64 Alfred von Kremers edition of Wakidy. [No. 1. 



hence these men who were apparently more wretched than the rest, 

 are known as the men of /Sbffah. They offered a miserable spectacle, 

 many of them had no other clothing at day nor any other coveriag 

 for the night, than a rag tied round the waist.* On one occasion 

 'Aly got a curtain as his share of the booty and he made a present 

 of it to these men. The prophet took it and cut out aprons for 

 as many as it yielded. Some had rags tied round their neck which 

 came down to their thighs and they were so transparent that 

 they were obliged in walking to hold them together in front with 

 their hands to cover their nakedness.f They were also very unclean : 

 Their rags swarmed with vermin and they exhaled a most offensive 

 smell.J At supper time the prophet would invite some of them to 

 partake of his own meal and the rest he distributed over the houses 

 of his wealthier followers, whom he exhorted in the ifToran to be 

 charitable towards them.§ Yet notwithstanding these efforts they 

 suffered so much of hunger, even towards the end of the prophet's 

 earthly career, in the days of prosperity of the Moslim community, 

 that Abu Horayrah relates that he fainted from starvation. || Imme- 

 diately after the Hijrah their wretchedness must have been much 

 greater. 



The only outlet for these desperate men was bloodshed and 

 robbery. The Messenger of Grod waylaid every Qorayshite caravan 

 that went to the north. But in vain. They were in so great number 

 and their precautions were so complete that, during the first sixteen 

 months, all his efforts proved abortive. On the contrary, Kurz suc- 



* Ibn Sa'd, folio 49, and Bokhary. 



f Majmc? albahrayn, sub voce sff. 



X Ta'arruf and the commentary thereon, a work on Sufism, p. 8, I have, how- 

 ever, only the Persian translation. 



§ " Whatever charity you spend, give to those poor men who have been disabled 

 for the sake of the cause of God, they cannot go about in the world, ignorant persons 

 consider them rich on accouut of their modesty, but you may recognize them by 

 their appearance. They do not beg with importunity," 2, 274. Most commentators 

 of the ^Toran and Ibn Sa'd fol. 49 maintain that this verse refers to the men 

 of the Soffah. If so, it was revealed very late, when only men who were not 

 fit for war were poor. 



|| Baghawy, loco cit. 



