At H ome, 0 ,," Tlun 195
returns to rhose who come, or come back, to Him. Revelation reminded
the Prophet: ''\Vhen comes the help of God, and victory, and you see the
people enter God's religion in crowds, celebrate the praises of your Lord,
and pray for His forgiveness, for He is oft-returning [in forgivenessj.,,35
T hose verses expressed the need to return to the One even when peo-
ple seemed at last to recognize the message as true. Since this was an ini-
tiation ro the perpetual struggle against appearances, the Prophet had,
once more, to cope with contradictory tensions, which was the only way
to rranscend the self and reach toward the divine. \'7h.ile crowds were
coming to him from every\vhere, he was asked to return to the solitude of
his heart and pursue his dialogue with the Most Near; while victory was
coming to him in this world, he understood that he had to prepare to
depart, to leave this life, to go home to be near the One. Abdullah ibn
J\bsud was later to say that Revelation of that surah announced the end
of the P rophet's mission and, in effect, his imminent departure.The Farewell PilgrimageD uring the mo nth of Ramadan of that tenth year, the Prophet received
another sign from God. H e told his daughter Facimah about it: "Each
year, the Angel Gabriel recites the Quean to me once, and I recite it to him
once; but this year, he has recited it tv.'ice, and I think this announces my
hour."36 Only one of the five pillars of Islam had not yet been accom-
plished by the P rophet, and the time to prepare for it was approaching. It
was widely announced that the Prophet wouJd lead the next pilgrimage to
Mecca, and in the following weeks, he set out at the head of thirty thou-
sand Medina pilgrims, who were to be joined by three times as many from
all over the Peninsula.
Once in Mecca, he performed the various rites of pilgrimage, explain-
ing to the Companions who were with him that they were thus reviving
their father Abraham's pure, monotheistic worship. The pilgrimage, like
the Prophet's entire life, was a rerurn to the Source, to the Origin: a return
to God, the One, in the footsteps of His prophet Abraham, who had first
built the Kaba, the House of God, to worship the One. The Companions
observed evety gesrure done by the P rophet, who was, in effect, most pre-
cisely establishing the rirual of pilgrimage: he had told them, "Take your