The results, therefore, of the expedition of Al-Hudaibiyah, to all appearances so poor, were of great importance. In the Qur'an, it is set down as being almost equal to the battle of Badr. In fact, at the moment when the Mussulmans thought they ought to attack the Holy City, all of them, whether Makkan Mohadjirun, or Ansars of Al-Madinah, took the oath of fealty without hesitation. After the Prophet's death, the tree under which he accepted the pledge was so celebrated that numerous were the Faithful who came to pray in its shade; and Umar was obliged to have it felled, because he feared lest it became the object of a cult tainted with fetichism. To crown all and complete these results, the following verses came down: "_Well pleased now hath Allah been with the Believers when they plighted fealty to thee under the tree; and He knew what was in their hearts: therefore did He send down upon them a spirit of secure repose, and rewarded them with a speedy victory. * And with the rich booty which they took._" (THE QUR'AN, XLVIII, 18, 19.) [Illustration: (Calligraphy) _Nay rather Allah is your liege lord, and He is the best of helpers._] [Illustration: (Ornamental page) CHAPTER THE SEVENTH] [Illustration: _An Arab Horseman of the Desert._] [Illustration: (Calligraphy) _Verily, We have won for thee an undoubted victory._] CHAPTER THE SEVENTH Mohammad was never able to get the Jews to ally themselves with him, despite all his advances, and the encouragement he had lavished on them. As we have seen already, they could not admit of the expected Prophet belonging to any other race but theirs; nor pardon him for having, by means of religious fraternity, put an end to the secular quarrels of the citizens of Al-Madinah, which, in olden days, had been a source of abundant profit. To sum up, the victories of the Islamic Arabs led the Jews to fear that they would never be able to free themselves from the Arabic yoke. Therefore each fresh success of the Mussulman armies increased the jealousy of the Jews and their perfidy soon degenerated into open hostility, necessitating a long series of expeditions against them. For the sake of clarity, we gather into one chapter the whole of these expeditions, although they took place at long intervals. [Sidenote: EXPEDITION AGAINST THE QAYNUQA JEWS (_Year II of the Hegira A.D. 624_) ] An Arab woman, seated close to the shop belonging to a jeweller of the Qaynuqa Jews, was the victim of a most insulting practical joke. Without her knowing it, someone had hooked the lowest edge of her robe to the part of the apparel covering her shoulders, so that when she rose to her feet, her nakedness was displayed to the gaze of the Jews in the shop, who were all overtaken by a fit of the most indecent hilarity.