heated in the fire of hell, and their foreheads, and their sides, and their
backs, shall be seared therewith; This is that which ye have treasured up
for yourselves, taste that which ye have treasured up." But of the
Scriptures themselves, both of the Old and New Testaments, Mahomet never, from
first to last, made mention but with profound respect and veneration.
The life of Mahomet was now drawing to a close, when in the 10th year of the
Hegira, accompanied by his wives and by a vast multitude, he performed the
"Farewell pilgrimage," of which the rites were now divested of every
idolatrous association. On the sacred mount of Arafat he recited certain
passages of the Corân, ending with the 4th verse of Sura V.: "This
day have I perfected my religion unto you." Returning to Medina, he
admonished the people in
their various duties, social and domestic; and proclaimed the equality of
every believer with his brother, and the sacredness of life and property. Then
he recited the verses in Sura IX., which abolish intercalation of the year and
prohibit change of the sacred months. He warned them of the wiles by which Satan
would seek to beguile the faithful even in matters trifling and indifferent; and
concluded:"Verily I have fulfilled my mission. I have left that amongst
you, a plain command,the Book of God, and manifest ordinances,which, if ye
hold fast, ye shall never go astray."
Three months after, Mahomet fell sick;
and on the 8th of June, A.D. 632, he
died, in the sixty-third year of his age.