Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 409
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 409 ye might have answered, and answered truly – for I would have vouched for it myself – thou camest to Medina rejected, and we bore thee witness; a fugitive, and we took thee in; an outcast, and we gave thee asylum; destitute, and we fed thee. Why are you di sturbed in mind because of the things of this life wherewith I have sought to incline these men unto the faith in which you are already established? Are you not satisfied that others should have the flocks and herds, while you carry back with you the Proph et of the Lord? Nay, I will never leave you. If all mankind went one way, and Ansar went another way, I would go the way of Ansar. The Lord be favourable unto them and bless them, and their sons and their sons’ sons forever. ’ At these words they wept, till the tears ran down upon their beards, and they cried with one voice, ‘Yea, we are well satisfied, O Prophet, with our good fortune. ’ The Holy Prophet spent about a fortnight at Jirana, during which period the booty captured at Hunain was all distributed. When everything was ended he started for Mecca, where he performed the Umra, and returned to Jirana the same night; and thence, striki ng through the valleys, took the direct route homewards to Medina. The youthful Attab was confirmed in the government of Mecca and an allowance assigned him of one dirhem a day. He was content with this moderate allowance. He said, ‘Let the Lord make hungry that man’s liver, who is hungry upon a dirhem a day. The Prophet hath appointed that as my sustenance. I have no further claim upon anyone. ’ Muaz was left behind to complete the spiritual instruction of the city. The annual pilgrimage followed shortly afterwards; Attab presided.