His apostle, revealed a book to me, and commanded me to bring you glad tidings and warnings. Now, if you will accept what I have brought to you, it will be for your good in this world and in the next; but if you reject it, I wait patiently till God will decide between us.

'Then they said to Mohammed, "If thou wilt not accept these our offers, then, knowing how hard our life is, and how we lack water in this our narrow valley, pray to thy Lord who has sent thee, that He may remove the straitening mountains and widen our land, and dissect it by rivers, like Syria and Irak, and that He may cause our late fathers to rise again, especially the truthful elder, Kussei Ibn Kilab, so that we may ask them whether thou speakest true or false. If they declare thee to be true and thou dost what we ask of thee, then will we believe in thee, acknowledge thy high rank with God, and regard thee as His Apostle." Mohammed replied, "I have not been sent to you with this. I bring you that with which God has commissioned me."

'Thereupon they said, "If thou wilt not do this, care for thyself: pray God to send an angel to declare thee to be true and to refute our objections; beg of Him to send thee gardens, palaces, and treasures of gold and silver, that thou mayest no longer have to go to market, like any one of us, to buy victuals, and we will acknowledge thy distinction and rank, if thou art an apostle of God as thou assertest." Mohammed replied, "I will not do so and not ask any thing of God for myself: I am sent as a warner and bearer of glad tidings;¹ if you accept my message, it will be for your own happiness in this and the next world."

'They further said, "Then cause the heaven to fall down upon us in pieces, as thou affirmest God does, if it pleases Him, else we will not believe in thee." Mohammed replied, "This belongs to God: He will do it; as soon as it pleases Him."

'Again they said, 'O Mohammed, since thy Lord knows that we are here sitting with thee and addressing certain demands to thee, why does He not come and tell thee how

to refute us and what He will do, if we continue not to listen to thee? We have heard that a man of Yemama, called Rahman, is thy teacher; but, by Allah, we shall never believe in Rahman. We have now done our duty; and we shall no longer tolerate thee and thy doings, till either we succumb to thee or thou to us."

'Then Mohammed rose up to go home. His cousin Abd Allah Ibn Abi Omeia accompanied him and spoke to him thus, "Thy people have made offers to thee which thou hast rejected. Then they desired of thee sundry things to prove the high esteem thou art held in by God, so that they might believe in thee and follow thee; but thou didst not comply. Then they requested thee to ask for thyself such things by which they might know that thou enjoyest more favour with God than themselves; but thou hast declined. Then they wished thee forthwith to carry out a portion of the punishment with which thou threatenest them; but thou didst not accede. Therefore, by Allah, I shall not believe in thee, till thou, before my eyes, ascendest up to heaven on ladders and comest back with a writing in which four angels testify to thee; but I think that even then I should not believe in thee." With these words he left Mohammed, who returned home, sad and cast down, because he was disappointed in his hope of the conversion of his tribe, and saw that they further and further separated themselves from him.' (Ibn Ishak and Ibn Hisham, Part IV.)

(24.) Both of them came in contact with Spirits from the unseen world, who recognised, honoured, and obeyed them, more readily than the people of this world to whom they addressed themselves.

a. 'And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come. to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they