CHAPTER II

MUHAMMAD. A.D. 570-632

ACCORDING to the wont of the Arabs, the infant Muhammad was made over to the charge of a slave woman named Baraka: but after he had been suckled a few days, a party of wanderers from the desert arrived at Mecca with several women, who offered themselves as nurses for the infants of the city. Accordingly the child was placed in the hands of one of the matrons in question, by name Halima, and for five years he remained amongst the Bani Sad in the tents of his adopted parents. To this accidental residence amidst the most eloquent of Arab tribes, the Prophet of Arabia was indebted for the elegance of diction which contributed so much in after years towards the success of his mission. "Verily, I am the most perfect Arab amongst you; my descent is from the Quraish, and my tongue is the tongue of the Bani Sad." Such was the boast of a man, conscious how much in his career was due to the beauty and sweetness of the language in which he clothed the thoughts, the expression of which gave life and vigour to the mission he proclaimed.

After remaining at Mecca for upwards of a year, Muhammad was taken by his mother, Amina, to Madina, but on the return home, after a sojourn of a month in the city, she fell sick and died (A.D. 576). Whereupon the little orphan was carried back to his native city, Mecca, by his nurse Baraka, who handed him over to his grandfather, Abdul Muttalib, at that time a patriarch of fourscore years. "The child," says Sir W. Muir, "was treated by him with singular fondness. A rug used to be spread under the shadow of the Kaba, and on it the aged chief reclined in shelter from the heat of the sun. Around the carpet, but at a respectful distance, sat his sons. The little Muhammad was wont to run close up to the patriarch and unceremoniously take possession of his rug; his sons would seek to drive him off, but Abdul Muttalib would interpose, saying, 'Let my little son alone,' stroke him on the back, and delight to hear his childish prattle."

Thus passed an interval of two years, when the grandfather paid the debt of nature (A.D. 578), having on his deathbed consigned the guardianship of his orphan grandchild to his son Abu Talib, who discharged the trust with most scrupulous care and diligence: indeed, he scarce ever allowed the lad to leave his side, and when he had occasion to undertake a mercantile journey to Syria, it needed but little persuasion on the part of the child, now twelve years old, to induce his benefactor to allow him to accompany the caravan.

The youth of Muhammad was spent amongst the hills and dales around Mecca, tending such sheep and goats as might from time to time be placed in his charge, the hire received being taken home to his uncle Abu Talib, whose slender resources stood in need of any assistance which the young shepherd could afford. But a change was at hand. Abu Talib determined that his nephew, who had reached his five-and-twentieth birthday, should seek a more extended sphere of action. "I am, as thou knowest, a man of small substance, and truly the times deal hardly with me." Such was the language of the noble but impoverished Quraishite. "Now here is a caravan of thine own tribe about to start for Syria, and Khadija, daughter of Quwailid, needeth men of our tribe to send forth with her merchandise. If thou wert to offer thyself she would readily accept thy services." So it happened that Muhammad betook himself to Syria, where he acquitted himself with sagacity and prudence. On his return he recounted to Khadija the tale of his doings, and the handsome widow, struck by the noble features and comely form of the young man before her, formed the resolution that her agent should, if thus it might chance, fill the more dignified portion of husband. It may well be imagined that the young man was nothing loth. Khadija was distinguished alike by birth and fortune, in that her father Quwailid was a direct and near descendant of the famous Qussai, while the considerable substance which she inherited by her former marriages had been increased by mercantile speculation. Added to this, she was handsome and fair to behold. But how could she expect her father to consent to the alliance. She, a matron whose hand had been sought by many a noble suitor from amongst the chiefs of the Quraish,