"Read!"

"I cannot read."

Then the angel wrapped the cloth about him and once more commanded,
"Read!"

Again came the answer, "I cannot read," and again the angel covered him,
still repeating, "Read!"

Then his mouth was opened and he read the first sura of the Kuran:
"Recite thou in the name of thy Lord who created thee," and when he awoke
it seemed to him that these words were graven upon his heart.

Mahomet went immediately up into the mountain, and there Gabriel appeared
to him waking and said:

"Thou art God's Prophet, and I am Gabriel."

The archangel vanished, but Mahomet remained rooted to the spot, until
Khadijah's messengers found him and brought him to her. The simple story
of Mahomet's call to the prophetic office from the lips of the old
chroniclers is peculiarly fragrant, but it leaves us in considerable
doubt as to the real means by which he attained his faith and was
emboldened to preach to his people. It is certain that he had no idea at
the time when he received his inspiration, of the ultimate political role
in store for him. He was now simply the man who warned the people of
their sins, and who insisted upon the sovereignty of one God. Very little
argument is ever used by Mahomet to spread his faith. He spoke a plain