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<strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Muhammad</strong> sa 165<br />
again. The Prophet sa sent for water <strong>of</strong> the Zamzam. He<br />
drank some <strong>of</strong> it and with the rest performed ablutions.<br />
So devoted were Muslims to the Prophet's sa person, that<br />
they would not let a drop <strong>of</strong> this water fall on the<br />
ground. They received the water in the hollows <strong>of</strong> their<br />
hands to wet their bodies with it; in such reverence did<br />
they hold it. The pagans who witnessed these scenes <strong>of</strong><br />
devotion said again and again that they had never seen<br />
an earthly king to whom his people were so devoted<br />
(Halbiyya, Vol. 3, p. 99).<br />
THE PROPHET sa FORGIVES HIS ENEMIES<br />
All rites and duties over, the Prophet sa addressed the<br />
Meccans and said: "You have seen how true the<br />
promises <strong>of</strong> God have proved. Now tell me what<br />
punishment you should have for the cruelties and<br />
enormities you committed against those whose only<br />
fault was that they invited you to the worship <strong>of</strong> the One<br />
and Only God."<br />
To this the Meccans replied, "We expect you to treat<br />
us as Joseph as treated his erring brothers."<br />
By significant coincidence, the Meccans used in their<br />
plea for forgiveness the very words which God had used<br />
in the Surah Yusuf, revealed ten years before the<br />
conquest <strong>of</strong> Mecca. In this the Prophet sa was told that he<br />
would treat his Meccan persecutors as Joseph as had<br />
treated his brothers. By asking for the treatment which<br />
Joseph as had meted out to his brothers, the Meccans<br />
admitted that the Prophet sa <strong>of</strong> Islam was the like <strong>of</strong><br />
Joseph as and as Joseph as was granted victory over his<br />
brothers the Prophet sa had been granted victory over the<br />
Meccans. Hearing the Meccans' plea, the Prophet sa<br />
declared at once: "By God, you will have no punishment<br />
today and no repro<strong>of</strong>" (Hisham).<br />
While the Prophet sa was engaged in expressing his<br />
gratitude to God and in carrying out other devotions at<br />
the Ka‘ba, and while he was addressing the Meccans
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