444 BaV amy's translation of the History of Tabary, [Oct. 



no consequence for us whether you preach or not." "O Hud, thou as- 

 sertest that these our Gods are no Gods, but you do not prove it, and 

 therefore we will not give up our Gods on thy telling us to do so, and we 

 will not obey thee." "We are certain thou art mad, and these our 

 Gods, whom thou dost not worship have made thee mad." 



In short Hud preached to them fifty years and no body believed in 

 him, and those who did believe in him held their faith secret, and did 

 not show their faith openly. After a long time Hud despaired of suc- 

 cess. God knew that no one believed, and decided on punishing 

 them ; their spring of water which we have mentioned, became dry, 

 and all their cattle died ; they had three years no rain ; they suffered 

 of draught. It was the habit in the whole of Sham to go to Mukkah 

 and offer there sacrifices and invoke God, though the inhabitants of 

 Sham were unbelievers. At that time not a trace of the Kabah was 

 left, having been destroyed by the deluge, and it was not rebuilt before 

 the time of Abraham. This prophet (who lived later than Hud) raised 

 the temple again. Yet the unbelievers knew that the soil of Makkah 

 was sacred heaven, and they had preserved tradition, from the time 

 previous to the flood, that there had been the house of God. The 

 sacred territory was therefore always esteemed, and every one who was 

 in need was aware that none but the God of heaven could help him. 

 If they wished that a sick person should recover, or if a prisoner was 

 in the hands of the enemy, or if there was an oppressor with whom 

 they could not cope, they went to the spot on which now Makkah 

 stands, offered sacrifices and invoked God on the top of that hill. The 

 cause of this was that God never left the world without evidence of 

 his existence, nor was mankind ever in complete ignorance. It is true 

 there was no prophet in those days who showed to mankind the road, 

 but God made the sacred territory the proof of his existence, for as 

 they were there assisted in their needs, and as they saw these miracles, 

 they knew that there was a God besides those idols and that he does all 

 these works. This was the proof of God for mankind which left no 

 excuse for an infidel who might say I did not know better, or I have not 

 heard the name of God, there was a proof of the existence of God and 

 it was just that those who would not believe should be thrown into hell. 



When the 'Axlites were in great distress they said: Let us send 

 messengers and sacrifices into the sacred territory that they may pray 



