According to Muhammadan tradition Moses was a black man, as may be seen from the following passages in the Qurʼān. “Now draw thy hand close to thy side: it shall come forth white, but unhurt:—another sign!” (xx. 23). “Then drew he forth his hand, and lo! it was white to the beholders. The nobles of Pharaoh’s people said: ‘Verily this is an expert enchanter’” (vii. 105–6). The following story also, handed down to us from the golden period of the ʻAbbāsid dynasty, is interesting as evidence of Muhammadan feeling with regard to the Negro. Ibrāhīm, a brother of Hārūn al-Rashīd and the son of a negress, had proclaimed himself Caliph at Baghdād, but was defeated and forgiven by al-Maʼmūn, who was then reigning (A.D. 819). He thus describes his interview with the Caliph:—“Al-Maʼmūn said to me on my going to see him after having obtained pardon: ‘Is it thou who art the Negro khalīfah?’ to which I replied:—‘Commander of the faithful! I am he whom thou hast deigned to pardon; and it has been said by the slave of Banuʼl-Ḥasḥās:—“When men extol their worth, the slave of the family of Ḥasḥās can supply, by his verses, the defect of birth and fortune.” Though I be a slave, my soul, through its noble nature, is free; though my body be dark, my mind is fair.’ To this al-Maʼmūn replied: ‘Uncle! a jest of mine has put you in a serious mood.’ He then repeated these verses: ‘Blackness of skin cannot degrade an ingenious mind, or lessen the worth of the scholar and the wit. Let darkness claim the colour of your body: I claim as mine your fair and candid soul.’” [1174]