FOOTNOTES:

102.Exposé de la Religion des Druzes, by Silvestre de Sacy, 2 vols. (Paris, 1838).

103.The Mystics of Islam, by R. A. Nicholson (London, 1914).

104.The Religious Attitude and Life in Islam, by D. B. Macdonald (Chicago, 1909).

105.Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique musulmane, by L. Massignon (Paris, 1922).

106.La Passion d'al-Halláj, by L. Massignon, 2 vols. (Paris, 1922).

107.Al-Ḳuschairîs Darstellung des Ṣûfîtums, by Richard Hartmann (Berlin, 1914).

108.Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-‘Arabī, by H. S. Nyberg (Leiden, 1919).

109.Studies in Islamic Mysticism, by R. A. Nicholson (Cambridge, 1921).

110.The Idea of Personality in Ṣúfism, by R. A. Nicholson (Cambridge, 1923).

111.The Dervishes or Oriental Spiritualism, by John P. Brown, ed. by H. A. Rose (London, 1927).

112.Les Confréries religieuses musulmanes, by O. Depont and X. Coppolani (Algiers, 1897).

113.Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne jusqu'à la conquête de l'Andalusie par les Almoravides(711-1110a.d.), by R. Dozy, 4 vols. (Leyden, 1861). Translated into English under the titleSpanish Islamby F. G. Stokes (London, 1913).

114.History of the Moorish Empire in Europe, by S. P. Scott, 3 vols. (New York, 1904).

115.The Moriscos of Spain, their conversion and expulsion, by H. C. Lea (Philadelphia, 1901).

116.History of the Mohammedan dynasties of Spain, translated from theNafḥ al-Ṭíbof Maqqarí by Pascual de Gayangos, 2 vols. (London, Oriental Translation Fund, 1840-43).

117.The History of the Almohades, by ‘Abdu ’l-Wáḥid al-Marrákoshí, translated by E. Fagnan (Algiers, 1893).

118.Recherches sur l'histoire et la littérature de l'Espagne pendant le moyen âge, by R. Dozy, 2 vols. (3rd ed., Leyden, 1881).

119.Poesie und Kunst der Araber in Spanien und Sicilien, by A. F. von Schack, 2 vols. (2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1877).

120.Moorish remains in Spain, by A. F. Calvert (London, 1905).

121.Storia dei musulmani di Sicilia, by M. Amari (Firenze, 1854-72). A revised edition is in course of publication.

122.Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks de l'Égypte, écrite en arabe par Taki-eddin Ahmed Makrizi, traduite en français ... parM. Quatremère, 2 vols. (Oriental Translation Fund, 1845).

123.The Mameluke or Slave dynasty of Egypt, by Sir W. Muir (London, 1896).

124.Histoire de Bagdad depuis la domination des Khans mongols jusqu'au massacre des Mamlouks, by C. Huart (Paris, 1901).

125.History of the Egyptian revolution from the period of the Mamelukes to the death of Mohammed Ali, by A. A. Paton, 2 vols. (London, 1870).

126.The Shaikhs of Morocco in the XVIthcentury, by T. H. Weir (Edinburgh, 1904).

127.The Arabic Press of Egypt, by M. Hartmann (London, 1899).

128.Neuarabische Volkspoesie gesammelt und uebersetzt, by Enno Littmann (Berlin, 1902).

1H. Grimme,Weltgeschichte in Karakterbildern: Mohammed(Munich, 1904), p. 6 sqq.

2Cf.Nöldeke,Die Semitischen Sprachen(Leipzig, 1899), or the same scholar's article, 'Semitic Languages,' in theEncyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition. Renan'sHistoire générale des langues sémitiques(1855) is now antiquated. An interesting essay on the importance of the Semites in the history of civilisation was published by F. Hommel as an introduction to hisSemitischen Völker und Sprachen, vol. i (Leipzig, 1883). The dates in this table are of course only approximate.

3Ibn Qutayba,Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árij, ed. by Wüstenfeld, p. 18.

4Full information concerning the genealogy of the Arabs will be found in Wüstenfeld'sGenealogische Tabellen der Arabischen Stämme und Familienwith its excellentRegister(Göttingen, 1852-1853).

5The tribes Ḍabba, Tamím, Khuzayma, Hudhayl, Asad, Kinána, and Quraysh together formed a group which is known as Khindif, and is often distinguished from Qays ‘Aylán.

6Goldziher,Muhammedanische Studien, Part I, p. 133 sqq., 177 sqq.

7Nöldeke inZ.D.M.G., vol. 40, p. 177.

8See Margoliouth,Mohammed and the Rise of Islam, p. 4.

9Concerning the nature and causes of this antagonism see Goldziher,op. cit., Part I, p. 78 sqq.

10The word 'Arabic' is always to be understood in this sense wherever it occurs in the following pages.

11First published by Sachau inMonatsberichte der Kön. Preuss. Akad. der Wissenschaften zu Berlin(February, 1881), p. 169 sqq.

12See De Vogüé,Syrie Centrale, Inscriptions Sémitiques, p. 117. Other references are given inZ.D.M.G., vol. 35, p. 749.

13On this subject the reader may consult Goldziher.Muhammedanische Studien, Part I, p. 110 sqq.

14Professor Margoliouth inF.R.A.S.for 1905, p. 418

15Nöldeke,Die Semitischen Sprachen, p. 36 sqq. and p. 51.

16Journal Asiatique(March, 1835), p. 209 sqq.

17Strictly speaking, theJáhiliyyaincludes the whole time between Adam and Muḥammad, but in a narrower sense it may be used, as here, to denote the Pre-islamic period of Arabic Literature.

18Die Namen der Säugethiere bei den Südsemitischen Völkern, p. 343 seq.

19Iramu Dhátu ’l-‘Imád(Koran, lxxxix, 6). The sense of these words is much disputed. See especially Ṭabarí's explanation in his great commentary on the Koran (O. Loth inZ.D.M.G., vol. 35, p. 626 sqq.).

20I have abridged Ṭabarí,Annals, i, 231 sqq.Cf.also chapters vii, xi, xxvi, and xlvi of the Koran.

21Koran, xi, 56-57.

22See Doughty'sDocuments Epigraphiques recueillis dans le nord de l'Arabie, p. 12 sqq.

23Koran, vii, 76.

24Properly Saba’ withhamza, both syllables being short.

25The oldest record of Saba to which a date can be assigned is found in the Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions. We read in the Annals of King Sargon (715b.c.), "I received the tribute of Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, of Shamsiyya, the Queen of Arabia, of Ithamara the Sabæan—gold, spices, slaves, horses, and camels." Ithamara is identical with Yatha‘amar, a name borne by several kings of Saba.

26A. Müller,Der Islam im Morgen und Abendland, vol. i, p. 24 seq.

27Nöldeke, however, declares the traditions which represent Kulayb as leading the Rabí‘a clans to battle against the combined strength of Yemen to be entirely unhistorical (Fünf Mo‘allaqát, i, 44).

28Op. cit., p. 94 seq. An excellent account of the progress made in discovering and deciphering the South Arabic inscriptions down to the year 1841 is given by Rödiger,Excurs ueber himjaritische Inschriften, in his German translation of Wellsted'sTravels in Arabia, vol. ii, p. 368 sqq.

29Seetzen's inscriptions were published inFundgruben des Orients, vol. ii (Vienna, 1811), p. 282 sqq. The one mentioned above was afterwards deciphered and explained by Mordtmann in theZ.D.M.G., vol. 31, p. 89 seq.

30The oldest inscriptions, however, run from left to right and from right to left alternately (βουστρορηδόν).

31Notiz ueber die himjaritische Schrift nebst doppeltem Alphabet derselbeninZeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, vol. i (Göttingen, 1837), p. 332 sqq.

32See Arnaud'sRelation d'un voyage à Mareb (Saba) dans l'Arabie méridionalein theJournal Asiatique, 4th series, vol. v (1845), p. 211 sqq. and p. 309 sqq.

33SeeRapport sur une mission archéologique dans le Yémenin theJournal Asiatique, 6th series, vol. xix (1872), pp. 5-98, 129-266, 489-547.

34See D. H. Müller,Die Burgen und Schlösser SüdarabiensinS.B.W.A., vol. 97, p. 981 sqq.

35The titleMukarribcombines the significations of prince and priest.

36Goldziher,Muhammedanische Studien, Part I, p. 3.

37See F. Prætorius,Unsterblichkeitsglaube und Heiligenverehrung bei den HimyareninZ.D.M.G., vol. 27, p. 645. Hubert Grimme has given an interesting sketch of the religious ideas and customs of the Southern Arabs inWeltgeschichte in Karakterbildern: Mohammed(Munich, 1904), p. 29 sqq.

38Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archæology, vol. 5, p. 409.

39This table of contents is quoted by D. H. Müller (Südarabische Studien, p. 108, n. 2) from the title-page of the British Museum MS. of the eighth book of theIklíl. No complete copy of the work is known to exist, but considerable portions of it are preserved in the British Museum and in the Berlin Royal Library.

40The poet ‘Alqama b. Dhí Jadan, whose verses are often cited in the commentary on the 'Ḥimyarite Ode.'

41Die Himjarische Kasidehherausgegeben und übersetzt von Alfred von Kremer (Leipzig, 1865).The Lay of the Himyarites, by W. F. Prideaux (Sehore, 1879).

42Nashwán was a philologist of some repute. His great dictionary, theShamsu ’l-‘Ulúm, is a valuable aid to those engaged in the study of South Arabian antiquities. It has been used by D. H. Müller to fix the correct spelling of proper names which occur in the Ḥimyarite Ode (Z.D.M.G., vol. 29, p. 620 sqq.;Südarabische Studien, p. 143 sqq.).

43Fihrist, p. 89, l. 26.

44Murúju ’l-Dhahab, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv, p. 89.

45Von Kremer,Die Südarabische Sage, p. 56. Possibly, as he suggests (p. 115), the story may be a symbolical expression of the fact that the Sabæans were divided into two great tribes, Ḥimyar and Kahlán, the former of which held the chief power.

46Cf.Koran xxxiv, 14 sqq. The existing ruins have been described by Arnaud in theJournal Asiatique, 7th series, vol. 3 (1874), p. 3 sqq.

47I follow Mas‘údí,Murúju ’l-Dhahab(ed. by Barbier de Meynard), vol. iii, p. 378 sqq., and Nuwayrí in Reiske'sPrimæ lineæ Historiæ Rerum Arabicarum, p. 166 sqq.

48The story of the migration from Ma’rib, as related below, may have some historical basis, but the Dam itself was not finally destroyed until long afterwards. Inscriptions carved on the existing ruins show that it was more or less in working order down to the middle of the sixth centurya.d.The first recorded flood took place in 447-450, and on another occasion (in 539-542) the Dam was partially reconstructed by Abraha, the Abyssinian viceroy of Yemen. See E. Glaser,Zwei Inschriften über den Dammbruch von Mârib(Mitteilungen der Vorderastatischen Gesellschaft, 1897, 6).

49He is said to have gained this sobriquet from his custom of tearing to pieces (mazaqa) every night the robe which he had worn during the day.

50Freytag,Arabum Proverbia, vol. i, p. 497.

51Hamdání,Iklíl, bk. viii, edited by D. H. Müller inS.B.W.A.(Vienna, 1881), vol. 97, p. 1037. The verses are quoted with some textual differences by Yáqút,Mu‘jam al-Buldán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, vol. iv, 387, and Ibn Hishám, p. 9.

52The following inscription is engraved on one of the stone cylinders described by Arnaud. "Yatha‘amar Bayyin, son of Samah‘alí Yanúf, Prince of Saba, caused the mountain Balaq to be pierced and erected the flood-gates (called) Raḥab for convenience of irrigation." I translate after D. H. Müller,loc. laud., p. 965.

53The wordsḤimyarandTubba‘do not occur at all in the older inscriptions, and very seldom even in those of a more recent date.

54See Koran, xviii, 82-98.

55Dhu ’l-Qarnayn is described as "the measurer of the earth" (Massáḥu ’l-arḍ) by Hamdání,Jazíratu ’l-‘Arab, p. 46, l. 10. If I may step for a moment outside the province of literary history to discuss the mythology of these verses, it seems to me more than probable that Dhu ’l-Qarnayn is a personification of the Sabæan divinity ‘Athtar, who represents "sweet Hesper-Phosphor, double name" (see D. H. Müller inS.B.W.A., vol. 97, p. 973 seq.). The Minæan inscriptions have "‘Athtar of the setting and ‘Athtar of the rising" (ibid., p. 1033). Moreover, in the older inscriptions ‘Athtar and Almaqa are always mentioned together; and Almaqa, which according to Hamdání is the name of Venus (al-Zuhara), was identified by Arabian archæologists with Bilqís. Forqarnin the sense of 'ray' or 'beam' see Goldziher,Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie, Part I, p. 114. I think there is little doubt that Dhu ’l-Qarnayn and Bilqís may be added to the examples (ibid., p. 111 sqq.) of that peculiar conversion by which many heathen deities were enabled to maintain themselves under various disguises within the pale of Islam.

56The Arabic text will be found in Von Kremer'sAltarabische Gedichte ueber die Volkssage von Jemen, p. 15 (No. viii, l. 6 sqq.). Ḥassán b. Thábit, the author of these lines, was contemporary with Muḥammad, to whose cause he devoted what poetical talent he possessed. In the verses immediately preceding those translated above he claims to be a descendant of Qaḥṭán.

57Von Kremer,Die Südarabische Sage, p. vii of the Introduction.

58A prose translation is given by Von Kremer,ibid., p. 78 sqq. The Arabic text which he published afterwards inAltarabische Gedichte ueber die Volkssage von Jemen, p. 18 sqq., is corrupt in some places and incorrect in others. I have followed Von Kremer's interpretation except when it seemed to me to be manifestly untenable. The reader will have no difficulty in believing that this poem was meant to be recited by a wandering minstrel to the hearers that gathered round him at nightfall. It may well be the composition of one of those professional story-tellers who flourished in the first century after the Flight, such as ‘Abíd b. Sharya (see p.13supra), or Yazíd b. Rabí‘a b. Mufarrigh († 688a.d.), who is said to have invented the poems and romances of the Ḥimyarite kings (Aghání, xvii, 52).

59Instead of Hinwam the original has Hayyúm, for which Von Kremer reads Ahnúm. But see Hamdání,Jazíralu ’l-‘Arab, p. 193, last line and fol.

60I readal-jahdiforal-jahli.

61I omit the following verses, which tell how an old woman of Medína came to King As‘ad, imploring him to avenge her wrongs, and how he gathered an innumerable army, routed his enemies, and returned to Ẓafár in triumph.

62Ibn Hishám, p. 13, l. 14 sqq.

63Ibn Hishám, p. 15, l. 1 sqq.

64Ibid., p. 17, l. 2 sqq.

65Arabic text in Von Kremer'sAltarabische Gedichte ueber die Volkssage von Jemen, p. 20 seq.; prose translation by the same author inDie Südarabische Sage, p. 84 sqq.

66The second half of this verse is corrupt. Von Kremer translates (in his notes to the Arabic text, p. 26): "And bury with me the camel stallions (al-khílán) and the slaves (al-ruqqán)." Apart, however, from the fact thatruqqán(plural ofraqíq) is not mentioned by the lexicographers, it seems highly improbable that the king would have commanded such a barbarity. I therefore takekhílán(plural ofkhál) in the meaning of 'soft stuffs of Yemen,' and readzuqqán(plural ofziqq).

67Ghaymán or Miqláb, a castle near Ṣan‘á, in which the Ḥimyarite kings were buried.

68The text and translation of this section of theIklílhave been published by D. H. Müller inS.B.W.A., vols. 94 and 97 (Vienna, 1879-1880).

69Aghání, xx, 8, l. 14 seq.

70Koran, lxxxv, 4 sqq.

71Ṭabarí, I, 927, l. 19 sqq.

72The following narrative is abridged from Ṭabarí, i, 928, l. 2 sqq. = Nöldeke,Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden, p. 192 sqq.

73The reader will find a full and excellent account of these matters in Professor Browne'sLiterary History of Persia, vol. i, pp. 178-181.

74Goldziher,Muhammedanische Studien, Part I, p. 225.

75Maydání's collection has been edited, with a Latin translation by Freytag, in three volumes (Arabum Proverbia, Bonn, 1838-1843).

76TheKitábu ’l-Agháníhas been published at Buláq (1284-1285a.h.) in twenty volumes. A volume of biographies not contained in the Buláq text was edited by R. E. Brünnow (Leiden, 1888).

77Muqaddimaof Ibn Khaldún (Beyrout, 1900), p. 554, II. 8-10;Les Prolégomènes d' Ibn Khaldoun traduits par M. de Slane(Paris, 1863-68) vol. iii, p. 331.

78Published at Paris, 1847-1848, in three volumes.

79These are the same Bedouin Arabs of Tanúkh who afterwards formed part of the population of Ḥíra. See p. 38infra.

80Ibn Qutayba in Brünnow'sChrestomathy, p. 29.

81Properlyal-Zabbá, an epithet meaning 'hairy.' According to Ṭabarí (i, 757) her name was Ná’ila. It is odd that in the Arabic version of the story the name Zenobia (Zaynab) should be borne by the heroine's sister.

82The above narrative is abridged fromAghání, xiv, 73, l. 20-75, l. 25.Cf.Ṭabarí, i, 757-766; Mas‘údí,Murúju ’l-Dhahab(ed. by Barbier de Meynard), vol. iii, pp. 189-199.

83Concerning Ḥíra and its history the reader may consult an admirable monograph by Dr. G. Rothstein,Die Dynastie der Laẖmiden in al-Ḥíra(Berlin, 1899), where the sources of information are set forth (p. 5 sqq.). The incidental references to contemporary events in Syriac and Byzantine writers, who often describe what they saw with their own eyes, are extremely valuable as a means of fixing the chronology, which Arabian historians can only supply by conjecture, owing to the want of a definite era during the Pre-islamic period. Muḥammadan general histories usually contain sections, more or less mythical in character, "On the Kings of Ḥíra and Ghassán." Attention may be called in particular to the account derived from Hishám b. Muḥammad al-Kalbí, which is preserved by Ṭabarí and has been translated with a masterly commentary by Nöldeke in hisGeschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden. Hishám had access to the archives kept in the churches of Ḥíra, and claims to have extracted therefrom many genealogical and chronological details relating to the Lakhmite dynasty (Ṭabarí, i, 770, 7).

84Ḥíra is the Syriacḥértá(sacred enclosure, monastery), which name was applied to the originally mobile camp of the Persian Arabs and retained as the designation of the garrison town.

85Sadír was a castle in the vicinity of Ḥíra.

86Ṭabarí, i, 853, 20 sqq.

87Bahrám was educated at Ḥíra under Nu‘mán and Mundhir. The Persian grandees complained that he had the manners and appearance of the Arabs among whom he had grown up (Ṭabarí, i, 858, 7).

88Má’ al-samá (i.e., Water of the sky) is said to have been the sobriquet of Mundhir's mother, whose proper name was Máriya or Máwiyya.

89For an account of Mazdak and his doctrines the reader may consult Nöldeke's translation of Ṭabarí, pp. 140-144, 154, and 455-467, and Professor Browne'sLiterary History of Persia, vol. i, pp. 168-172.

90Mundhir slaughtered in cold blood some forty or fifty members of the royal house of Kinda who had fallen into his hands. Ḥárith himself was defeated and slain by Mundhir in 529. Thereafter the power of Kinda sank, and they were gradually forced back to their original settlements in Ḥaḍramawt.

91On another occasion he sacrificed four hundred Christian nuns to the same goddess.

92See p. 50infra.

93Aghání, xix, 86, l. 16 sqq.

94Aghání, xix, 87, l. 18 sqq.

95Hind was a princess of Kinda (daughter of the Ḥárith b. ‘Amr mentioned above), whom Mundhir probably captured in one of his marauding expeditions. She was a Christian, and founded a monastery at Ḥíra. See Nöldeke's translation of Ṭabarí, p. 172, n. 1.

96Aghání, xxi, 194, l. 22.

97Zayd was actually Regent of Ḥíra after the death of Qábús, and paved the way for Mundhir IV, whose violence had made him detested by the people (Nöldeke's translation of Ṭabarí, p. 346, n. 1).

98The Arabs called the Byzantine emperor ''Qayṣar,'i.e., Cæsar, and the Persian emperor 'Kisrá,'i.e., Chosroes.

99My friend and colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, writes to me that "the story of ‘Adí's marriage with the king's daughter is based partly on a verse in which the poet speaks of himself as connected by marriage with the royal house (Aghání, ii, 26, l. 5), and partly on another verse in which he mentions 'the home of Hind' (ibid., ii, 32, l. 1). But this Hind was evidently a Bedouin woman, not the king's daughter."

100Aghání, ii, 22, l. 3 sqq.

101When Hurmuz summoned the sons of Mundhir to Ctesiphon that he might choose a king from among them, ‘Adí said to each one privately, "If the Chosroes demands whether you can keep the Arabs in order, reply, 'All except Nu‘mán.'" To Nu‘mán, however, he said: "The Chosroes will ask, 'Can you manage your brothers?' Say to him: 'If I am not strong enough for them, I am still less able to control other folk!'" Hurmuz was satisfied with this answer and conferred the crown upon Nu‘mán.

102A full account of these matters is given by Ṭabarí, i, 1016-1024 = Nöldeke's translation, pp. 314-324.

103A similar description occurs in Freytag'sArabum Proverbia, vol. ii. p. 589 sqq.

104Ṭabarí, i, 1024-1029 = Nöldeke's translation, pp. 324-331. Ibn Qutayba in Brünnow'sChrestomathy, pp. 32-33.

105A town in Arabia, some distance to the north of Medína.

106See Freytag,Arabum Proverbia, vol. ii, p. 611.

107A celebrated Companion of the Prophet. He led the Moslem army to the conquest of Syria, and died of the plague in 639a.d.

108Ibn Qutayba in Brünnow'sChrestomathy, pp. 26-28.

109The following details are extracted from Nöldeke's monograph:Die Ghassânischen Fürsten aus dem Hause Gafna's, inAbhand. d. Kön. Preuss. Akad. d. Wissenschaften(Berlin, 1887).

110Nöldeke,op. cit., p. 20, refers to John of Ephesus, iii, 2. SeeThe Third Part of the Ecclesiastical History of John, Bishop of Ephesus, translated by R. Payne Smith, p. 168.

Back to Index Next