MOHAMMED-HIS APPEARANCE.

55

be entirely impractical, and we find him going to Syria and to Yemen as agent of caravans. His uncle said to him: "I am, as thou knowest, a man of small substance; and verily the times go hard with me; now lo, a caravan of the tribe of thy fathers is preparing to go to Syria with merchandise. Kadija, the widow, asketh for sons of Koreish to go, and she is ready to accept thy services."

"Be it as thou hast said," replied the young

man.

A bargain was made with Kadija, that for four camels Mohammed should conduct a caravan over the same route that he had taken when he went to Bozra; and the old associations must have come back to him with great force as he looked upon the scenes after an interval of thirteen years, which comprised all of his youth. Every thing added to his knowledge of men and of life, and prepared him for success. He disposed to advantage of the merchandise that Kadija had committed to his care, and obtained other products to be sold at Mecca. Thus his title "The Trusty" was more than ever fixed in the estimation of his fellow-citizens.

Mohammed was a man of little over the medium stature, with a commanding presence; his wide chest and broad shoulders were surmounted by a long and finely moulded neck, and a massive head, from which looked out a frank, oval face marked by a prominent aquiline nose; large, restless, and piercing black eyes, over which long, heavy lashes drooped; and a bushy beard fell upon his breast. He was continually meditating; never speaking except from neces

sity, and then uttering but few and those pregnant words. His organization was exceedingly sensitive, and he had strong passions, which were, however, controlled by reason. His habits were extremely simple, and his acts merited the reputation for modesty that he was accorded by all who knew him. Kind and thoughtful towards his friends, he was almost unrelenting towards enemies. Such was the camel-driver whom Kadija obtained intervention of Abu Talib.

through the

Kadija, whose lineage was the same as that of Mohammed, was a widow who had been twice married. Her husbands had left her with a considerable fortune, to which she had added by her good judg ment, and by the skill of the agents she had employed. Though forty years of age, she was of fairer countenance than many who were younger, and her personal and other charms had led some of the chief men among the Koreishites to endeavor to tempt her to renounce the dignified and independent widowhood that she seemed to enjoy. She failed to have affection for any of them aroused in her heart.

What changed her feelings now, we do not know, but the success of her new agent, and his personal character attracted her to him, and when he returned from Syria, she seems to have been on the look-out for his arrival; like some Jewish watchman on the tower over the gate, she gazed into the distance, and lo, as Mohammed approached the end of his long journey, her ardent imagination pictured to her two angels shading him with their wings from the

intense heat of the Arabian sun! The "faithful one" was to her mind under the immediate watch of Allah, and her sentiments, already warm, became deeper, she wished for him as husband.

Mohammed soon received a visit from a sister of Kadija, who said to him: "Why, O Mohammed, is it that at your mature age, you do not marry?” The question would have been a strange one to come from a young woman to a young man of twenty-five in our day, but as it was not usual for an Arabian to remain single after reaching adult age, it was not so remarkable then. Mohammed replied that he had no fortune to offer to a bride; and this made it easy for the question: "Perchance that difficulty may be removed; a lady of sufficient wealth might offer to share it with thee; then what wouldst thou say?"

"Is there such a lady; and who is she?" asked the young man.

Kadija!"

"Is it possible for me to ingratiate myself with her?"

"Leave that to me."

It appears that the father of the widow was still living, and refused to give his consent to his daughter's plan. Though there seemed to be danger that blood would be shed, in an angry discussion that followed, all obstacles to the union were at last removed, and Mohammed, who was then twenty-five, became husband of Kadija, aged forty. The mar riage proved admirable in all respects; the wife appreciated the character and capacity of the husband,

and he loved her with an affection so sincere that nothing could rob him of it, and the influence of the good Kadija remained with him throughout his life. It was characteristic of Mohammed not to forget his friends, and on this occasion he remembered Halima who had watched over his tottering first steps. She was called from the pastures of Beni Sad to rejoice at the wedding, and when she returned to continue her life of simple content, she took with her a flock of forty sheep, a present from her foster-son.

Well did Abu Talib, in view of this marriage, lift up his voice in these words: "Praises be unto Allah, who has given us birth in the line of Ishmael! Praised be Allah, that Mohammed, not blessed with the good gifts of fortune, has asked and received the hand of Kadija. He has no equal. This marriage will be blessed of the Lord of Majesty and Liberality; a future full of glory is open to Mohammed the son of Abdalla!"

THE MAN OF AFFAIRS MEDITATES.

YEARS of domestic happiness followed, and it was the joy of Mohammed and Kadija to become, in process of time, parents of a son. An event of this kind causes so much rejoicing in an Arabian household, that the fathers call themselves after the sons, and thus the "Son of Abdalla " became the "Father of Kasim." Another son and four daughters followed, but none of them all has much interest for us, except Fatima, one of the youngest of the daughters, upon whom much of our future history will be found to depend. The sons died very young.

During these peaceful years Mohammed busied himself as a man of affairs in the management of Kadija's caravans, going to distant places, as he had before, but he did not prove so capable as a husband as he had when simple agent, and the wealth of his wife rather diminished than increased. Kadija's fortune had, however, raised Mohammed to a high social position in his native city, a rank to which, it is true, his birth in the tribe of Koreishites had already entitled him.

The wealth acquired by marriage seems to have exerted another noteworthy influence; it gave Mo