The Days of Mohammed Part 6

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Read, O Mohammed, and see him who was able to restore the withered hand."--See page 23.]

Yusuf watched the people, many of whom were pilgrims, swarming like so many ants below him towards the Caaba, which was in full view, standing like a huge sarcophagus in the center of the great courtyard. In the transparent air of the Orient, even the pillars supporting the covered portico about the courtyard were quite visible. Yusuf had observed the great system of barter, the buying and selling that went on beneath the roof of that long portico, within the very precincts of the temple set apart for the wors.h.i.+p of the Deity, and, as he watched the pigmy creatures, now swarming towards the trading stalls, now hastening to perform Tawaf about the temple, he almost wept that such sacrilege should exist, and a great throb of pity for these erring people whose spiritual nature was barren as the vast, treeless, verdureless waste about them, filled his breast.

Amzi directed his attention towards the east, where the blue mountains of Tayf stood like outposts in the distance.

"There," said he, "at but a three days' journey is the district of plenty, the Canaan of Mecca, whence come the grapes, melons, cuc.u.mbers, and pomegranates that are to be seen in our markets. There are pleasant dales and gardens where the camel-thorn gives way to a carpet of verdure; where the mimosa and acacia give place to the glossy-leaved fig-tree, to stately palms, and pomegranates of the scarlet fruit; where rippling streams are heard, and the songs of birds fill the air. There is a tradition that Adam, when driven out of the Garden of Eden, settled at Mecca; and there, on the site of the temple yonder, and immediately beneath a glittering temple of pearly cloud, s.h.i.+mmering dews, and rainbow lights said to be in Paradise above,--the Bait-el Maamur of Heaven,--was built, by the help of angels, the first Caaba, a resplendent temple with pillars of jasper and roof of ruby. Adam then compa.s.sed the temple seven times, as the angels did the Bait above in perpetual Tawaf. He then prayed for a bit of fertile land, and immediately a mountain from Syria appeared, performed Tawaf round the Caaba, and then settled down yonder at Tayf. Hence, Tayf is even yet called 'Kita min el Sham'--a piece of Syria, the father-land."

"So then, this Caaba, according to tradition, is of early origin?"

"The Arabs believe that when the earthly Bait-el Maamur was taken to heaven at Adam's death, a third one was built of stone and mud by Seth.

This was swept away by the Deluge, but the Black Stone was kept safe in Abu Kubays, which is, therefore, called 'El Amin'--the Honest. After the flood, a fourth House was built by our father Abraham, to whom the angel Gabriel restored the stone. Abraham's building was repaired and in part restored by the Amalikah tribe. A sixth Caaba was built by the children of Kahtan, into whose tribe, say the Arabs, Ismail was married. The seventh house was built by Kusay bin Kilab, a forefather of Mohammed, and I have reason to believe that he was the first who filled it with the idols which now disgrace its walls. Kusay's house was burnt, its cloth covering (or kiswah) catching fire from a torch. It was rebuilt by the Koreish (Qurais) a few years ago. It was then that the door was placed high above the ground, as you see it, and then that the movable stair was constructed. Then, too, the six columns which support the roof were added, and Mohammed, El Amin, was chosen to determine the position of the Black Stone in the wall. So, friend, I have now given you in part, the history of the Caaba."

Bestowing a last look upon the temple, the friends walked for some distance northward across the slopes of Mount Hira, until a low, dark opening appeared in the face of a rock.

Drawing back a th.o.r.n.y bush from its door, they entered the cave. A low moaning noise sounded within. For a moment, the transition from the white glare without to the twilight of the cave blinded them, then they saw that the moans proceeded from Mohammed, who was lying on his back on the stone floor. His head-dress was awry, his face was purple, and froth issued from his mouth.

Amzi seized an earthen vessel of water, and bathed his brow.

"Poor fellow!" he said, "how often he may have suffered here alone! It has been his custom for years to spend the holy month of Ramadhan here in prayer and meditation. He has often taken these fits before; but, if what is said be true, he knows not that he is suffering, for angels appear to him during the paroxysms."

"It seems to me much more like a fit of epilepsy," said Yusuf, rather sarcastically. "See, he begins to come to himself again."

Mohammed had stopped moaning, and his face began to regain its natural color.

Presently he opened his eyes in a dazed way, and sat up. He was a man of middle height, with a ruddy, rather florid complexion, a high forehead, and very even, white teeth. There was something commanding and dignified in his appearance. He wore a bushy beard, and was habited in a striped cotton gown of cloth of Yemen; and, from his person emanated the sweet odor of choicest perfumes of the Nejd and Arabia-Felix.

"Ah, it is Amzi!" he said. "Pardon me, friend, but the angel has just left me, and I failed to recognize you at once, my mind was so occupied with the wonder of his communications; for, friend, the time is nigh, even at hand, when the prophet of Allah, the One, the only Person of the G.o.dhead, is to be proclaimed!"

His voice was low and musical, and he spoke as one under the influence of an inspiration.

"Has the angel appeared to you in visible form?"

"Sometimes he appears in human form, but in a blinding light; at other times I hear a sound as of a silver bell tinkling afar. Then I hear no words, but the truth sinks upon my soul, and burns itself into my brain, and I feel that the angel speaks."

"Of what, then, has he spoken?" asked Amzi.

"The time in which the full revelation shall be thrown open to man is not yet. But it will come ere long. None, heretofore, save my own kin and friends, have been given aught of the great message; yet to you, Amzi, may I say that Abraham, Moses, Christ, have all been servants of the true G.o.d, yet for Mohammed has been reserved the honor of casting out the idolatry with which the wors.h.i.+p of our people reeks. For him is destined the glory of purging our Caaba of its images, and of reinstating the true religion of our fathers in this fair land. Then shall men know that Allah is the one G.o.d, and Mohammed is his prophet!"

"Think you to place yourself on an equality with the Son of G.o.d?" cried Yusuf, sternly.

Mohammed turned quickly upon him, and his face worked in a frenzy of excitement.

"I tell you there is but one G.o.d,--one invisible, eternal G.o.d, Allah above all in earth and heaven,--and Mohammed is the prophet of G.o.d!" he cried.

Yusuf perceived that he had to deal with a fanatic, a religious enthusiast, who would not be reasoned with.

"Yes," he continued, "may it be Mohammed's privilege to lead men back to truth, and to turn them from heathendom; to teach them to be wise as serpents, harmless as doves, and to show them how to walk with clean hands and hearts through the earth, living uprightly in the sight of all men!"

"Yet," ventured Yusuf, "did not Jesus teach something of this?"

"Jesus was great and good," said Mohammed; "he was needed in his day upon the earth, but men have fallen away again, and Mohammed is the greatest and last, the prophet of Allah!"

The speaker's eyes were flas.h.i.+ng; he was yet under the influence of an overpowering excitement. The color began to rush to his face, and Yusuf, fearing a return of the swoon, deemed it wise not to prolong the argument, but delivered the ma.n.u.script left by the peddler, saying:

"Read, O Mohammed, and see him who was able to restore the withered hand stretched forth in faith. Perceive him, and commit not this sacrilege."

Trusting himself to say no more, Yusuf hastily left the cavern, followed by Amzi, who remarked, thoughtfully:

"Yet, there is much good, too, in that which Mohammed would advocate."

"There is," a.s.sented Yusuf. "Yet, though I know not why, I cannot trust this man. 'Tis an instinct, if you will. What, think you, does he mean to win by this procedure,--power, or esteem, or fame?"

Amzi shook his head quickly in denial. "Mohammed is one of the most upright of men, one of the last to seek personal favor or distinction by dishonest means, one of the last to be a maker of lies. Verily, Yusuf, I know not what to think of his revelations. If he does not in truth see these visions, he at least imagines he does. He is honest in what he says."

"'If he does not in truth'!" repeated Yusuf. "Surely you, Amzi, have no confidence in his visions?"

Amzi smiled. "And yet Yusuf, no longer ago than last night, was ready to believe the testimony of a pauper Jew in regard to similar a.s.sertions,"

he said. "But keep your mind easy, friend; I have not accepted Mohammed's claims. I am open to conviction yet, and I am not hasty to believe. In fact, I must confess, Yusuf, an entire lack of that fervor, of that capacity for religious feeling, which is so marked a trait in my Persian priest."

"Yet you, too, professed to be a seeker for truth," said Yusuf, reproachfully.

"My desire for truth is simply to know it for the mere sake of knowing it," said Amzi.

Yusuf sighed. He did not realize that he had to deal with a peculiar nature, one of the hardest to impress in spiritual things--the indifferent, calculating mind, which is more than half satisfied with moral virtue, not realizing the infinitely higher, n.o.bler, happier life that comes from the inspiration of a constant companions.h.i.+p with G.o.d.

"Alas, I am but a poor teacher, Amzi," he said. "You know, perhaps, more of the doctrines of these Christians than I; yet I am convinced that to me has come a blessing which you lack, and I would fain you had it too.

And I know so little that it seems I cannot help you. You will, at least, come and talk with Nathan?"

"As you will," said Amzi, in a half-bantering tone. "Prove to me that these Hebrews are infallible, and I shall half accept their Jewish philosophy."

"You cannot expect to find them or any one on this earth infallible,"

returned Yusuf, quietly. "I can only promise that you will find in them quiet, sincere, upright Christians."

They had reached a sudden turn on the path, and before them, on the top of a steep cliff, stood Dumah, with his fair hair streaming in the suns.h.i.+ne. He was singing, and they paused to listen.

"He is gone, the n.o.ble, the handsome, And the tears of the mother are falling Like dews from the cup of the lily When it bends its head in the darkness."

"Poor Dumah!" said Amzi, "singing his thoughts as usual. What now, Dumah? Who is weeping?"

"A poor Jewess," said the boy, "and her two children cling to her gown and weep too. Ah, if Dumah had power he would soon set him free."

"Set whom free?" asked Yusuf.

"The father; they say he took the cup to buy bread; but for the sake of the children, Dumah would set him free."

"Oh, it is only a case of stealing down in the Jewish quarter," said Amzi, carelessly.

"Yet," returned the other, "a weeping mother and helpless children should appeal to the heart of Amzi the benevolent. Let us turn aside and see what it is about. Dumah, lead us."