"The sword is the key of heaven and hell; all who draw it in the cause of faith will be rewarded with temporal advantages; every drop shed of their blood, every hardship and peril endured by them, will be registered on high as more meritorious than even fasting or prayer. If they fall in battle their sins will at once be blotted out, and they will be transported to paradise, there to revel in eternal pleasures in the arms of black-eyed houris."
The change of front may possibly be attributed to Mahomet's pondering upon the dozen or more of years of ill-treatment accorded to him in Mecca. He saw a way of revenge, and he saw in his new allies the germ of a powerful force. The saint had passed into the warrior and the man whose head had been in the clouds, at last found his feet on the solid earth. Power was within his grasp and it was not long before he used it. Being the specially appointed spokesman of Allah, made things so much easier.
His first act of violence rocked the boat dangerously. By custom, in the holy month of Radjab, the desert might be traveled in safety, and pilgrims were safe from rapine and violence. A caravan of several camels laden with merchandise was attacked by one Abdallah under orders from Mahomet and the booty taken and blood shed. The act was a scandal that shook all Medina. No such desecration of the holy month had ever been heard of, nor was it until divine sanction was adduced from the Koran that Mahomet again sat secure. As
