thought upon Islam. We have a few stories of Elizabeth and Mary, and
scattered allusions to the despised "Prophet of the Jews." But the great
body of Christian thought, its central dogmas of Incarnation and
Redemption, passed Mahomet entirely by, for his mind was practical and
not speculative, and indeed to himself no less than to his followers the
fundamentals of Christianity were of necessity too philosophic to be
realised with any intensity of belief. The Christian virtues of meekness
and resignation, too, might be respected in the abstract--passages in the
Kuran and tradition assure us they were--but they were so utterly
antagonistic to the fierce, free nature of the Arab that they never
entered into his religious life. Mahomet revered the Founder of
Christianity, and placed Him with John in the second Heaven of his
Immortals, but though He is secure among the teachers of the world, He
can never compete with the omnipotence and glory of the Prophet.

During the period of Mahomet's life immediately preceding his departure
to Medina, we have his personal appearance described in detail by Ali. He
is a man of medium stature, with a magnificent head and a thick, flowing
beard. His eyes were black and ardent, his jaw firm but not prominent. He
looked an upstanding man of open countenance, benignant and powerful,
bearing between his shoulders the sign of his divine mission. He had
great patience, says Ali, and "in nowise despised the poor for their
poverty, nor honoured the rich for their possessions. Nor if any took him
by the hand to salute him was he the first to relinquish his grasp."

He lived openly among his disciples, holding frequent converse with them,
mending his own clothes and even shoes, a frugal liver and a fervent
preacher of the flaming faith within him. He became at this time
betrothed to Ayesha, the splendid woman, now just a merry child, who was
to keep her reigning place in his affections until the end of his life.