The opposition of his uncles, Abu Lahab and Abu Sofian, was, however, carried on with the greatest rancor; and at last a decree was issued by Abu Sofian forbidding the tribe of the Koreish from having any intercourse whatever with Mohammed.  This decree was written on parchment, and hung up in the Caaba, and Mohammed was ultimately forced to flee from the city.  He and his disciples went for refuge to the ravine of Abu Taleb, at some distance from Mecca.  Here they would have suffered great want, had it not been for the kindness of Amzi, who managed to send them food in secret.

But the prophet’s zeal never flagged.  When the Ramadhan again came round, and it was safe to venture from his temporary retreat, he came boldly into the city, preached again from the hill Safa, and proclaimed his new revelations, praying for the people, and ending every prayer with the declaration now universal throughout the Moslem world,—­

“God!  There is no God but he, the ever-living!  He sleepeth not, neither doth he slumber!  To him belong the heavens and the earth, and all that they contain.  Who shall intercede with him unless by his permission?  His sway extendeth over the heavens and the earth, and to sustain them both is no burthen to him.  He is the High, the Mighty!”

The sublimity of this eulogy of the Most High may be readily traced to the psalms, particularly to that grandest of all songs, the one hundred and fourth psalm, which has been said to be remarkable in that it embraces the whole cosmos.  And, in fact, the whole trend of the Koran may be traced to a study of the Bible, particularly to the New Testament, with occasional digressions into the Mishnu, and the Talmud of the Hebrews.

“Feed the hungry!  Visit the sick!  Bow not to idols!  Pray constantly, and direct thy prayers immediately to the Deity!” These were the constant exhortations of the prophet during these first days of his ministry—­exhortations which demand the admiration of all who consider the grossness and idolatry of the age in which he lived.  Had he never gone further, succeeding ages might have been tempted to pardon his hallucinations.  At the time, doctrines which savored of so much magnanimity, and which were immeasurably in advance of the mockery of religion that had so long held sway among the majority of the Arabs, at once commended themselves to many.  The effect of the new teaching was enhanced by the burning enthusiasm and powerful oratory of Mohammed, who was not ignorant of the effect of eloquent delivery and glowing language on a people ever passionate and keenly susceptible to the influence of a strong and vivid presentation.

Ridicule and persecution ceased for a time, and at last, when the decree was removed, Mohammed and his followers returned in triumph to Mecca.

Once again he was obliged to fly for his life.  Accompanied by Zeid, he went to Tayf, and there spent a month in its perfumed vales, wandering by cooling streams, meditating beneath the waving fronds of the palm-trees, or resting in cool gardens, lulled by the rustling leaves of the nebeck (the lotus-tree), and inhaling the fresh perfume of peach and apple blooms.