登陆注册
14718400000003

第3章

At last, one day, in his fortieth year, after he had been shut up a whole month in solitude, so that his soul was filled with ecstasy and enthusiasm, he declared to Cadijeh that the night before, while wrapped in his mantle, absorbed in reverie, a form of divine beauty, in a flood of light, appeared to him, and, in the name of the Almighty who created the heavens and the earth, thus spake: "O, Mohammed! of a truth thou art the Prophet of God, and I am his angel Gabriel." "This," says Carlyle, "is the soul of Islam. This is what Mohammed felt and now declared to be of infinite moment, that idols and formulas were nothing; that the jargon of argumentative Greek sects, the vague traditions of Jews, the stupid routine of Arab idolatry were a mockery and a delusion; that there is but one God; that we must let idols alone and look to Him. He alone is reality; He made us and sustains us. Our whole strength lies in submission to Him. The thing He sends us, be it death even, is good, is the best. We resign ourselves to Him."Such were the truths which Mohammed, with preternatural earnestness, now declared,--doctrines which would revolutionize Arabia. And why not? They are the same substantially which Moses declared, to those sensual and degraded slaves whom he led out of Egypt,--yea, the doctrines of David and of Job. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." What a grand and all-important truth it is to impress upon people sunk in forgetfulness and sensuality and pleasure-seeking and idle schemes of vanity and ambition, that there is a supreme Intelligence who overrules, and whose laws cannot be violated with impunity; from whom no one can escape, even though he "take the wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the sea." This is the one truth that Moses sought to plant in the minds of the Jews,--a truth always forgotten when there is slavery to epicurean pleasures or a false philosophy.

Now I maintain that Mohammed, in seeking to impress his degenerate countrymen with the idea of the one supreme God, amid a most degrading and almost universal polytheism, was a great reformer.

In preaching this he was neither fanatic nor hypocrite; he was a very great man, and thus far a good man. He does not make an original revelation; he reproduces an old truth,--as old as the patriarchs, as old as Job, as old as the primitive religions,--but an exceedingly important one, lost sight of by his countrymen, gradually lost sight of by all peoples when divine grace is withheld; indeed practically by people in Christian lands in times of great degeneracy. "The fool has said in his heart there is no God;" or, Let there be no God, that we may eat and drink before we die. Epicureanism, in its pleasures or in its speculations, is virtually atheism. It was so in Greece. It is so with us.

Mohammed was now at the mature age of forty, in the fulness of his powers, in the prime of his life; and he began to preach everywhere that there is but one God. Few, however, believed in him. Why not acknowledge such a fundamental truth, appealing to the intellect as well as the moral sense? But to confess there is a supreme God, who rewards and punishes, and to whom all are responsible both for words and actions, is to imply a confession of sinfulness and the justice of retribution. Those degraded Arabians would not receive willingly such a truth as this, even as the Israelites ever sought to banish it from their hearts and minds, in spite of their deliverance from slavery. The uncles and friends of Mohammed treated his mission with scorn and derision. Nor do I read that the common people heard him gladly, as they listened to the teachings of Christ. Zealously he labored for three years with all classes; and yet in three years of exalted labor, with all his eloquence and fervor and sincerity, he converted only about thirteen persons, one of whom was his slave. Think of such a man declaring such a truth, and only gaining thirteen followers in three years! How sickened must have been his enthusiastic soul!

His worldly relatives urged him to silence. Why attack idols; why quarrel with his own interests; why destroy his popularity? Then exclaimed that great hero: "If the sun stood on my right hand, and the moon on my left, ordering me to hold my peace, I would still declare there is but one God,"--a speech rivalled only by Luther at the Diet of Worms. Why urge a great man to be silent on the very thing which makes him great? He cannot be silent. His truth--from which he cannot be separated--is greater than life or death, or principalities or powers.

Buffeted and ridiculed, still Mohammed persevered. He used at first only moral means. He appealed only to the minds and hearts of the people, encouraged by his few believers and sustained by the fancied voice of that angel who appeared to him in his retreat.

But his earnest voice was drowned by discordant noises. He was regarded as a lunatic, a demented man, because he professed to believe in a personal God. The angry mob covered his clothes with dust and ashes. They demanded miracles. But at this time he had only truths to declare,--those saving truths which are perpetual miracles. At last hostilities began. He was threatened and he was persecuted. They laid plots to take his life. He sought shelter in the castle of his uncle, Abu Taleh; but he died. Then Mohammed's wife Cadijeh died. The priests of an idolatrous religion became furious. He had laid his hands on their idols. He was regarded as a disorganizer, an innovator, a most dangerous man.

His fortunes became darker and darker; he was hated, persecuted, and alone.

Thus thirteen years passed away in reproach, in persecution, in fear. At last forty picked men swore to assassinate him. Should he remain at Mecca and die, before his mission was accomplished, or should he fly? He concluded to fly to Medina, where there were Jews, and some nominal converts to Christianity,--a new ground.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 鏖战寰宇

    鏖战寰宇

    豪气横扫八荒荡六合,战魂威震乾坤撼寰宇一动念,惊得九州共颤,十方拜服一开口,便是战、战、战,战意直冲云霄九重天一出手,就要天地失色,废尽苍穹身处寰宇之内,或想拥有一切,或想守护亲人,或想无拘无束,活的自在,过的惬意,或想……无论想做什么,都必须打破种种束缚,战至巅峰纵观世间万般诸法,唯战尔
  • 青春的回头一顾

    青春的回头一顾

    她是一个标准的瘦子,看起来清秀柔弱。而他是标准的胖子,看起来肉感十足。偶然地,他们成了前后桌,由此开始了相亲相爱(xiangaixiangsha)的校园生活。他从来不知道小小的她有着强大的洪荒之力,她也从不知道这么大的人竟然这么自卑。不行,她要改造他!
  • 法界巨擘:倪徵奥传

    法界巨擘:倪徵奥传

    倪徵奥的一生堪称传奇,东京大审判,他以凛然正气,将侵华日军战犯绳之以法,作为新中国第一位国际法院法官,他以高见卓识,贏得了国际法界的尊崇。
  • 白骨红颜

    白骨红颜

    一出生,她便被父母遗弃变成毒人。五岁,她跑回家,希望获得父母的收留,却只看到嫌弃的目光,以及那一身珠光宝气的妇人和她怀中粉雕玉琢的一双儿女。八岁,无恒庄满门被屠尽,狼狈不堪的她被神仙似的少年拯救,然后她的人生开始伴随谎言和鲜血。十年后,她周旋在各名门望族间,一时如仙,一时如妖,她是魅杀门主最优秀的作品,她叫魅影。
  • 逆世神医:至尊八小姐

    逆世神医:至尊八小姐

    她是天陵绝世鬼才,却被最信任的人背叛囚禁折磨致死。一朝重生,成为下等位面废柴小姐。浴火涅磐,天下之大,任其去留。只是身边为何多了个人?烧杀掳掠样样比她在行!“娘子看上哪家的宝贝了?为夫这就给你抢来。”“宝贝倒是没有,本小姐看上了一个人。”“嗯?是哪家混小子,为夫这就杀了去!”
  • 魔蛇老祖

    魔蛇老祖

    世上有一种蛇,天生两肺,一火一冰,在地为赤鳞,入水化为墨鳞,修炼数千年,只为化蛟成龙那一刻,可惜地球的天地元气稀缺又不得不让它潜伏海底休眠,只等破茧重生的那一天。随着不断增大的体积,让赤鳞感到世界的意识在对它发出排挤,仿佛已经容不下它了。然而来至另一个位面的呼唤也在这个时候敲响了它的大门。
  • tfboys之玺欢你却不敢说

    tfboys之玺欢你却不敢说

    【本文宠文,男女主双处。1V1】她因为不服气爸爸主宰她的人生,一气之下离家出走。她要求自己的好闺蜜帮她找一个可以住的房子,她的闺蜜却将她给卖了。第一次相见,她不小心撞到了他,她低着头对他轻声说了一句:“对不起。”倏而,他拉住她的胳膊,问道:“你叫什么?”她蓦然回眸一笑,轻轻答道:“安凝,端木安凝。”再次相见,她简短的说了一句:“端木安凝。”他轻轻蹙眉,怎么会是她呢?易烊千玺:纵然我高冷,遇到你高冷终究化为灰烬,我,只会对你温柔一辈子。安凝:我纵使有再多的无情,遇见你也只会为你而改变。【PS:不喜勿进,不喜勿喷】群号码:340083039回答问题记得加上端木几个字哦~
  • 海岛探险的故事(世界科幻故事精选丛书)

    海岛探险的故事(世界科幻故事精选丛书)

    科幻故事,主要是描写想象中的科学或技术对社会或个人的影响的虚构性文学作品。科幻故事是西方近代文学的一种新体裁,诞生于19世纪,是欧洲工业文明崛起后特殊的文化现象之一。人类在19世纪,全面进入以科学发明和技术革命为主导的时代后,一切关注人类未来命运的文艺题材,都不可避免地要表现未来的科学技术。
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 道要灵祇神鬼品经

    道要灵祇神鬼品经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。