is very difficult to retain sufficiently long to receive anything beyond the mere rudiments of knowledge. To be able to read and write, seems to be the height of their ambition, and as soon as a boy can make out a petition, his parents think it is quite time he should be turning his capabilities to some account. Amongst the actual cultivators of the soil, they find it more profitable to employ their children in tending the cattle or following the plough, and will often reply that they see no use in having their children taught to read and write, if they are still to be obliged to pay the same amount of revenue as those who keep their boys at home. It will then be seen that, in the cause of education, there is a mass of inertia to be encountered, which it is very difficult indeed to set in motion; and unless some practical advantage can be shown to exist, it is not very likely that the feelings of the people will be easily enlisted in its favour. The country is not in a sufficiently advanced state for learning to be prized, for the mere sake of learning itself. Whatever is therefore done in furtherance of this end, should have for its object the opening out of employments, by which the people may be enabled to maintain themselves. Now that Bengal has a Lieut.-Governor of its own, the present would seem to be a fitting opportunity for pressing the subject on the attention of the authorities, and urging the establishment of Schools of Industry, as well as of learning, on a scale worthy the name of a great Government. Where a nation is in its infancy, the practical sciences should take precedence of mere literature and poetry, which, however elevating in their tendency, are not exactly what are required in a country on the verge of barbarism. What are wanted are men of a practical turn of mind, who can engage in the every-day concerns of life with a moderate chance of success; and if such could be raised up, there would, indeed, be some chance for the country emerging from its present state of depression, and the foundation would then be laid for the regeneration of the people, the commencement of an era of progress. K 66 THE LIFE OF MAHOMET FROM HIS YOUTH, TO HIS FORTIETH YEAR. ART. III.-1. Essai sur L'Histoire des Arabes. Caussin de Perceval. Par. A. P. Paris, 1847. Vol. I. 2. Life of Mohammad. By A. Sprenger, M. D. Allahabad, 1851. In a previous article, we have traced the boyhood of Mahomet down to the journey into Syria, which, in his twelfth year, (582, A. D.,) he made under the guardianship of his uncle, Abu Tâlib. The next incident in his life possessed a wider and more stirring interest. Between the years 580 and 590, A. D:, the vale of Mecca and the surrounding country were rendered unquiet and insecure by one of those bloody feuds, so frequently excited by the fiery pride, and prolonged by the revengeful temper, of the nation. In Dhul Caada, the sacred month preceding the days of pilgrimage, an annual fair was held at Ocâtz, where within an easy three days' journey of Mecca, the shady palm and grateful fountain solaced the merchant and the traveller, after their toilsome journey.* Goods were bartered, vain glorious contests (those characteristic exhibitions of Bedouin chivalry) were held, and verses recited by the bards of the various tribes. The successful poems produced at these national gatherings, were treated with distinguished honor; they were adorned with golden letters, and so styled Mudhahabât, and were sometimes suspended in the Kaaba, and thence called Möallacât; and the SABAA MOALLACAT (or seven suspended pieces,) still survive from a period anterior even to Mahomet, a wonderful specimen of artless Arab eloquence. The beauty of the language, and the wild richness of the imagery, are acknowledged by all, but the subject of the poet was limited, and the beaten track seldom deviated from. The charms of his mistress, the solitude of her deserted haunts, the noble qualities of his camel, his own generosity and prowess, the superiority of his tribe over all others;-these were the themes which, with little variation of treatment, and without the exercise of imagina * Ocâtz lay between Tâif and Nakhla. There were two other fairs, but of less note, held near Mecca, one at Majna, in the vicinity of Marr al Tzahrân, the other at Dzul Majâj, behind Arafat. (M. Caussin de Perceval, Vol. I, p. 296.) tion in the contrivance of any general plot or design, occupied the Arab muse ;-and some of which only added fuel to the besetting vices of the people, vain-glory, envy, pride, and revenge. At the fair of Ocâtz, a rivalrous spirit, about the period of our story, had been engendered between the Coreish and the Bani Hawâzin, a numerous tribe of kindred descent,* which dwelt (and still dwells) in the country between Mecca and Taif. An arrogant poet, vaunting the glories of his tribe, was struck by an indignant Hawâzinite; and a maid of Hawâzin descent was rudely treated by some Coreishite youths; an importunate creditor was insolently repulsed; on each occasion the sword was unsheathed, and blood began to flow, until the leaders interfered to calm the excited people. Such was the origin of the FIJAR, or Sacrilegious War, so called because it occurred within the sacred term, and was eventually carried into the sacred territory. These incidents suggested the expediency of requiring all who frequented the fair to surrender, for the time, their arms, and deposit them with Abdallah ibn Jodáân, a Coreishite chief, descended from Taym, an uncle of Cussei. By this precaution, peace was preserved for several years, when a wanton murder supplied a more serious cause of offence. Nomân V., Prince of Hira, despatched to the fair of Ocâtz a caravan richly laden with perfumes and musk. It proceeded under the escort of Orwâ, an Hawâzinite. Birrâdh, an ally of the Coreish, was annoyed at being supplanted in the convoy of the merchandise, and watching his opportunity, fell upon Orwâ, encamped by a fountain near Fadac, and having slain him, fled with the booty to conceal himself in Kheibar. On his way thither he met a poet of the Coreish, *They sprang through Cays Aylân, from Modhar and Maad, who were the ancestors of the Coreish. †The circumstances form a curious illustration of Arab manners. The Hawâzin creditor seated himself in a conspicuous place with a monkey by his side, and said, "who will give me another such ape, and I will give him in exchange my claim on such a one," naming his creditor with the full pedigree of his Kinânaite descent. This he kept continually vociferating, to the intense annoyance of the Kinâna tribe, one of whom drew his sword and cut off the monkey's head. In an instant the Hawâzin and Kinâna tribes were embroiled in bitter strife. The Bani Kinâna, it will be remembered, form the collective descendants of one of the ancestors of the Coreish, removed a few steps above the point at which the Coreishite branch shoots oft. Both the poet here mentioned, and the murderer Birrâdh, who, we shall see below, kindled the war, belonged to the Bani Kinâna. The war therefore embraced a wider range than merely the Corcishite family. The spot was called Awârah, in the valley of Tayman, north of Medina. called Bishr, whom he charged to proceed with expedition to the fair then being held at Ocâtz, and communicate the intelligence to Harb (who was the confederate or half of Birrâdh,) and the other Coreishite chiefs. The message was conveyed, and Abdallah ibn Jodáân, thus privately informed of the murder, immediately resorted to all their arms,* and feigning urgent business at Mecca, set off thither at once with all his tribe. As the sun went down, the news began to spread at Ocâtz, and reached the ears of Abu Berà, the chief of the Hawâzin, who forthwith perceiving the cause of the precipitate departure of the Coreish, rallied his people around him, and proceeded in hot pursuit. But the Coreish had already entered the sacred limits, and the Hawâzin contented themselves with challenging their enemy to a rencounter at the same period of the following year. The challenge was accepted, and both parties prepared for the struggle. Several battles were fought with various success, and hostilities, more or less formal, were prolonged for four years, when Otba, the son of Rabia (the nephew of Harb,) proposed a truce. The dead were numbered up, and as twenty had been killed on the side of the Hawâzin more than of the Coreish, the latter consented to pay the price of their blood, and for this purpose delivered hostages, one of whom was Abu Sofiân, the son of Harb. In some of these engagements, the whole of the Coreish and their allies were engaged. Each tribe was commanded by a chief of its own; and Abdallah guided the general movements. The descendants of Abd Shams and Nowfal were headed by Harb, the son of Omeya, and took a distinguished part in the warfare. The children of Hâshim were present also, under the command of Zobeir, the eldest surviving son of Abd al Muttalib; but they occupied no prominent position. In one of the battles, Mahomet attended upon his uncles; but though now near twenty years of age, he had not acquired the love of arms. According to some authorities, his efforts were confined to gathering up the arrows discharged by the enemy, and handing them to his uncles. Others assign to him a somewhat more active share in the warfare: but it is allowed by all that he never spoke of it with much enthusiasm. "I remember," said the prophet, "being present with my uncles in the sacri *Harb is said to have urged Abdallah to give up only the Coreishite, and to withhold the Hawâzin arms, so that they might fall upon the latter unprepared. Abdallah rejected the proposal as perfidious. But it looks very like an Abbasside tradition to vilify the Omeyads. Harb was the son of Omeya. legious war, and I discharged arrows at the enemy; nor do I regret having done so."* Physical courage, indeed, and martial daring, were virtues which did not distinguish the prophet at any period of his career. At The struggles for pre-eminence, and the contests of eloquence at the annual fair, possessed for the youthful Mahomet a more engrossing interest than the combat of arms. such spectacles, while his national enthusiasm had ample scope, he, no doubt, burned with strong desire after personal distinction, and trained his fertile genius into learning from the highest efforts there displayed by the great masters of those arts, the mystery of poetry and the power of rhetoric. But another and still nobler lesson might be taught in the concourse at Ocâtz. The Christianity, as well as the chivalry of Arabia, had there its representatives; and, if we may believe tradition, Mahomet, while a boy, heard Coss, the bishop of Najrân, preach a purer creed than that of Mecca, in accents of deep reason and fervid faith, which carried conviction to his soul. The venerable Coss was but one amongst many at that fair, who, enlightened haply by a less Catholic spirit, or darkened by more of prejudice and superstition, yet professed to believe in the same revelation from above, and preached, it may be, the same good tidings. There, too, were Jews, serious and earnest men, surpassing the Christians in number, and appealing to their own book also. Mahomet was more familiar with them, for, * Vide Wackidi, pp. 23 and 24, where will also be found an account of the origin and progress of the war, with the names of the leaders of the several tribes. The statement in Hishâmi is briefer. (p. 38.) Caussin de Perceval enters with great detail into the war, devoting to it no less than twenty-two pages, (Vol. I, p. 296, et seq.) He makes the engagement in which Mahomet was present to be the first, that, viz., in which the Coreish retreated on receiving tidings of Orwâ's murder but there does not appear to have been any fighting on this occasion; and Wâckidi distinctly ascribes Mahomet's presence to an engagement in the following year. Wâckidi speaks only of one battle, in which the Coreish at first gave way, but were subsequently victorious. The engagement is spoken of (p. 24,) as occurring in the month of Shawwâl, that, viz., preceding the sacred months: but this is said, probably, in order to shelter the youthful Mahomet from the sacrilegious charge of fighting within the sacred term. C. de Perceval, drawing upon the poetical remains in the Kitâb al Aghâni, details a succession of battles: he also makes Mahomet to have been but fourteen years of age on the occasion, and adds, that,. had he been older, he would have occupied a more important part than that of picking up his uncle's arrows. But the testimony of Wâckidi, Hishâmi, and Tabari (p. 77.) is distinctly and unanimously in favor of the age of twenty years: and Wâckidi, as we have seen in the text, states that he actually took part in the archery. Among the chieftains in command of tribes, it is interesting to trace Khuweilid, the father of Khadîja; Ahattâb, the father of Omar : Othmân ibn al Huweirith; Al As ibn Wâil; Omeya ibn Khalaf; Zeid ibn Amr, and other well known names. |