Sublime Character

urchins of Ta’if chasing him out of town and pelting him with stones. Ta’if was where the Hijaz aristocracy used to while away their summer days, and the Prophet had made the fifty-mile trip from Makkah to call them to Islam. But the lords of Ta’if did not listen to his well-meaning words; instead, they set the street-urchins on him and kept chasing him until night had cast a veil between them and God’s Prophet. His body was covered in wounds. Bleeding from head to foot and utterly exhausted, he took refuge in a vineyard. This, even for the most ordinary man, would have been a traumatic experience. The Prophet once told his wife, ‘Aisha, that it had been the hardest night of his life. But even at this gravest of moments, the Prophet did not wish his enemies any harm. On the contrary, he said, “Lord, guide them, for they know not what they do.” Such was the noble character of the Prophet, and this nobility finally subdued his opponents and brought the whole of Arabia within the Islamic fold. The force of his sublime spirit was enough to conquer all in its path. No prejudice, antagonism or contumacy could withstand the magical power of good embodied in his person. Absence of Acrimony The Prophet had made peace with the Quraysh at Hudaybiyyah (A.H. 6) on three conditions: one was that if any Makkan accepted Islam and wanted to settle in Madinah, he must be surrendered to the Quraysh. But if