It is related that the Qoraish one day assembled in the house of Wolid Bin Moghairah—who was at that time distinguished above all his contemporaries by his powerful intellect, venerable age, great property and multitude of children; he was also a patron of poets and orators, who addressed their compositions to him, and whose arguments were decisive in every subject—and asked him whether the speeches of Muhammad were rhetorical, or had something to do with magic and soothsaying? But he answered that this question could be decided only after hearing what Muhammad had to say. Therefore he arose, paid a visit to his lordship—u. w. b.—who was sitting in his apartment, and asked: ‘O Muhammad, recite some of thy poetry.’ Hereon his holy and prophetic lordship uttered, with his wonderfully eloquent tongue, the words: ‘In the name of Allah, the merciful, the clement!’ When Wolid heard the word ‘merciful,’ he said by way of derision: ‘Thou callest on the name of a man who dwells in Yamâmah, and is called Merciful!’ He meant Musailamah, the false prophet, who was nicknamed ‘the Merciful one of Yamâmah.’ His lordship, however, replied: ‘No! I call upon the name of Allah, who is merciful and clement.’ After that he recited the chapter of Adoration H. M.,* and when he reached the verse ‘If they [the Mekkans] withdraw from these [instructions], say, I denounce unto you a sudden destruction, like the destruction of A’ad and Thamûd,’* the hair on Wolid’s body commenced to bristle up and his skin was nearly bursting; therefore he immediately returned home without entering the assembly of the Qoraish. Afterwards the people said to Abu Jahl: ‘O Abu-l-Hukm,* thy uncle has professed the religion of Muhammad, and therefore he has not come to us.’ Accordingly Abu Jahl went to the house of Wolid, and said: ‘Uncle, why hast thou received the religion of Muhammad and hast been misguided?’ Wolid replied: ‘I profess the religion of my fathers and ancestors, but I heard difficult words, so that the skin of my body was bursting.’ Abu Jahl queried further: ‘Was it poetry?’ He replied: ‘No!’ Then he asked whether it was oratory, and Wolid said: ‘Oratory is composed of connected words, but these are disjointed, and do not resemble each other; they nevertheless have a grace and fluency not existing in any other form of speech.’ Abu Jahl further asked: ‘Is it soothsaying?’ He replied: ‘No.’ ‘Then what is it?’ He said: ‘Leave me to meditate on this subject.’ Then Abu Jahl, who had asked the same questions the next day, and was convinced that his holy and prophetic lordship—u. w. b. —was innocent of magic, nevertheless said [to himself]: ‘I shall impute sorcery to Muhammad, because such an accusation will be most readily accepted, and will give rise to discussions between wives and husbands, fathers and sons.’
Meanwhile, however, Allah the Most High and Glorious had revealed the following verse with reference to Wolid: ‘Let Me alone with him whom I have created, on whom I have bestowed abundant riches and children dwelling in his presence’* till the end. This event is in some chronicles related in another manner, but as the gist thereof amounts to the fact that Wolid had, after consulting the Qoraish and discussing this subject with them, accused the prophet of sorcery, and attributed thereto also the words of the Lord revealed concerning himself, therefore the author has refrained from details.
We read in some traditions that when Wolid waited on his sacred and prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—and requested him to recite something from the Qurân, his lordship pronounced the verse: ‘Verily Allah commandeth justice, and the doing of good, and the giving unto kindred [what shall be necessary]; and He forbiddeth wickedness and iniquity, and oppression; He admonisheth you that you may remember’* And Wolid stated that these verses possessed a freshness and pleasantness such as no man does or can invent.
Some of the principal historians have related that when the idolatrous Qoraish saw the number of the companions of his lordship the best of men—u. w. b.—augmenting day by day, they agreed to send a man learned in poetry and skilled in the arts of soothsaying and magic to his lordship, to induce him by fair speeches, or in any possible way, to desist from his mission and from the promulgation of his message. The lot fell upon O’tbah Bin Rabia’h, who was one of the Qoraish U’lâma, and who, puffed up with hopes that his artifices would take effect, went to the prince of men and genii, who happened to be sitting in the mosque of the sanctuary, but the poor fellow did not recollect
| Hemistich: | The difference between an extinguished lamp and sun- light. |
It is related that when O’tbah approached his lordship the best of men, he exclaimed: ‘O Muhammad, a great calamity has arisen among the Qoraish! Thou hast denounced their gods as vanities, hast endeavoured to seduce the people from the religion of their forefathers, hast disgraced us among the Arabs, and hast considered our wise men to be fools. If thou art ambitious of power, we shall unanimously make thee our ruler. If lust has enticed thee to embark in this business, we shall procure thee any maiden thou mayest covet; but if want and poverty be the cause, we shall give thee so much property that none of the Qoraish will be able to cope with thee in riches; and lastly, if some disease [of the mind] has impelled thee to this step, we shall produce a skilled physician, and will spend as much property as may be required to cure thee.’ When O’tbah had terminated this foolish harangue, his lordship asked: ‘Hast thou finished thy speech?’ He replied: ‘Yes.’ Then the prophet recited: ‘In the name of Allah, the merciful, the clement! A revelation from the merciful, the clement,’ etc.* There is a tradition that whilst his holy and prophetic lordship was reciting this chapter O’tbah had folded his arms over each other and was listening. When his lordship had reached the verse of adoration he prostrated himself, and then, raising his head, bade O’tbah to go away. When the people of O’tbah saw him arrive they exclaimed: ‘Abu-l-Wolid is returning disappointed.’ When O’tbah reached them he said: ‘By Allah! I have heard words the like of which I have never listened to before. By Allah! these words do not at all resemble magic or soothsaying. O ye Qoraish, receive my advice with approbation, and do not injure him, because his words presage great things and events. If the Arab tribes overcome him, your wishes will be fulfilled; but if he prevails over them, his power will be your power, and his glory your glory, and you will be the happiest people.’ The Qoraish replied: ‘O Abu-l-Wolid, we swear by Allah that Muhammad has bewitched thee with his words!’ But O’tbah rejoined: ‘I have told you my opinion; do as you like.’