d; and both Kaled and Amrou, the future
conquerors of Syria and Egypt, most seasonably deserted the sinking
cause of idolatry. The power of Mahomet was increased by the submission
of the Arabian tribes; ten thousand soldiers were assembled for the
conquest of Mecca; and the idolaters, the weaker party, were easily
convicted of violating the truce. Enthusiasm and discipline impelled
the march, and preserved the secret till the blaze of ten thousand fires
proclaimed to the astonished Koreish the design, the approach, and the
irresistible force of the enemy. The haughty Abu Sophian presented the
keys of the city, admired the variety of arms and ensigns that passed
before him in review; observed that the son of Abdallah had acquired a
mighty kingdom, and confessed, under the cimeter of Omar, that he was
the apostle of the true God. The return of Marius and Scylla was stained
with the blood of the Romans: the revenge of Mahomet was stimulated by
religious zeal, and his injured followers were eager to execute or to
prevent the order of a massacre. Instead of indulging their passions and
his own, [139] the victorious exile forgave the guilt, and united the
factions, of Mecca. His troops, in three divisions, marched into the
city: eight-and-twenty of the inhabitants were slain by the sword of
Caled; eleven men and six women were proscribed by the sentence of
Mahomet; but he blamed the cruelty of his lieutenant; and several of the
most obnoxious victims were indebted for their lives to his clemency or
contempt. The chiefs of the Koreish were prostrate at his feet. "What
mercy can you expect from the man whom you have wronged?" "We confide
in the generosity of our kinsman." "And you shall not confide in vain:
begone! you are safe, you are free" The people of Mecca deserved their
pardon by the profession of Islam; and after an exile of seven years,
the fugitive missionary was enthroned as the prince and prophet of his
native country. [140] But the three hundred and sixty idols of the Caaba
were ignominiously broken: the house of God was purified and adorned: as
an example to future times, the apostle again fulfilled the duties of a
pilgrim; and a perpetual law was enacted that no unbeliever should dare
to set his foot on the territory of the holy city. [141]

[Footnote 138: The successive steps of the reduction of Mecca are
related by Abulfeda (p. 84-87, 97-100, 102-111) and Gagnier, (tom.
ii. p. 202-245, 309-322, tom. iii. p. 1-58