8 THE MECCAN PERIOD

thee, and spoken well of their gods.' Muhammad said: 'But how dost thou find thy heart?' 'Secure and steadfast in the faith.' 'Then,' continued Muhammad, 'if they repeat their cruelty, repeat thou also thy words.' The case of such unwilling deniers of the faith is provided for in the Suratu'n-Nahl (xvi) 108 which is said to have been revealed after, the interview with 'Ammar bin Yasir.1

Whoso, after he hath believed in God, denieth Him, if he was forced to it and if his heart remain steadfast in the faith, shall be guiltless. 2

About this time, when the Prophet's mind was full of anxiety, the two short Suras, the Suratu'd-Duha (xciii).3 and the Suratu'l-Inshirah (xciv), both addressed directly to Muhammad himself, and Suratu'l-Kafirun (cix) and Su'ratu'l-Ikhlas (cxii), addressed to the people, were revealed for his consolation:—
1 Tafsir of 'Abdu'llah bin 'Abbas and the Khulasatu't-Tafasir, vol. ii, p. 578, where the story of the early persecutions of the Muslims is related.
2 The commentators add the words in italics, which are not in the Arabic test, but are required to complete the sense. Thus, — اس غضب سى برى هى —'Free from this wrath' (Khulasalu't-Tafasir, vol. ii, p. 578). 'For him there is no calling to account.' See Translation of the Qur'an by Nadhir Ahmad.
3Tirmidhi records a Tradition to the effect that the Quraish said that God had forsaken the Prophet. Then Gabriel brought this Sura:—

By the noon-day brightness,
And by the night when it darkeneth,
Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, nor hath
He been displeased.

So the Prophet was comforted. Jami'u't-Tirmidhi, vol. ii, p. 469.
THE PROPHET'S FIRMNESS 9

By the noon-day brightness,
And by the night when it darkeneth,
Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither hath
He been displeased;
And surely the future shall be better than the past. (xciii) 1-4.
Have we not opened thine heart for thee?
And taken off from thee thy burden,
Which galled thy back?
And have we not raised thy name for thee ?
Then verily along with trouble cometh ease.
But when thou art set at liberty, then prosecute thy toil,
And seek thy Lord with fervour. (xciv.)
Say: O ye unbelievers!
I worship not that which ye worship,
And ye do not worship that which I worship
I shall never worship that which ye worship
Neither will ye worship that which I worship.
To you be your religion: to me my religion. (cix) 1-6.1
 Say: He is God alone ;
God the Eternal !
He begetteth not and He is not begotten;
And there is none like unto him. (cxii) 1-4.

Thus, in a period of depression, the Prophet was encouraged by direct messages to himself to protest

1 The Sura is said to have been revealed when some Meccan leaders, Abu Jahl, 'As, Walid and others suggested a compromise to the effect that the God of Muhammad should be worshipped at the same time as the Meccan deities, or alternately each year. Muhammad did not fall into the snare, and in this Sura distinctly rejected the old idolatry. Soon after in Suratu'l-Ikhlas (cxii) he gave the most emphatic testimony possible to the Unity of God.
The term din for religion here occurs for the first time, and is applied both to Meccan paganism and to Islam; afterwards it was restricted to the latter. This apparent recognition of the ancient religion is now disallowed as the words are abrogated by the — آيت السيف —verse of the sword. Suratu't-Tauba (ix) 5. Tafsir-i-Husaini, vol. ii, p. 476.