Life-of-Muhammad

154Life of Muhammad sa‘Abbas ra and Abu Sufyan ra were old friends. ‘Abbas rainsisted that Abu Sufyan ra should accompany him onthe same mule and go to the Prophet sa . He gripped AbuSufyan's ra hand, pulled him up and made him mount.Spurring the mule, they soon reached the Prophet's sacamp. ‘Abbas ra was afraid lest ‘Umar ra , who wasguarding the Prophet's sa tent, should fall upon AbuSufyan ra and kill him. But the Prophet sa had takenprecautions, announcing that if anybody should meetAbu Sufyan ra he should make no attempt to kill him.The meeting impressed Abu Sufyan ra deeply. He wasstruck by the rise which had taken place in the fortunesof Islam. Here was the Prophet sa whom Meccans hadbanished from Mecca with but one friend in hiscompany. Hardly seven years had passed since then,and now he was knocking at the gates of Mecca with tenthousand devotees. The tables had been completelyturned. The fugitive Prophet sa who, seven years before,had escaped from Mecca for fear of life, had nowreturned to Mecca, and Mecca was unable to resist him.FALL OF MECCAAbu Sufyan ra must have been thinking furiously.Had not an incredibly great change taken place in sevenyears? And now as leader of the Meccans, what was hegoing to do? Was he going to resist, or was he going tosubmit? Troubled by such thoughts, he appearedstupefied to outside observers. The Prophet sa saw thisagitated Meccan leader. He told ‘Abbas ra to take himaway and entertain him for the night, promising to seehim in the morning. Abu Sufyan ra spent the night with‘Abbas. In the morning they called on the Prophet sa . Itwas time for the early morning prayers. The bustle andactivity which Abu Sufyan ra saw at this early hour wasquite unusual in his experience. He had not known—noMeccan had known—such early risers as Muslims hadbecome under the discipline of Islam. He saw all the