"We are only two," said the trembling Abubeker.

"There is a third," replied the prophet; "it is God himself." No sooner was the pursuit abated than the two fugitives issued from the rock, and mounted their camels: on the road to Medina, they were overtaken by the emissaries of the Koreish; they redeemed themselves with prayers and promises from their hands.

In this eventful moment, the lance of an Arab might have changed the history of the world.

The flight of the prophet from Mecca to Medina has fixed the memorable aera of the Hegira, [118] which, at the end of twelve centuries, still discriminates the lunar years of the Mahometan nations.
[119] [Footnote 116: In the time of Job, the crime of impiety was punished by the Arabian magistrate, (c.

21, v.