door of the council-house. On the Koreish asking him who he was, he said, "I am an old man from Nejd, who has heard what you have arranged and who has come to listen to your deliberations, and perhaps to give a useful counsel." They said, "All right," and admitted him to the assembly of the Koreishite nobles. Several proposals being made how to deal with Mohammed, he pointed out their objectionableness, on the ground of not being effective enough, till at last Abu Jahl took the word, saying, "My proposal is, that we select from every clan a powerful suitable youth of good family, and provide them with sharp swords, to fall on him as one man and to slay him; then we shall have rest and his blood will be on all the clans, so that the sons of Abd Eddar, unable to make war against an entire people, will be content to accept the price of atonement which we shall willingly pay." Thereupon the old man from Nejd said, "This man's proposal is the only good one; " and the assembly, indorsing the opinion, dispersed.

'Now when the third part of the night was over, the Koreish gathered before Mohammed's door and waited till he went to sleep, so that they might fall upon him. As soon as Mohammed perceived this, he said to Ali, "Do thou sleep on my bed and wrap thyself up in my green cloak of Hadramaut — the same in which he himself used to sleep, — they will not hurt thee." Whilst the Koreish were before Mohammed's door, Abu Jahl, who was amongst them, said, "Mohammed believes that, if you follow him, you will become the masters of the Arabs and the Persians; that, after death, you will rise again and receive gardens like those on the river Jordan; but that if you do not follow him, he will slay you; and on being raised again after death, you will have to burn in hell." Then Mohammed came out, cast a handful of earth on their heads, and said to Abu Jahl, "Yes, indeed, I have spoken thus; and thou wilt be one of the latter." God had deprived them of their sight, every one of them, so that they could not see him. Then came some one who was not of their party and asked them for whom they were waiting. They answered, "For Mohammed." He continued, "May God put you to shame! he came out long ago, cast earth upon your heads and went his way. Do you

not see what is upon you?" They felt their heads, and found them covered with earth. Then they entered the house; and seeing Ali on the bed, wrapt in Mohammed's cloak, they said, "By Allah, Mohammed sleeps, wrapt in his cloak;" and they remained of that opinion till the morning. At length, when Ali rose from the bed, they said, "After all, the man who accosted us has spoken the truth."

'Abu Bekr, who was a rich man, had, as soon as Mohammed gave him the hint not to hasten with his departure, bought two camels which he fed in his own house, so as to have them ready for this occasion. Therefore Mohammed went to Abu Bekr; and they both left the house through an opening at its back part. They first went to a cave of the Mount Thaur, below the city. Abu Bekr considerately entered the cave before Mohammed, to see whether there was no wild beast or serpent in it. They remained concealed there for three days, because the Koreish, as soon as they missed Mohammed, had offered a hundred camels to any one who should bring him back. Abu Bekr's son, Abd Allah, mixed with the Koreish, to hear what they were saying about Mohammed and his father, and in the evening lie reported to them what he had heard. His shepherd remained with the other shepherds of Mecca; but in the evening he took his sheep to the cave to provide them with milk and meat; and in the morning, when the son left, the shepherd followed him with his flock, to avert suspicion.

'After three days, they sent for the two camels, together with the man they had hired for the journey, who also brought with him a third camel, for his own use. Asma, Abu Bekr's daughter, brought provisions for their journey; and having forgotten the rope with which to fasten them, she took her girdle from her body and tied them on with it. Then Abu Bekr led forth the better of the two camels for Mohammed to mount. But the Prophet said, "I ride on no camel which does not belong to me." Abu Bekr replied, "It belongs to thee; for thou art to me as father and mother." Mohammed rejoined, "No; but for how much didst thou buy it?" and having been told the price, he said, "I buy it for this price." Then they mounted, Abu Bekr allowing his freed slave Amir to sit behind him on the same