before the middle of the first century of the hijra. It was nothing else than the stiff and clumsy kûfic, reduced to a running hand. It spread throughout all Moslim countries, and has continued unchanged till this day in Mauritania. In the East, a slight alteration was made in this character by Ibn al-Bawwâb, and from it is derived that neskhi which prevails there and which was most probably what was called the mansûb character. The mansub is therefore a simple modification of the old neskhi, and by no means, as had been supposed, the neskhi itself; it is the oriental hand, as the old neskhi is the occidental.

(28) Literally may the morning-rains water it!

(29) Lit.: a residence.

(30) For the history of these ancient Yemenite princes, Mr Caussin de Perceval's Essai may be consulted. (31) The word rendered here by hood is ridd, which word designates a curtain, a sheet or any large piece of stuff serving to cover the body. The lithâm is a veil covering the lower part of the face.

(32) For the reason of Modar's being denominated the owner of the red tent (hamrâ), see Mr Caussin de Perceval's Essai, tome I, page 189.

(33) Literally: 0 thou who renderest wild an eye which was tamed by long weeping.

(34) In English, this idea might be expressed by the words: She is as dear to me as the pupil of my eye; but Arabian lovers preserved their mistresses in their eyes or in their hearts.

(35) Al-Malik as-Sâlih was only eleven years of age on the death of his father Nûr ad-Din. The emirs of the deceased sultan, thinking that the young prince would be safer at Aleppo than at Damascus, sent him off to the former city under the protection and guidance of Kumushtikin, emir of Mosul. It was the latter who arrested Ibn ad-Dâya at Aleppo, which city was then torn by factions. Part of the population was Shiite and devoted to the Fatimides; the rest professed the orthodox faith. Shams ad-Din Ibn ad-Dâya, one of Nûr adDin's principal emirs, had obtained from him the government of Aleppo but was obliged to keep within the citadel, as another emir, Badr ad-Din, commanded in the city. Abû 'l-Fadl Ibn al-Khashshâb was kádi of the place and, according to Ibn al-Athîr, he was also chief of the militia (ahdâth) and of the Shiite party. All these emirs were jealous one of the other; each of them endeavoured to become sole master at Aleppo and obtain the guardianship of the young prince, so as to govern under his name. One plotted against the other's life and every sort of treachery was practised by them against their rivals, till Kumushtikîn arrived in Aleppo and imprisoned them all. — (Kamâl ad-Dîn's Zubda tal-Halab.)

(35 bis) Shams ad-Din Ibn al-Mukaddam had been named guardian of the young prince, Al-Malik asSalih. Alarmed by the conduct of Saad ad-Din Kumushtikin (Gumishtikin i. e. silver warrior), he sided with Salah ad-Din and put that prince in possession of Damascus.

(36) Kurûn Hamât (the peaks of Hamah) is the name of a hill situated at about ten miles from that city, in a north-western direction.,

(37) The deleat of the Moslims at Ramla resulted from a false manœuvre on the field of battle. Their commander ordered the troops of the left wing and those of the right to change places when the action had already commenced. The operation failed and brought on the defeat of the army.

(38) Moslim historians designate the sovereigns of lesser Armenia by the title of Ibn Lâûn (the son of Leon). (39) Karayelli, a Turkish word signifying subject to siroccos, (literally, to the black wind), designates a mountain-pass in the province of Kerkûr, on the eastern bank of the Tigris. A road leading from Mosul to Baghdad passed through it. The true orthography of the name is given in Abû l'-Fedâ's own copy of his Annals. (40) The text has

den by the Moslim law.

(the daughter of his brother); but mariage between uncle and niece is forbidBesides, al-Aâdil, the lady's father, was áz-Zâhir's uncle, not his brother.

(41) The author should have said: the king and his brother Jofri (Geoffroi de Lusignan). Farther on, he

falls into the same mistake.

(42) Literally: how their teeth were set on edge. (43) Some manuscripts read: thirty thousand.

(44) Our author inserts the whole letter and then states his reasons for doing so. The document itself is written in a most pretentious and affected style, full of enigmatical expressions, verbal quibbles and obscure allusions. Some of the passages are so turned that they seem to express the very contrary of the writer's meaning. This extravagant style was highly fashionable at that period. The text of this epistle being very difficult to understand, has varied greatly under the hands of the copyists. Some passages of it are here rendered by conjecture.

(45) The August Diwan (ad-Diwân al-Aziz) was the title by which the khalif himself was then designa ted and which was prescribed by the court etiquette of the time. Other exemples of it occur in the works of contemporary historians.

(46) Here, the meaning of the original text is very doubtful.

(47) This appears to be a maxim of Moslim law. The writer cites it with reference to the violation of treaties by the Christians.

(48) The Sakhra is an enormous stone in the very center of the mosque of Omar, at Jerusalem. It is supposed to be the same upon which the Jews set up the tabernacle.

(49) This is another of the passages in which the meaning of the text is doubtful.

(50) Here again the meaning of the text is very doubtful.

(51) The writer meant to say that God would always grant victory to the Moslins. The preposition and its complement are those which occur in the Moslim war-cry: Help from God and a speedy victory. Such grammatical allusions were greatly admired.

for

يصبرون يبصرون عنق for عتق and

(52) The translator has here endeavoured to find a meaning for a passage the text of which is evidently corrupt. By the substitution of is a phrase is obtained which might be rendered thus: They would not patiently endure the servitude of the edge in order to avoid the enfranchisement of the flat. That seems to mean they would not submit to the edge of the sword and die in order to avoid being wantonly struck, when prisoners, with the flat side of it.

(53) Literally reached the Simak; i. e. the star which we call Spica virginis.

(54) The text may also signify: of unveiling himself for war. In either case, its true meaning.is difficult to be discovered.

(55) This is an allusion to the 92nd verse of the 19th surat of the Koran, which Sale renders thus: "" They (6 say: the Merciful hath begotten issue. Now you have uttered an impious thing; it wanteth little but on "occasion thereof, the heavens be rent and the earth cleave in sunder. "

(56) According to Moslim doctors, the shooting stars are fire-brands cast by the angels against the demons who go to listen at the gates of heaven.

(57) The khalif must have expected that this conquest would have brought him in money; Salâh ad-Dìn, being aware of that, gives him to understand that there was none for him,

(58) Most of the manuscripts omit this passage.

(59) Some manuscripts read Jandar.

(60) Some of the manuscripts have Tall al-Iadiya.

VOL. IV.

71

(62) In many of these extracts, and here particularly, Ibn Khallikân has abridged the narrative made by Ibn Shaddad.

The note (61) has been supressed.

(63) Or all the p'aces of the Sahil.

(64) Our author read very inattentively the text of Bahâ ad-Din, who says that the sultan returned to the hills so that his men might send their beasts for forage.

(65) Al-Birka (the pond) is probably the same which is situated at eleven miles north of Cairo and is usually called Birka tal-Hajj (The pond of the pilgrims).

(66) The Nasirian dirhems were probably inscribed with the names of al-Malik an-Nâsir Salâh ad-Dìn. (67) Ja'âl ad-Din Khowarezm-Shah had laid siege to Akhlat, in Armenia, which fortress was then governed by one of al-Malik al-Ashraf's lieutenants.

(68) Such appears to be the meaning of the Arabic words, which, if rendered literally, signify: and the head of the two sleeves with black.

(69) Abû 'l-Abbâs Ahmad Ibn al-Muzzafar Ibn al-Husain, surnamed Zain at-Tujjâr, was a native of Damascus and a doctor of the Shafite rite. He professed in Salâh ad-Din's college and died in the month of Zû 'lKaada, 591 (Oct. Nov. A. D. 1195). — (Makrîzi's Khitat, vol. II, p. 363.)

(70) This note has been suppressed.

(71) Said as-Suwâda was one of the eunuchs (ustâdin) employed in the Kasr, or palace, of the Fatimides at Cairo. He was enfranchised by the khalif al-Mustansir and put to death in the month of Shaabân, 544 (A. D. 1149). — (Khitat, vol. II, p. 415.)

(72) Here follows a yerse which is given in two manuscripts, but the text of it is corrupt. The meaning of it seems to be that, to court a young girl (Li) when one's hair has turned gray, is nothing more or less than an act of folly.

(73) The young men of the tribe of Ozra were noted as ardent, passionate and devoted lovers. See the commentary on Hariri's Makamåt, page 470 of de Sacy's edition.

(74) Literally the fragments of its liver; a well known expression.

(75) To be hurtful and useful was one of the talents which, according to the Arabs, were required to form the character of a perfect man.

(76) Abd Allah Ibn Amr was extremely pious and devout. Some of the Traditions handed down by him have been adopted as genuine by al-Bokhâri. For the date of his death see vol. II, p. 208.

(77) Mikdad Ibn Amr Ibn Thalaba, a member of the tribe of Kinda and the adopted son of al-Aswad Ibn Abd Yaguth, was one of the earliest of Muhammad's companions and assisted him in all his battles. At that of Badr he was the only musulman who fought on horseback and, for that reason, he obtained the title of Fâris al-Islâm (the cavalier of Islamism). He was present at the conquest of Egypt. His death occurred at al-Jurf, a place ten miles distant from Medina, A. H. 33 (A. D. 653-4), being then aged nearly seventy years. He transmitted down a number of Traditions, some of which were accepted as authentic by al-Bukhari. (Tahdib; Nujum ; Tabakåt al-Fukahâ.)

-

The translator has rendered the phrase

(78) The text merely says: God knows which of the two said so. more intelligible by adding the words: Some say that the words were. (79) Ibn Abdûn, a native of Evora, in Spain, was highly distinguished as a poet and composed a celebrated elegy on the downfal of the Aftaside dynasty which reigned at Badajoz. He had been patronised by these princes, but afterwards, he entered into the service of the Almoravide chief who had overturned their throne.

He died at his native place, A. H. 529 (A. D. 1134-5). In the year 1846, professor Dozy published at Leyden the text of this poem with Ibn Badrûn's commentary. See the next note.

(80) Ibn Badrûn, the commentator of Ibn Abdon's poem, was an accomplished literary scholar. He composed his work in the last half of the sixth century of the Hijra, between A. D. 1163 and A. D. 1184. Little is known of his history, but he appears to have inhabited Seville. His commentary on the clumsy, lumbering kasida of Ibn Abdûn is a learned, instructive and very interesting work.

(81) Or, as-Suraimi. The names and surnames of this individual are not well ascertained. They vary in each historical work and even in manuscripts of the same work.

(82) One thousand dirhems would be equivalent to twenty-five pounds sterling; rather a large sum for a sword.

AL-MUWAFFAK IBN AL-KHALLAL.

Abû 'l-Hajjâj Yûsuf, the son of Muhammad al-Khallâl (the vinegar-maker), bore the title of al-Muwaffak (favoured by God). He was president of the Board of Correspondence, in Old Cairo, under the reign of al-Hafiz Abû 'l-Maimûn Abd al-Majîd al-Obaidi (, the Fatimide khalif) whose life we have already given (vol. II. p. 179), and of that prince's successors. Imâd ad-Din al-Ispahâni (vol. III. p. 300) says of him, in the Kharida: "He was the superintendant of Egypt and the pupil of its eye; combining (in himself) all the noble qualities of which that country can justly boast. "He was charged with the correspondence and had a great talent for inditing epistles, writing them in whatever (style) he pleased. He lived to an advanced age "but, having lost his sight in the latter part of his life, he remained unemployed "and never left his house till he exchanged it for a tomb. He died three or four years after the conquest of Egypt by al-Malik an-Nâsir (Salah ad-Din). This author then gives a number of pieces composed by him in verse, and some of these we shall reproduce farther on. Diâ ad-Dîn Abû 'l-Fath Nasr Allah Ibn al-Athîr (vol. III. p. 541), surnamed al-Jazîri(the native of Jezîral Ibn Omar), and afterwards al-Mausili (the native of Mosul), mentions him in the first chapter of the work entitled AlWashi 'l-Markum, and says: “ In the year 588 (A. D. 1192), al-Kâdi 'l-Fâdil Abd “ ar-Rahîm Ibn Ali al-Baisâni (vol. II. p. 111), being then at Damascus and em"ployed as scribe in the service of Salâh ad-Dîn's government, spoke to me in these

"terms: The art of epistolary writing flourished and prospered under the dynasty of the Alides (Fatimides), and the Board of Correspondence was never without a chief holding the first rank, not only by his place but by his style, and maintai

ning, with his pen, the authority of the sultan. It was then customary for the "directors of public offices, when any of their children grew up and had acquired "some knowledge of literature, to present them at the Board of Correspondence "in order that they might be instructed and exercised in epistolary writing, and "that they might see and hear (how things were done there). My father, who was "then kâdi in the frontier town of Ascalon (1), sent me to Egypt, under the reign " of al-Hafiz, one of their khalifs, and told me to go to the Board of Correspon"dence. The person who was then at the head of that establishment was called “Ibn al-Khallâl. When I entered into his office, I stood respectfully before him " and told him who I was and what I came for. He received me in the most obli"ging manner and said: What means have you procured for yourself in order "to acquire the art of epistolary writing?' I answered: None at all, unless it "be that I know by heart the noble Koran and the Hamasa.' That, said he,

will do.' He then told me to attend him regularly. After going often to see "him and exercising my talent in his presence, he bade me turn the verses of the • Hamâsa into prose. This I did, from the beginning to the end of the book. "He then told me begin again and I obeyed." End of Ibn al-Athîr's relation. -After borrowing it from him and giving it under this form, I met a person who had assiduously cultivated polite literature, and particularly that branch of it (biography); no man was better acquainted than he with the particulars of alKâdi 'l-Fâdil's life. From him I learned that the truth of Ibn al-Attir's relation could not possibly be established and that he must have made some mistake in it. Al-Kâdi 'l-Fâdil, said he, did not go to Egypt till az-Zâfir, the son of al-Hâfiz, was on the throne; he arrived there with his father for an affair which concerned them personally. I then found in a note written by myself and taken from some source which I cannot now discover, that al-Kâdi 'l-Ashraf, the father of al-Kâdi 'l-Fâdil, was a native of Ascalon and acted as deputy-kâdi and superintendant (nazir) in the town of Baisân. He went to Egypt in the reign of az-Zàfir, the son of al-Hâfiz, in consequence of a discussion which he had with the governor (wali) of the place respecting a large and very valuable estate which they (his family) held in their possession. The governor, through complaisance, allowed him to