The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 649
CH. 33 PT. 21 AL-AḤZĀB 23. And when the believers saw the Confederates, they said, وَلَمَّا رَاَ الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ الْأَحْزَابَ قَالُوا هذَا مَا وَعَدَنَا اللهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَصَدَقَ This is what Allah and His الله وَرَسُولُهُ وَمَا زَادَهُمْ إِلَّا إِيْمَانًا Allah and His Messenger spoke Messenger promised us; and barley-bread, and after having done a full day of multifarious duties, he would spend the hours of night in prayer and supplication till his feet got swollen. No man under so vastly changed circumstances and conditions had changed so little. To quote Rev. Bosworth Smith again: On the whole, the wonder is not how much but how little, under different circumstances, Mohammed differed from himself. In the shepherd of the desert, in the Syrian trader, in the solitary of Mount Hira, in the reformer in the minority of one, in the exile of Medina, in the acknowledged conqueror, in the equal of the Persian Chosroes and the Greek Heraclius, we can still trace substantial unity. I doubt whether any other man whose external conditions changed so much, ever himself changed less to meet them. age he won the title of Al-Amin, i. e. the trusty and truthful, and as a businessman he proved himself to be most honest and scrupulous. He married ladies both much older and much younger than himself and all of them swore by his faithfulness, love, and godliness. As a father he was most affectionate, and as a friend most loyal and considerate. When entrusted with the great and difficult task of reforming a corrupt society and subjected to persecution and exile, he bore it all with dignity and decorum. He fought as a soldier, and commanded armies. He faced defeat and won victories. He legislated and decided cases. He was a politician, a statesman, a teacher and a leader of men. Head of the state as well as of the Church he was, as a great writer has described him, Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pope without the Pope's pretentions, and Caesar without the legions of Caesar. Without a standing army, without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed revenue, if ever any man had the right to say that he ruled by a comment describes as an right Divine, it was Muḥammad, for excellent exemplar and a perfect he had all the power without its model and as humanity's unerring instruments and without its supports. guide for all time. The Holy He would do his household work Prophet's goodness and greatness with his own hands, would sleep indeed stand unrivalled upon a leathern mat and his menu unmatched, incomparable consisted of dates and water or unapproachable. 2563 Such was Muḥammad, the Holy Prophet of Islam whom the verse under and and