return to our religion.' Then their Lord spake by revelation unto them, saying, 'Verily we shall destroy the unjust.'
And we shall cause you to inherit the land after them; this shall be for him that feareth my appearing and feareth my threatening.
So they asked assistance of the Lord and every tyrant and rebellious one was destroyed. Sura Ibrahim (xiv) 16-18.

In the midst of all this silent and possibly dejected state, when the result of thirteen years of constant work seemed likely to lead to nothing but practical banishment, Muhammad dreamed a dream, and passed, at least in imagination, to the temple at Jerusalem where angels, patriarchs and prophets met him, and from thence to the highest heaven and the presence of God himself:—

Praise be to Him who carried His servant by night from the sacred temple to the temple that is more remote, whose precincts we have blessed, that we might show him some of our signs. Sura Al-Isra' (xvii) 1.
And remember when we said to thee, verily thy Lord is round about mankind; we ordained the vision which we showed thee and likewise the cursed tree. 62.¹

This event has afforded to the imagination of poets and traditionists ample scope for the most vivid descriptions of what the Prophet saw and heard.² It is manifestly unfair to look upon these

extravagant embellishments as matters of necessary belief. The most intelligent members of the modern school of Indian Muslims look upon the Mi'raj as a vision, though the orthodox utterly condemn such a view. ¹

When the next period of the pilgrimage came round, Mus'ab brought a full report of the great success he had met with in Madina. On the last night of this pilgrimage Muhammad met his Madina converts. Seventy-three men and two women were present. Muhammad gave them an address and asked them to pledge themselves to defend him. This they did, and this pledge is known as the 'Second pledge of Aqaba.' The nature of the compact will be seen from what follows. Muhammad said,² 'Swear that you will preserve me from everything from which you preserve your own wives and children.' One of the leaders replied, 'Yea, by Him who hath sent thee, a Prophet with truth, we shall protect thee as our bodies: receive our allegiance, O Prophet of God ! By Allah ! we are the sons of war and men of arms which we, the valiant, have inherited from the valiant.' Another said, 'O Apostle of God, there