It seems equally strange that the great empires which had carried their conquests so far on every hand had neglected to conquer Arabia.  It was, indeed, comparatively isolated; it certainly did not lie in the common paths of the conquerors; doubtless it appeared barren, and by no means a tempting prize; and withal it was a difficult field for a successful campaign.  But from whatever reason, the tribes of Arabia had never been conquered.  Various expeditions had won temporary successes, but the proud Arab could boast that his country had never been brought into permanent subjection.[101] Meanwhile the heredity of a thousand years had strengthened the valor of the Arab warrior.  He was accustomed to the saddle from his very infancy; he was almost a part of his horse.  He was trained to the use of arms as a robber, when not engaged in tribal wars.  His whole activity, his all-absorbing interest, was in hostile forays.  He knew no fear; he had no scruples.  He had been taught to feel that, as a son of Ishmael every man’s hand was turned against him, and of simple right his hand might be turned against every man.

Nor was this all.  The surrounding nations, east and west, had long been accustomed to employ these sons of the desert as mercenary soldiers.  They had all had a hand in training them for their terrible work, by imparting to them a knowledge of their respective countries, their resources, their modes of warfare, and their points of weakness.  How many nations have thus paved the way to their own destruction by calling in allies, who finally became their masters![102]

On Mohammed’s part, there is no evidence that at the outset he contemplated a military career.  At first a reformer, then a prophet, he was driven to arms in self-defence against his persecutors, and he was fortunate in being able to profit by a certain jealousy which existed between the rival cities of Mecca and Medina.  Fleeing from Mecca with only one follower, Abu Bekr, leaving the faithful Ali to arrange his affairs while he and his companion were hidden in a cave, he found on reaching Medina a more favorable reception.  He soon gathered a following, which enabled him to gain a truce from the Meccans for ten years; and when they on their part violated the truce, he was able to march upon their city with a force which defied all possible resistance, and he entered Mecca in triumph.  Medina had been won partly by the supposed credentials of the prophet, but mainly by jealousy of the rival city.  Mecca yielded to a superior force of arms, but in the end became the honored capital and shrine of Islam.