the North. The Prophet felt that the time was come. All Arabs, save of the faith, were solemnly interdicted from Mecca, and a new revelation declared that the object of Islam was the extirpation of idolatry. Conversions now flowed in fast, and the tenth year of the Hegira was a year of embassies. The "king" of Oman surrendered all authority to Mahomet's lieutenant, Amru. The princes of Yemen, the Himyarte dynasty (the foundations of whose palaces Captain Playfair has just turned up at Aden), accepted the new faith. The Hadhramaut followed the example; and as each tribe gave way, assessors, armed with the new code, entered their territory, terminated mildly all existing authorities, and bound the district fast to Islam and Mahomet. The great tribe of the Bani Aamir was almost the last to yield; but it yielded, and in 630 the Prophet, master of Arabia, uttered his final address to the representatives of the peninsula, assembled on pilgrimage at Mecca. Mahomet had lived for twenty years a life which would have hardened the heart and ulcerated the temper of almost any man now living,-a life such as that which in seven years made Frederick of Prussia a malicious despot. But there are natures which trouble does not sear; and

Mahomet, in this his last address, solemnly proclaimed throughout Arabia a law of universal brotherhood. Though inartistic in form, we do not know in literature a nobler effort of the highest kind of oratory, of the rhetoric which conveys at once guidance and command.

"YE PEOPLE! Hearken to my words; for I know not whether, after this year, I shall ever be amongst you here again.

'Your Lives and Property are sacred and inviolable amongst one another until the end of time.

"The Lord hath ordained to every man the share of his inheritance a Testament is not lawful to the prejudice of heirs.

'The child belongeth to the Parent: and the violator of Wedlock shall be stoned.

'Whoever claimeth falsely another for his father, or another for his master, the curse of God and the Angels, and of all Mankind, shall rest upon him.

'Ye People! Ye have rights demandable of your Wives, and they have rights demandable of you. Upon them it is incumbent not to violate their conjugal faith nor commit any act of open impropriety; -which things if they do, ye have authority to shut them up in separate apartments and to beat them with stripes, yet not severely. But if they refrain therefrom, clothe them and feed them suitably. And treat your Women well for they are with you as captives and prisoners; they have not power over any thing as regards themselves. And ye have verily taken them on the security of God: and have made their persons lawful unto you by the words of God.

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And your slaves! See that ye feed them with such food as ye eat yourselves; and clothe them with the stuff ye wear. And if they commit a fault which ye are not inclined to forgive, then sell them, for they are the servants of the Lord, and are not to be tormented.

'Ye People! hearken to my speech and comprehend the same. Know that every Moslem is the brother of every other Moslem. All of you are on the same equality' (and as he pronounced these words, he raised his arms aloft and placed the forefinger of one hand on the forefinger of the other). Ye are one brotherhood.

- What

Know ye what month this is? - What territory is this? day? To each question, the People gave the appropriate answer, viz. "The Sacred Month,-the Sacred Territory, the great day of Pilgrimage.' After every one of these replies, Mahomet added: Even thus sacred and inviolable hath God made the Life and the Property of each of you unto the other, until ye meet your Lord.

'Let him that is present, tell it unto him that is absent. Haply, he that shall be told, may remember better than he who hath heard it.'

This was the last public appearance of Mahomet. In the eleventh year of the Flight, while still only sixty-three, he issued orders for a levy to subjugate the Syrian desert, and in

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