YUSUF'S FIRST MEETING WITH MOHAMMED.
"A person with abnormal auditory sensations often comes to
interpret them as voices of demons, or as the voice of one
commanding him to do some deed. This hallucination, in turn,
becomes an apperceiving organ, _i.e._, other perceptions and
ideas are assimilated to it: it becomes a center about which
many ideas gather and are correspondingly
distorted."--_McLellan, Psychology._
Upon the evening of the following day, Amzi and Yusuf set out in quest
of Mohammed, to whom the manuscript had not yet been given. Stopping at
the house of Cadijah, a stone building having some pretensions to
grandeur, they learned that Mohammed had left the city. Accordingly,
thinking he would probably be found in the Cave of Hira, they took a
by-path towards the mountains.
The sun was hot, but a pleasant breeze blew from the plains towards the
Nejd, and, from the elevation which they now ascended, Yusuf noted with
interest a scene every point of which was entirely different from that
of his Persian home--different perhaps from that of any other spot on
the face of the earth; a scene desolate, wild, and barren, yet destined
to be the cradle of a mighty movement that was ere long to agitate the
entire peninsula of Arabia, and eventually to exercise its baneful
influence over a great part of the Eastern Hemisphere.[7]
Below him lay the long, narrow, sandy valley. No friendly group of palms
arose to break its dreary monotony; no green thing, save a few parched
aloes, was there to form a pleasant resting-place for the eye. The
passes below, those ever-populous roads leading to the Nejd, Syria,
Jeddah, and Arabia-Felix, were crowded with people; yet, even their
presence did not suffice to remove the air of deadness from the scene.
Of one thing only could the beholder be really conscious--desolation,
desolation; a desolate city surrounded by huge, bare, skeleton-like
mountains, grim old Abu Kubays with the city stretching half way up its
gloomy side, on the east; the Red mountain on the west; Jebel Kara
toward Tayf, and Jebel Thaur with Jebel Jiyad the Greater, on the south.
[Illustration: "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 worship 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, cucumbers,
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, shimmering dews, and
rainbow lights said to be in Paradise above,--the Baît-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
compassed the temple seven times, as the angels did the Baît 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 Baît-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 (Qurâis) 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 thorny 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
Godhead, 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 God, yet for Mohammed has been reserved the honor of casting
out the idolatry with which the worship 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 God, and Mohammed is his prophet!"
"Think you to place yourself on an equality with the Son of God?" cried
Yusuf, sternly.
Mohammed turned quickly upon him, and his face worked in a frenzy of
excitement.
"I tell you there is but one God,--one invisible, eternal God, Allah
above all in earth and heaven,--and Mohammed is the prophet of God!" 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 flashing; 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 manuscript 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," assented 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 assertions,"
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, nobler, happier life
that comes from the inspiration of a constant companionship with God.
"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
sunshine. He was singing, and they paused to listen.
"He is gone, the noble, 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."
They followed the boy to the hall or court-room of the city. A judge sat
on a raised dais; witnesses were below, and the owner of the gold cup
was talking excitedly and calling loudly for justice.
"There is the culprit," whispered Amzi.
Yusuf was struck dumb. It was Nathan, the Christian Jew! Agony was
written in his face, yet there was patience in it too. His arms were
bound, and his head was bent in what might have been interpreted as
humiliation.
"Once more," cried the judge, "have you aught to say for yourself, Jew?"
Nathan raised his head proudly, and looked the Judge straight in the
eyes.
"I am guiltless," he said, in low, firm tones.
A murmur burst from the crowd, and exclamations could be heard.
"Not guilty! And the cup found in his house!"
"Coward dog! Will he not yet confess?"
"The scourge is too good for him!"
"Have you no explanation to offer?" asked the judge.
"None."
"Then, guards, place him in irons to await our further pleasure. In the
meantime forty lashes of the scourge. Next!"
Nathan walked out with firm step and head erect. A low sob burst from
some one in the crowd. It was the wife of Nathan, weeping, while little
Manasseh and Mary clung to her weeping too.
Yusuf touched her on the arm. "Hush! Be calm!" he said. "All will yet be
well. I, for one, know that he is innocent, and I will not rest until he
is free."
"Thank God! He has not forsaken us!" exclaimed the woman.
Yusuf put a piece of money into Manasseh's hand. "Here, take your mother
home, and buy some bread," he said.
"And here, pretty lad, know you the touch of gold?" said Amzi, as he
slipped another coin into the child's hand. "Now, Yusuf," he went on,
"come, let us see your Jewish friends of yester-even."
"Alas, Amzi, these are they," returned the priest, sadly, "and I fear
yon poor woman feels little like talking to us in the freshness of her
grief."
Amzi laughed, mysteriously. "So your teacher has proved but a common Jew
thief," he said.
Yusuf turned almost fiercely. "Do you believe this vile story?" he
exclaimed. "Did you not see truth stamped upon Nathan's face?"
"You must admit that circumstances are against him. The proof seems
conclusive."
"I will never believe it, were the proof produced by their machinations
ten times as conclusive! There is some mystery here which I will
unravel!"
"My poor Yusuf, you are too credulous in respect to these people. So be
it. You believe in your Jews, I shall believe in my Mohammed, until the
tale told is a different one," laughed Amzi; and for the moment Yusuf
felt helpless.