Under the influence of the consternation they felt at the conversion of such an important personage as Hamzah—a conversion that had led others to follow suit—and well knowing that it would be best to come to some agreement, they replied: 'Aye, go to him and speak in our name.' Thereupon, Utbah left them and went to sit by the side of the Prophet. 'O son of my friend!' said Utbah in most affectionate tones; 'thou dost belong to us, although by insulting our religion and the traditions of our fathers, thou hast embroiled us. Therefore I come to thee to put an end to this great misfortune. Give an ear to my proposals. Maybe they will find grace in thy sight.'—'Speak! I am listening.'—'O son of my friend! If thou dost hope that thy undertaking will make thee wealthy, each of us is willing to sacrifice a part of his fortune, in order that thou shalt become the richest man among us. If thou seekest honours, we will set thee up as lord over us all and come to no decision without consulting thee. Dost dream of royal privileges? We will make thee our king. If, on the contrary, the thoughts that inspire thee arise from some malady which thou art powerless to resist, we will have fetched at any cost and from any country the most celebrated doctors, so that thou mayst be cured. Choose therefore!'
The Prophet had listened unmoved. 'Hast thou no more to say?' he answered Utbah. 'Now 'tis thy turn to hearken to my words.' He then recited the Surah of "The Made Plain," in which Unbelievers are menaced with the eternal torments of hell, and Believers comforted by the promise of the inconceivable felicity of Paradise (The Qur'an, xli). Utbah, his hands clasped behind his back, stood hearkening to the sentences, now imperative and then compassionate, that fell upon his ears in rhythm and cadence totally new to him. Stupefied, he remained stock-still, his attitude unchanged, although the Prophet had ceased speaking some little time. Mohammad, after having prostrated himself, his brow touching the earth, rose up and turned to Utbah, saying: 'Thou hast heard me, O Utbah? Now, 'tis for thee to choose.'
Utbah, bewildered, went back to his companions. They all noticed his troubled face, so different on his return from what it had been before he left them. 'Come now, O Utbah! what aileth thee?' they queried.—'I have just listened to extraordinary words,' he answered. 'By our Gods! I've never heard anything like it before. 'Tis neither poetry, nor sorcery, nor magic. O Quraish men assembled! believe me and let this man fulfil his Mission among the Arabs, for his words are full of surprising prophecies. If harm corrieth to him by the Arabs' fault, ye will be freed from all anxiety. If, on the other hand, he succeedeth and shall conquer the Arabs, his empire will be thy empire, seeing that he is one of us, and thanks to him, ye will attain the highest pinnacle of power.'
But what availed such prudent conclusions in the face of jealousy and hatred? 'With his tongue he hath cast a spell over thee, as he hath done to others,' his hearers replied; and Utbah, shrugging his shoulders, went away, declaring: 'Such is my advice. Now do as ye please.'
Nevertheless, Utbah's opinion impressed the idolaters. Next day, after sunset, they foregathered, according to custom, in the precincts of the Temple, and decided to speak to Mohammad in person. They sent for him, and he came, hoping that their eyes were open to the light. But they only wanted to renew the proposals of the day before. He refused just as scornfully. 'Since thou dost set thyself up as a Prophet,' they said, changing their arguments, 'take pity on thy country. There is no land more hemmed-in by mountains, or more poor in its water-supply; more difficult to live in. Therefore, ask Allah to put aside the girdle of mountains, make the soil easier to till, and give us rivers resembling those of Syria and Iraq. Or else, ask Him to resuscitate one of our ancestors, Qusaiyy ibn Kilab, for instance, who was a wise and truthful man, so that we may consult him concerning thy pretensions and let us know if they are veracious or false. If he giveth thee right and thou dost satisfy our demands, then will we believe thee and have faith in thy mission as Allah's Apostle.'
'I have not been sent to thee for this,' was all the Prophet cared to reply. 'I have told you what I was charged to do; and I tell you once more that if you accept, your happiness is assured in this life and the next. Should ye refuse, then I bow down to the decrees of Allah who shall judge between us.'—'Since thou wilt ask nothing for us,' they returned; 'crave a favour for thyself. Ask Allah to send one of his angels to convince us; ask Him to lavish on thee all the pleasures of this world that thy heart can desire, such as delicious gardens, marvellous palaces, or treasures of gold and silver. Instead of which, we see thee as one who "eateth food and walketh the marts" (The Qur'an, xxv, 8), exactly the same as the most humble among us! If thou art really a Prophet, let Allah give us proofs of the power with which He hath endowed thee, and of the dignity to which He hath raised thee.'—'I am not one of those who make such demands of Allah, and to you I renew my adjuration.'—'Ask Allah to "make the Heaven to fall in pieces on us, as thou hast given out," (The Qur'an, xvii, 94), if He hath power to do so, according to what thou dost maintain. If not, thy word deserveth no credit.'—'Nothing could be easier for the Almighty. If He shall decide to act as ye say, He will accomplish the task. Ye ask Him for miracles? The miracles are to be found in all He hath created and ye do not understand! See how death springeth from life and life from death! Of a surety, He can, by a miracle, undo the prodigies of the order of Nature he hath created. Thus did He for my predecessors, but in vain. Therefore, admire His unceasing miracles in Nature and crave no others.'
Unable to catch the Prophet tripping, the idol-worshippers, to check him, brought forward Nazir ibn Haris who, having been a great traveller, had garnered many fine stories. As soon as Mohammad began to preach, Nazir took his stand quite near him, trying to get his hearers away by reciting the wonderful exploits of Rustam and Isfandyar. 'See now, I lavish on my audience fine tales,' Nazir was bold enough to add, 'that will bear comparison with those sent down by Allah to His Prophet.'
The Quraish men also sent a delegation to the learned Jews of Yasrib and to the Prince Halib ibn Malik, illustrious above all men by reason of his wisdom, science and power, in order to ask that some means should be found to prove that Mohammad was an impostor. But all these efforts were useless, and there was no need to believe in the legend of a miracle based on these words of the Qur'an: "The hour hath approached and the moon hath been cleft." (liv, 1).
Some writers assert that Habib having asked the Prophet to perform a miracle, in order to prove the veracity of his mission, Mohammad gave an order to the moon which incontinently split into two equal parts; one ascending towards the East and the other to the West. According to the opinion of the most trustworthy doctors of Islam, such as Al Baidawi and Zamakhshri, this verse really means: "The hour (of the Day of Resurrection) approacheth and (to announce it) the moon will be cleft." The truth of this assertion is proved by the verses that follow almost immediately: "Turn away then from them (The Unbelievers)! On the day when the summoner shall summon to a horrible affair, * With downcast eyes shall they come forth from their graves, as if they were scattered locusts." (The Qur'an, liv, 6 and 7.)
Besides, this supposed miracle is so flagrantly contradicted by numerous verses of the Qur'an that it is not possible to admit it. "Nothing hindered Us from sending thee (Mohammad) with the power of working miracles, except that the people of old treated them as lies." (The Qur'an, xvii, 61.)