A treaty of peace was eventually drawn up. For ten years the Koreish caravans were to be unmolested, and during this same period extraneous clans could be converted either to Islam or to the faith--such as it was--of Mecca; in the following year, also, the Moslems were to be allowed to complete their pilgrimage, but this year they must return unedified and still burdened with their sins. Perhaps Mohammed swallowed this bitter medicine the more readily because previous experience had taught him that treaties were mere scraps of paper; yet he found it excessively irritating to endure the high-handed methods of the noted orator Suheil, ambassador for the Koreish. The Prophet, assuming as a matter of course that he himself should phrase the language of the covenant, began to dictate to Ali, who willingly served as a scribe, in this high-flown manner: “In the name of God, most gracious and merciful”--“Stop!” Suheil abruptly interrupted, “as for God, we know Him; but this new name, we know it not. Say, as we have always said, _In thy name, O God!_” “In thy name, O God,” Mohammed repeated, “These are the conditions of peace between Mohammed the Prophet of God and”--“Stop again!” commanded the imperturbable spokesman. “If thou wert what thou sayest, I had not taken up arms against thee. Write, as the custom is, thine own name and thy father’s name.” “Write, then,” said the amazed but ever tactful Prophet, “between Mohammed son of Abdallah, and Suheil son of Amr....” and so on until the end. The document was then duly witnessed by members of both factions; and Mohammed, firmly resolved to perform at least a modicum of his vows, shaved his head (or cut his hair; historians have not determined the facts about the matter), and, while all the Moslems treated their heads in a similar manner, he directed that the doomed camels should be sacrificed.