uldered and of strong muscles, black eyes and
hair, white teeth, oval shaped face (which is now much praised among
Mohammedans), a long nose, patriarchal beard and a commanding look. His
step was quick and firm. He wore common garments of white cotton stuff,
and mended his own clothing and did everything possible for himself and
aided his wives in household affairs. He had fourteen wives besides
concubines. He possessed a vivid imagination and a genius for poetry
and religious doctrines, but was not learned and perhaps could not read
nor write.

He became servant for a very wealthy widow named Khadijah, and made
several caravan journeys for her to Syria and Palestine with great
success. Afterwards he won the heart of the widow and married her
against the will of her father. He was twenty-five years of age and the
widow was forty-five years old. Marriage proved happy and was fruitful
with four daughters and two sons, but all died except one little
daughter Fa-ti-ma. Mohammed adopted Ali, his nephew, and married his
daughter Fa-ti-ma to him. She became the mother of all the prophet's
descendants. Mohammed loved his first wife Kha-di-jah, was faithful to
her, and after her death always cherished her memory, as she was the
first person to believe in his doctrines.

On his journeys to Palestine and Syria he became acquainted with Jews
and Christians and got an imperfect knowledge of their religion and
traditions. At that time the Jews and Christians had scattered the
ideas of monotheism among the Arabs. Some of the Arabs were tired of
worshiping false idols and embraced the faith in one God. One of these
men was Mohammed. He became zealous to establish a religion throughout
Arabia, to teach and compel men to worship only one God and to
recognize himself as His only prophet. He spent many days and nights in
the caves of Mount Hira near Mecca in meditation and prayer. His
zealous efforts to establish his faith brought a return of the violent
convulsion and epileptic fits of earlier days, and his enemies said he
was possessed with demons. He started preaching to the ignorant classes
of Arabs teaching them that there was only one living God who created
heaven and earth and all mankind. In A.D. 610, his fortieth year he
claimed to have received a call from the angel Gabriel while in a
trance in Mount Hira, directing him to say: "In the name of God." Many
times after this first meeting he communicated with Gabriel in these
caves