I PROPOSE in this appendix to place before the reader some specimens of the traditions embodied by the Secretary of Wackidi in the section of his work devoted to the person and character of Mahomet. These will, I hope, prove interesting from the facts they relate, as well as illustrate generally the style and contents of the Mahometan biographies of the Prophet.

"Description of Mahomet in the Old Testament and the Gospels- Mahomet was thus foretold: 'O Prophet! We have sent thee to be a Witness and a Preacher of good tidings, and a Warner, and a Defender of the Gentiles. Thou art my servant and my messenger. I have called thee Al Mutawakkil (he that trusteth in the Lord). He shall not be one that doeth iniquity, nor one that crieth aloud in the streets; he shall not recompense evil with evil, but he shall be one that passeth over and forgiveth. His kingdom shall be Syria. Mahomet is my elected servant; he shall not be severe nor cruel. I shall not take him away by death, till he make straight the crooked religion; and till the people say,- There is no God but the Lord alone. He shall open the eyes of the blind, and the ears of the deaf; and the covered hearts."

These are evident perversions of passages in Isaiah xlii. and lxi. Ayesha in one set of traditions represents them as prophecies from the Gospel, in ignorance apparently that they were quoted there (Matt. xii. 18) as applying to Jesus.

His disposition. When Ayesha was questioned about Mahomet, she used to say: "He was a man like yourselves; he laughed often and smiled much."- But how would he occupy himself at home? "Even as any of you occupy yourselves. He would mend his clothes, and cobble his shoes. He used to help me in my household duties; but what he did oftenest was to sew. If he had the choice between two matters, he would choose the easiest, if no sin accrued therefrom. He never took revenge excepting where the honour of God was concerned. When angry with any person he would say "what hath taken such a one that he should soil his forehead in the mud!"

His humility was shewn by his riding upon asses accepting the invitation even of slaves, and when mounted, by his taking another behind him. He would say, "I sit at meals as a servant doeth, and I eat like a servant: for I really am a servant;" and he would sit as one that was always ready to rise. He discouraged (supererogatory) fasting, and works of mortification. When seated with his followers, he would remain long silent at a time. In the Mosque at Medina, they used to repeat pieces of poetry, and tell stories regarding the incidents that occurred in the days or ignorance, and laugh ; and Mahomet, listening to them, would smile at what they said.

Mahomet hated nothing more than lying, and whenever he knew that any of his followers had erred in this respect, he would hold himself aloof from them until he was assured of their repentance.

His manner of speech. - He did not speak rapidly, running his words into one another, but enunciated each syllable distinctly, so that what he said was imprinted in the memory of every one who heard him. When at public prayers, it might be known from a distance that he was reading, by the motion of his beard. He never read in a singing or chanting style but he would draw out his voice, resting at certain places. Thus, in the opening words of a Sura, he would do so after , after and after .

His walking.- One says that at a funeral he saw Mahomet walking, and remarked to a friend how rapidly he moved along; it seemed as if he "were doubling up the ground." He used to walk so rapidly that the people half ran behind him, and could hardly keep up with him.

His eating. - He never ate reclining, for Gabriel had told him that such was the manner of kings; nor had he ever two men to walk behind him. He used to eat with his thumb and his two first fingers; and when he had done he would lick them, beginning with the middle one. When offered by Gabriel the valley of Mecca full of gold, he preferred to forego it,- saying, that when he was hungry he would come before the Lord lowly; and when full, with praise.

Excellence of his Morals. - A servant maid being once long in returning from an errand, Mahomet was annoyed and said, "If it

were not for the law of retaliation, I should have punished you with flue toothpick" (i.e. with an inappreciably light punishment.)

Mahomet at Prayers.- He used to stand for such a length of time at prayer that his legs would swell. When remonstrated with, he said- "What! Shall I not behave as a thankful servant should?" He never yawned at prayer. When he sneezed he did so with a subdued voice, covering his face. At funerals he never rode: he would remain silent on such occasions, as if conversing with himself, so that the people used to think he was holding communication with the dead.

While he accepted presents, he refused to ewe anything that had been oftered as alms; neither would he allow any of his family to use what had been brought as alms; for, said he, "alms are the impurity of mankind" (i.e. that which cleanses their impurity.) His scruples on this point were so strong, that he would not eat even a date picked up on the road, lest perchance it might have dropped from a load intended as tithes. One day, little Hasan was playing by his grandfather when a basketful of dates was brought in: on inquiry, Mahomet found that they were tithes, and ordered them to be taken away and given to the poor Refugees. But Hasan having taken up one to play with, had put it in his mouth; the Prophet seeing this, opened the boy's mouth, and pulled it out - saying, "the family of Mahomet may not eat of the tithes."

Food which he relished. - Mahomet had a special liking for sweetmeats and honey. A tailor once invited him to his house and placed before him barley bread, with stale suet; there was also a pumpkin in the dish; now Mahomet greatly relished the pumpkin. His servant Anas used to say as he looked at the pumpkin- "Dear little plant, how the Prophet loved thee!" He was also fond of cucumbers and of undried dates.

When a lamb or a kid was being cooked, Mahomet would go to the pot, take out the shoulder, and eat it Abu Rafi tells us, "I once slew a kid and dressed it. The Prophet asked me for the forequarter and I gave it to him." Give me another, he said; and I gave him the second. Then he asked for a third: -"O Prophet!" I replied, "there are but two forequarters to a kid." "Nay," said Mahomet, "hadst thou remained silent, thou wouldst have handed to me as many forequarters as I asked for."

He used to eat moist dates and cooked food together. What he most relished was a mess of bread cooked with meat, and a dish of dates dressed with butter and milk. When he ate fresh dates he would keep the bad dates in his hand; one asked on a certain occasion that he would give him the dates so rejected "Not so," he answered; "what I do not like for myself; I do not like to give to thee." Once a tray of fresh dates was brought to him; he sat down on his knees by them, and taking them up by handfuls, sent one to each of his wives; then taking another handful, he ate it himself. He kept throwing the stones on his left side, and the domestic fowls came and ate them up. Mahomet used to have sweet (rain) water kept for his use.

Food which he disliked. - On Mahomet's first arrival at Medina, Abu Ayab used to send him portions of baked food. On one occasion the dinner was returned uneaten, without even the marks of the Prophet's fingers. On being asked the reason, he explained that he had, refrained from the dish because of the onions that were in it; for the angel which visited him disliked them; but others he said might freely eat of them. So also as to garlic; he would never allow it to pass his lips; "for," said he, "I have intercourse with one" (meaning Gabriel) "with whom ye have not." He disliked flour made of almonds, saying that it was "Spend thrifts' food." He would never partake of the large lizard (dhabb); for he thought it might have been the beast into which a party of the children of Israel were changed; but he said- there was no harm in others eating it.

When drinking milk Mahomet once said- "When a man eateth let him pray thus - O Lord! grant thy blessing upon this, and feed me with better than this! But to whomsoever the Lord giveth milk to drink, let him say,- O Lord! grant thy blessing upon this, and vouchsafe unto me an increase thereof; for there is no other thing which doth combine both food and drink save milk alone."

Mahomet's fondness for women and scents. - A great array of traditions are produced to prove that the Prophet liked these of all things in the world the best.

Ayesha used to say,- "The Prophet loved three things,- women, scents, and food; he had his heart’s desire of the two first, but not of the last." In respect of scents further traditions have been quoted in the Supplement to Vol. iii.

Narrowness of his means at Medina.- A long chapter is devoted to this subject, containing many such traditions as the following. Fatima once brought Mahomet a piece of bread; it was the first that had passed his lips for three days. Ayesha tells us that for months together Mahomet did not get a full meal. "Months used to pass," she says again, "and no fire would be lighted in Mahomet's house either for baking bread or cooking meat. How then did ye live? By the 'two black things' dates and water, and by what the citizens used to send unto us -the Lord requite them! such of them as had much cattle would send us a little milk. The Prophet never enjoyed the luxury of two kinds of food the same day; if he had flesh there was nothing else; and so if he had dates; so likewise if he had bread. We possessed no sieves, but used to bruise the grain and blow off the husks. One night Abu Bakr sent Mahomet the leg of a kid. Ayesha held it while the Prophet cut off a piece for himself in the dark; and in his turn the Prophet held it while Ayesha cut off a piece. 'What,' exclaimed the listeners, 'and ye ate without a lamp!' 'Yea,' replied Ayesha, 'had we possessed oil for a lamp, think ye not that we should have used it for our food?"'

Abu Hureira explains the scarcity thus. "It arose," he says, "from the great number of Mahomet's visitors and guests; for he never sat down to food but there were some followers with him. Even the conquest of Kheibar did not put an end to the scarcity. Because Medina has an intractable soil, which is ordinarily cultivated for dates only,- the staple food of its inhabitants. There did not exist in the country means of support sufficient for the greatly increased population. Its fruits were the common products of the soil, which want little water; and such water as was needed the people used to carry on their backs, for in these days they had few camels. One year, moreover, a disease (premature shedding) smote the palms, and the harvest failed. It is true that a dish used to be sent for the Prophet's table from the house of Sad ibn Obada, every day until his death, and also in the same manner by other citizen.; and the Refugees used to aid likewise; but the claims upon the Prophet increased greatly, from the number of his wives and dependants."

I have noticed this subject before: Introduction, p. lx. The

products of the surrounding country were no doubt at first inadequate to the wants of the great numbers who flocked with Mahomet to Medina. But it is evident that although Mahomet, in the early years of the Hegira, may have been reduced to common fare, he could hardly have ever suffered want, especially with so many devoted followers about him. it was the contrast between the luxury prevalent in the days when tradition was growing up, and the simplicity of Mahomet's habits, which mainly gave rise to these traditions. Thus Abd al Rahmin, when in after years he used to fare sumptuously on fine bread and every variety of meats, would weep at the contrast between his table and the Prophet's straitened fare. Another upbraids a comrade who could not live without bread made of the finest flour,- "What," said he, "the Prophet of the Lord, to the last hour of his life, never had two full meals on the same day, of bread and of oil; and behold thou and thy fellows vainly luxuriate on the delicacies of this life, as if ye were children!"

On Mahomet’s formal appearance. - The chief traditions on this head have been embodied in the text. The following are of a more special character.

He used to wear two garments. His izar (under-garment) hung down three or four inches below his knees. His mantle was not wrapped round him so as to cover his body; but he would draw the end of it under his shoulder.

He used to divide his time into three parts: one was given to God, the second allotted to his family, the third to himself.

When public business began to press upon him he gave up one half of the latter portion to the service of others.

When he pointed he did so with his whole hand; and when he was astonished he turned it over (with the palm upwards?) In speaking with another, he brought his hand near to the person addressed; and he would strike the palm of the left, on the the thumb of the right hand. Angry, he would avert his face: joyful, he would look downwards. He often smiled; and, when he laughed, his teeth used to appear like hailstones.

In the interval allotted to others, he received all that came to him, listened to their representations, and occupied himself in disposing of their business and in hearing what they had to tell him. He would say on such occasions:- "Let those that are

here give information regarding that which passeth, to them that are absent; and they that cannot themselves appear to make known their necessities, let others report them to me in their stead; the Lord will establish the feet of such in the day of judgment."

The Seal of Prophecy on the back of Mahomet -This, says one, was a protuberance on the Prophet's back of the size and appearance of a pigeon's egg. Abdallah ibn Sarjas describes it as having been as large as his closed fist, with moles round about it. Abu Ramtha, whose family were skilled in surgery, offered to remove it; but Mahomet refused, saying,- "The Physician thereof is he who placed it where it is." According to another tradition, Mahomet said to Abu Ramtha "Come hither and touch my back:" which he did, drawing his fingers over the prophetical seal; and behold there was a collection or hairs upon the spot.

I have not noticed this "Seal" in the body of the work, because it has been so surrounded by tradition with supernatural tales that it is extremely difficult to determine what it really was. It is said to have been the divine seal - which, according to the predictions of the scriptures, marked Mahomet as the last of the Prophets how far Mahomet himself encouraged this idea it is impossible to say. From the traditions quoted above, it would seem to have been nothing more than a mole of unusual size; and his saying that "God had placed it there," was probably the germ of the supernatural associations which grew up concerning it. Had Mahomet really attributed any divine virtue to it, he would have spoken very differently to one who offered to lance or remove it.

On his being cupped. - Some of the many traditions on this

head have been quoted elsewhere. It was a cure which Gabriel directed him to make use of. He had the blood buried lest the dogs should get at it. On one occasion Mahomet having fainted after being cupped, an Arab is said to have gone back from the profession or Islam; (I suppose because the bodily weakness so exhibited was regarded as inconsistent with the prophetic office?)

On his moustache.- Mahomet used to clip his moustache. A Majian once came to him and said, "You ought to clip your beard and allow your moustaches to grow? "Nay," said the Prophet, "for my Lord hath commanded me to clip the moustaches and allow the beard to grow."

On his dress. - Various traditions are quoted on the different colours he used to wear, - white chiefly, but also red, yellow, and green. He sometimes put on woollen clothes. Ayesha, it is said, shewed a piece of woollen stuff in which she swore that Mahomet died. She adds that he once had a black woollen dress; and she still remembered as she spoke, the contrast between the Prophet's white skin, and the black cloth. "The odour of it, however, becoming unpleasant, he cast it off,---for he loved sweet smells."

He entered Mecca, on the taking of the city (some say), with a black turban. He had also a black standard. The end or his turban used to hang down between his shoulders. He once received the present of a scarf for a turban, which had a figured or spotted fringe; and this he cut off before wearing it. He was very fond of striped Yemen stuffs. He used to wrap his turban many times round his head, and, "the edge of it used to appear below like the soiled clothes of an oil-dealer."

He once prayed in a silken dress, and then cast it aside with abhorrence, saying, "This it doth not become the pious to wear." On another occasion, as he prayed in a figured or spotted mantle, the spots attracted his notice; when he had ended he said,- "Take away this mantle, for verily it hath distracted me in my prayers, and bring me a common one." His sleeve ended at the wrist. The robes in which he was in the habit of receiving embassies, and his fine Hadhramaut mantle, remained with the Caliphs; when worn or rent these garments were mended with fresh cloth; and in after times the Caliphs used to wear them at the festivals. When he put on new clothes, (either an under-garment, a girdle, or a turban,) the Prophet would offer up a prayer such as this: -

"Praise be to the Lord who hath clothed me with that which shall hide my nakedness, and adorn me while I live, - I pray thee for the good that is in this, and the good that hath been made for it; and I seek refuge from the evil that is in the same, and from the evil that hath been made for it."

Mahomet had a piece of tanned leather which was ordinarily spread for him in the Mosque to pray upon. He had also a mat of palm-fibre for the same purpose: this was always taken, after the public prayers, into his wives' apartments for him to use there.

He had a small apartment partitioned off from the Mosque and laid with matting, into which he used to retire for the evening prayer. The people, in their zeal to observe the fast of Ramadhan, gathered together at a late hour in the Mosque for the nightly prayer; and mime of them, fancying that the Prophet had fallen asleep in his apartment, began to cough, as a sign for him to issue forth. He came out and said,- "I have observed for some days your coming for the nightly prayer into the Mosque, until I feared that it would grow by custom arid prescription into a binding ordinance for you so to come; and verily, if this were commanded, my people could not fulfil the command. Wherefore, my people, pray at evening-tide in your own houses. For truly the best prayer of a man is that offered up in his own house, excepting the prayers which are commanded to be offered in the Mosque."

On his golden ring. - Mahomet had a ring made of gold; used to wear it, with the stone inwards, on his right hand. The people began to follow his example and make rings of gold for themselves. Then the Prophet sat down upon the pulpit, and taking off the ring said,- "By the Lord, I will not wear this ever again;" so saying, he threw it from him. And all the people did likewise. According to another tradition, he cast it away because it had distracted his attention when preaching; or because the people were attracted by it. He then prohibited the use of golden signet rings.

On his silver ring. - I have given the purport of these traditions elsewhere. Introduction, p. lxxvi.

On his shoes.- His servant, Anas, had charge of his shoes and of his water-pot; after his master's death he used to shew his shoes. They were after the Hadhramaut pattern, with two thongs.

In the year 100 or 110 A.H., one went to buy shoes at Mecca, and the shoemaker offered to make them exactly after the model of Mahomet's, which he, said he had seen in the possession of Fatima, the granddaughter of Abbas. His shoes used to be cobbled. He was in the habit of praying with his shoes on. On one occasion, having taken them off at prayers, all the people did likewise; but Mahomet told them there was no necessity for doing so, for he had merely taken off his own because Gabriel had apprised him that there was some dirt attaching to them. The thongs of his shoes once broke and were mended by a new piece; after the service Mahomet desired his shoes to be taken away, and the thongs restored as they were; "for," said he, "1 was distracted at prayer thereby."

On his tooth-picks.- Ayesha tells us that Mahomet never lay down, by night or by day, but on waking he applied the tooth- pick to his teeth before he performed ablution. He used it so much as to wear away his gums. The tooth-pick was always placed conveniently for him at night, so that when he got up in the night to pray, he might use it before his lustrations. One says that he saw him with the tooth-pick in his mouth, and that he kept saying as if about to vomit. His tooth- picks were made of the green wood of the palm tree. He never travelled without one.

His articles of toilet. - I have noticed these in the Supplement to Vol. iii. He very frequently oiled his hair, poured water on his beard, and applied antimony to his eyes.

His armour. - Four sections are devoted to the description of Mahomet's armour, - his swords, coats of mail, shields, lances, and bows.

The Prophet used to snuff simsim (sesamum), and wash his hands in a decoction of the wild plum tree. When he was afraid of forgetting anything, he would tie a thread on his finger or his ring.

On his horses &c. - The first horse which Mahomet ever possessed was one he purchased of the Bani Fazara, for ten owckeas (ounces of silver); and he called its name Sakb (running water), from the easiness of its paces. Mahomet was mounted on it at the battle or Ohod, there being but one other horse from Medina on the field. He had also a horse called Sabaha: he raced it.

and it won, and he was greatly rejoiced thereat. He had a third horse named Murtajis (neigher).

When his white mule arrived from Muckouckas, Mahomet sent it to his wife Omm Salma; and she gave some wool and palms- fibre, of which they made a rope and halter. Then the Prophet brought forth a garment, doubled it fourfold, and throwing it over the back of the beast, straightway mounted it, with one of his followers behind him. It survived till the reign of Muavia.

Farwah (the Syrian governor, said to have died a martyr) sent the Prophet a mule called Fizza, and he gave it to Abu Bakr; also an ass, which died on the march back from the farewell pilgrimage. He had another ass called Yafur.

Ali was anxious to breed a mule similar to that of Mahomet; but Mahomet told him that "no one would propose so unnatural a cross save he who lacked knowledge."

His riding camels. - Besides Al Caswa, Mahomet had a camel called Adhba, which in speed outstripped all others. Yet one day an Arab passed it when at its fleetest pace. The Moslems were chagrined at this; but Mahomet said- "it is the property of the Lord, that whensoever men exalt anything, or seek to exalt it, then the Lord putteth down the same."

His milch camels. - Mahomet had twenty milch camels, the same that were plundered at Al Ghaba. Their milk was for the support of his family: every evening they gave two large skins full. Omm Salma relates:- "Our chief food when we lived with Mahomet was milk. The camels used to be brought from al Ghaba every evening. I had one called Aris, and Ayesha one called Al Samra. The herdman fed them at Al Juania, and brought them to our homes in the evening. There was also one for Mahomet.

Hind and Asma, two herdmen, used to feed them one day at Ohod, the other at Himna. They beat down leaves from the wild trees for them, and on these the camels fed during the night. They were milked for the guests of the Prophet, and his family got what was over. If the evening drew in and the camels' milk was late in being brought, Mahomet would say,- "The Lord make thirsty him who maketh thirsty the family of Mahomet at night."

His milch flocks. - Mahomet had seven goats which Omm Ayman used to tesn (this probably refers to an early period of his residence at Medina). His flocks grazed at Ohod and Himna

alternately, and were brought back to the house of that wife, whose turn it was to have Mahomet. A favourite goat having died, the Prophet desired its skirt to be tanned. Mahomet attached a peculiar blessing to the possession of goats.

"There is no house," he would say, "possessing a goat, but a blessing abideth thereon; and there is no house possessing three goats, but the angels pass the night there praying for its inmates until the morning."

Mahomet's servants.- Fourteen or fifteen persons are mentioned who served the Prophet at various times. his slaves he always freed.

The houses of his wives.- Abdallah ibn Yazid relates that he saw the houses in which the wives of the Prophet dwelt, at the time when Omar ibn al Aziz, then governor of Medina, demolished them.¹ They were built or unburnt bricks, and had separate apartments made of palm brandies, daubed (or built up) with mud: he counted nine houses, each having separate apartments, in the space from the house of Ayesha and the gate of Mahomet to the house of Asma, daughter of Hosein. Observing the dwelling place of Omm Salma, he questioned her grandson concerning it; who told him that when the Prophet was absent on the expedition to Duma, Omm Salma built up an addition to her house with a wall of unburnt bricks. When Mahomet returned, he went in to her and asked what that new building was. She replied, "I purposed, O Prophet, to shut out the glances of men thereby!" Mahomet answered, "O Omm Salma! verily, the most unprofitable thing that eateth up the wealth of a believer is building." A citizen of Medina, present at the time, confirmed this account, and added that the curtains (purdas) of the doors were of black hair-cloth. He was present, he said, when the despatch of the Caliph Abd al Malik (A.H. 86-88) was read aloud, which commanded that these houses should be brought within the area of the Mosque, and he never witnessed sorer weeping than there was amongst the people that day. One exclaimed- "I wish, by the Lord! that they would leave them alone thus as they are; then would those that spring up hereafter in Medina, and strangers

¹ He was Caliph about one hundred years after the Hegira.

from the ends of the earth, come and see what kind of abode sufficed for the Prophet, and the sight thereof would deter men from extravagance and pride."

There were four houses of unburned bricks, the apartments being of palm branches; and five houses made of palm branches built up with mud and without any separate apartments. Each was three Arabian yards in length. Some say that they had leather curtains for the doors. One could reach the roof with the hand.

The house of Haritha was next to that of Mahomet. Now whenever Mahomet took to himself another wife, he added a new house to the row, and Haritha was obliged successively to remove his house and build on the space beyond. At last this was repeated so often that the Prophet said to those about him- "Verily, it shameth me to turn Haritha over and over again out of his house."

Mahomet's private property.- There were seven gardens which Mukheirick, the Jew, left to Mahomet. Omar ibn at Azis, the Caliph, said that when governor of Medina, he ate of the fruit of these, and never tasted sweeter dates. Others say that these gardens formed a portion of the confiscated estates of the Bani Nadhir. They were afterwards dedicated perpetually to pious purposes.

Mukheirick is said to have been a learned Jewish priest and a leader of the B. Cainucaa, who "recognized Mahomet by his marks, and identified him as the promised Prophet." But the love of his own religion prevailed,- so that he did not openly join Islam. Nevertheless, on the day of Ohod he put on his armour, notwithstanding it was the Sabbath day, and went forth with the Moslems and was killed. His corpse was found and was buried near the Moslems; but he was not prayed over, nor did Mahomet beg mercy for his soul then or afterwards; the utmost he would say of him was, "Mukheirick, the best of the Jews!" He had large possessions in groves and gardens, and left them all to Mahomet.

Mahomet had three other properties:-

I. The confiscated lands of the Bani Nadhir. The produce of these was appropriated to his own wants. One of the plots was called Mashruba Omm Ibrahim,- the summer garden of the slave girl, Mary, the mother of Ibrahim,- where the Prophet used to visit her.

II. Fadak; the fruits of this were reserved as a fund for indigent travellers.

III. The fifth share in Kheibar. This was divided into three parts. Two were devoted for the benefit of the Moslems generally (i.e. for state purposes); the proceeds of the third, Mahomet assigned for the support of his own family; and what remained over he added to the fund for the use of the Moslems.

The wells from which Mahomet drank. - A variety of wells are enumerated out of which Mahomet drank water, and on which he invoked a blessing, spitting into them. One night as he sat by the brink of the well called Gharsh, he said- "Verily, I am sitting beside one of the fountains of Paradise." He praised its water above that of all other wells, and not only drank of it, but bathed in it. He also drank from the fountain or Budhaa, taking up the water in both his hands and sipping it. He would send the sick to bathe in this fountain; "and when they had bathed, it used to be as if they were loosed from their bonds."

The well called Ruma belonged to a man of the Bani Mozeina. Mahomet said that it would be a meritorious deed if any one were to buy this well and make it free to the public. Othman, hearing this, purchased the well for 400 dinars, and attached a pulley to it. Mahomet again happening to pass the well, was apprised of what Othman had done; he prayed the Lord to grant him a reward in Paradise, and calling for a bucket of water he drank therefrom, and praised the water, saying that it was both cold and sweet.

The Life of Mahomet, Volume IV [Table of Contents]