"But they who believe, and who fly their country, and do their utmost in the cause of God, may hope for God's mercy: and God is Gracious, Merciful."--ii, 215. "And they who have fled their country and quitted their homes and suffered in my cause and have fought and fallen--I will blot out their sins from them and will bring them into gardens beneath which the streams do flow."--iii, 194. "And as to those who fled their country for the cause of God, and were afterwards slain, or died, surely with goodly provision will God provide for them! for verily, God is the best of providers!"--xxii, 57. "Those believers who sit at home free from trouble, and those who toil in the cause of God with their substance and their persons, shall not be treated alike. God hath assigned to those who strive with their persons and with their substance, a rank above those who sit at home. Goodly promises hath He made to all: But God hath assigned to those who make efforts a rich recompense above those who sit still at home." "The angels, when they took the souls of those who had been unjust to their own weal, demanded, 'What hath been your state?' They said, 'We were the weak ones of the earth.' They replied, 'Was not God's earth broad enough for you to flee away in?' These! their home shall be Hell, and evil the passage to it"-- "Except the men and women and children who were not able through their weakness to find the means _of escape_, and were not guided on their way. These haply God will forgive: for God is Forgiving, Pardoning."--iv, 97, 99, 100. "God doth not forbid you to deal with kindness and fairness towards those who have not made war upon you on account of your religion, or driven you forth from your homes: verily, God loveth those who act with fairness." "Only doth God forbid you to make friends of those who, on account of your religion, have warred against you, and have driven you forth from your homes, and have aided your expulsion: and whoever maketh friends of them, these therefore are evil-doers."--lx, 8, 9. [Sidenote: 3. Insults suffered by Mohammad.] The Prophet himself suffered insults and personal injuries from the hands of his persecutors. He was prevented from offering his prayers (xcvi, 10). He allowed himself to be spat upon, to have dust thrown upon him, and to be dragged out of the Kaaba by his own turban fastened to his neck. He bore all these indignities with the utmost humility, and he daily beheld his followers treated oppressively. After his uncle's death his life was attempted, but he escaped by flying to Medina. "And _call to mind_ when the unbelievers plotted against thee, to detain thee prisoner or to kill thee or to banish thee: they plotted--but God plotted; and of plotters is God the best."--viii, 30. [Sidenote: 4. Historical summary of the persecutions.]