Part 19

After that halt, the Prophet hastened the march of his army so actively that he camped at Marru'dh-Dhahran, close to the town gates, before the Quraish were able to find out anything about the important strength of the Mussulman troops, or the road they had taken.

Abbas, Mohammad's uncle, kept in Makkah till then by his business functions as superintendent of the water supply, joined the Believers at Al-Juhfa, with the whole of his family. The sincerity of his conversion had not caused him to forget the love he felt for his fellow-citizens. He was most uneasy about their fate, in case they should behave in such a way that Mohammad would be forced to take the town by murderous onslaught.

Quoth Abbas: "When the tents were pitched, I rode the Prophet's white mule and went to Al-Arak, on the road to the Arafa, hoping to meet a carrier of wood, brickmaker, or pilgrim whom I might charge to take a warning to the Quraish and exhort them to go and implore the mercy of Allah.

"Whilst advancing with due precaution in the dark, two men passed quite close to me. They were hidden from my sight by big boulders and they talked in whispers. One of them, his mind engrossed by the myriads of golden stars that the camp-fires of the Faithful caused to scintillate on the hills beneath the real silvery stars of the firmament, said: 'Never have I seen so many lights as this night on those mountains.'--'They are probably the camp-fires of the Khuza'a, determined to wage war to avenge their dead.'--'The Khuza'a are not so numerous. No, truly, these cannot be their fires!' replied the first speaker whose voice I recognised. It was that of Abu Sufyan. 'O father of Handala!' I called to him.--'O father of Al-Fadl! if 'tis thee, what dost thou want of me?' he returned, having also recognised my voice.--'O Abu Sufyan! the Prophet is here at the head of such a great army that all resistance is impossible. To-morrow the Quraish will be cut to pieces!'--'What is to be done! Canst thou advise me?'--'If thou art taken prisoner during the fight, thy head will be cut off. Doubt it not. But get up behind me on my mule. I will take thee to Mohammad and implore him for thee.'

"Abu Sufyan, understanding that this was his last hope of safety, could only submit. He got up behind me and we went on in front of his companion Budayl, who made up his mind to follow us.

"Every time the flicker of one of the many camp-fires lit up our little group, on the dark background, sentinels stopped us, asking: 'Who is that man?' But when I told them that I was Abbas, the Prophet's uncle, and as they recognised the mule, they allowed us to pass....

"All went well until we came to the lights of Umar's tents. He came forward to meet us and also demanded: 'Who is that man?' Just then, the flame of the brazier lit up the face of my companion who held me tightly. Umar knew him again, and cried out in sudden joy: 'Ah! 'tis thee, Abu Sufyan, with no treaty or safe-conduct, O enemy of Allah! The Almighty be praised for delivering thee into our hands!'

"He ran to the Prophet's tent. I made the mule gallop along, outstripped him and jumped off, going into Mohammad's tent; but Umar arrived, almost at the same instant. 'O Prophet!' he shouted. 'Here is Abu Sufyan, Allah's enemy, without treaty or safe-conduct, given up to us by the Almighty! Charge me to cut his head off!'

"I interfered: 'O Prophet! He is under my protection. No one but me shall go near him this night.' As Umar kept on manifesting still greater hatred, I said to him: 'Softly, O Umar! If Abu Sufyan was one of the Banu Adi ibn Kab, thy relatives, thou wouldst not behave in this way; but he is one of the Banu Abd Manaf, related to the Prophet, which thou must not forget!'

"Umar made answer: 'Softly, O Abbas! Know that thy conversion gave me more pleasure than that of my father, Al-Khattab, would have caused me, for he lived and died in idolatry; for the sole reason that, as I know well, the Prophet attached more importance to thy conversion than to that of my father.' Allah's Messenger cut our dispute short by saying: 'Take away Abu Sufyan, O Abbas, and to-morrow at dawn, come back here with him.'

"I obeyed. Abu Sufyan passed the night in perfect safety in my tent, but seeing all the Mussulmans rise up at one bound at the first glimmer of daybreak, he was overcome by anxiety. 'O father of Al-Fadl!' he asked; 'what are they about? Do they want to kill me?'--'Be not alarmed,' I told him in reply. 'They only want to pray.'

"At the sight of these ten thousand men, the mysterious light reflected by the rosy dawn playing on them; all piously repeating every gesture of the Prophet; bowing down when he bowed down and prostrating themselves when he prostrated himself, he could not refrain from exclaiming: 'By Allah! I have never seen kings obeyed as this man is obeyed; not even Chosroes, nor Cæsar, nor any of the most powerful monarchs of the universe!'

"'Come,' I told him, when prayers had been said. 'I will intercede for thee; and thou wilt intercede for thy qawm.'--'How now?' asked the Prophet when the idolater came before him. 'Dost thou not acknowledge, O Abu Sufyan! that there is no God but Allah?'--'By my father and my mother! How patient, generous and conciliatory thou art! Yea, I acknowledge it. If with Allah there were other gods, they would have given me some little help.'--'Dost thou acknowledge that I am the Prophet of Allah?'--'By my father and my mother! As for that, there is still some doubt in my mind. I will see later.'--'Woe unto thee! O Abu Sufyan!' I exclaimed, indignant at his reply. 'Hasten to bear witness to the whole truth, or I deprive thee of my protection and thine head will fall from thy shoulders!'

"Abu Sufyan still hazarded a few objections: 'What wilt thou do with the statue of Al-Uzza that is in my dwelling?'--'Thou shalt throw it in the privy!' shouted an angry voice. It was that of Umar, listening behind the canvas of the tent, hoping to be ordered to execute the man who had been an enemy of Allah. 'Woe unto thee, O Umar! thou art an indecent fellow,' he replied. 'Let me come to terms with my uncle's son.'

"Having made up his mind by this time, he recited the profession of Islamic faith integrally, at the same time as his companion Budayl, who had just rejoined us.

"I remarked to the Prophet: 'Thou knowest how proud is Abu Sufyan. Invest him with some authority, no matter what, and he will be bound to us definitively.'

"My idea met with Mohammad's approbation and he gave out the following proclamation: 'He who taketh refuge in the dwelling of Abu Sufyan will be in safety; he who taketh refuge in the Temple will be in safety; he who layeth down his arms and remaineth shut up in his house will be in safety.'

"The Prophet then said to me: 'O Abbas! bring Abu Sufyan to a halt where the valley is narrow, on the mountain top, so that all the warriors of Allah will pass before his eyes.' I obeyed and took my stand with Abu Sufyan on one of the rocks overhanging the outlet of the valley. One after the other passed the soldiers of the Sulaym, the Muzayna, the Banu Ghifar, the Banu Ka'b, the Kinana, the Juhayn, etc., and my companion, despite all his efforts, could not hide the impression made upon him by the numbers of the Believers. When he caught sight of the Ashja, he cried out: 'Those tribesmen, notwithstanding, were the most inveterate of all the Prophet's enemies!'--'Truly,' I retorted, 'but Allah, in His Generosity, instilled Islam in their hearts!'

"At last, the Prophet appeared, surrounded by his bodyguard, the flower of his army, comprising the Ansars and the Mohadjirun, called "Al-Khadra," the green guards. When Abu Sufyan saw these warriors entirely covered in sombre armour, from which the sun caused blinding sparks to fly, he started in affright: 'By Allah! O Abbas, who are those men?'--'The Prophet with his companions, the Ansars and the Mohadjirun.'--'None can make a stand against such troops! Verily, O Abbas, this morning, thy brother's son is resplendent with the majesty of a glorious king!'--'His majesty is not that of a king, O Abu Sufyan! 'tis that of a Prophet. And now that thine eyes convince thee that all resistance would be rank folly, hasten back to thy people and let thy good advice save them from misfortune!' Without losing a minute, Abu Sufyan went on his way to the town, where immediately on arriving, he was surrounded by anxious crowds overwhelming him with questions. 'O Assembly of the Quraish!' he cried, 'Mohammad is upon us with such an army that ye cannot hope to resist him for a single instant!'"

His wife, Hind, furious at the emotion caused by these tidings, caught him by his moustaches to make him hold his tongue and she bawled: 'Hearken not to the old fool and traitor! Kill him!' Tearing himself out of the shrew's clutches, Abu Sufyan went on: 'Woe unto you, if ye let yourselves be led astray by this woman! Again I say to you, ye are lost without fail if ye dream of resistance.' He then added proudly: 'All those who take refuge in the dwelling of Abu Sufyan will be in safety.'--'May Allah cause thee to perish!' was the reply made to him on all sides. 'How can thy house afford security for all of us?'

It was then that he concluded to announce that which he had intentionally omitted, out of pure vanity: 'Likewise will be in safety all those taking refuge in the Temple; and eke those who, laying down their arms, remain behind closed doors in their dwellings.'

[Sidenote: ENTRY OF THE PROPHET INTO MAKKAH]

The Prophet stopped his she-camel at Dhu Tawad. At the sight of Makkah, where he hoped to make his entry victoriously without shedding the blood of his fellow-countrymen, he offered up thanksgivings to the Most Generous, bowing down deeply until his beard swept the pummel of his saddle. He then placed his troops for the occupation of the city: Zubayr was to go in by the Kuda road; Khalid ibn Walid, by the outlying western districts; Sa'd ibn Ubayda, by the pass of Al-Kada. But as the latter chieftain, in his ardour, let drop this remark: 'To-day is a day of carnage; allowable even in the holy precincts!' Mohammad bade Ali deprive the rash speaker of his command and take charge of the standard in his place.

Zubayr, Ali, and Ubayda met with no resistance and, without striking a blow, occupied the parts of the city assigned to them. As for Khalid, just as he passed through the suburbs, a volley of arrows disturbed his troops and several of his men were killed. The darts came from marksmen in ambush, posted by Safwan ibn Umayya and Ikrimah, behind the rocks of the Jabal Al-Khandama. Without the least hesitation, Khalid called on his soldiers to storm the position. He routed the enemy, massacred many and pursued the survivors, putting them to the sword. Some fled to the Temple; others ran towards the sea.

From the summit of Al-Hajun, which the Prophet had just reached, he saw the sparkle of spearheads and swords. 'What's this?' he cried. 'Did I not forbid all fighting?' He despatched an Ansar to Khalid and when he came into the presence of Mohammad, he upbraided him severely for having given battle against his strict orders.

'The enemy were the agressors. They riddled us with their arrows,' replied Khalid. 'I held back as much as I could, but I was obliged to unsheath my sword to defend ourselves.... And Allah granted us the victory!'--'The Will of Allah be done!' concluded the Prophet, getting ready to make his own entry into the town.

He rode Qaswa, his favourite she-camel. Behind him, on the same animal, was Usama, the son of Zayd ibn Al-Haris. Mohammad prostrated himself on his saddle and recited the surah of Victory: "_Verily, We have won for thee an undoubted victory * In token that Allah forgiveth thy earlier and later faults, and fulfilleth his goodness to thee, and guideth thee on the right way. * And that Allah succoureth thee with a mighty succour._" (THE QUR'AN, XLVIII, 1, 2, 3.)

Round the red-striped drapery that covered his head, the Prophet rolled a black turban, letting one end hang down between his shoulders. He rode to the Ka'bah to perform the "tawaf", and without leaving the saddle, saluted the Black Stone by touching it with the end of a hooked stick. He then alighted to enter the sanctuary, but seeing the idols that dishonoured it, he started back in horror. In front of an image of Abraham holding divining arrows, he cried out: 'May Allah annihilate all those who represent our ancestor Abraham trying to peer into futurity by means of arrows!' Mohammad ordered the impious statue to be destroyed. With his own hands, he shattered a dove carved in wood and went in proclaiming: 'Allah is Great!'

He then went up to the three hundred and sixty idols ranged round the Temple. Beginning with the biggest: Hubal, he pierced its eyes with the hooked stick, saying: 'Truth hath come, error hath vanished; error is perishable!' The idol fell face downwards, shattered in a thousand pieces.

One after the other suffered the same fate, as he passed in front of them. A single effigy remained standing--the idol of the Khuza'a--fashioned out of bronze and enamel. It stood superbly erect on the Temple's terrace-roof. 'Kneel down,' was the order given by the Prophet to Ali. Mohammad mounted on his shoulders. 'Rise!' Ali was unable to do so, despite all his bodily strength. He felt himself crushed by supernatural weight: that of the Prophecy. Seeing this, the Prophet got down, knelt in his turn and said to Ali: 'Climb up on my back to destroy that idol!' Ali, overcome by confusion, refused; but finally obeyed, as Mohammad persisted.

Quoth Ali: "I stood upon the Prophet's shoulders; he drew himself up erect and I felt myself lifted by some unknown force by which I could have risen to heaven had I tried.

"The idol was fixed by iron clamps, but at the words of the Prophet: 'Truth hath come; error hath vanished,' it tottered without the least effort on my part and falling to the ground, crumbled away in dust."

The people, recovered from affright, stole gradually forth from their dwellings and, dumb with stupor, looked on while their impotent idols were being destroyed.... When the last vestige of idolatry had disappeared, the Prophet, turning towards the Ka'bah, proclaimed: 'There is no God but Allah! He hath no associates! He hath kept his word and succoured His Servant and dispersed His enemies!' Mohammad turned to the Makkans: 'O Assembly of the Quraish! how shall I treat you, do ye think?'--'With generosity, O generous brother, son of a generous man!' they replied, devoured by anxiety.--'Begone!' he told them. 'Ye are free!' (According to the laws of war, they were slaves and captives.)

The only exceptions to this magnanimous amnesty were made in the cases of eleven men and six women whose conduct had been inexcusable. He ordered them to be put to death, wherever found. The sentence was immediately carried out, and a few of the condemned were executed, including Huwarith, who brutally ill-treated Fatimah, the Prophet's daughter and Ali's wife, when she went away from Makkah.

In order to establish the new state of affairs firmly, Mohammad proceeded to appoint immediately the two most important functions of Makkah: the custodian of the Ka'bah and that of the Zamzam well.

He sent to claim the keys of the Temple from Uthman ibn Talha who, after having in a fit of fury locked the gates, took the keys away with him to his house. The Prophet had them torn from him forcibly, and intended to confide them to his uncle Abbas whom he maintained at his post as Superintendent of the Zamzam well. But a Revelation made the Prophet alter his mind and he was ordered to reinstate the former custodian of the Temple. Mohammad therefore charged Ali to take the keys back to Uthman and say to him: 'O son of Talha, take the keys once more and with them the appointment as custodian of the Ka'bah.'

This official, touched by such generosity, so little deserved, hastened to give the Prophet the promise of sincere gratitude and absolute fidelity.

Just then a touching group approached: there was Abu Quhafa, an old blind man, bent beneath the burden of his eighty-seven years, and leaning on the arm of his son, Abu Bakr. 'Why didst thou not let this noble old man remain in his dwelling, whither I could have gone to see him?' said the Prophet to Abu Bakr.--'It is only right that he cometh to thee, and not that thou shouldst go to him,' replied Abu Bakr.

Mohammad made the venerable sightless man sit by his side, paying him great attention, stroking his breast affectionately, and was overjoyed to hear that Abu Quhafa had come to announce his conversion to the faith of Islam.

[Sidenote: THE PROPHET AT SAFA]

Next day, all the inhabitants of Makkah wended their way towards the hill of Safa where the Prophet had called them together to receive their submission.

Tranquilized already by the generosity of the first utterances and acts of their conqueror, they did not seem to be affected by the feelings of sadness, shame and dejectedness that usually overcome the vanquished. Was not their conqueror one of their own people? Would not his glory become their glory; his triumph, their triumph; and his empire, their empire? As a matter of fact, despite their hostility towards him, most of them had suffered cruelly at being separated from their genial fellow-countryman; the man who, in the heyday of his youth, had been called by them: "Al-Amin," the Reliable. They were greatly moved as they called to mind the mysterious charm of his personality and the irresistible allurement of his speech.

For some time past, in secret, they had feverishly longed to join the enthusiastic religious movement that Mohammad stirred up throughout the whole of Arabia, and become converted in their turn. How derisive their idols seemed now; the miserable fragments of the graven images swelling the garbage heaps swept out of the city! Even those men who exploited the superstition surrounding the false gods of wood or stone, were the first to arrive at Safa, being in a hurry to get the fact forgotten that they had been the priests of such a coarse cult. Despite the levelling humility which Mohammad required of all his disciples, those who had waxed fat on the proceeds of commercial idolatry were inwardly proud of the family ties binding them to the Prophet upon whom, of old, they had showered the vilest insults.

As for Mohammad, it is impossible to describe the sublime emotion that seized upon his great soul when he saw flocking to him from all parts, their eyes at last open to the Light, all those among his fellow-countrymen who had so stubbornly fought against him and whom he cherished, notwithstanding their injustice. Seated beneath the Prophet, Umar, as his deputy, received the submission of the Makkans who all came, one after the other, to strike his palm, and in the name of Mohammad, he pledged his word to protect them. When this grand ceremony was finished, a most poignant scene was enacted on the slopes of the hill.

An odious barrier, formed by the idols, which for nigh upon twenty years separated the Quraish Mohadjirun from the Quraish dwelling in Makkah, was broken down never to be set up again, and all the enemy brethren threw themselves in each other's arms, reconciled and reunited in "the Path of Allah."

A third group of brothers rejoined them soon. They were the Ansar citizens of Al-Madinah, the rival town to Makkah; and the two cities, now having become two sisters, called themselves by the glorious name of "Al-Haramani, the two Sacred Cities."

One incident, however, cast a gloom over this unforgettable manifestation that realised so perfectly the dream which had haunted the Prophet, filling him with superhuman perseverance. The Khuza'a, falling across one of the murderers of their brethren, cut his throat. Mohammad caused the guilty parties to be brought before him and, after blaming them severely, he added: 'I will compensate your victim's relatives myself, but cease all reprisals. Too much blood hath been shed already. On the day when He created the Heavens and the Earth, Allah declared the territory of Makkah to be holy; its sacred character hath remained for all before me and shall remain for all after me. Not only shall the lives of human beings be sacred here, but it is likewise forbidden to hunt game, fell trees and cut grass.'--'In this prohibition, O Prophet! the Idhkhir must be excepted,' remarked Abbas. 'It furnisheth us with that which we cannot do without, to wit: fuel for the forge and the cooking of food.' After a moment's silence, the Prophet concluded: 'With the exception of the Idhkhir, which it will be allowable to uproot.' Following this declaration, all those condemned to death, and who had not been executed the first day, were granted a free pardon.

Among the crowd of Makkan women who came to declared their devotion, Mohammad's attention was drawn to a female hiding herself behind her companions. Despite the fact that she was disguised, he recognised ferocious Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan. 'Aye! 'tis I!' she cried, throwing off her veil, 'I am Hind, and I implore pardon for the past!'

The Prophet, in spite of the odious mutilation of the body of his uncle Hamzah, forgave her. Hind, when she returned to her dwelling, lavished insults on her private family idol: 'O impotent idol! How mad we all were to rely on thy succour!' And she smashed it to pieces.

The son of Abu Jahal, Ikrimah, who had organised the ambush that nearly entrapped Khalid, fled to the sea coast. The fugitive's pardon was granted to Umm Hakim, his wife, who rejoined him when he was on the point of embarking. She brought him back, and the Prophet, fearful lest his companions, remembering how he had been so often outraged by Abu Jahal, Ikrimah's father, might seek to be avenged on Ikrimah personally, declared: 'Ikrimah hath come to Islam. Let no one insult his father's memory! To insult the dead is to wound the living!' And Ikrimah, deeply moved by such rare tolerance, became one of the most ardent defenders of the Religion.

Al-Uhayha, the slayer of Hamzah, was pardoned likewise, after becoming a convert to Islam. Habbar who, by a blow of the shaft of his spear, had brought about the death of Zainab, Mohammad's daughter, had fled, fearing deserved punishment; and then, confiding in the infinite clemency of the Prophet, came and gave himself up, after having embraced the Islamic faith in all sincerity. 'Go thy way in peace,' said Allah's Apostle. 'Thy conversion doth wipe out the past; but never let me see thee more!'

Safwan, the second instigator of the ambush in which Khalid was to have fallen, profited also by the victor's magnanimity; and as he begged for a delay of two month's reflection before abjuring idolatry, the Prophet replied: 'I grant thee four months.'