ic as it was salutary; Mahomet became
what circumstances made him; by reason of his mighty gift of moulding
those men and forces that came his way, he impressed his personality upon
his age; but the material fashioning of his energy, the flower of his
creative art, drew its formative sustenance from the soil of his
surroundings. The time for admonition, with the voice of one crying in
the wilderness, the time for praise and poesy, for the expression of that
rapt immortal passion filling his mind as he contemplated God, all these
were past, and had become but a lingering brightness upon the stormy
urgency of his later life.

Now his flock demanded from him organisation, leadership, political and
social prevision. Therefore the full force of his nature is revealed to
us not so much as heretofore in the Kuran, but rather in his institutions
and ordinances, his enmities and conciliations. He has become not only
the Prophet, but the Lawgiver, the Statesman, almost the King.

His first act, after his establishment in the house of Abu Ayub, was the
joining together in brotherhood of the Muhajerim and Ansar. These were
two distinct entities within Medina; the Muhajerim (refugees) had either
accompanied their master from Mecca or had emigrated previously; the
Ansar (helpers) comprised all the converts to Islam within the city
itself. These parties were now joined in a close bond, each individual
taking another of the opposite party into brotherhood with himself, to be
accorded the rights and privileges of kinship. Mahomet took as his
brother Ali, who became indeed not only his kinsman, but his military
commander and chief of staff. The wisdom of this arrangement, which
lasted about a year and a half--until, in fact, its usefulness was
outworn by the union of both the Medinan tribes under his leadership
--was immediate and far-reaching. It enabled Mahomet to keep a close
surveillance over the Medinan converts, who might possibly recant when
they became aware of the hazards involved in partnership with the Muslim.
It also gave a coherence to the two parties and allowed the Muhajerim
some foothold in an alien city, not as yet unanimously friendly. And the
Muhajerim had need of all the kindliness and help they could obtain, for
the first six months in Medina were trying both to their health and
endurance, so that many repented their venture and would have returned if
the Ansar had not come forward with ministrations and gifts, and a