holy and prophetic lordship-u. w. b.-to revenge himself on him by the command of that prince; but the apostle of God said: 'Islâm abrogates every custom which existed in the time of ignorance.' This reply so displeased A'mru B. Ma'dy that he apostatized and returned to his own country; on the road, however, he plundered a company of the Bani Alhâreth B. Ka'b and then joined his tribe. When the prince of existences had heard this news, he despatched A'li B. Abu Ttâleb-u. w. b.-with a number of Mohajer against the Bani Zobayd, who were of the people of A'mru. At the same time he despatched Khâled B. Alwolyd against a certain Arab tribe, with orders that when the cavalry of A'li-u. w. b.-and of Khaled joined each other, the former should be the commander of both. In fine, A'li Murtadza appointed Khaled B. Sa'yd Ala'ass, and Khaled B. Alwolyd appointed Abu Musa Asha'ry, to command the vanguard of their respective forces, both of which thereon separated, and marched to their destinations. The troops that were with Khâled likewise separated into two parties, one of them marching to Yemen, and the other joining the Bani Zobayd. When A'li the Amir of the Faithful-u. w. b.-learnt what had taken place, he sent a messenger to Khâled B. Wolyd with the following order: Thou art to stop at the place in which my courier meets thee.' Khaled, however, paying no attention to this order, A'li the Commander of the Faithful ordered Khaled B. Sa'yd to overtake Khâled B. Alwolyd, and to stop him, wherever he might find him, until the Amir reached him. Khâled B. Sa'yd obeyed, and when the Amir reached the cavalry of Khâled B. Wolyd he sharply reproved him for his disobedience, and then marched against the tribe of A'mru B. Ma'dy Karab, to whom his people said: 'O father of Thûr, what thinkest thou of the Qoraish youth who is coming to levy duties and taxes from thee?' A'mru replied: 'He will learn that in any place he meets me.' When the two opposing parties encountered each other, A'mru B. Ma'dy stepped into the battle-field and shouted for a champion, whereon the Com

mander of the Faithful got ready to fight him, but Khâled B. Sa'yd exclaimed: 'O father of Hasan, may my father and mother be a sacrifice for thee! wilt thou allow me to punish A'mru?' The Amir, however, replied: 'If thou considerest it thy duty to obey me, thou wilt remain quiet in thy place, so that I may fight him.' Khâled accordingly obeyed, and the Commander, arriving opposite to A'mru, uttered a shout so loud as to frighten A'mru that he fled, whereon the victorious army attacked the opponents, killing the brother and nephew of A'mru, as well as capturing his wife, with several other women. After the most noble mind of the Commander of the Faithful had been set at rest with reference to the enemies, he returned, but left Khâled B. Sa'yd in the locality to collect the legal alms, and ordered him to spare the life of every fugitive returning and becoming a Musalman.

After the departure of A'li B. Abu Ttâleb-u. w. b.A'mru B. Ma'dy Karab went to Khaled B. Sa'yd and became a Musalmân [again]; he also requested the latter to liberate his family from bondage, which was done. After A'li the Commander of the Faithful had gained the victory in that expedition, he selected a maiden for his own use from the fifth part of the spoils, but as soon as Khâled B. Wolyd had heard of this, he forthwith despatched Borydah to inform the apostle of Allah-u. w. b.-of what A'li had done. Borydah obeyed, and handed Khaled's letter containing the accusation against A'li to the lord of prophecy, who became excited on learning what had taken place, and his blessed countenance glowed with anger, whereon Borydah said: 'O apostle of God, if thou allowest people to commit such transgressions, the efforts of the Musalmâns will be rendered nugatory.' His holy and prophetic lordship-u. w. b.-however, replied: "Woe betide thee, Borydah! thou hast committed hypocrisy with reference to A'li. Verily A'li B. Abu Ttâleb is allowed to take from the spoils whatever I am allowed to take. A'li B. Abu Ttâleb is the best of men. For thee and for thy tribe he will be the best man to succeed after me, as well as for the whole

nation. O Borydah, take care not to be the enemy of A'li; for God the Most High will be thy enemy.' Borydah says: 'On that occasion I wished the earth would open and swallow me, and I exclaimed: "May Allah protect me from the wrath of the apostle of God! O apostle of Allah, implore pardon for me; for after this I shall never harbour enmity against Ali, nor speak evil of him." Then the apostle of God prayed that I might be forgiven.' Borydah says: After that I loved A'li more than anyone else.' The author of the book Aa'lamu-l-wara says that Ebn Hanbal has narrated this story in his Masnad.

KA BU-L-AKHBAR MAKES HIS PROFESSION OF ISLAM BY THE BLESSING OF THE WORDS OF THE LION OF ATTACK-U. W. B.

There is a tradition that when A'li the Commander of the Faithful to whom salutation - sojourned in the country of Yemen, preached, and taught the ordinances of Islam, and Ka'bu-l-akhbâr had been informed of his eloquence, he donned a robe, mounted a camel, and proceeded in company of one of the U'lamâ of the Jews, who was his co-religionist, to the assembly of the Amir, who, at the time. they entered, happened to be preaching and uttering the words, 'There are men who can see in the night, but not in the day,' and Ka'bu-l-akhbâr said: 'He speaks the truth.' Afterwards the illustrious Commander said: Whoever gives with a short hand will be requited with a long hand.' Ka'b again manifested his approbation, but his Jewish companion asked him how he could approve of sentiments. the meaning whereof is ambiguous? Ka'b, however, replied: The man who sees in the night, but not in the day, is he who believes in the first book [i.e., the Pentateuch] but not in the last [i.e., the Quran]. He who sees neither in the night nor in the day is a man who believes in neither; and the other assertion is [likewise] plain, because with God the Most High and Glorious alms are acceptable, and He returns them abundantly.' Meanwhile a mendicant begged something from Ka'b, who immediately divested himself of his cloak and surrendered it to him.

The Jewish priest was so displeased with this act that he immediately left Ka'b, and returned to his home. After his departure a woman approached Ka'b, and said: 'Who will give me his camel, and will take mine instead?' Ka'b replied: If thou wilt give me thy cloak in addition to it, I shall agree to the exchange.' The woman having assented, Ka'b donned her cloak, mounted the camel, went after the priest, and when he had reached him, said: 'Who gives with a short hand is requited with a long hand.' Then Ka'b again returned, waited on the Amir, and inquired about his holy and prophetic lordship-u. w. b. A'li complied with his request, beginning to enumerate the qualities of his lordship, but Khâled smiled, and when A'li the Commander of the Faithful asked him for the reason, he replied: 'I smile because in ancient books we find the qualities of Muhammad to agree with those thou art describing.' Then Ka'bu-l-akhbâr made his profession of the Faith, and learnt the ordinances of Islâm from A'li the Commander of the Faithful according to the best of his ability, remained in Yemen, made it his business to propagate the doctrines and tenets of the noble religion, but came to Madinah during the Khalifate of O'mar the Commander of the Faithful, and always regretted having failed to wait on his lordship the best of created beings. It is, however, related in the history of Ebn Hamdan that at the time when O'mar Alkhattab marched to Aylya, K'abu-l-akhbar was dwelling in Syria, and that when the victorious banners of that Khalifah occupied the country, Ka'bu-l-akhbar made haste to wait on him, and to make his profession of the Faith; but Allah the Most High knoweth best.

REVELATION OF THE BLESSED VERSE OF IMPRECATION,' AND

THE ARRIVAL OF THE INHABITANTS OF NAJRÂN FOR THE
PURPOSE OF A TREATY OF AMITY.

During this year peace was concluded between his holy and prophetic lordship-u. w. b.-and between the Christians of Najrán, which happened as follows: The apostle of God had written a letter to the Christians of Najrân,

and had invited them to make a profession of Islam. They consulted with each other, selected fourteen men from among themselves, and despatched them to Madinah to obtain authentic information about the prince of existences, and to communicate the same to them. In this Wofod [deputation] there were three distinguished individuals, one of whom was A'bdu-l-masyh [servant of the Messiah], surnamed A'aqubat; he was the Amir, the adviser, and the governor of the Christians of Najrân. The second was a man who had numerous retainers and great property; his name was Yahun, and his surname Sayid. The third was Abu-l-hâreth B. A'lqomah, a scholar and teacher enjoying high dignity and great respect among the Christians. The Greek kings had built churches for him, and paid him a stipend. Abu-l-hâreth had a brother, named Karaz B. A'lqomah, who was also one of the fourteen. While travelling the mule of Abu-l-hâreth excelled [the others], and Karaz said: Let him excel who is farthest, namely, Muhammad.' Abu-l-hâreth replied: Excel thou rather.' Karaz asked: Why sayest thou so, O brother?' Abu-lhâreth rejoined: I swear by Allah that Muhammad is the apostle of God, whom we were expecting.' Karaz asked: 'If such be the case, why makest thou not a profession of the religion of Muhammad? And what hindereth thee from following him?' Abu-l-hâreth replied: To agree with Muhammad would entail the enmity of our people; for if we were to do such a thing, we would no longer be respected by the Christians, who would take away all the gifts and possessions which they have given us.' These words engendered love for Islam in the heart of Karaz; he impelled his camel quickly, and made his profession of Islâm as soon as he attained the felicity of the handkiss.

It is related that when the inhabitants of Najrân came to Madinah they wore gold rings on their fingers, and laid aside their travelling apparel, in lieu whereof they donned silk garments, and, trailing their skirts on the ground, thus entered the mosque of the apostle of God, and saluted him.