Page:William Muir, Thomas Hunter Weir - The Caliphate; Its Rise, Decline, and Fall (1915).djvu/29

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him, was helped back into the chamber. Exhausted by the effort, his strength sank, and shortly after he breathed his last on the bosom of his favourite wife.

It was yet but little after midday. Rumour spreading, the Mosque was soon crowded with a host of bewildered followers. Amongst them was ʿOmar who arose, and in a wild and excited strain declaimed that the Prophet was not dead but in a trance, from which he would soon arise and root out the hypocrites from the land. Abu Bekr had by this time hurried back. He crossed the court not heeding his impetuous friend, and entered into ʿĀisha's chamber. Stooping down he kissed the Prophet's face. "Dear to me as my father and mother wert thou. Sweet wert thou," he said, "in life, and sweet thou art in death." Then he went forth, and finding ʿOmar still haranguing the people, put him aside with the memorable words:—Whoso worshippeth Moḥammad, let him know that Moḥammad is dead ; but whoso worshippeth God, let him know that God liveth and dieth not. So saying, he recited certain verses from the Korʾān, which no doubt had long dwelt upon his mind, as signifying that Moḥammad was mortal and would die as other Prophets had died before him. Recognising the sacred words to beara meaning that had never struck him before, ʿOmar was speechless. "My limbs trembled," he would say when speaking of that memorable hour, "and I knew of a certainty that Moḥammad was dead indeed."

The assembly in the court of the Mosque had now quieted down, when a messenger ran up breathless with a report that the men of Medīna had assembled to choose a ruler from amongst themselves. The moment was critical. The unity of the Faith was at stake. A divided power would fall to pieces, and all might be lost. The mantle of the Prophet must fall upon one Successor, and on one alone. The sovereignty of Islam demanded an undivided Caliphate; and Arabia would acknowledge no master but from amongst Ḳoreish. The die must be cast, and cast at once. Such, no doubt, were the thoughts that occurred to the two chief Companions of the Prophet on hearing this report; and so, accompanied