Life of Muhammad — Page 28
sa 28 was no exception. Reports of him had already reached Ta ’if , and here he now was, without arms or following, a lone individual with only one companion, Zaid ra. The towns folk thought him a nuisance which should be ended, if only to please their chiefs. They set vagabonds of the town and street boys at him who pelted him with stones and drove him out of the town. Zaid ra was wounded and the Prophet sa began to bleed profusely. But the pursuit continued until this defenceless party of two was several miles out of Ta ’if. The Prophet sa was sorely grieved and dejected when an angel descended upon him and asked if he would like his persecutors to be destroyed. "No," said the Prophet sa. "I hope that of these very tormentors would be born those who would worship the One True God. " ( Bukh a r i , Kit ab Bad ’ ul- Khalq. ) Exhausted and dejected, he stopped at a vineyard owned by two Meccans who happened to be present. They were among his persecutors at Mecca, but on this occasion they became sympathetic. Was it because a Meccan had been ill-treated by the people of Ta ’if , or was it because a spark of human kindness suddenly glowed in their hearts? They sent to the Prophet sa a tray full of grapes with a Christian slave, ‘ Addas ra by name and belonging to Nineveh. ‘ Addas ra presented the tray to the Prophet sa and his companion. While he looked wistfully at them, he became more curious than ever when he heard the Prophet sa say, "In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. " His Christian background was enlivened and he felt he was in the presence of a Hebrew Prophet as. The Prophet sa asked him where he belonged and ‘ Addas ra said Nineveh, upon which the Prophet sa said, "Jonah as , son of Amittai, who belonged to Nineveh, was a holy man, a Prophet like me. " The Prophet sa also told ‘ Add a s ra of his own Message. ‘ Add a s ra felt charmed and believed at once. He embraced the Prophet sa with tears in his eyes and started kissing his head, hands and feet. The meeting over, the Prophet sa turned again to Allah and said: