LIFE OF MOHAMMED. 231 



his sins are forgiven ; at the day of judgment his 

 wounds shall be resplendent as vermilion, and odo- 

 rous as musk ; and the loss of his limbs shall be sup- 

 plied by the wings of angels and cherubim." The 

 valiant martyrs of the faith were allowed to antici- 

 pate the voluptuous enjoyments of another world, 

 by the license of embracing the female captives as 

 their wives or concubines. The interval of the four 

 sacred months, which had hitherto suspended the 

 fury of the most hostile tribes, was disregarded, that 

 no impediment might retard the victorious Moslems 

 in their mighty career of pillage and proselytism. 

 The distribution of the spoil was regulated by the 

 authority of revelation. The whole plunder of the 

 forage or the battle-field was to be collected in one 

 common mass. A fifth part the Prophet reserv-ed 

 to himself for charitable and pious uses; the re- 

 mainder was to be divided among the soldiers, in- 

 cluding those who guarded the camp as well as those 

 who had been actually engaged. The portion of 

 the slain devolved to their widows and orphans ; and 

 to encourage the increase of cavalry, each horseman 

 was allotted a double share. 



The hostile principles inculcated by the Koran did 

 not long remain a dead or speculative precept. In 

 the twelfth month after his settlement at ]\Iedina, 

 the despised and persecuted outcast of Mecca pro- 

 claimed a Holy War against the Koreish.* Various 

 ambuscades were stationed to annoy their com- 

 merce, by seizing the caravans as they Avinded 

 through the narrow defiles of the mountains. Par- 

 ties of three or fourscore horsemen continued to 

 reconnoitre month after month without gaining any 

 important advantage. But the failure of these pre- 

 liminary attempts was speedily redeemed by Mo- 

 hammed himself on the plain of Bedr, one of the 



* .lannabi, cited by Gagnier, seems to hint that the Koreish 

 were the first aggressors.— ia Vie de Mah. tomeii. lib. iii. chap. 2. 



