The community grew stronger throughout the years and turned into a military and political force to be reckoned with. However, the environment was nowhere as hostile as in Mecca, so Muhammad and his followers established the first organized Muslim community there, giving Yathrib its current name, the City of Light (al-Madinah al-Munawwarah, or Medina for short). Yathrib was a mixed pagan Arab-Jewish city, and there was some opposition regarding Muhammad settling there. When the threat of Muhammad's life was at stake, he and his followers emigrated again, this time to Yathrib, a city several hundred of kilometers north of Mecca. He and his followers had previously emigrated in search of safety to Abyssinia, but returned to Mecca a few years afterward. As a result, when the two died within the same year, opposition to the prophet became more and more pronounced. Politically, Muhammad was protected by Abu Talib (though he would remain pagan until his death), while Khadijah provided his finances. A few believed his words, but most were either ambivalent or hostile, regarding them as affront to their pagan faith. With the words of God at hand, Muhammad began preaching to the people of Mecca, confirming his status as the last of the prophets, decrying their corruption and idolatry, and stressed that only belief in God and doing good deeds in His name would give them peace in life and death. Gabriel would continue to deliver other verses of the Qur'an until Muhammad's death 23 years later, in time to serve the needs of the people, places, and times. Khadijah was the first person to believe his words, followed by Ali ibn Abu Talib, his cousin. While he was spending a night at Jabal al-Nour, a hill outside Mecca, the angel Gabriel descended to him and delivered the first five verses of the Qur'an. Muhammad received the first confirmation of his prophethood, as well as the first message from God, at the age of 40. Muhammad was monogamously married to Khadijah until her death, and she gave birth to the prophet's only child to produce a lineage that survives to this day, Fatimah. Impressed by his conduct, Khadijah proposed to Muhammad and was accepted. One of the merchants employing him was a successful businesswoman named Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. As he grew older, Muhammad worked as a trader on behalf of merchants and became well-known for his honesty. One day, when he brought Muhammad to one of these trips, the two met a Christian priest, who prophesied about Muhammad's prophethood. Abu Talib was chief of Banu Hashim, one of the many clans that formed the Quraysh tribe of Mecca, and conducted frequent trips abroad.