For several years Mahomet continued to preach with little apparent success. His converts were, with rare exceptions, persons of a low class or even foreign slaves, such as Bilāl the Abyssinian. Some members of his own family, in particular his uncle 'Abd-al-'Uzzā, nicknamed Abū Lahab, bitterly opposed him; even his protector Abū Ṭālib remained to the last an unbeliever. It would be a mistake to suppose that the enemies of the new faith were actuated by religious fanaticism. They were, for the most part, simply men of the world who, proud of their social position, objected to recognising the claims of an upstart and dreaded any sweeping change as likely to endanger the material advantages which they derived from the traditional cult. To the majority of the citizens Mahomet appeared a madman; some called him a "poet," an accusation which gave him great pain, for, as the Koran shews, he regarded the poets with peculiar aversion. That he had to endure many affronts was quite natural, but actual violence could not have been employed against him without risk of a blood-feud, which the Meccans were always most anxious to avoid. Those of his disciples, however, who had no relatives to protect them were occasionally treated with cruelty. At length the majority of the converts, finding their position intolerable, fled for refuge to Abyssinia, with the full consent, if not at the express command, of the Prophet. He himself remained at Mecca with a mere handful of followers.
When it became known that the emigrants had been kindly received by the Christian king of Abyssinia, considerable alarm prevailed among the chiefs of the Ḳuraish, lest the Abyssinians, whose devastating invasions were still vividly remembered, should be tempted to intervene on behalf of the persecuted Muslims. Accordingly a deputation was sent from Mecca for the purpose of persuading the king to hand over the fugitives as prisoners; the king, however, refused, whereupon the indignation of Mahomet's enemies was still further excited. The Prophet, reduced to extremities, fell into the error of attempting to overcome opposition by means of a compromise. He went so far as to publish a revelation in which the three principal goddesses of Mecca were recognised as "highly exalted beings whose intercession may be hoped for."[1] For a while the polytheists appeared to be satisfied, and a report that the persecution was at an end caused some of the emigrants to come back from Abyssinia. In the meanwhile the Prophet repented of the concession he had made, and declared that the verse in question had been put into his mouth by Satan. The feud thereupon broke out afresh. To the heathen Meccans Mahomet's conduct on this occasion naturally seemed to convict him of imposture; since, however, he had long been accustomed to regard all his impulses as due to some
- ↑ The word gharānīḳ, here rendered "exalted," is of doubtful meaning: an early Muslim poet uses it as an epithet of chieftains or warriors (Kitāb-al-Aghāni, VII. 75. 27 = VIII. 192. 3).
