The Life of Mohammad the Prophet of Allah
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Presented to the LIBRARY of the UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO THE LIFE OF MOHAMMAD THE PROPHET OF ALLAH " The man',) wordt were not/aide... a maw ca^t-up from fiery of Life " the great booom.of Nature herself. ("On Heroes," by THOMAS CARLYLE, London, 1841.) THIS WORK IS ISSUED IN A STRICTLY LIMITED EDITION OF 128 COPIES ON IMPERIAL JAPANESE VELLUM WITH AN EXTRA SUITE OF THE PLATES AND 8/5 COPIES ON HAND-MADE PAPER. " In the name of Allah! the Compassionate, the Merciful. HISTORY OF THE PROPHECY Upon Hi<i Hero (Mohammad), ' veneration. \ii,. \ Y4OT2IH IHT 10 'O3HMOHH i\- iKI'l i.',' - x THE LIFE OF MOHAMMAD THE PROPHET OF ALLAH BY E. DINET AND SLIMAN BEN IBRAHIM ILLUSTRATED BY E. DINET ORNAMENTAL PAGES BY MOHAMMAD RACIM PARIS THE PARIS BOOK CLUB, 11, RUE DE CHATEAUDUN THIS WORK IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR - PAINTER AND HIS ARAB COLLABORATOR TO THE MEMORY OF THE VALIANT MOSLEM SOLDIERS PARTICULARLY THOSE OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND WHO, IN THE SACRED CAUSE OF RIGHT. JUSTICE AND HUMANITY HAVE PIOUSLY SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR OF THE NATIONS PREFACE existence, so full of stirring events as that of the Prophet Mohammad, cannot ANbe described by us in all its details. At) there are limits to all books, we have had to rest content with a selection of the most important epuwded, so that each might be Developed as we Deemed necessary. Thus we present to the reader a series of pictures and not a complete history. Our scaffolding and sketches are borrowed from very ancient authors such as Ibn Hisham, Ibn Sad, etc., without forgetting a more modern writer, Ali Borhan " " id-Din Al-Halabi who, in his book known by the title of Es Sirat'al Halabia, gathered together different versions from all the best-known historians. An incontestable proof of their veracity, in our opinion, is that these narratives, some Dating as far back as twelve centuries, fit in perfectly with the manners, customs, hopes and language of the Moslems of the desert; those who at the present day, by their mode of living, are more akin to the Arabs of the Hijaz among whom Mohammad accomplished his Mission. These remarks will serve to warn the reader that in this work will be found none of those learned paradoxes Destined to Destroy traditions, such sophisms Delighting modern Orientalists by reason of their love of novelty. The study of innovations introduced in this way into the Prophet's history has caused us to note that they were often prompted by feelings inimical to Islam which were not only out of place in scientific research, but were also unworthy of our epoch. As Displayed by their authors, they generally denoted strange ignorance of Arab customs, notwithstanding that these commentaries were accompanied by considerable erudition, although too bookish. In order to refute such new-fangled assertions, it was enough to check each in turn. Being so contradictory, one killed the other. Their extreme improbabilities, from the standpoint of Oriental psychology, only served to enhance with still greater clarity the perfect likelihood of those traditions sanctioned in the world of Islam. W^e have been guided by them. W^e have been satisfied to choose those that seemed most characteristic, setting each in its proper place, thanks to information the gleaned in long interviews with pilgrims visiting the Holy Cities of Hijaz, in while reviewing these episodes in the light of our experience of Moslem life, VII THE LIFE OF MOHAMMAD the Great Desert of Sahara, where one of us two has lived from birth and the other for the last thirty yean and more. In strict agreement with the Quran, the only indisputable book according to the Moslem Doctors of the earliest timed and tboJc. imbued with the modern we have aside all the liberal spirit, such as the celebrated Shaikh Abdu, put posthumous miracles attributed to the Arab Prophet and which only seive to blur his true physiognomy. Among all the Prophets founder's of religions, Mohammad is the only one who, relying solely on the evidence shown by his Mission and the divine eloquence of the Qur'an, was able to do without the assistance of miracles, thus performing the greatest of all the one which Ernest Renan, forgetting his example, declared " " to be utterly impossible. The greatest miracle, said he, speaking of Jesus Christ, " would have been if he had wrought not any. Never would the laws of history and popular psychology have been more violently infringed. On the other hand, we have taken care not to turn a deaf ear to tales in legendary shape. A legend, and above all, an Oriental legend, is an incomparable means of expression. It serves to paint mere facts in lasting colours and make them stand out in bold relief, far removed from the icy and so-called impartial account of an up-to-date reporter. Our readers, enlightened by the foregoing warning, must therefore not let themselves be the victims of the numerous errors committed by Hellenism, Latinism " " and Scholasticism, when interpreting literally the sacred books of the East, while beneath seeming magic allegories scattered here and there in this narrative, will easily be discerned realities, poetically transposed, but not at all disfigured by the imagination of the Arabs. With still more reason, the Qur'an should be read in the same way, for is " it not written : God setteth forth these similitudes to men that haply ' they may be admonished. (THE QUR'AN, xiv, 3o.) It may also seem strange that in the illustrations accompanying the text, no portrait of the Prophet will be found, nor any picturing of events in which he figures as the hero. And this is why : being sincere .Moslems, we do not want to run counter to the true principles of Islam, far less hostile than is supposed to the portrayal of mortals' faces, but strictly forbidding the image of the Divinity, considered to be rank blasphemy leading to idolatry more or less disguised. To represent the likenesses of the Prophets is to belittle them inevitably and sacrilegiously. And after all, in the eyes of the Believer, what does the prim effigy of one of Gods messengers on earth, however mat\>elloiisly painted, look like in comparison with the sublime idea that the mind of the Faithful creates, under the influence of fenid faith? This has been so well understood by certain Persian painters of VIII PREFACE miniatures, that, having to sketch Mohammad in the varied phased of hut nocturnal ascension, they veiled his face entirely, because they found themselves pOwerleAt to to so revered. There is no picture it, and feared also impair features greater proof of their intention than the meticulous care with which in the same pictures all other faces are treated, including that of Buraq, the winged steed with the head of a human being; and also the Lineaments of the angels in the celestial procession. In place, therefore, of an imaginary portrait and necessarily falsified drawings, we have adopted a more indirect style of illustration, but by its means we hope to have succeeded in evoking a few lights and shadows, undoubtedly emanating from the superman who came into the world at Makkah (Mecca). His features, solely known by the descriptions of those who penned his history, appear to us dimly through a gauzy veil of dreamland that we shall not try to rend asunder, for behind this mysterious filmy mask, the sacred lineaments will so enjoy the rare and precious advantage of not having been spoilt, like many others, by impossible attempts of pictorial reconstitution. On the other hand, his ways and doings have been brought down to our own times, with religious fidelity, by three hundred millions of disciples, scattered all over the earth's surface. The constant thought of all Moslems, of whatever race, is to imitate in the everything, in the most humble as well as in the highest, of life's functions, habits of the Prophet whose image is engraved in their hearts. And this is so be true, that simply by the way in which he washes his hands, the. difference can seen between an Arab Moslem and an Arab Christian. view the Looking upon true Believers going to and fro, we consequently movements of Mohammad. It is but a pale reflection, but nevertheless incontestably authentic; whereas, despite the perfection of their statues, the Roman Emperors attitudes awkward can only offer to us their limbs and faces, stiffened in of pride; remaining as corpses that our imagination is powerless to resuscitate. Impressed by these facts, we had the idea of illustrating this history of scenes Mohammad by picturing the religious doings of his disciples; a few of his native land. Arab life, and views of the Hijaz, CHAPTER THE FIRST HMTSAH'J HHl the Ka'bah Mekka. Praying round the Sacred Temple of of > A v\\ V> "M v CHAPTER THE FIRST lit the horizon rosy ray up ; the stars paled, and a voice cried out in cadence, THE MOSLEM PRAYER in the silence of dawn : ' Allah u Ihe greatest I There u no God but Allah, and Mohammad id the " Prophet of Allah ! Come and pray ! Come to Salvation I High up above the flat housetops and the palm-trees of the oasis, the last notes of the Muazzin's call, wafted from the balcony of the slender minaret, died away in the infinite space of the Desert Mohammedans who were still slumbering, enwrapped in the white folds of their shroud- like mantles, sprung to their feet with a start, like dead men coming to life.