torious, and thus gave to both armies a presage of the issue of the coming engagement. At the commencement of the battle, the prophet, together with Abubeker, mounted a kind of throne or pulpit, earnestly asking of God the assistance of Gabriel with three thousand angels; but when his army appeared to waver, he started from his place of prayer, threw himself upon a horse, and casting a handful of sand into the air, exclaiming, "Confusion fill their faces!" rushed upon the enemy. Fanaticism rendered his followers invincible. The forces of the Koreish were unable to break the ranks or to resist the furious charges of his confiding soldiers. They trembled and fled, leaving seventy of their bravest men dead on the field, and seventy prisoners to grace the first victory of the faithful. Of the Moslems, only fourteen were slain, whose names have been handed down to posterity, and enrolled among the list of martyrs, whose memory the pious Mussulman is taught to cherish with devout veneration. The dead bodies of the Koreish were stripped, and with a savage barbarity cast into a well; two of the most obnoxious prisoners were punished with death, and the ransom of the others fixed at four thousand drams of silver. This sum would compensate, in a measure, for the escape of the booty; for, notwithstanding the defeat, Abu Sophyan managed to effect a decent retreat, and to arrive safely at Mecca with the greater part of the caravan. The spoils however arising from the ransom of the prisoners, and the partial plunder of the caravan, amounted to a

considerable sum, the division of which had like to have proved fatal to the victors themselves. For of the two parties composing the prophet's army the Ansars, or auxiliaries, being the most nume rous, laid claim to the greatest share. The Moha jerins, from being first in the faith, assumed equal, at least, if not superior, merit to that of their comrades, and a furious altercation ensued. Mohammed, in order to put an end to the contention, feigned a seasonable revelation from Heaven, in which orders were given him to divide the booty equally, after having deducted a fifth part for the uses of the prophet, and certain specified purposes of charity. "In the name of the most merciful God: They will ask thee concerning the spoils : Answer, The division of the spoils belongeth unto God and the apostle; therefore, fear God and compose the matter amicably among you; and obey God and his apostle, if ye be true believers." "Know that whenever ye gain any spoils, a fifth part thereof belongeth unto God and to the apostle, and his kindred, and the orphans, and the poor, and the traveller." The part which the prophet adjudged to himself on this occasion, amounted to several thousand drams, or dirams, of silver; how much of this sum he allotted to "the poor, the orphans, and the traveller," history gives us no intimation.

The success of Mohammed, with his little band of devotees, at the battle of Beder, is frequently alluded to in the Koran in a style of self-satisfied

Koran, ch. viil,

vaunting and triumph, and is often appealed to by his followers as nothing less than a miraculous attestation of God himself in favour of the prophet. "Ye have already had a miracle shown you in two armies which attacked each other: one army fought for God's true religion, but the other were infidels; they saw the faithful twice as many as themselves in their own eyesight; for God strengtheneth with his help whom he pleaseth.”* Besides the miracle of the infidels seeing the Moslem army double to what it was, two others are said to have been wrought on this memorable occasion. 1. The sand or gravel which Mohammed threw into the air is said to have been carried by the power of God with such force against the faces of the enemy that they immediately turned their backs and fled. "And ye slew not those who were slain at Beder yourselves, but God slew them. Neither didst thou, O Mohammed, cast the gravel into their eyes, when thou didst seem to cast it; but God cast it,"t 2. We are also taught, that God sent down to the prophet's aid, first a thousand, and afterwards three thousand angels, having their heads adorned with white and yellow sashes, the ends of which hung down between their shoulders; and that this troop of celestial auxiliaries, borne upon black and white horses, and headed by Gabriel upon his steed Hiazum, really did all the execution in the defeat of the Koreish, though Mohammed's men fought bravely, and, until better instructed, gave the credit of the victory entirely to themselves. "And

* Koran, ch, xii,

t Ch, viii,

God had already given you the victory at Beder, when ye were inferior in numbers; therefore, fear God, that ye may be thankful. When thou saidst unto the faithful, Is it not enough for you, that your Lord should assist you with three thousand angels, sent down from Heaven. Verily, if ye persevere, and fear God, and your enemies come upon you suddenly, your Lord will assist you with five thousand angels, distinguished by their horses and attire."*

The vindictive spirit of the prophet was strikingly evinced not long after this event by the assassination of Caab, the son of Al-Ashraf, a Jew. This man, having a genius for poetry, and being inveterately opposed to Mohammed, went to Mecca after the battle of Beder, and with a view to excite the Koreish to revenge, deplored in touching verses the unhappy fate of those of their brethren who had fallen while valiantly resisting a renegade prophet, with his band of marauders. He afterward returned to Medina, and had the hardihood to recite his poems to the people within the walls of that city. Mohammed was so exceedingly provoked by the audacity of the poet, who must, indeed, have been possessed of the highest phrensy of his tribe to promise himself impunity in these circumstances, that he exclaimed, "Who will deliver me from the son of Al-Ashraf?" A certain namesake of the prophet, Mohammed, the son of Mosalama, a ready tool of his master, replied, "I, O prophet of God, will rid you of him." Caab was soon after murdered while entertaining one of the apostle's followers.

*Koran, ch. iii.

Mohammed alters the Kebla-Many of his Followers greatly offended thereby-Mohammedan Institution of Prayer-Appoints the Fast of Ramadan-Account of this Ordinance.

On the second year of the Hejira, Mohammed altered the Kebla for his disciples, that is, the point of the compass towards which they were to direct their prayers. It was usual among the votaries of all the religions of the East to observe some particular point in the heavens towards which they turned their faces when they prayed. The Jews, in whatever part of the world they chanced to be, prayed with their faces towards Jerusalem, the seat of their sacred temple; the Arabians, towards Mecca, because there was the Caaba, the centre of their worship; the Sabians, towards the North Star; the Persians, who deified fire and light, towards the East, where the Sun, the fountain of Light, arose. Every sect," says the Koran, "have a certain tract of heaven to which they turn themselves in prayer. 99* Mohammed, when he first arrived in Medina, deeming the particular point itself a matter of perfect indifference, and with a view probably to ingratiate himself with the Jews, directed his disciples to pray towards Jerusalem, which he used to call the Holy City, the City of

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* Koran, ch. ii.