Hind submits to Mahound

Hind’s submission to Mahound is staged as a startling reversal: a veiled woman’s excessive worship of the Prophet’s feet first unsettles him, then reveals itself as the act of his long-awaited adversary, Hind. When she declares her submission, Mahound accepts her among his followers, converting a charged encounter into a public sign of the changing order in Jahilia.

The Encounter

As Jahilians bow before Mahound and recite words of allegiance, he notices that someone he has been waiting for has not yet appeared. A veiled woman kneels before him and kisses his feet. Mahound tells her that worship belongs to God alone, but she continues, kissing and sucking each toe and joint, then cupping her hands beneath his heel. The attention is so excessive that it confounds him.

Mahound kicks out in confusion and catches the woman in the throat. She falls and coughs, but then prostrates herself before him and firmly recites the confession of faith, naming Mahound as God’s Prophet. He calms himself, apologizes, offers her his hand, and assures her that those who submit will be spared.

Recognition and Acceptance

The woman throws off her veil and identifies herself as Hind, the wife of Abu Simbel. Her identity clarifies the meaning of the foot-kissing: Mahound understands the anger and bitter irony behind her overwhelming, sensual display of adoration. What had looked like worship was also a pointed performance, and the recognition gives the encounter its tension.

After a long pause, Mahound acknowledges that Hind has submitted and welcomes her into his tents. His response accepts her declaration despite the hostility and irony that have marked the encounter; the scene presents submission as both a spoken allegiance and a change in her place within the new order.

Narrative Significance

Hind’s entrance makes personal allegiance visible amid the Jahilians’ collective conversions. The scene turns on a sequence of reversals: apparent devotion becomes provocation, the woman who unsettles Mahound is revealed as Hind, and the physical stumble is followed by her deliberate declaration of faith. Mahound’s welcome closes the confrontation without erasing its unease, making her submission a politically charged accommodation rather than a simple gesture of reverence.