the clash between Mahomet and the Kureisch was unavoidable, but that it loomed so large upon the horizon of Medina’s policy is due to the Prophet’s determination to strike immediately at the wealth and security of his rival.  Lust for plunder, too, added its weight to Mahomet’s reprisals against Mecca; even if that city was content to leave him in peace, still the Kureischite caravans to Bostra and Syria, passing so near to Medina, were too tempting to be ignored.

Along these age-old routes Meccan merchandise still travelled its devious way, at the mercy of sun and desert storms and the unheeding fierceness of that cataclysmic country, a prey to any marauding tribes, and dependent for its existence upon the strength of its escort.  And since plunder is sweeter than labour, every chief with swift riders and good spearmen hoped to gain his riches at Meccan expense.  But their attempts were for the most part abortive, chiefly because of the lack of cohesion and generalship; until Mahomet none really constituted a serious menace to the Kureischite wealth.

In Muharram 622 (April) the Hegira took place, and six months sufficed Mahomet to establish his power securely enough to be able to send out his first expedition against the Kureisch in Ramadan (December) of the same year.  The party was led by Hamza, whose soldier qualities were only at the beginning of their development, and probably consisted of a few Muslim horsemen on their beautiful swift mounts and one or two spearmen, and possibly several warriors skilled in the use of arrows.  They sallied forth from Medina and went to meet the caravan as it prepared to pass by their town.  The Kureisch had placed Abu Jahl in command—­a man whose invincible hatred for Islam and the Prophet had manifested itself in the persecution at Mecca, and whose hostility increased as the Muslim power advanced.

The caravan was guarded, but none too strongly, and Hamza’s troop pursued and had almost attacked it when a Bedouin chief of the desert more powerful than either party interposed and compelled the Muslim to withdraw, while he forbade Abu Jahl to pursue them or attempt revenge.  So the caravan continued its way unmolested into Syria and there exchanged its gums, leather, and frankincense for the silks and precious metals, the fine stuffs and luxurious draperies which made the Syrian markets a vivid medley of sheen and gloss, stored with bright colours and burnished surfaces shimmering in the hot radiance of the East.  In Jan. 623 the caravan set out homeward “on its lone journey o’er the desert,” and again the Muslim sent out an attacking party in the hope of securing this larger prize.  But the Kureisch were wise and had provided themselves with a stronger escort before which the Muslim could do nothing but retreat—­not, however, before they had sent a few tentative arrows at the cavalcade.  Obeida, their leader and a cousin of Mahomet, gave the command to shoot, and is renowned henceforth as “he who shot the first arrow for Islam.”