Discourses of Rumi

292 V DISCOURSES OF RUMI“TA HA: We have not sent down…”When she saw her brother she immediately hidthe Koran, and became silent. Umar bared hissword saying, “Tell me what you were readingand why you hid it or this very instant I will chopoff your head!” His sister feared him, knowing histemper when angry, and in terror for her life sheconfessed, “I was reading from these words thatGod revealed to Mohammed.”“Read on, so that I can hear,” said Umar, andshe recited the whole of the Sura of Ta Ha. Umarbecame furious, and in a rage he waved hissword, saying, “If I killed you this instant, itwould be a killing of the defenseless. First I willgo and cut off Mohammed’s head, then I willattend to you.”In his anger, holding a naked sword, Umar setoff for the Prophet’s mosque. The chieftains ofQuraish, seeing him go by, exclaimed,“Wonderful! Umar is after Mohammed. Surely, ifanyone can stop this new religion, Umar can.”For Umar was a mighty and powerful man. Anyarmy he marched against was vanquished. In fact,the Prophet had many times declared, “God, suc-