The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page ccli
GENERAL INTRODUCTION Zamzam. He drank some of it and with the rest performed ablutions. So devoted were Muslims to the Prophet's 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 (Halbiyyah, Vol. 3, p. 99). The Prophet Forgives His Enemies All rites and duties over, the Prophet 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 treated his erring brothers. " By significant coincidence, the Meccans used in their plea for forgiveness the very words which God had used in the Sūrah Yūsuf, revealed ten years before the conquest of Mecca. In this the Prophet was told that he would treat his Meccan persecutors as Joseph had treated his brothers. By asking for the treatment which Joseph had meted out to his brothers, the Meccans admitted that the Prophet of Islam was the like of Joseph and as Joseph was granted victory over his brothers the Prophet had been granted victory over the Meccans. Hearing the Meccans' plea, the Prophet declared at once: "By God, you will have no punishment today and no reproof" (Hishām). While the Prophet was engaged in expressing his gratitude to God and in carrying out other devotions at the Ka'bah, and while he was addressing the Meccans announcing his decision to forgive and forget, misgivings arose in the minds of the Anṣār, the Medinite Muslims. Some of them were upset over the scenes of home-coming and of reconciliation which they witnessed on the return of Meccan Muslims to Mecca. Was the Prophet parting company with them, his friends in adversity who provided the first home to Islam? Was the Prophet going to settle down at Mecca, the town from which he had to flee for his life? Such fears did not seem too remote now that Mecca had been conquered and his own tribe had joined Islam. The Prophet might want to settle down in it. God informed the Prophet of these misgivings of the Anṣār. He raised his head, looked at the Anṣār and said "You seem to think Muḥammad is perturbed by the love of his town, and by the ties which bind him to his tribe. " "It is true," said the Anṣār, "we did think of this. " CCXXV