Note 18 — Chapter II · STUDY OF THE LIFE OF MUḤAMMAD CONSIDERED AS A PREACHER OF ISLAM.

The Banū Saʻd b. Bakr sent one of their number, by name Ḍimām b. T͟haʻlabah as their envoy to the Prophet. He came and made his camel kneel down at the gate of the mosque and tied up its fore-leg. Then he went into the mosque, where the Prophet was sitting with his companions. He went up close to them and said, “Which among you is the son of ʻAbd al-Muṭṭalib?” “I am,” replied the Prophet. “Art thou Muḥammad?” “Yes,” was the answer. “Then, if thou wilt not take it amiss, I would fain ask thee some weighty questions.” “Nay, ask what thou wilt,” answered the Prophet. “I adjure thee by Allāh, thy God and the God of those who were before thee and of those who are to come after thee, hath Allāh sent thee as a prophet unto us?” Muḥammad answered, “Yea, by Allāh.” He continued, “I adjure thee by Allāh, thy God and the God of those who were before thee and of those who are to come after thee, hath He commanded thee to bid us worship Him alone, and to associate naught else with Him and to abandon these idols that our fathers worshipped?” Muḥammad answered, “Yea, by Allāh.” Then he questioned the Prophet concerning all the ordinances of Islam, one after another, prayer and fasting, pilgrimage, etc., solemnly adjuring him as before. At the end he said, “Then I bear witness that there is no God save Allāh and I bear witness that Muḥammad is the Prophet of Allāh, and I will observe these ordinances and shun what thou hast forbidden, adding nothing thereto, and taking nothing away.” Then he turned away and loosened his camel and returned unto his own people, and when he had gathered them together, the first words he spoke unto them were: “Vile things are Lāt and ʻUzzā.” They cried out, “Hold! Ḍimām, take heed of leprosy or madness!” “Fie on you!” he replied. “By Allāh! they can neither work you weal nor woe, for Allāh has sent a Prophet and revealed to him a book, whereby he delivers you from your evil plight; I bear witness that there is no God save Allāh alone and that Muḥammad is His servant and His Prophet; and I have brought you tidings of what he enjoins and what he forbids.” The story goes on that ere nightfall there was not a man or woman in the camp who had not accepted Islam.18