Bester, Alfred. "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed"
Divergence: 610 CE
Summary: Due to his wife's infidelity, a Mad Scientist repeatedly goes back in time to prevent her existence but can only affect his "personal" timeline.
Published: In The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1958; Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 8 (ed. Anthony Boucher), Doubleday 1959; The Dark Side of the Earth, Signet 1964; The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy (ed. Christopher Cerf), Vintage 1966; Voyagers in Time: Twelve Stories of Science Fiction (ed. Robert Silverberg), Meredith 1967, Bart 1989 (1557850976); As Tomorrow Becomes Today (ed. Charles W. Sullivan), Prentice-Hall 1974 (0130500399, 0130500216); Cosmic Laughter: Science Fiction for the Fun of It (ed. Joe Haldeman), Holt, Rinehart & Winston 1974 (0030069319); Starlight: The Arbor House Treasury of Science Fiction Masterpieces (eds. Robert Silverberg and Martin H. Greenberg), Arbor House 1983 (0877954453); The World Treasury of Science Fiction (ed. David G. Hartwell), Little, Brown 1989 (0316349410), QPBC 1989; Virtual Unrealities: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester, Vintage 1997 (0679767835BUY); Timescapes: Stories of Time Travel (ed. Peter Haining), Souvenir 1997 (0285633872); and One Lamp: The Best Alternate History Stories from F&SF (ed. Gordon Van Gelder), q.v.
Original in: English.
Translation: French by P.J. Izabelle as "L'homme qui tua Mahomet", in Histoire à rebours, Livre de Poche 1976 (2253008354).
Translation: German by Alfred Joseph as "Die Mörder Mohammeds", in Die Fußangeln der Zeit (eds. Karl Michael Armer and Wolfgang Jeschke), Heyne 1984 (3453310195).
Translation: Italian by Hilja Brinis as "L'uomo che uccise Maometto", in Metà A, metà B (as by Isaac Asimov and Alfred Bester), Mondadori 1967; and L'uomo disintegrato e tutti i racconti (1950-1980), Mondadori 1985.
Translation: Italian by Roberta Rambelli as "Gli uomini che assassinarono Maometto", in Stella della sera, Nord 1978 (8842906174).
Translation: Portuguese by Eduardo Saló as "Os Assassinos de Maomé", in Viajantes no Tempo (ed. Robert Silverberg), Panorama 1967.
Translation: Spanish by M. Figueroa as "Hombres que mataron a Mahoma", in Minotauro #1; Tiempo no es tan simple (ed. unknown), Producciones editoriales 1976; and Axxón #20 (May 1991).
Translation: Spanish by José M. Álvarez Flórez as "Los hombres que asesinaron a Mahoma", in El lado oscuro de la Tierra (José M. Álvarez Flórez), Dronte 1976; and La fantástica luz (ed. José M. Álvarez Flórez), Torema 1984 (848595887X).
Translation: Spanish by Pedro Alcántara as "Hombre que asesinó a Mahoma", in Bucanero #6 (December 1997).
Translation: Spanish by Pedro Jorge Romero as "Los hombres que asesinaron a Mahoma", in Cronopaisajes: Historias de Viajes en el Tiempo (eds. Peter Haining and Miquel Barceló), Ediciones B 2003 (8466611274).
Awards: Nominee: 1959 Hugo for best short story.