liii--The Star--a fulgent psalm in praise of God and heavenly joys. When
he came to the verses:

"Do you see Al-Lat and Al-Ozza and Manat the third beside," he inserted:

"Verily these are the exalted females, and truly their intercession may
be expected."

They Kureisch were rejoiced at this homage to their deities, and
speedily welcomed Mahomet's change of front; but he, disquieted,
returned moodily to his house, where Gabriel appeared to him in
stern rebuke:

"Thou hast repeated before the people words I never gave to thee."

And Mahomet, whether conscience-stricken by his lapse from the Muslim
faith, or convinced that compromise with the Kureisch was impossible and
also undesirable in face of his growing power, quickly repudiated the
whole affair, which had been unquestionably born of impulse, or possibly
an adventurous mood that prompted him "to see what would happen" if he
ministered to the prejudices of the Kureisch. It must be acknowledged,
however, that repentance for his homage to heathen idols was the
mainspring of his recantation, for the period immediately following was
one of hardship and persecution for him, and his transitory lapse injured
his cause appreciably with the brethren of his faith. The attempt was
honourably made, and only failed by Mahomet's swift realisation that his
acknowledgment of Lat and Ozza as spirits sanctioned the worship of their
images by his fellow-citizens, and this his stern monotheism could not
for a moment entertain.