by despatching him with thy sword.' When they entered the august assembly, A'amer said: 'O Muhammad, what will be my lot if I become a Musalmân?' His lordship replied: That of Musalmâns.' A'amer continued: Make me thy successor after thy demise.' His lordship said: "That position cannot be attained by thy nation or tribe.' A'amer continued: 'If thou wilt not comply with my demand, then appoint me to be the commander and governor of the inhabitants of the desert.' But the apostle of God placed the hand of refusal upon the breast of his petition, and said: 'I shall make thee officer and commandant of a detachment of cavalry, and employ thee to fight for the religion of God.' A'amer said: 'I am at present the chief of such a company, and I swear by God that I shall go and collect an army of infantry and cavalry, numerous as locusts, to calculate the number whereof will exceed the powers of imagination, and shall attack thee therewith.' After uttering these words, A'amer departed from the august assembly with Arbad, whom he reproached for having omitted to do what he had promised, but Arbad replied: I swear by God that I intended to strike Muhammad with my sword, but thou wast between him and me.' When these two wicked men had gone away, his holy and prophetic lordship-u. w. b.-cursed them. His prayer met with the honour of response, so that A'amer as well as Arbad were punished for their wicked intentions and evil deeds; the latter was, by a decree of Divine providence, struck dead by lightning; and the former became affected with a gland swelling in his throat. Alighting in a journey at the house of a Salulyah woman, he said to himself: 'This gland is like the gland of the camel of death,' and again departing from the house of the woman, he mounted his horse, but departed to hell whilst on this journey.

Another Wofod was that of the Bani Asad, ten men of whom had arrived in Madinah, had become Musalmâns, and, desiring their merit to become known, said: 'We have started on the journey in a year of famine and distress; we performed the journey without being attacked by foes,

and have arrived in this country by our own free will and choice, and we have embraced Islâm.' With reference to this event, the blessed verse, 'They upbraid thee that they have embraced Islâm; rather Allah upbraideth you that he hath directed you to the Faith if ye speak sincerely,' was revealed.

'391

Another Wofod was that of the Bani Albakâ, wherein also Moa'wiah B. Thor B. A'bad B. Albakâ, who was one hundred years old, is said to have been present with his son Bashar. Moa'wiah spoke to the world-adorning mind of his holy and prophetic lordship-blessing, etc.— as follows: 'I request thee to place thy auspicious hand on some of the limbs of my son Bashar, who stands to me in the relation of a son to his father, and has treated me very kindly.' That prince accordingly touched his head and face, presented him with several goats, and pronounced a blessing upon them; and it is related that when famine and distress befell the country of the Bani Albaka, the people of Moa'wiah remained free from the affliction thereof.

Another Wofod was that of the Bani Najyb, thirteen men of which tribe arrived, bringing the legal alms due for their property and cattle. His holy and prophetic lordship -u. w. b. was highly pleased with their arrival, and issued orders for their accommodation in a good place. When they informed his lordship that they had brought their share of the Dzakát, he replied: "Take it back to your country and distribute it among the poor and needy.' They, however, rejoined: We have brought only what was over and above the necessities of the poor.' It is related that when the Wofod of the Bani Najyb made inquiries about all the duties and obligations of the religion, his holy and prophetic lordship-u. w. b.-granted them longer interviews, and was more kind to them than to other people. He also gave them more presents than to others, and asked them: Is there any one among you who has not received his gift?' They replied: There is a young man,

391 Qurân, ch. xlix. 17.

inferior in age to all of us, and we have left him in our lodgings to take care of our baggage and cattle.' His lordship said: After you have returned to your quarters you must send that youth to me.' They did as they were bidden, and when the young man entered the august assembly, he said: 'O apostle of God, I am one of that company which has just waited on thee. Their necessities and requests have been responded to; please to comply also with my petition.' His lordship asked: What is thy request?' The youth continued: 'I swear by God that I have not left my country and arrived here with the intention of obtaining worldly goods from thee such as thou hast vouchsafed to bestow upon the others. But my reason for troubling thee is, that thou pray to God the Most High to wash off the volumes of my transgressions with the water of pardon, and to save, by the outpourings of forgiveness, this my body of clay from the fire of hell; also to relieve my heart of all covetousness for mundane possessions, and to make me content with poverty.' When his holy and prophetic lordship-t. b. o. A. o. h. a. o. h. f.-became aware of the high aspirations of this individual more exalted than those of his peers, he uttered the following prayer with his blessed mouth, which was the interpreter of Divine mysteries: O God, pardon him, have mercy on him, and cause his riches to dwell in his heart.' Then he presented him with an amount equal to the sum of what all his companions had received; whereon those men returned to their tribe. It is related that during the Hajjatu-l-wodaa' [the pilgrimage of valediction] his holy and prophetic lordship -u. w. b.—afterwards [again] met some of those individuals at Menâ, inquired about the young man, and they replied: O apostle of God, we have never seen nor heard of a man more happy or noble than he, but in the balance of his aspirations the whole world, with all its contents, weighs not more than a gnat.' Though numberless Wofûd had arrived during this year in the honoured city of Madinah, only the above ones have been recorded in this work, lest it should become too prolix. Farewell.

DEATH OF A'BDULLAH B. ABU SALÛL.

In the month Showâl of the ninth year after the Flight, A'bdullah B. Abu Salûl the hypocrite fell sick, and died in the month Dhu-l-qa'dah of the same year. While he was sick, his holy and prophetic lordship-u. w. b.-condescended to visit him, and on his deathbed his lordship said to him I have warned thee not to love the Jews, but thou hast not followed my advice.' A'bdullah replied: 'Though Asa'd B. Zarârah hated them, his enmity to them could not keep off death from him. O apostle of God, this is not the time for recriminations. The moment of my departure is at hand. I request thee to be kind enough to accompany my bier when I die, and to make me a present of a robe wherein to shroud me.' It happened that on this occasion the apostle of God-u. w. b.-had two robes on his body, one of which did not touch it, and which he intended to give to A'bdullah; the latter, however, requested him to present him with the nether one, and his lordship assented. He then said again: 'O apostle of God, I hope thou wilt pray near my bier, and wilt ask God to pardon my sins.' And his lordship agreed. Authors of biographies-A. h. m. o. t.-relate that the apostle of God -u. w. b.—was present when the corpse of Ebn Abu Salûl was being washed and shrouded, conversing with his son, who was a sincere believer. When the bier of A'bdullah was conveyed to a place called Hanâyr, his lordship rose to accompany it, and to pray over the body; O'mar, however, jumped up from his place, taking hold of the skirts of the prophet―u. w. b.-saying: 'O apostle of God, wilt thou pray for him despite his having uttered such-and-such words on a certain day ?'392 His holy and prophetic lordship replied: 'O'mar, let go my skirts.' But O'mar still continuing his solicitations, his lordship said: 'Option has been left to me to pray seventy times for their pardon or not. Had I known that I might obtain pardon for A'bdullah

392 No doubt the scandalous tale is meant which he had narrated concerning A'ayshah.

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by uttering more than seventy prayers, I would do so.' By these words he alluded to the blessed verse, 'Ask forgiveness for them, or do not ask. If thou ask forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah will by no means forgive them." In fine, the apostle of God prayed for A'bdullah, and he had not yet left the place of prayer when God the Most High revealed the verse, 'Neither do thou ever pray over any of them who shall die, neither stand at his grave,' to the end of the verse,394 before the corpse of A'bdullah was committed to the earth. In the Raudzatu-l-âhbâb it is recorded that after Ebn Abu Salûl had been buried, his lordship went to the grave, ordered the body to be taken out, embraced its head, and threw some of the blessed saliva of his mouth into its mouth. The writer of these pages says that there is a difference between this tradition and another, according to which the verse Neither do thou pray over any of them' was revealed before the burial of A'bdullah, although the author of the Raudzatu-l-ahbáb likewise asserts it to have been revealed before the interment. It is related that when the hypocrites saw the humility manifested by Ebn Abu Salûl on his deathbed towards his lordship, a great many of them were blessed by professing the religion. By the perusal of detailed works anyone may ascertain how the lord of apostleship— u. w. b.-visited Ebn Abu Salûl, who had no equal in hypocrisy, and what had induced that prince to show him so much kindness and favour.

SSIDDYQ [i.e., ABU BAKR] AND A'LI THE COMMANDER OF THE FAITHFUL GO TO THE CITY OF Mekkah.

During this year Abu Bakr departed, by order of his lordship the apostle-u. w. b.-to Mekkah, and A'li Murtadza-u. w. b.-likewise started after him. The U'lama of biographies state that about the end of the month Dhu-l-qa'dah of the ninth year after the Flight the lord of apostleship intended to go on pilgrimage; but as it 394 lbid., 85.

393 Quran, ch. ix. 81.