352 THE DECLINE AND FALL those of his wife, his servant, his pupil, and his friend ; ^^o since he presented himself as a prophet to those who were most con- versant with his infirmities as a man. Yet Cadijah believed the words, and cherished the glory, of her husband ; the obsequious and affectionate Zeid was tempted by the prospect of freedom ; the illustrious Ali, the son of Abu Taleb, embraced the senti- ments of his cousin with the spirit of a youthful hero ; and the wealth, the moderation, the veracity of Abubeker confirmed the religion of the prophet whom he was destined to succeed. By his persuasion, ten of the most respectable citizens of Mecca were introduced to the private lessons of Islam ; they yielded to the voice of reason and enthusiasm ; they repeated the funda- mental creed: "there is but one God, and Mahomet is the apostle of God " ; and their faith, even in this life, was rewarded with riches and honours, with the command of armies and the government of kingdoms. Three years were silently employed in the conversion of fourteen proselytes, the first fruits of his mission ; but in the fourth year he assumed the prophetic office, and, resolving to impart to his family the light of divine truth, he prepared a banquet, a lamb, as it is said, and a bowl of milk, for the entertainment of forty guests of the race of Hashem. " Friends and kinsmen, said Mahomet to the assembly, " I offer preceded by historical discourses, and the three translators, Maracci (torn i. p. lo- 32), Savary (torn. i. p. 1-248), and Sale (Preliminary Discourse, p. 33-56), had accurately studied the language and character of their author. Two professed lives of Mahomet have been composed by Dr. Prideaux (Life of Mahomet, seventh edition, London, 1718, in octavo) and the Count de Boulainvilliers (Vie de Ma- homed, Londres, 1730, in octavo), but the adverse wish of iinding an impostor or an hero has too often corrupted the learning of the Doctor and the ingenuity of the Count. The article in d'Herbelot (Bibliot. Orient, p. 598-603) is chiefly drawn from Novairi and Mircond ; but the best and most authentic of our guides is M. Gagnier, a Frenchman by birth, and professor at Oxford of the Oriental tongues. In two elaborate works (Ismael Abulfeda de Vita et Rebus gestis Mohammedis, &c. , Latine vertit, Praefatione et Notis illustravit Johannes Gagnier, Oxon. 1723, in folio. La Vie de Mahomet traduite et compil^e de I'Alcoran, des Traditions authentiques de la Sonna et des meilleurs Auteurs Arabes ; Amsterdam, 1748, 3 vols, in i2mo) he has interpreted, illustrated, and supplied the Arabic text of Abulfeda and Al Jannabi : the first, an enlightened prince, who reigned at Hamah in Syria ..D. 1310-1332 (see Gagnier, Prasfat. ad Abulfed. ), the second, a credulous doctor, who visited Mecca a.d. 1556 (d'Herbelot, p. 397. Gagnier, torn. iii. p. 209, 210). These are my general vouchers, and the inquisitive reader may follow the order of time and the division of chapters. Yet I must observe that both Abulfeda and Al Jannabi are modern historians, and that they cannot appeal to any writers of the first century of the Hegira. [For sources and modern works see Appendix i.] 120 After the Greeks, Prideaux (p. 8) discloses the secret doubts of the wife of Mahomet. As if he had been a privy counsellor of the prophet, Boulainvilliers (p. 272, &c.) unfolds the sublime and patriotic views of Cadijah and the first disciples.
