Chapter 25

111Iyás b. Qabíṣa succeeded Nu‘mán III as ruler of Ḥíra (602-611a.d.). He belonged to the tribe of Ṭayyi’. See Rothstein,Laẖmiden, p. 119.

112I readyatafaḍḍaluforyanfaṣilu. The arrangement which the former word denotes is explained in Lane's Dictionary as "the throwing a portion of one's garment over his left shoulder, and drawing its extremity under his right arm, and tying the two extremities together in a knot upon his bosom."

113Thefanakis properly a kind of white stoat or weasel found in Abyssinia and northern Africa, but the name is also applied by Muḥammadans to other furs.

114Aghání, xvi, 15, ll. 22-30. So far as it purports to proceed from Ḥassán, the passage is apocryphal, but this does not seriously affect its value as evidence, if we consider that it is probably compiled from the poet'sdíwánin which the Ghassánids are often spoken of. The particular reference to Jabala b. al-Ayham is a mistake. Ḥassán's acquaintance with the Ghassánids belongs to the pagan period of his life, and he is known to have accepted Islam many years before Jabala began to reign.

115Nábigha, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 78; Nöldeke'sDelectus, p. 96. The whole poem has been translated by Sir Charles Lyall in hisAncient Arabian Poetry, p. 95 sqq.

116Thorbecke,‘Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter, p. 14.

117The following narrative is an abridgment of the history of the War of Basús as related in Tibrízí's commentary on theḤamása(ed. by Freytag), pp. 420-423 and 251-255. Cf. Nöldeke'sDelectus, p. 39 sqq.

118See p. 5supra.

119Wá’il is the common ancestor of Bakr and Taghlib. For the use of stones (anṣáb) in the worship of the Pagan Arabs see Wellhausen,Reste Arabischen Heidentums(2nd ed.), p. 101 sqq. Robertson Smith,Lectures on the Religion of the Semites(London, 1894), p. 200 sqq.

120Ḥamása, 422, 14 sqq. Nöldeke'sDelectus, p. 39, last line and foll.

121Ḥamása, 423, 11 sqq. Nöldeke'sDelectus, p. 41, l. 3 sqq.

122Ḥamása, 252, 8 seq. Nöldeke'sDelectus, p. 44, l. 3 seq.

123Hind is the mother of Bakr and Taghlib. Here the Banú Hind (Sons of Hind) are the Taghlibites.

124Ḥamása, 9, 17 seq. Nöldeke'sDelectus, p. 45, l. 10 sqq.

125Ḥamása, 252, 14 seq. Nöldeke'sDelectus, p. 46, l. 16 sqq.

126Ḥamása, 254, 6 seq. Nöldeke'sDelectus, p. 47, l. 2 seq.

127Ḥamása, 96. Ibn Nubáta, cited by Rasmussen,Additamenta ad Historiam Arabum ante Islamismum, p. 34, remarks that before Qays no one had ever lamented a foe slain by himself (wa-huwa awwalu man rathá maqtúlahu).

128Ibn Hishám, p. 51, l. 7 sqq.

129In the account of Abraha's invasion given below I have followed Ṭabarí, i, 936, 9-945, 19 = Nöldeke's translation, pp. 206-220.

130I readḥilálak. See Glossary to Ṭabarí.

131Ṭabarí, i, 940, 13.

132Another version says: "Whenever a man was struck sores and pustules broke out on that part of his body. This was the first appearance of the small-pox" (Ṭabarí, i, 945, 2 sqq.). Here we have the historical fact—an outbreak of pestilence in the Abyssinian army—which gave rise to the legend related above.

133There is trustworthy evidence that Abraha continued to rule Yemen for some time after his defeat.

134Ibn Hishám, p. 38, l. 14 sqq.

135Ibid., p. 40, l. 12 sqq.

136See pp. 48-49supra.

137Full details are given by Ṭabarí,I, 1016-1037 = Nöldeke's translation, pp. 311-345.

138A poet speaks of three thousand Arabs and two thousand Persians (Ṭabarí,I, 1036, 5-6).

139Ibn Rashíq in Suyúṭí's Muzhir (Buláq, 1282a.h.), Part II, p. 236, l. 22 sqq. I quote the translation of Sir Charles Lyall in the Introduction to hisAncient Arabian Poetry, p. 17, a most admirable work which should be placed in the hands of every one who is beginning the study of this difficult subject.

140Freytag,Arabum Proverbia, vol. ii, p. 494.

141Numb. xxi, 17. Such well-songs are still sung in the Syrian desert (see Enno Littmann,Neuarabische Volkspoesie, inAbhand. der Kön. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse, Göttingen, 1901), p. 92. In a specimen cited at p. 81 we find the wordswitla yā dlêwēna—i.e., "Rise, O bucket!" several times repeated.

142Goldziher,Ueber die Vorgeschichte der Higâ-Poesiein hisAbhand. zur Arab. Philologie, Part I (Leyden, 1896), p. 26.

143Cf.the story of Balak and Balaam, with Goldziher's remarks thereon,ibid., p. 42 seq.

144Ibid., p. 46 seq.

145Rajazprimarily means "a tremor (which is a symptom of disease) in the hind-quarters of a camel." This suggested to Dr. G. Jacob his interesting theory that the Arabian metres arose out of the camel-driver's song (ḥidá) in harmony with the varying paces of the animal which he rode (Studien in arabischen Dichtern, Heft III, p. 179 sqq.).

146The Arabic verse (bayt) consists of two halves or hemistichs (miṣrá‘). It is generally convenient to use the word 'line' as a translation ofmiṣrá‘, but the reader must understand that the 'line' is not, as in English poetry, an independent unit.Rajazis the sole exception to this rule, there being here no division into hemistichs, but each line (verse) forming an unbroken whole and rhyming with that which precedes it.

147In Arabic 'al-bayt,' the tent, which is here used figuratively for the grave.

148Ibn Qutayba,Kitábu ’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará, p. 36, l. 3 sqq.

149Already in the sixth centurya.d.the poet ‘Antara complains that his predecessors have left nothing new for him to say (Mu‘allaqa, v. 1).

150Ancient Arabian Poetry, Introduction, p. xvi.

151Qaṣídais explained by Arabian lexicographers to mean a poem with an artistic purpose, but they differ as to the precise sense in which 'purpose' is to be understood. Modern critics are equally at variance. Jacob (Stud. in Arab. Dichtern, Heft III, p. 203) would derive the word from the principal motive of these poems, namely, to gain a rich reward in return for praise and flattery. Ahlwardt (Bemerkungen über die Aechtheit der alten Arab. Gedichte, p. 24 seq.) connects it withqaṣada, to break, "because it consists of verses, every one of which is divided into two halves, with a common end-rhyme: thus the whole poem isbroken, as it were, into two halves;" while in theRajazverses, as we have seen (p. 74supra), there is no such break.

152Kitábu ’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará, p. 14, l. 10 sqq.

153Nöldeke (Fūnf Mo‘allaqát, i, p. 3 sqq.) makes the curious observation, which illustrates the highly artificial character of this poetry, that certain animals well known to the Arabs (e.g., the panther, the jerboa, and the hare) are seldom mentioned and scarcely ever described, apparently for no reason except that they were not included in the conventional repertory.

154Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 83.

155Verses 3-13. I have attempted to imitate the 'Long' (Ṭawíl) metre of the original, viz.:—The Arabic text of theLámiyya, with prose translation and commentary, is printed in De Sacy'sChrestomathie Arabe(2nd. ed.), vol. iie, p. 134 sqq., and vol. ii, p. 337 sqq. It has been translated into English verse by G. Hughes (London, 1896). Other versions are mentioned by Nöldeke,Beiträge zur Kenntniss d. Poesie d. alten Araber, p. 200.

155Verses 3-13. I have attempted to imitate the 'Long' (Ṭawíl) metre of the original, viz.:—

The Arabic text of theLámiyya, with prose translation and commentary, is printed in De Sacy'sChrestomathie Arabe(2nd. ed.), vol. iie, p. 134 sqq., and vol. ii, p. 337 sqq. It has been translated into English verse by G. Hughes (London, 1896). Other versions are mentioned by Nöldeke,Beiträge zur Kenntniss d. Poesie d. alten Araber, p. 200.

156The poet, apparently, means that his three friends arelikethe animals mentioned. Prof. Bevan remarks, however, that this interpretation is doubtful, since an Arab would scarcely compare hisfriendto a hyena.

157Ḥamása, 242.

158Ḥamása, 41-43. This poem has been rendered in verse by Sir Charles Lyall,Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 16, and by the late Dr. A. B. Davidson,Biblical and Literary Essays, p. 263.

159Mahaffy,Social Life in Greece, p. 21.

160See pp. 59-60supra.

161Ḥamása, 82-83. The poet is ‘Amr b. Ma‘díkarib, a famous heathen knight who accepted Islam and afterwards distinguished himself in the Persian wars.

162Al-Afwah al-Awdí in Nöldeke'sDelectus, p. 4, ll. 8-10. The poles and pegs represent lords and commons.

163Ḥamása, 122.

164Ibid., 378.

165Cf. the verses by al-Find, p. 58supra.

166Ḥamása, 327.

167Imru’u ’l-Qays was one of the princes of Kinda, a powerful tribe in Central Arabia.

168Aghání, xix, 99. The last two lines are wanting in the poem as there cited, but appear in the Selection from the Aghání published at Beyrout in 1888, vol. ii, p. 18.

169See p. 45 sqq.

170Aghání, xvi, 98, ll. 5-22.

171Aghání, xvi, 97, l. 5 sqq.

172HisDíwánhas been edited with translation and notes by F. Schulthess (Leipzig, 1897).

173Ḥamása, 729. The hero mentioned in the first verse is ‘Ámir b. Uḥaymir of Bahdala. On a certain occasion, when envoys from the Arabian tribes were assembled at Ḥíra, King Mundhir b. Má’ al-samá produced two pieces of cloth of Yemen and said, "Let him whose tribe is noblest rise up and take them." Thereupon ‘Ámir stood forth, and wrapping one piece round his waist and the other over his shoulders, carried off the prize unchallenged.

174Lady Anne and Mr. Wilfrid Blunt,The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan Arabia, Introduction, p. 14.

175Aghánixvi, 22, ll. 10-16.

176Agháni, xviii, 137, ll. 5-10. Freytag,Arabum Proverbia, vol. ii, p. 834.

177Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 81.

178Mufaḍḍaliyyát, ed. Thorbecke, p. 23.

179See Goldziher,Muhammedanische Studien, Part II, p. 295 sqq.

180Koran, xvi, 59-61.

181Freytag,Arabum Proverbia, vol. i, p. 229.

182Koran, xvii, 33. Cf. lxxxi, 8-9 (a description of the Last Judgment): "When the girl buried alive shall be asked for what crime she was killed."

183Literally: "And tear the veil from (her, as though she were) flesh on a butcher's board,"i.e., defenceless, abandoned to the first-comer.

184Ḥamása, 140. Although these verses are not Pre-islamic, and belong in fact to a comparatively late period of Islam, they are sufficiently pagan in feeling to be cited in this connection. The author, Isḥáq b. Khalaf, lived under the Caliph Ma’mún (813-833a.d.). He survived his adopted daughter—for Umayma was his sister's child—and wrote an elegy on her, which is preserved in theKámilof al-Mubarrad, p. 715, l. 7 sqq., and has been translated, together with the verses now in question, by Sir Charles Lyall,Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 26.

185Ḥamása, 142. Lyall,op. cit., p. 28.

186Ḥamása, 7.

187Ḥamása, 321.

188See p. 55 sqq.

189Cf. Rückert'sHamâsa, vol. i, p. 61 seq.

190Ḥamása, 30.

191Aghání, ii, 160, l. 11-162, l. 1 = p. 13 sqq. of the Beyrout Selection.

192The Bedouins consider that any one who has eaten of their food or has touched the rope of their tent is entitled to claim their protection. Such a person is calleddakhíl. See Burckhardt,Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys(London, 1831), vol. i, p. 160 sqq. and 329 sqq.

193See p. 81supra.

194Stuttgart, 1819, p. 253 sqq. The other renderings in verse with which I am acquainted are those of Rückert (Hamâsa, vol. i, p. 299) and Sir Charles Lyall (Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 48). I have adopted Sir Charles Lyall's arrangement of the poem, and have closely followed his masterly interpretation, from which I have also borrowed some turns of phrase that could not be altered except for the worse.

195The Arabic text will be found in theHamása, p. 382 sqq.

196This and the following verse are generally taken to be a description not of the poet himself, but of his nephew. The interpretation given above does no violence to the language, and greatly enhances the dramatic effect.

197In the original this and the preceding verse are transposed.

198Although the poet's uncle was killed in this onslaught, the surprised party suffered severely. "The two clans" belonged to the great tribe of Hudhayl, which is mentioned in the penultimate verse.

199It was customary for the avenger to take a solemn vow that he would drink no wine before accomplishing his vengeance.

200Ḥamása, 679.

201Cf.the lines translated below from theMu‘allaqaof Ḥárith.

202The best edition of theMu‘allaqátis Sir Charles Lyall's (A Commentary on Ten Ancient Arabic Poems, Calcutta, 1894), which contains in addition to the sevenMu‘allaqátthree odes by A‘shá, Nábigha, and ‘Abíd b. al-Abraṣ. Nöldeke has translated five Mu‘allaqas (omitting those of Imru’ u’ l-Qays and Ṭarafa) with a German commentary,Sitzungsberichte der Kais. Akad. der Wissenschaften in Wien,Phil.-Histor. Klasse, vols. 140-144 (1899-1901); this is by far the best translation for students. No satisfactory version in English prose has hitherto appeared, but I may call attention to the fine and original, though somewhat free, rendering into English verse by Lady Anne Blunt and Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan Arabia, London, 1903).

203Ancient Arabian Poetry, Introduction, p. xliv. Many other interpretations have been suggested—e.g., 'The Poems written down from oral dictation' (Von Kremer), 'The richly bejewelled' (Ahlwardt), 'The Pendants,' as though they were pearls strung on a necklace (A. Müller).

204The belief that theMu‘allaqátwere written in letters of gold seems to have arisen from a misunderstanding of the nameMudhhabátorMudhahhabát(i.e., the Gilded Poems) which is sometimes given to them in token of their excellence, just as the Greeks gave the title χρύσεα ἔπη to a poem falsely attributed to Pythagoras. That some of theMu‘allaqátwere recited at ‘Ukáẓ is probable enough and is definitely affirmed in the case of ‘Amr b. Kulthúm (Aghání, ix, 182).

205The legend first appears in the‘Iqd al-Faríd(ed. of Cairo, 1293a.h., vol. iii, p, 116 seq.) of Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi, who died in 940a.d.

206See the Introduction to Nöldeke'sBeiträge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber(Hannover, 1864), p. xvii sqq., and his article 'Mo‘allaḳḳát' in theEncyclopædia Britannica.

207It is well known that the order of the verses in theMu‘allaqát, as they have come down to us, is frequently confused, and that the number of various readings is very large. I have generally followed the text and arrangement adopted by Nöldeke in his German translation.

208See p. 42supra.

209Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 105.

210See the account of his life (according to theKitábu’ l-Aghání) inLe Diwan d'Amro’lkaïs, edited with translation and notes by Baron MacGuckin de Slane (Paris, 1837), pp. 1-51; and inAmrilkais, der Dichter und Königby Friedrich Rückert (Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1843).

211That he was not, however, the inventor of the Arabianqaṣídaas described above (p. 76 sqq.) appears from the fact that he mentions in one of his verses a certain Ibn Ḥumám or Ibn Khidhám who introduced, or at least made fashionable, the prelude with which almost every ode begins: a lament over the deserted camping-ground (Ibn Qutayba,K. al-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará, p. 52).

212The following lines are translated from Arnold's edition of theMu‘allaqát(Leipsic, 1850), p. 9 sqq., vv. 18-35.

213The native commentators are probably right in attributing this and the three preceding verses (48-51 in Arnold's edition) to the brigand-poet, Ta’abbaṭa Sharran.

214We have already (p. 39) referred to the culture of the Christian Arabs of Ḥíra.

215Vv. 54-59 (Lyall); 56-61 (Arnold).

216See Nöldeke,Fünf Mu‘allaqát, i, p. 51 seq. According to the traditional version (Aghání, ix, 179), a band of Taghlibites went raiding, lost their way in the desert, and perished of thirst, having been refused water by a sept of the Banú Bakr. Thereupon Taghlib appealed to King ‘Amr to enforce payment of the blood-money which they claimed, and chose ‘Amr b. Kulthúm to plead their cause at Ḥíra. So ‘Amr recited hisMu‘allaqabefore the king, and was answered by Ḥárith on behalf of Bakr.

217Freytag,Arabum Proverbia, vol. ii, p. 233.

218Aghání, ix, 182.

219Vv. 1-8 (Arnold); in Lyall's edition the penultimate verse is omitted.

220Vv. 15-18 (Lyall); 19-22 (Arnold).

221The Arabs use the termkunyato denote this familiar style of address in which a person is called, not by his own name, but 'father of So-and-so' (either a son or, as in the present instance, a daughter).

222I.e., even thejinn(genies) stand in awe of us.

223Here Ma‘add signifies the Arabs in general.

224Vv. 20-30 (Lyall), omitting vv. 22, 27, 28.

225This is a figurative way of saying that Taghlib has never been subdued.

226Vv. 46-51 (Lyall), omitting v. 48.

227I.e., we will show our enemies that they cannot defy us with impunity. This verse, the 93rd in Lyall's edition, is omitted by Arnold.

228Vv. 94-104 (Arnold), omitting vv. 100 and 101. If the last words are anything more than a poetic fiction, 'the sea' must refer to the River Euphrates.

229Vv. 16-18.

230Vv. 23-26.

231A place in the neighbourhood of Mecca.

232Vv. 40-42 (Lyall); 65-67 (Arnold).

233See‘Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter, by H. Thorbecke (Leipzig, 1867).

234I have taken some liberties in this rendering, as the reader may see by referring to the verses (44 and 47-52 in Lyall's edition) on which it is based.

235Ghayẓ b. Murra was a descendant of Dhubyán and the ancestor of Harim and Ḥárith.

236The Ka‘ba.

237This refers to the religious circumambulation (ṭawáf).

238Vv. 16-19 (Lyall).

239There is no reason to doubt the genuineness of this passage, which affords evidence of the diffusion of Jewish and Christian ideas in pagan Arabia. Ibn Qutayba observes that these verses indicate the poet's belief in the Resurrection (K. al-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará, p. 58, l. 12).

240Vv. 27-31.

241The order of these verses in Lyall's edition is as follows: 56, 57, 54, 50, 55, 53, 49, 47, 48, 52, 58.

242Reference has been made above to the old Arabian belief that poets owed their inspiration to thejinn(genii), who are sometimes calledshayátín(satans). See Goldziher,Abhand. zur arab. Philologie, Part I, pp. 1-14.

243Vv. 1-10 (Lyall), omitting v. 5.

244Vv. 55-60 (Lyall).

245The termnábighais applied to a poet whose genius is slow in declaring itself but at last "jets forth vigorously and abundantly" (nabagha).

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