f his guardian he shall be sent back to his guardian;
but should any of the followers of Mahomet return to the Kureisch they
shall not be sent back. Mahomet shall retire this year without entering
the city. In the coming year Mahomet may visit Mecca, he and his
followers, for three days, during which the Kureisch shall retire and
leave the city to them. But they may not enter it with any weapons save
those of the traveller, namely, to each a sheathed sword."

After the solemn pledging of the treaty Mahomet sacrificed his victims,
shaved his head and changed his raiment, as a symbol of the completed
ceremonial in spirit, if not in fact, and ordered the immediate
withdrawal to Medina. His followers were crestfallen, for they had been
led to expect his speedy entry into Mecca, and they were disappointed too
because their warlike desires had been curbed to stifling point. But the
Prophet was firm, and promised them fighting in plenty as soon as they
should have reached Medina again. So the host moved back to its city of
origin, fortified by the treaty with its hitherto implacable foes, and
exulting in the promise that next year the sacred ceremonies would be
accomplished by all true Believers.

The depression that at first seized his followers at the conclusion of
their enterprise found no reflex in the mind of Mahomet. He was well
aware of the significance of the transaction. In the Kuran the episode
has a sura inspired directly by it and entitled "Victory," the burden of
which is the goodness of God upon the occasion of the Prophet's
pilgrimage to Hodeibia.

"In truth they who plighted fealty to thee really plighted fealty to God;
the hand of God was over their hands! Whoever, therefore, shall break his
oath shall only break it to his own hurt; but whoever shall be true to
his engagements with God, He will give him a great reward."

It was, in fact, a great step forward towards his ultimate goal. It
involved his recognition by the Kureisch as a power of equal importance
with themselves. No longer was he the outcast fanatic for whose overthrow
the Kureisch army was not required to put forth its full strength. No
longer even was he a rebel leader who had succeeded in establishing his
precarious power by the sword alone. The treaty of Hodeibia recognises
him as sovereign of Medina, and formally concedes to him by implication
his temporal governance. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that his
mood on returning to the