登陆注册
4619900000021

第21章

But, from an early age, he had been remarked as a thoughtful man. His companions named him "_Al Amin_, The Faithful." A man of truth and fidelity; true in what he did, in what he spake and thought. They noted that _he_ always meant something. A man rather taciturn in speech; silent when there was nothing to be said; but pertinent, wise, sincere, when he did speak; always throwing light on the matter. This is the only sort of speech _worth_ speaking! Through life we find him to have been regarded as an altogether solid, brotherly, genuine man. A serious, sincere character;yet amiable, cordial, companionable, jocose even;--a good laugh in him withal: there are men whose laugh is as untrue as anything about them; who cannot laugh. One hears of Mahomet's beauty: his fine sagacious honest face, brown florid complexion, beaming black eyes;--I somehow like too that vein on the brow, which swelled up black when he was in anger: like the "_horseshoe_ vein" in Scott's _Redgauntlet_. It was a kind of feature in the Hashem family, this black swelling vein in the brow; Mahomet had it prominent, as would appear. A spontaneous, passionate, yet just, true-meaning man! Full of wild faculty, fire and light; of wild worth, all uncultured; working out his life-task in the depths of the Desert there.

How he was placed with Kadijah, a rich Widow, as her Steward, and travelled in her business, again to the Fairs of Syria; how he managed all, as one can well understand, with fidelity, adroitness; how her gratitude, her regard for him grew: the story of their marriage is altogether a graceful intelligible one, as told us by the Arab authors. He was twenty-five; she forty, though still beautiful. He seems to have lived in a most affectionate, peaceable, wholesome way with this wedded benefactress;loving her truly, and her alone. It goes greatly against the impostor theory, the fact that he lived in this entirely unexceptionable, entirely quiet and commonplace way, till the heat of his years was done. He was forty before he talked of any mission from Heaven. All his irregularities, real and supposed, date from after his fiftieth year, when the good Kadijah died. All his "ambition," seemingly, had been, hitherto, to live an honest life; his "fame," the mere good opinion of neighbors that knew him, had been sufficient hitherto. Not till he was already getting old, the prurient heat of his life all burnt out, and _peace_ growing to be the chief thing this world could give him, did he start on the "career of ambition;" and, belying all his past character and existence, set up as a wretched empty charlatan to acquire what he could now no longer enjoy! For my share, I have no faith whatever in that.

Ah no: this deep-hearted Son of the Wilderness, with his beaming black eyes and open social deep soul, had other thoughts in him than ambition. Asilent great soul; he was one of those who cannot _but_ be in earnest; whom Nature herself has appointed to be sincere. While others walk in formulas and hearsays, contented enough to dwell there, this man could not screen himself in formulas; he was alone with his own soul and the reality of things. The great Mystery of Existence, as I said, glared in upon him, with its terrors, with its splendors; no hearsays could hide that unspeakable fact, "Here am I!" Such _sincerity_, as we named it, has in very truth something of divine. The word of such a man is a Voice direct from Nature's own Heart. Men do and must listen to that as to nothing else;--all else is wind in comparison. From of old, a thousand thoughts, in his pilgrimings and wanderings, had been in this man: What am I? What _is_ this unfathomable Thing I live in, which men name Universe? What is Life; what is Death? What am I to believe? What am I to do? The grim rocks of Mount Hara, of Mount Sinai, the stern sandy solitudes answered not. The great Heaven rolling silent overhead, with its blue-glancing stars, answered not. There was no answer. The man's own soul, and what of God's inspiration dwelt there, had to answer!

It is the thing which all men have to ask themselves; which we too have to ask, and answer. This wild man felt it to be of _infinite_ moment; all other things of no moment whatever in comparison. The jargon of argumentative Greek Sects, vague traditions of Jews, the stupid routine of Arab Idolatry: there was no answer in these. A Hero, as I repeat, has this first distinction, which indeed we may call first and last, the Alpha and Omega of his whole Heroism, That he looks through the shows of things into _things_. Use and wont, respectable hearsay, respectable formula:

all these are good, or are not good. There is something behind and beyond all these, which all these must correspond with, be the image of, or they are--_Idolatries_; "bits of black wood pretending to be God;" to the earnest soul a mockery and abomination. Idolatries never so gilded, waited on by heads of the Koreish, will do nothing for this man. Though all men walk by them, what good is it? The great Reality stands glaring there upon _him_. He there has to answer it, or perish miserably. Now, even now, or else through all Eternity never! Answer it; _thou_ must find an answer.--Ambition? What could all Arabia do for this man; with the crown of Greek Heraclius, of Persian Chosroes, and all crowns in the Earth;--what could they all do for him? It was not of the Earth he wanted to hear tell;it was of the Heaven above and of the Hell beneath. All crowns and sovereignties whatsoever, where would _they_ in a few brief years be? To be Sheik of Mecca or Arabia, and have a bit of gilt wood put into your hand,--will that be one's salvation? I decidedly think, not. We will leave it altogether, this impostor hypothesis, as not credible; not very tolerable even, worthy chiefly of dismissal by us.

同类推荐
  • 佛说圣佛母般若波罗蜜多经

    佛说圣佛母般若波罗蜜多经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • English Stories Italy

    English Stories Italy

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Autobiography of a Slander

    The Autobiography of a Slander

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Tom Grogan

    Tom Grogan

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 日闻录

    日闻录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 砍镰

    砍镰

    大队长谷九华来找校长时,校长本能地觉得没有好事。这两天他的右眼老是跳,不是好兆。果然,谷九华在放学的时候来了,把他拉到他的教室里,说的是一个爆炸性的丑闻:学校的两个教师——袁春木和柳文青搞上了!校长张开的口老半天没有合拢,老半天他才搞清楚大队长说的事情经过。昨天晚饭后,大队长的小儿子谷冬至的叔伯哥要跟他走军棋,可是下午上学他跟同桌的董大勇在路上走棋迟到了,班主任袁春木让他们在门口站了好半天,交出了书包里的棋才让他们上座位。袁春木将棋丢进了讲台的抽屉里。
  • 超频反击

    超频反击

    当《深渊中的奇点》游戏停摆的那一刻,汤姆操控下的“昂”正手握一柄光剑,与一只长着一张类似蜥蜴脸庞、浑身疙瘩的怪兽激烈鏖战。在广阔的艾斯坦山谷中,旨在拯救黛娅公主的联军战士正与泽拉兹城堡释放出的恶魔怪兽们捉对厮杀。山谷的尽头,半隐于云端的泽拉兹城堡巍然屹立,看上去触手可及,却又远在天边。此时此刻,他们的黛娅公主还被“暗冰封印”束缚在泽拉兹城堡中,命悬一线。在游戏中, “昂” 拥有着不朽的生命,不过一旦失血过多,他还是会暂时死亡,随后将在他的出生地复活,但即使搭乘最快的飞行器重抵艾斯坦山谷也要花上十天时间——这对战役的结局已无济于事。
  • 汉魏六朝诗鉴赏

    汉魏六朝诗鉴赏

    该书选收了汉、魏、晋、南北朝及隋代诗歌九百余篇,力图用历史唯物主义的观点,从文学发展的角度,鉴赏、评价这一时期绚丽多姿的作品及其光辉艺术成就,帮助读者比较全面地了解这一时期的文学发展状况。
  • 奋斗在红楼

    奋斗在红楼

    大周朝,雍治7年冬,美丽、傲娇的小萝-莉林黛玉刚刚进入贾府。现代理科男穿越红楼贾府庶子贾环。如果不想被贾府的猪队友们连累的抄家杀头,就要早做准备。这是一个庶子逆袭的故事。Ps:本书是架空历史爽文。非考据党、非历史正剧党、非红学党,遗漏不符、错误矛盾之处,敬请谅解。九悟书友群:312484933.进群验粉丝值。只要订阅了九悟的书即可。九悟书友V群:214808277.全订即可。---新书:恰我少年时,已经发布,欢迎诸位书友前来品尝。
  • 孔雀王咒经

    孔雀王咒经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 长生天阙

    长生天阙

    滚滚红尘,江山又小雪,寿元干涸,油尽灯枯之际,我见到了一道来自风雪中的曙光...我叫王长生,我只想要长生...在这条名叫长生的路上,我不是一个追求者,而是一个见证者……【声明:主角真的很平凡,就像简介所说一般,是一个见证者,长生这本书,也是为了展现一个世界,喜欢无敌流的书友慎入,群:252618331……】
  • 次皇临

    次皇临

    玉皇大帝,在地仙界和灵山大战,战死,而如来同样战死,天庭易主,佛教易主重生在末法时代,玉皇发现自己被黑成{不可描述}为了重振玉皇大帝之名,为了再次夺得天庭玉皇在末法时代修仙修心,只待再次称帝
  • 飞碟百怪之谜(天文科学丛书)

    飞碟百怪之谜(天文科学丛书)

    多少年来,我们从未停止过捕捉飞碟,却只获得一圈飞逝的光环。让我们跟随飞碟的轨迹,寻找它们的家园,触摸它们的身影。《飞碟百怪之谜(天文科学丛书)》包括发光的草帽状飞碟、救生圈形状飞碟、脸盆形状的飞碟、夜晚的篮球型飞碟等内容,能够激起热爱科学和追求科学的热情,掌握开启宇宙的金钥匙。
  • 非公有制经济组织和新社会组织党务工作手册

    非公有制经济组织和新社会组织党务工作手册

    非公有制经济组织(也称新经济组织)和新社会组织这“两新”组织的党建工作,是新时期党的建设的重要内容。本书就如何抓好“两新”组织党建工作,进一步巩固党执政的阶级基础和群众基础,扩大党的影响力和增强党组织的战斗力,不断提升党的执政能力和执政水平,进行了全面系统的阐述。特别是针对基层党委开展“两新”基层组织建设、以及“两新”组织的党务工作者如何开展党建工作,如何使党建工作与企业发展相结合,“两新”组织的党组织如何针对“两新”组织的自身特点创造性地开展党建工作等方面,做了详细的阐述和说明。
  • 美国大城市的死与生:纪念版

    美国大城市的死与生:纪念版

    也许是城镇规划史上有影响的著作……也是一部极富文采之作。 ——《纽约时报书评》 有史以来关于城市的出色著作之一……并无故作高深的方法,一切皆出自作者的眼睛与心灵,但它以其精妙的研究,让我们明白城市的生命和精神来自何处。 ——威廉·H·怀特 本书是对当下城市规划和重建理论的抨击,也是尝试引介一些城市规划和重建的新原则,进而抨击那些统治现代城市规划和重建改造正统理论的原则和目的,是有史以来关于城市的出色的著作之一。作者以纽约、芝加哥等美国大城市为例,,深入考察了都市结构的基本元素以及它们在城市生活中发挥功能的方式,挑战了传统的城市规划理论,以其精妙的研究,让读者明白城市的生命和精神来自何处。