accepted
the Prophet's yoke without opposition, and their lead was followed later
in the year by the Beni Abs Murra and the Beni Dzobian, and finally the
Beni Suleim, whose enmity in conjunction with the Beni Ghatafan had done
much to prolong the siege of Medina.

The Prophet was exultant. The year's successes had surpassed his
expectations, and the maturing of his deep-laid plans for the reduction
of Mecca by pressure without bloodshed satisfied his ambitious and
dominating soul. He was now master of Hedaz, overlord of Yemen and the
Bedouin tribes of the interior as far as the dim Syrian border.

But with all his newly-found sovereignty there was one stronghold which
he could neither conquer nor even impress. On the crowning achievement of
subduing Mecca all his hopes were set, and there were no means that he
did not employ to increase his power so that its continued resistance
might ultimately become impossible. He strengthened his hold over the
rest of Arabia; he won from Mecca as many allies as he could; he
continually impressed upon both his followers and the surrounding tribes
that the city was his natural home, the true abiding-place of his faith.
Now, having prepared the way, he ventured to ensure the safety thereof by
diplomacy and a skilful use of the demonstration of force. He was strong
enough to compel an encounter with the Kureisch which should prove
decisive.

In the attack upon the Khozaa, allies of the Prophet, the Beni Bekr, who
gave their allegiance to the Kureisch, supplied Mahomet with the
necessary _casus belli_. He declared upon the evidence of his friends
that the Kureisch had helped the Beni Bekr in disguise and announced the
swift enforcement of his vengeance. In alarm the Kureisch sent Abu Sofian
to Medina to make their depositions as to the rights of the case and to
beg for clemency. But their emissary met with no success. Mahomet felt
himself powerful enough to flout him, and accordingly Abu Sofian was sent
back to his native city discomfited.

There follows a tradition which has become obscured with the passing of
time, and whose import we can only dimly investigate. Abu Sofian was
returning somewhat uneasily to Mecca when he encountered the chief of the
Khozaa, the outraged tribe. An interview of some length is reported, and
it is supposed that the chief represented to the Meccan citizen the
hopelessness of his resistance and the advantages in belonging to the
party that was rapidly br