Othman, son of 'Affan, who married two of the Prophet's daughters successively, and was Mahomet's third successor; and, more important than any save Abu Bekr, Omar, son of al-Khattab, a man of extraordinary force of character, to whom siege seems to have been laid with extraordinary skill. At some time he received the honourable title _Faruq_ ("Deliverer"); he is represented as regularly favouring force, where Abu Bekr favoured gentle methods; unlike Abu Bekr, his loyalty was not always above suspicion. His adherence is ascribed to the period of publicity. The secrecy which marked its early years was of the greatest value for the eventual success of the mission; for when Mahomet came forward publicly he was already the head of a band of united followers. His own family appear to have been either firm adherents, or violent enemies, or lukewarm and temporizing--this is the best which can be said for 'Abbas, eponymus of the Abbasid dynasty; or finally espousers of his cause, on family grounds, but not as believers. First Period of Publicity. Rejecting accounts of Mahomet's first appearance as a public preacher, which are evidently comments on a text of the Koran, we have reason for supposing that his hand was forced by ardent followers, who many times in his career compelled him to advance. The astute rulers of the community perceived that the claim made by Mahomet was to be dictator or autocrat; and while this was naturally ridiculed by them, some appear to have been devoted adherents of the gods or goddesses whom he attacked. The absence of dated documents for the period between this open proclamation (which in any case commenced before 616) and the Flight to Medina in 622 renders the course of events somewhat conjectural, though certain details appear to be well established. Apparently there was a war of words, followed by a resort to diplomacy and then to force; and then a period in which Mahomet's attention was directed to foreign conversions, resulting in his being offered and accepting the dictatorship of Yathrib.