Life of Muhammad — Page 29
sa 29 Allah, I submit my plaint to Thee. I am weak, and without means. My people look down upon me. Thou art Lord of the weak and the poor and Thou art my Lord. To whom wilt Thou abandon me — to strangers who push me about or to the enemy who oppresses me in my own town? If Thou art not angered at me, I care not for my enemy. Thy mercy be with me. I seek refuge in the light of Thy face. It is Thou Who canst drive away darkness from the world and give peace to all, here and hereafter. Let not Thy anger and Thy wrath descend on me. Thou art never angry except when Thou art pleased soon after. And there is no power and no refuge except with Thee ( Hish a m and T abar i ). Having said this prayer, he set back for Mecca. He stopped en route at Nakhla for a few days and set out again. According to Meccan tradition he was no longer a citizen of Mecca. He had left it because he thought it hostile and could not return to it except with the permission of the Meccans. Accordingly, he sent word to Mu t ‘ im bin ‘ Ad i — a Meccan chief, to ask if Meccans would permit him to come back. Mu t ‘ im, though as bitter an enemy as any other, possessed nobility of heart. He collected his sons and relatives. Arming themselves, they went to the Ka ‘ ba. Standing in the courtyard he announced he was permitting the Prophet sa to return. The Prophet sa then returned, and made a circuit of the Ka ‘ ba. Mu t ‘ im, his sons and relatives, with swords unsheathed, then escorted the Prophet sa to his house. It was not protection in the customary Arabian sense which had been extended to the Prophet sa. The Prophet sa continued to suffer and Mu t ‘ im did not shield him. Mu t ‘ im's act amounted to a declaration of formal permission for the Prophet sa to return. The Prophet's sa journey to T a ‘ if has extorted praise even from the enemies of Islam. Sir William Muir, in his biography of the Prophet sa , writes (speaking of the journey to Ta ’if ):