"Such an odor from her breath
Comes toward me, harbinger of her approach;
Or like an untouched meadow, where the rain
Hath fallen freshly on the fragrant herbs
That carpet all its pure untrodden soil."
For variety of gifts and force of character there is no Arabian woman who is comparable in fame to Zenobia. By birth she was a Palmyrene, and without doubt, of Arab blood. The descriptions of her personal beauty tell of her black, flashing eyes, her pearly teeth, and the grace of her form and carriage. Her bodily strength and commanding manners gave her influence over all with whom she came in contact. As wife of Odenathus, King of Palmyra, she contributed much to her husband's success and power. She was a woman of rare native qualities as well as of extraordinary accomplishments. She was a linguist, being familiar with the Coptic, the Syriac, and the Latin languages. She was skilled in the arts of war, and gifted with remarkable political insight and sagacity. After her husband's death she ruled as Queen of Palmyra, and personally conducted successful conquests, causing the nations around to tremble before her; and even Rome itself found her no mean antagonist in arms. The high spirit of the queen would not permit her to account herself a vassal even to the imperial city on the Tiber. She had won Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, and parts of Asia Minor to her sovereignty, but in the contest with Rome she was defeated, though many Romans had joined her army. The battles of Antioch and Emesa were lost. Zenobia fled to the Persians, but was captured. Those near her were put to death, but Zenobia graced the triumph of Aurelian, the victorious general who led her into the Roman capital in A. D. 271. For years she resided there with gracious dignity and unconquered pride. She was essentially a woman of affairs and as queen was mistress of every situation, giving all to know, "I am queen, and while I live I will reign." As wife she is said to have declined to cohabit with her husband, except so far as was necessary to the raising up of an heir to the throne of Palmyra. The brilliancy of her court was scarcely ever surpassed by any queen, while her personal charms and almost marvellous achievements rendered her one of the most remarkable, if not the greatest woman of ancient times.
In the days of Mohammed a new influence is brought to bear upon Arab life, and therefore upon female character. Mohammed's relation to woman might be of itself lengthened into an interesting chapter. Abdullah, Mohammed's father, was married to a woman of noble parentage, named Aminah. She was a woman of sensitive, nervous temperament, and her son doubtless inherited from his mother qualities which made his subsequent religious ecstasies both physically and mentally possible. Aminah is reported to have been miraculously free from the pangs of childbirth when her son first saw the light. For several months she nursed the infant, but sorrow is said to have soon dried up the fountain of her breast, and Halimah, a woman of marked fidelity to her charge, became Mohammed's foster-mother. A kahin, or sorcerer, is said once to have met Halimah with the boy. "Kill this child," said he; "kill this child." But Halimah, snatching up the child, made away in haste. The sorcerer saw in the boy an enemy of the ancient idolatrous faith.
It was not till the rich widow of Mecca, Khadijah, came into Mohammed's life that he began to make himself felt in the world. Wishing someone to attend to some business affairs for her, Khadijah secured Mohammed's services. So well did he execute his task that the rich widow became enamored of the young man. She asked him for his hand. At twenty-five years of age, Mohammed married the woman who was destined to influence his life so powerfully, she being at least fifteen years his senior. It was not long before Mohammed turned his thoughts toward religion and set himself to the task of reforming the religious ideas and practices of his people. With what result the world knows.
It is Mohammed's attitude toward woman and his teachings concerning her that most concern us here. His love for Khadijah, his first wife, was pure and constant; and his mother he always honored with a most devoted spirit. It is with reference to Mohammed's personal bearing toward the female sex that he has received the most scathing criticisms. How many times he was married subsequently to his wedding with Khadijah is a matter of dispute; but there were probably no less than fourteen other wives, besides the widow of Mecca. Since Mohammed allowed his faithful followers but four wives, it was necessary to explain why he himself should have exceeded that meagre number. The prophet was ready with his reply, that while men generally were to have no more than four, a special revelation to himself had given him the right to go beyond that number.
Among those whom Mohammed espoused was his child wife Ayesha, who lived long after the death of the prophet and took an active part in shaping the political history of Islam immediately after Mohammed's demise. She fostered a burning dislike toward Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law, to whom the prophet had given his daughter Fatima. Because of Ayesha's intrigues Ali was unable to succeed Mohammed as kalif. Abubekr, Omar, and Othman in turn held sway. But at length Ali was victorious, taking Ayesha a prisoner and becoming the fourth of the line of the kalifate. Ayesha in personal daring belonged to the heroic type of Arabian womanhood. In the battle of the Camel, A. D. 656, she actually led the charge. Ali, like his distinguished father-in-law, considered himself an exception to the ordinary rule which accorded but four wives to the faithful, having married eight others besides his loved Fatima.