1G8 A CHINESE LIFE OF MOHAMMED 



Soon after his return to Mecca, Abd ul Muttalib was 

 taken ill, and knowing that his end was approaching, he call- 

 ed his sons together to give them his commands and to 

 admonish them to take good care of Mohammed. Abu Talib 

 was appointed guardian, this according also with the boy's 

 own wish. Abd ul Muttalib died at eighty years of age, 

 when Mohammed was eight, and the boy took full share in 

 the mourning rites as well as if he had been grown up. 



Abu Talib was a man of benevolence, wisdom and 

 valour; he was very fond of Mohammed and could not 

 bear to have him out of his sight. Special attention was 

 given by the family to Mohammed, and the other children 

 liked to be near him so as to benefit by the privileges of the 

 favoured one. One day when Talib and Mohammed were 

 out walking, they were very thirsty and had no water; 

 Mohammed stamped with his foot upon the ground, and 

 suddenly a clear spring bubbled forth from which they drank. 

 It is said that Mohammed refused to go with the others to 

 worship the local idols, but ran away and hid; when he saw 

 the many people who joined in the idol festivals,' including 

 his uncles and other relatives, he exclaimed: "So flourishes 

 the religion of false devils ! I vow that I will put an end 

 to it." At ten years of age his heart and viscera were again 

 cleansed, in preparation for his great work. 



Abu Talib used to go on trading trips to< Bosra, and as 

 he did not like to leave Mohammed, he took him along at 

 least once, while still a boy. When Mohammed was 21, his 

 uncle was going on another trip, and thought to leave his 

 nephew behind as he was now able to take care of himself, 

 but Mohammed begged to be allowed to go again, and was 

 permitted to do so; on this occasion, Abu Bekr, who was 

 then 18 years of age, went with them. As they approached 

 Bosra, Mohammed rested in the shade of a tree while Abu 

 Bekr went to buy some cakes, and on the way met Bahira, 

 a monk of the Christian religion, who* entered into conversa- 

 tion with him respecting the young man sitting under the 

 tree ; the monk said that this tree had been planted by Jesus 

 who used to sit under it to expound his Gospel, and he had 

 declared that no one else would sit under it until the final 

 prophet came; for 600 years no> one had sat under the tree, 

 and now the man sitting there must be the expected prophet. 

 Bahira urged that great care should be taken of him, and he 

 also gave some precious things as presents. When Abu Bekr 

 heard these things he hastened back to repeat them, on 

 which account the Prophet said that Bekr was really the- 

 first believer. 



