Page:Early Christianity in Arabia.djvu/172

160 Zohair was rewarded by the gift of Muhammed's own cloak. The poets Amru'l-Kais and Lebid were also amongst the enemies of the new religion, but the latter changed, his opinions on reading one of the chapters of the Koran which had been suspended on the walls of the Kaaba, and Muhammed gloried in his conversion. His example was followed among others by the poet Alhothaijah, who afterwards deserted and relapsed into his former opinions.

The year which made Muhammed master of Mecca, may be considered as that which established the religion of Islam, and the empire of the Saracens. The greater part of the Arabian tribes had been expecting in silence the issue of the contest; the possession of the Kaaba had made the Koreish the most powerful of the independent tribes, and their fall was speedily followed by the subjugation of the rest. Embassies and deputations crowded from all quarters seeking the protection and favour of the victor, and the Giadamites, and some few others, were solitary instances of opposition.