The hand of Providence

by J. H. Ward

Far away in the south-western part of Asia, lies a strange and peculiar country called Arabia. It is bounded on the north by Syria, on the east by the Persian Gulf, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the west by the Red Sea, and comprises more than a million of square miles, or about twelve times the area of Utah.

This vast region possesses a diversified landscape. In some places vast sandy deserts stretch away farther than the eye can reach; in others, immense piles of dark volcanic rock rear aloft their barren peaks, around whose base the dry, hot winds have drifted the sands of the desert for untold centuries. However, in the secluded valleys of the mountains, and along the base of the great mountain chains, may be found many fertile tracts, where, watered by pure and never-failing mountain streams, and warmed by the rays of a tropical sun, the earth produces in abundance nearly every kind of grain, vegetable, fruit, flower and aromatic shrub that can conduce to the happiness of man. Indeed, some portions are so wonderfully productive, that in ancient as well as modern times it has received the significant title of "Araby the blest."

Most of the inhabitants of this country are generally considered to be the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham. Many of them lead a wild, nomadic life, supported by their flocks and herds and the spontaneous productions of the soil, and retain among their laws and customs, many of the usages that prevailed in the primitive, patriarchal times of their great ancestor.

Others live in towns and cities and engage in commerce, either with foreign countries or with distant parts of their own land.

The usual method of transporting their merchandise is on the backs of camels, and sometimes several hundred or even a thousand of these animals, accompanied by their drivers, may be seen slowly wending their way across the desert, carrying with them the coffee of Mocha and spices of Muscat to the distant cities of Bagdad and Damascus.

As among the Jews the ruling priests were chosen from the tribe of Levi and family of Aaron, so, among the ancient Arabs, the guardians of the sacred things of their worship were chosen from the tribe of Koreish and family of Haschem.

Abd-Al-Mutallib was the ruling priest in Mecca, the sacred city of Arabia, at the time that his grandson, Mahomet, was born, which event occurred at Mecca, in the year 570 of the Christian era.

Of Mahomet's parents, but little is recorded, except that his father, Abdallah, was remarkable for his commanding presence and great personal beauty. He died when his future illustrious son was only two months old. Amina, his mother, who is said to have been of Jewish descent, also died when Mahomet was only six years old.

The early life of Mahomet was spent in the house of his Uncle, Abou Taleb, who had become the principal guardian of the Ca-aba, or great temple, of ancient Arabian worship.

The ceremonies and devotions connected with this temple-worship may have given an early bias to Mahomet's mind, and inclined it to those speculations and ideas in which it afterwards became engrossed. His education in childhood seems to have been neglected; for he was not taught either to read or write. But he was a thoughtful child, quick to observe, prone to meditate on all that he had observed, and possessed of an imagination fertile, daring and expansive.