134 Notice of a copy of the fourth volume [No. 2. 



but his followers who were much more sincere in their faith than 

 Mohammad himself. 'Omar disapproved even that any respect 

 should be paid to the black stone of the Ka'bah, " 'Omar standing 

 before the black stone said, according to Azraqy {apud Burckhardt's 

 Travels to Arabia, p. 308) : f I know that thou art a mere stone that 

 can neither hurt nor help me, nor should I kiss thee had I not seen 

 Mohammad do the same.' " Zamakhshary, Kashshaf to Srirah 17, 75, 

 relates a story, which shows how ready the prophet would have 

 been to compromise himself with the pagans, had he not been pre- 

 vented by his disciples : The Thaqyfites said to the prophet, We will 

 not submit to thy orders unless thou grantest us certain privileges of 

 which we may boast before other Arabs, viz. that we shall pay no 

 tithes, that we shall not be obliged to go to war for the religion, nor 

 to prostrate ourselves in praying ; that usury which we may make on 

 others be our property, but usury which others make on us be void, 

 and that we shall have the idol al-Lat one year longer, and not be 

 obliged to break it with our own hands at the expiration of the year, 

 and that thou shalt defend us against any one who may invade our 

 valley of Wajj, or attempt to cut down our trees, and if the Arabs 

 ask thee, Why hast thou made this agreement ? say, God has ordered 

 me to enter into it. They brought him their deed and he dictated : 

 " In the name of the most merciful God, this is the document of agree- 

 ment between Mohammad the messenger of God, and the Thaqyfites, 

 that they shall not be called upon to pay the tithes, nor to assist in 

 war," when this was written they said 'and not prostate themselves.' 

 The prophet remained silent, and they said to the writer, Write ! ' and 

 not prostrate themselves.' The writer looked to the prophet. 'Omar 

 stood up and drew his sword, and said, You have filled the heart of 

 our prophet with contagion, may God fill your hearts with fire ! They 

 replied, We are not talking to thee, we are speaking with Mohammad ; 

 then the verse of the Qoran 17, 75 was revealed. 'They nearly 

 succeeded in misleading thee from what we have revealed to thee, and 

 in causing thee to invent something else in our name, but at the right 

 moment a friend reprehended thee.' " 



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