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“... it may perhaps be expected that I should balance his faults
and virtues, that I should decide whether the title of enthusiast
or impostor more properly belongs to that extraordinary man. Had I
been intimately conversant with the son of Abdallah, the task would
still be difficult, and the success uncertain: at the distance of
twelve centuries, I darkly contemplate his shade through a cloud
of religious incense; and, could I truly delineate the portrait
of an hour, the fleeting resemblance would not equally apply to
the solitary of Mount Hira, to the preacher of Mecca, and to the
conqueror of Arabia.”
--GIBBON
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[Illustration: I]