Life of Muhammad — Page 165
sa 165 again. The Prophet sa sent for water of the Zamzam. He drank some of it and with the rest performed ablutions. So devoted were Muslims to the Prophet's sa person, that they would not let a drop of this water fall on the ground. They received the water in the hollows of their hands to wet their bodies with it; in such reverence did they hold it. The pagans who witnessed these scenes of devotion said again and again that they had never seen an earthly king to whom his people were so devoted ( H albiyya , Vol. 3, p. 99). THE PROPHET sa FORGIVES HIS ENEMIES All rites and duties over, the Prophet sa addressed the Meccans and said: "You have seen how true the promises of God have proved. Now tell me what punishment you should have for the cruelties and enormities you committed against those whose only fault was that they invited you to the worship of the One and Only God. " To this the Meccans replied, "We expect you to treat us as Joseph as treated his erring brothers. " By significant coincidence, the Meccans used in their plea for forgiveness the very words which God had used in the S u rah Y u suf, revealed ten years before the conquest of Mecca. In this the Prophet sa was told that he would treat his Meccan persecutors as Joseph as had treated his brothers. By asking for the treatment which Joseph as had meted out to his brothers, the Meccans admitted that the Prophet sa of Islam was the like of Joseph as and as Joseph as was granted victory over his brothers the Prophet sa had been granted victory over the Meccans. Hearing the Meccans' plea, the Prophet sa declared at once: "By God, you will have no punishment today and no reproof" ( Hish a m ). While the Prophet sa was engaged in expressing his gratitude to God and in carrying out other devotions at the Ka‘ba , and while he was addressing the Meccans