Life-of-Muhammad

28Life of Muhammad sawas no exception. Reports of him had already reachedTa’if, and here he now was, without arms or following, alone individual with only one companion, Zaid ra . Thetowns folk thought him a nuisance which should beended, if only to please their chiefs. They set vagabondsof the town and street boys at him who pelted him withstones and drove him out of the town. Zaid ra waswounded and the Prophet sa began to bleed profusely.But the pursuit continued until this defenceless party oftwo was several miles out of Ta’if. The Prophet sa wassorely grieved and dejected when an angel descendedupon him and asked if he would like his persecutors tobe destroyed. "No," said the Prophet sa . "I hope that ofthese very tormentors would be born those who wouldworship the One True God." (Bukhari, Kitab Bad’ul-Khalq.)Exhausted and dejected, he stopped at a vineyardowned by two Meccans who happened to be present.They were among his persecutors at Mecca, but on thisoccasion they became sympathetic. Was it because aMeccan had been ill-treated by the people of Ta’if, or wasit because a spark of human kindness suddenly glowedin their hearts? They sent to the Prophet sa a tray full ofgrapes with a Christian slave, ‘Addas ra by name andbelonging to Nineveh. ‘Addas ra presented the tray to theProphet sa and his companion. While he looked wistfullyat them, he became more curious than ever when heheard the Prophet sa say, "In the name of Allah, theGracious, the Merciful." His Christian background wasenlivened and he felt he was in the presence of a HebrewProphet as . The Prophet sa asked him where he belongedand ‘Addas ra said Nineveh, upon which the Prophet sasaid, "Jonah as , son of Amittai, who belonged to Nineveh,was a holy man, a Prophet like me." The Prophet sa alsotold ‘Addas ra of his own Message. ‘Addas ra felt charmedand believed at once. He embraced the Prophet sa withtears in his eyes and started kissing his head, handsand feet. The meeting over, the Prophet sa turned again toAllah and said: