God of the early Kuran is the spiritual representative of the forces
surrounding Mahomet, whether of Nature or government. The country around
Mecca conveys one central thought to one who meditates--the sense of
power, not the might of one kindly and familiar, but the unapproachable
sovereignty of one alien and remote, a dweller in far-off places, who
nevertheless fills the earth with his dominion. Mahomet passing by, as he
did, the gaieties and temptations of youth, had his mind alert for the
influences of this Nature, full of awful power, and for the contemplation
of life and the Universe around him.

In common with many enthusiasts and men of action, certain sides of his
nature, especially the sexual and the practical, awoke late, and were
preceded by a reflective period wherein the poet held full sway. He never
desired the companionship of those of his own age and their rather
debased pleasures. There are legends of his being miraculously preserved
from the corruption of the youthful vices of Mecca, but the more probable
reason for his shunning them is that they made no appeal to his desires.
Some minds and tastes unfold by imperceptible degrees--flowers that
attain fruition by the shedding of their earlier petals. Mahomet was of
this nature. At this time the poet was paramount in his mental activities
He loved silence and solitude, so that he might use those imaginative and
contemplative gifts of which he felt himself to possess so large a share.

It is not possible at this distance of time to attempt to estimate the
importance of this period in Mahomet's mental development. There are not
sufficient data to enable history to fill in any detailed sketch, but the
outlines may be safely indicated by the help of his later life and the
testimony of that commentary upon his feelings and actions, the Kuran.
His nature now seems to be in a pause of expectation, whose vain urgency
lasted until he became convinced of his prophetic mission. He must have