Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 135
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 135 proclamation was conveyed to us also. A little later, I was sitting among my people, Banu Madhlaj, when one of Quraish came to us and addressing me, said, “I have just espied some people in the direction of the coast who are moving and I conceive that they may be Muhammad and his companions. ” I felt that he was probably right, but to put him off, I told him that they were some people who had just passed near us. Shortly after, I slipped away and mounting my horse, I took hold of a spear and departed silentl y from the back of my house. I rode swiftly and soon came within sight of the Holy Prophet and his companions. My horse stumbled, and I fell to the ground, but I rose quickly and took an augury with divining arrows. The indication was that I should not pro ceed with my design, but I disregarded it, and mounting my horse I continued my pursuit till I arrived so close to the party that I could hear the Holy Prophet reciting something. I observed that he did not look in my direction even once, but Abu Bakr look ed back at me repeatedly. When I advanced a little further, my horse stumbled again and his feet were caught in the sand, and I fell down again. I got up and helped my horse to free his feet from the sand. In his efforts to do so, a cloud of sand was raise d all around us. I again took an augury, with the same result as before, whereupon I abandoned my design and called out to the party in a conciliatory tone, on which they stopped. My experience had convinced me that the star of the Holy Prophet was in the ascendant and that he would prevail in the end. Having approached close to them, I told them that Quraish had announced so much reward for killing them or for seizing them and taking them back to Mecca, and that I had started with this