long and immediate march. Soon after, the LXIII. Sura was revealed, with a
bitter reprimand against Abdallah and his disaffected followers.
This year is remarkable for certain scandals connected with the domestic
life of Mahomet. He had now five wives, two of whom had been but recently
added to his harem. Nevertheless, he was smitten by the charms of Zeinab,
wife of his adopted son Zeid, who, seeing this, divorced her, that she might
be married to his friend. Mahomet hesitated to take to wife one who,
according to Arab custom, was of prohibited affinity. But the passion was
irrepressible; and at last a revelation was produced which chided his fear of
man;
ruled that adoption made no virtual affinity; and, "that there
might be no offence chargeable to believers in marrying the wives of their
adopted sons," joined the Prophet in marriage to Zeinab.
A few months later another delicate affair, but of a different complexion,
occurred. On his various expeditions, Mahomet was accompanied by one or more
of his wives. At the last stage, returning from the campaign against the
Mustalick tribe, Ayesha's tent and litter were by inadvertence carried away
while she was for the moment absent, and on her return she found herself in
the dark all alone. Expecting the mistake to be discovered, she sat down to
await the issue, when, after some delay, one of the followers came up and,
finding her in this plight, bade her mount his camel, and so conducted her to
Medina. The citizens drew sinister conclusions from the circumstance. Mahomet
himself became estranged from Ayesha,
