Muhammad by Deepak Chopra Read Free Book Online

who his favorite was.”
    Abu Talib paused and waved his hand. “Never mind. It’sall in God’s hands. But Abdullah had a guilty conscience. That was his real reason for seeking me out in private. On his wedding day, he told me, he was walking to Aminah’s house for the ceremony. My brother, being blessed with a handsome face, was used to women and their come-hither looks. And why not? He gave in more than once. On this day a married woman spied him from her window above the street. She became instantly enamored of this handsome groom and cried out for him to lie with her. My brother was no prude, but he was shocked. Her lustful call could be heard up and down the street. Even more shocking, she ran downstairs in her bare feet and approached him in the street, snatching at his scented robes. ‘I must lie with you now, this very minute,’ she pleaded. With difficulty Abdullah tore himself away, and an hour later he was married in Aminah’s house, to great rejoicing.
    â€œMen are only flesh. Even you, a holy man, must admit this, unless God has completely neutered you. That night Abdullah embraced his bride, but the next day at dawn he saw the face of the married woman. She was beautiful, and my brother felt a wave of lust overtake him. He fought it. He almost woke up his bride. Instead, he sneaked out of the house and ran back to the street where the married woman lived. The sun wasn’t yet up. The cobblestones were cool under his feet. ‘I must be crazy,’ he thought. But he threw pebbles at the window shutters, and luckily for him, the woman heard instead of her husband. She stuck her head out and said, ‘What do you want? Can’t honest people sleep without the likes of you coming around, dog?’ Abdullah was astonished at this change of behavior, and not a little offended. As I say, he was used to the attention of women.He threw a rock at her and demanded to know what had changed her mind. ‘Yesterday when you came prancing down the street, you had a light between your eyes,’ she said. ‘It was as bright as a flame at midnight. I wanted that light for my child, but now you have slept with another, and her child has the blessing. Go away and leave me alone.’”
    The uncle’s agitation had hardly subsided as he recounted this story. “Abdullah never told that story to anyone but me. Is it true? Has the light been passed to Muhammad?”
    There was no need for me to say anything, only to give the slightest nod. For some reason the pain in my heart had lessened. If God was bringing the last prophet, His will be done. It was left for me to pray and count my final days, which I am sure will be few. At least I was safe. The Devil hadn’t been toying with me.
    The uncle was anxious to get back to camp. He bowed to me and started down the trail. The horizon was just lighting up with the palest blue, not often seen by towns people but every day by a hermit who rises to pray five times a night. I could make out the faint shape of Abu Talib’s silhouette as he hurried down the stony path beyond the reach of the cooking fire, which had dwindled to embers.
    Abu Talib would remember to take special care of the boy. Of that I am certain. That, and one more thing. Muhammad would never forget the water of life.

3
HALIMAH, THE WET NURSE
    I knew it was him kneeling beside my bed. I felt the breeze as he brought the fan close to my face. The palm frond made a soft swishing sound. My eyes were swollen shut by the fever, which is why I didn’t see him come in.
    â€œWho’s the only woman in your life, Muhammad?” I asked.
    â€œYou are.”
    I smiled through cracked lips. “You’re becoming a man if you can lie like that.”
    We could talk this way, you see, after so many years. The next thing I felt was a cold dampness. He had brought a bowl of water with him and was pressing a cloth to my eyelids, trying to unseal them. They