Asad ibn Rabiya rose and said: 'Why cannot we expulse him from among us and banish him from our country? When he is gone, little we reck where he taketh refuge or what becometh of him. We shall be well rid of him.'--'Truly, a fine piece of advice!' exclaimed the Shaikh of the Najd. 'Know ye nothing about the beauty of your adversary's speech, the charm of his voice and the strength of his arguments? Scarcely will he have set foot among the neighbouring Arab tribes, when he will dominate them by his eloquence, cause them to follow in his wake, and come back from exile at their head, to have his own way with you all! Try and find a more reasonable plan to crush him.' Then it was the turn of Abu Jahal. 'By our gods!' said he, 'I have a project which, I am certain, will satisfy you entirely.'--'Speak! What is thy plan?' exclaimed his audience.--'This is it. In each subdivision of our tribe we'll choose a young, vigorous warrior belonging to a family equally noble and respected, and we'll place in his hand a well-sharpened sword. These young warriors, banded together, shall throw themselves on Mohammad at the same instant; all striking him at once. By acting in this way, the responsibility of shedding his blood will be shared among all the subdivisions to which the murderers belong, and the Abd Manaf, relatives of the dead man, unable to declare war upon every subdivision of our tribe, will be obliged to content themselves with receiving the "Diyah" (blood ransom) that we may be good enough to offer.'--'These are words of intelligence!' exclaimed the Shaikh of the Najd, who was no other than Iblis (Satan) disguised in human shape. 'That man's motion points to the only way out of your difficulty.' This perfidious counsel met with the unanimous approval of the assembly. The Unbelievers flattered themselves that their enemy was already got rid of, but they had reckoned without the will of the Almighty. The angel Jibra'il, sent by Him, warned the Prophet of the conspiracy to take his life, and brought him orders to emigrate in his turn, at the same time warning him as follows: 'Sleep not this night upon thy wonted couch.' In Mohammad's house were several sums of money deposited with him by Unbelievers, and he did not care to go away before having given back what was due to each rightful owner. He charged his faithful Ali to carry this out, after having told him what he had just heard and saying: 'Sleep in my stead, on my habitual couch, and wrap thyself in this--my green mantle of the Hazramaut. Fear naught; no harm can come to thee from my enemies.'