She sent her sister to Mahomet to induce him to change his mind upon the
subject of marriage, and when he found that the rich and gracious
Khadijah offered him her hand, he could not believe his good fortune, and
assured the sister that he was eager to make her his wife. The alliance,
in spite of its personal suitability, was far from being advantageous to
Khadijah from a worldly point of view, and the traditions of how her
father's consent was obtained have all the savour of contemporary
evidence.

The father was bidden to a feast, and there plied right royally with
wine. When his reason returned he asked the meaning of the great spread
of viands, the canopy, and the chapleted heads of the guests. Thereupon
he was told it was the marriage-feast of Mahomet and Khadijah, and his
wrath and amazement were great, for had he not by his presence given
sanction to the nuptials? The incident throws some light upon the
marriage laws current at the time. Khadijah, though forty and a widow,
was still under the guardianship of her father, having passed to him
after the death of her husband, and his consent was needed before she
married again.

The marriage contracted by mutual desire was followed by a time of leisure
and happiness, which Mahomet remembered all his life. Never did any man
feel his marriage gift (in Mahomet's case twenty young camels) more fitly
given than the youth whom Khudijah rescued from poverty, and to whom she
gave the boon of her companionship and counsel. The marriage was fruitful;
two sons were born, the eldest Kasim, wherefore Mahomet received the title
of Abu-el-Kasim, the father of Kasim, but both these died in infancy.
There were also four daughters born to Mahomet--Zeineb, Rockeya, Umm
Kolthum, and Fatima. These were important later on for the marriages they
contracted with Mahomet's supporters, and indeed his whole position was