So then Mohammad alighted, saying: 'Allah causeth me to set foot on the ground in a blessed spot. Here will be the finest place in which to dwell.' This piece of property was a "marbad," _i.e._ a barn-floor, where dates were laid out to dry. It was situated in the district of the Banu Nijar, not far from the house of Abu Ayyub Ansari who offered hospitality to the Prophet, and took his saddle and saddle-bags to his dwelling. Whilst the Apostle, momentarily freed from the veneration of the populace, was settling under that friendly roof, young people and slaves dispersed in all directions, singing: 'Mohammad hath come! The Prophet of Allah hath come to our town!' Ever since that day, eternally memorable, the city of Yasrib was called, "Madinatu'n-Nabi," the City of the Prophet; and by abbreviation, "Al-Madinah." (Medinah). [Sidenote: HOW THE MOSQUE OF AL-MADINAH WAS BUILT] At Al-Madinah, Mohammad's first care was to erect a Mosque. He sought for the owners of the ground where his she-camel had knelt, and they turned out to be two orphans, named Sahil and Sohail, whose guardian was Muaz ibn Afra. The Prophet asked them how much they wanted for their piece of property. 'Allah's reward is the only price we ask,' was their reply. Mohammad, however, refused the gift. The purchase-money, fixed at ten dinars, was advanced by Abu Bakr, who had transferred all his wealth from Makkah to Al-Madinah. Acting under the Prophet's orders, the Believers lost no time in getting to work. They cleared up the "Marbad," where there were ruined walls, a palm-tree and a few neglected tombs. They levelled the ground and, as soon as the foundations were dug, Mohammad lifted a big stone to place in the cavity, and his noble breast became covered in dust. Seeing this, his companions tried to prevent him from doing manual labour; but he said to Abu Bakr: 'Say no more, but follow my example. Put a stone next to mine.' He then commanded Umar to place another at the side of the one set down by Abu Bakr; and each of the leading Moslems contributed in succession his stone to the structure. When the stone foundations reached up to a third of the eventual height of the walls, the Believers began to knead clay with water, making unbaked bricks, with which they intended to finish the building. The Prophet, as before, continued to encourage his followers by his example, and he carried bricks in his mantle. Seeing one of the workers with a double load on his back, Mohammad wiped his disciple's hair and neck, soiled with clay, and said: 'The reward of the labourer awaits him in heaven, but thou wilt find a double reward.'