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Sage fj.inut ' L ':1../s/l All books are subject to recall after two weeks ^ | Olin/Kroch Library * | DATE DUE •«*«iate8s,^ ,.m0>^^ i\nQ^ ttii^ 1 ■^- ^1 OSfii jOW* W^JWfJP^ JA^ URIS RF ^ERVE FALL 2002 # -^p« tHw ■ GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.S.A. 3 1924 083 936 561 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924083936561 ^h f ikErg £rf f ilersrg fistorg A LITERARY HISTORY OF INDIA. By R. W. Frazee, LL.B. A LITERARY HISTORY OF IRELAND. By Douglas Hyde, LL.D. A LITERARY HISTORY OF AMERICA. By Barrett Wendell, A LITERARY HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. By J. H. Millar, LL.B. A LITERARY HISTORY OF PERSIA. By Edward G. Browne, M.A. (In Two Volumes.) A LITERARY HISTORY OF FRANCE. By Emile Faguet. A LITERARY HISTORY OF THE ARABS. By Reynold A. Nicholson, M.A. Other Volumes in Preparation. A LITERARY HISTORY OF ROME. By J. Wight Duff, M.A. A LITERARY HISTORY OF THE JEWS. By Israel Abrahams, M.A. A LITERARY HISTORY OF SPAIN. By James Fitz- maurice-Kelly. A LITERARY HISTORY OF RUSSIA. ETC. ETC. ETC. THE LIBRJRr OF LITER J Rr HISTORT A Literary History of the Arabs A Literary History of the Arabs By Reynold A. Nicholson, M.A. Lecturer in Persian in the University of Cambridge, and sometime Fellow of Trinity College New York Charles Scribner's Sons 153-157, Fifth Avenue 1907 (y4// rights reserved.) v:e Preface The term 'Literary History' may be interpreted in such diflFerent ways that an author who uses it is bound to explain at the outset what particular sense he has attached to it. When Mr. Fisher Unwin asked me to contribute a volume on the Arabs to this Series, I accepted his proposal with alacrity, not only because I welcomed the opportunity of making myself better acquainted with Arabic history and literature, but also and more especially in the hope that I might be able to compile a work which should serve as a general introduction to the subject, and which should neither be too popular for students nor too scientific for ordinary readers. Its precise character was determined partly by my own predilections and partly by the conditions of time and space under which it had to be produced. To write a critical account of Arabic literature was out of the question. Brockelmann's invaluable work, which contains over a thousand closely-printed pages, is confined to biography and bibliography, and does not deal with the historical development of ideas. This, however, seems to me the really vital aspect of literary history. It has been my chief aim to sketch in broad outlines what the Arabs thought, and to indicate as fer as possible the influences which moulded their thought. I am well aware that the picture is sadly incomplete, that it is full of gaps and blanks admitting of no disguise or apology ; but I hope that, taken as a whole, it is not unlike. Experience has convinced me that young students or X PREFACE Arabic, to whom this volume is principally addressed, often find great difficulty in understanding what they read, since they are not in touch with the political, intellectual, and religious notions which are presented to them. The pages of almost every Arabic book abound in familiar allusions to names, events, movements, and ideas, of which Moslems require no explanation, but which puzzle the Western reader unless he have some general knowledge of Arabian history in the widest meaning of the word. Such a survey is not to be found, I believe, in any single European book ; and if mine supply the want, however partially and inadequately, I shall feel that my labour has been amply rewarded. Professor E. G. Browne's Literary History of Persia covers to a certain extent the same ground, and discusses many important matters belonging to the common stock of Muhammadan history with a store of learning and wealth of detail which it would be impossible for me to emulate. The present volume, written from a different standpoint and on a far smaller scale, does not in any way clash with that admirable work ; on the contrary, numerous instances occur to me in which my omissions are justified by the fact that Professor Browne has already said all that is necessary. If I have sometimes insufficiently emphasised the distinction between history and legend on the one hand, and between popular legend and antiquarian fiction on the other, and if statements are made positively which ought to have been surrounded with a ring-fence of qualifications, the reader will perceive that a purely critical and exact method cannot reason- ably be expected in a compilation of this scope. As regards the choice of topics, I agree with the author of a famous Arabic anthology who declares that it is harder to select than compose {ikhtiyiru 'l-kaldm as^abu min td'Hfihi). Perhaps an epitomist may be excused for not doing equal justice all round. To me the literary side of the subject appeals more than the historical, and I have followed my bent without hesitation ; for in order to interest others a writer must PREFACE xi first be interested himself. In the verse-translations I have tried to represent the spirit and feeling of the original poems. This aim precludes verbal fidelity, which can only be attained through the disenchanting medium of prose, but scholars, I think, will recognise that my renderings are usually as faithful as such things can or should be. To reproduce a typical Arabic ode, e.g., one of the Mu^allaqit ('Suspended Poems'), in a shape at once intelligible and attractive to English readers is probably beyond the powers of any translator. Even in those passages which seem best suited for the purpose we are baffled again and again by the intensely national stamp of the ideas, the strange local colour of the imagery, and the obstinately idiomatic style. Modern culture can appreciate Firdawsf, 'Umar Khayyam, Sa'df, and IJafiz : their large humanity touches us at many points ; but the old Arabian poetry moves in a world apart, and therefore, notwithstanding all its splendid qualities, will never become popular in ours. Of the later poets who lived under the 'Abbasid Caliphate one or two might, with good fortune, extend their reputation to the West : notably the wise sceptic and pessimist, Abu *l-'Ala al-Ma'arr{. The following versions have at least the merit of being made directly from the original language and with a uniform motive. Considering the importance of Arabic poetry as (in the main) a true mirror of Arabian life, I do not think the space devoted to it is at all extravagant. Other branches of literature could not receive the same attention. Many an eminent writer has been dismissed in a few lines, many well- known names have been passed over. But, as before said, this work is a sketch of ideas in their historical environment rather than a record of authors, books, and dates. The transliteration of Arabic words, though superfluous for scholars and for persons entirely ignorant of the language, is an almost indispensable aid to the class of readers whom I have especially in view. My system is that recommended by the Xll PREFACE Royal Asiatic Society and adopted by Professor Browne in his Literary History of Persia ; but I use z for the letter which he denotes by dh. The definite article al, which I have fre- quently omitted at the beginning of proper names, has been restored in the Index. It may save trouble if I mention here the abbreviations ' b.' for ' ibn ' (son of) ; J.R.J.S. for Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society i Z.D.M.G. for Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenldndischen Gesellschaft ; and S.B.IV.A. for Sitzungsherichte der Wiener Akademie. Finally, it behoves me to make a full acknowledgment of my debt to the learned Orientalists whose works I have studied and freely ' conveyed ' into these pages. References could not be given in every case, but the reader will see for himself how much is derived from Von Kremer, Goldziher, Noldeke, and Wellhausen, to recall only a few of the leading authorities. At the same time I have constantly gone back to the native sources of information, and a great portion of the book is based on my own reading and judgment. Although both the plan and the execution are doubtless open to censure, I trust that serious mistakes have been avoided. The warmest thanks are due to my friend and colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, who read the proofs throughout and made a number of valuable remarks which will be found in the footnotes. Mr. A. G. Ellis kindly gave me the benefit of his advice in selecting the frontispiece as well as other help. I have also to thank the Editor of the Athenaum for permission to reprint my version of the Song of Vengeance by Ta'abbata Sharr"", which was originally published in that journal. REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON. Contents PAGE Preface ........ ix Introduction . . . . . . . xv CHAFIEK I. Saba and Himyar . . . . . i II. The History and Legends of the Pagan Arabs . 30 III. Pre-islamic Poetry, Manners, and Religion . 71 IV. The Prophet and the Koran . . . .141 V. The Orthodox Caliphate and the Umayyad Dynasty. . . . . . ,181 VI. The Caliphs of Baghdad . . . ."254 VII. Poetry, Literature, and Science in the 'Abbasid Period ....... 285 VIII. Orthodoxy, Free-thought, and Mysticism . . 365 IX. The Arabs in Europe ..... 403 X, From the Mongol Invasion to the Present Day . 442 Bibliography ....... 471 Index ........ 481 zili Introduction The Arabs belong to the great family of nations which on account of their supposed descent from Shem, the son of Noah, are commonly known as the 'Semites.' This term includes the Babylonians and Assyrians, the Hebrews, the Phoenicians, the Aramaeans, the Abyssinians, the Sabaeans, and the Arabs, and although based on a classifica- tion that is not ethnologically precise — the Phoenicians and Sabaeans, for example, being reckoned in Genesis, chap, x, among the descendants of Ham — it was well chosen by Eich- horn (t 1827) to comprehend the closely allied peoples which have been named. Whether the original home of the undivided Semitic race was some part of Asia. (Arabia, Armenia, or the district of the Lower Euphrates), or whether, according to a view which has lately found favour, the Semites crossed into Asia from Africa,^ is still uncertain. Long before the epoch when they first appear in history they had branched ofF frorh the parent stock and formed separate nationalities. The relation of the Semitic languages to each other cannot be discussed here, but we may arrange them in the chrono- logical order of the extant literature as follows : — ^ ■ H, Grimme, Weltgeschichte in Karakterbildern : Mohammed (Munich, 1904), p. 6 sqq. ° Cf. Noldeke, Die Semitischen Sprachen (Leipzig, 1887), or the same scholar's article, ' Semitic Languages,' in the Encyclofcedia Britannica, 9th edition. Kenan's Histoire gdndrale dis langues simitiques (l8S5) is now XV XVI INTRODUCTION 1. Babylonian or Assyrian (3000-500 B.C.). 2. Hebrew (from 1500 B.C.). 3. South Arabic, otherwise called Sabsean or Himyarite (inscriptions from 800 B.C.). 4. Aramaic (inscriptions from 800 B.C.). 5. Phoenician (inscriptions from 700 B.C.). 6. ^thiopic (inscriptions from 350 a.d.). 7. Arabic (from 500 a.d.). Notwithstanding that Arabic is thus, in a sense, the youngest of the Semitic languages, it is generally allowed to be nearer akin than any of them to the original archetype, the ' Ursemitisch,' from which they all are derived, just as the Arabs, by reason of their geographical situation and the monotonous uniformity of desert life, have in some respects preserved the Semitic character more purely and exhibited it more distinctly than any people of the same family. From the period of the great Moslem conquests (700 a.d.) to the present day they have extended their language. The Arabs as religion, and culture over an enormous expanse representatives & 7 ^ ^ semuicrace °f territory, tar surpassing that of all the ancient Semitic empires added together. It is true that the Arabs are no longer what they were in the Middle Ages, the ruling nation of the world, but loss of temporal power has only strengthened their spiritual dominion. Islam still reigns supreme in Western Asia ; in Africa it has steadily advanced ; even on European soil it has found in Turkey compensation for its banishment from Spain and Sicily. While most of the Semitic peoples have vanished, leaving but a meagre and ambiguous record, so that we cannot hope to become intimately acquainted with them, we possess in the antiquated. An interesting essay on the importance of the Semites in the history of civilisation was published by F. Hommel as an introduction to his Semitischen VSlker und Spracken, vol. i (Leipzig, 1883). The dates in this table are of course only approximate. INTRODUCTION xvii case of the Arabs ample materials for studying almost every phase of their development since the sixth century of the Christian era, and for writing the whole history of their national life and thought. This book, I need hardly say, makes no such pretensions. Even were the space at my disposal unlimited, a long time must elapse before the vast and various field of Arabic literature can be thoroughly explored and the results rendered accessible to the historian. From time immemorial Arabia was divided into North and South, not only by the trackless desert {al-Rub^ al-Khali, the 'Solitary Quarter') which stretches across the North and South, peninsula and forms a natural barrier to inter- course, but also by the opposition of two kindred races widely differing in their character and way of life. Whilst the inhabitants of the northern province (the HijAz and the great central highland of Najd) were rude nomads sheltering in ' houses of hair,' and ever shifting to and fro in search of pasture for their camels, the people of Yemen or Arabia Felix are first mentioned in history as the inheritors of an ancient civilisation and as the owners qi fabulous wealth — spices, gold and precious stones — rwhich ministered to the luxury of King Solomon. The Bedouins of the North spoke Arabic — that is to say, the language of the Pre-islamic poems and of the Koran — whereas the southerners used a dialect called by Muhammadans ' IJimyarite ' and a peculiar script of which the examples known to us have been discovered and deciphered in comparatively recent times. Of these Sabaeans — to adopt the designation given to them by Greek and Roman geographers — more will be said presently. The period of their bloom was drawing to a close in the early centuries of our era, and they have faded out of history before 600 A.D., when their northern neighbours first rise into prominence. It was, no doubt, the consciousness of this racial distinction I* xviii mTRODUCTlON that caused the view to prevail among Moslem genealogists that the Arabs followed two separate lines of descent from their common ancestor, Sim b. Ndh (Shem, ''""Yo^ti^dr^ the son of Noah). As regards those of the North, their derivation from 'Adnin, a de- scendant of Ismi'il (Ishmael) was universally recognised ; those of the South were traced back to Qahtdn, whom most genealogists identified with Yoqtdn (Joktan), the son of 'Abir (Eber). Under the Yoqtdnids, who are the elder line, we find, together with the Sabaeans and Himyarites, several large and powerful tribes — e.g., Tayyi', Kinda, and Tandkh — which had settled in North and Central Arabia long before Islam, and were in no respect distinguishable from the Bedouins of Ishmaelite origin. As to 'Adndn, his exact genealogy is disputed, but all agree that he was of the posterity of Ismd'll (Ishmael), the son of Ibrihfm (Abraham) by Hajar (Hagar). The story runs that on the birth of Isma'fl God commanded Abraham to journey to Mecca with Hagar and her son and to leave them there. They were seen by some Jurhumites, descendants of Yoqtan, who took pity on them and resolved to settle beside them. IsmA'fl grew up with the sons of the strangers, learned to shoot the bow, and spoke their tongue. Then he asked of them in marriage, and they married him to one of their women.i The tables on the opposite page show the principal branches of the younger but by far the more important family of the Arabs which traced its pedigree through 'Adnin to Ismill. A dotted line indicates the omission oi one or more links in the genealogical chain.^ ' Ibn Qutayba, Kitdbu 'l-Ma'dri/, ed. by Wiistenfeld, p. i8. • ' J ""/"^°™*"°" concerning the genealogy of the Arabs will be found .n Wustenfelds Genealogische Tabellcn der Arabischen StUmme und Famthen with its excellent Register (GSttingen, 1852-1853) INTRODUCTION XIX The Descendants of Rabi'a. 'Adnan. Ma'add. I, Nizar. Rabi'a. 'Anaza. Bakr. Wa'il. I Namir. Taghlib. II. The Descendants of Mudarj 'Adnan. I Ma'add. I, Nizar. I Mudar. Qays 'Aylan. Ghatafan. 'Abs. Dhubyan. Dabba. Tamim. Sulaym. Hawazm. Hudhayl. Asad. Kinana. Fihr(Quraysh).' ' The tribes Dabba, Tamim, Khuzayma, Hudhayl, Asad, Kinana, and Quraysh together formed a group which is known as Khindif, and is often distinguished from Qays 'Aylan. XX INTRODUCTION It is undeniable that these lineages are to some extent fictitious. There was no Pre-islamic science of genealogy, so that the first Muhammadan investigators had only con- fused and scanty traditions to work on. They were biassed, moreover, by political, religious, and other con- Character of . ' "^ L, . Muhammadan sidcrations.' Thus their study of the Koran genealogy. ^ ^ •' ^ ^ and of Biblical history led to the introduction of the patriarchs who stand at the head of their lists. Nor can we accept the national genealogy beginning with 'Adnan as entirely historical, though a great deal of it was actually stored in the memories of the Arabs at the time when Islam arose, and is corroborated by the testimony of the Pre-islamic poets.2 On the other hand, the alleged descent of every tribe from an eponymous ancestor is inconsistent with facts established by modern research.3 It is probable that many names represent merely a local or accidental union ; and many more, e.g.^ Ma'add, seem originally to have denoted large groups or confederations of tribes. The theory of a radical diflFerence between the Northern Arabs and those of the South, corresponding to the fierce hostility which has always divided them since the earliest days of Islam,4 may hold good if we restrict the term « Yemenite ' (Southern) to the civilised Sabasans, Himyarites, &c., who dwelt in Yemen and spoke their own dialect, but can hardly apply to the Arabic-speaking ' Yemenite ' Bedouins scattered all over the peninsula. Such criticism, however, does not affect the value of the genealogical documents regarded as an index of the popular mind. From this point of view legend is often superior to fact, and it must be our aim in the following chapters to set forth what ' Goldziher, Muhammedanische Studicn, Part I, p. 135 sqq , 177 saa ^ Noldeke in Z.D.M.G., vol. 40, p. 177. ' !• ^J 11 - ^77 sqq. 3 See Margoliouth, Mohammed and the Rise of Islam, p. 4. ■• Concerning the nature and causes of this antagonism see Goldziher, op. cit. Part I, p. 78 sqq. INTRODUCTION xxi the Arabs believed rather than to examine whether or no they were justified in believing it. 'Arabic,' in its widest signification, has two principal dialects : — 1. South Arabic, spoken in| Yemen and including Sabaan, Himyarite, Minaean, with the kindred dialects of Mahra and Shihr. 2. Arabic proper, spoken in Arabia generally, exclusive of Yemen. Of the former language we possess nothing beyond the numerous inscriptions which have been collected by European „ ^^ . ^. travellers and which it will be convenient to South Arabic, discuss in the next chapter, where I shall give a brief sketch of the legendary history of the Sabaeans and Himyarites. South Arabic resembles Arabic in its gram- matical forms, e.g.^ the broken plural, the sign of the dual, and the manner of denoting indefiniteness by an affixed m (for which Arabic substitutes ri) as well as in its vocabulary ; its alphabet, which consists of twenty-nine letters, 8in and Samech being distinguished as in Hebrew, is more nearly akin to the ^^thiopic. The Himyarite Empire was overthrown by the Abyssinians in the sixth century after Christ, and by 600 a.d. South Arabic had become a dead language. From this time forward the dialect of the North established an almost universal supremacy and won for itself the title of ' Arabic ' par excellence.'^ The oldest monuments of written Arabic are modern in date compared with the Sabaean inscriptions, some of which take us back 2,500 years or thereabout. Apart specimensof from the inscriptions of Hijr in the northern Hijdz, and those of Safd in the neighbourhood of Damascus (which, although written by northern Arabs before the Christian era, exhibit a peculiar character not unlike the ' The word 'Arabic is always to be understood in this sense wherever it occurs in the following pages. xxii INTR OD UCTION Sabaean and cannot be called Arabic in the usuaj acceptation of the term), the most ancient examples of Arabic writing which have hitherto been discovered appear in the trilingual (Syriac, Greek, and Arabic) inscription , of Zabad,i south-east of Aleppo, dated 512 or 513 a.d., and the bilingual (Greek and Aramc) of HarrSn,^ dated 5S8 a.d. With these documents we need not concern ourselves fiirther, especially as their interpretation presents great difEculties. Very few among the Pre-islamic Arabs were able to read or write.3 Those who could generally owed their skill to Jewish and Christian teachers, or to the influence of foreign culture radiating from Hira and Ghassin. But although the Koran, which was first collected soon after the battle of Yamdma (633 A.D.), is the oldest Arabic book, the beginnings of literary composition in the Arabic language can be traced back to an earlier period. Probably all the Pre-islamic poems which have come down to us belong to the century preceding Islam (500-622 A.D.), but their elaborate form and technical perfection forbid the hypothesis that in them we have "the first sprightly runnings " of Arabian song. It may be said ot these magnificent odes, as of the Iliad and °poems.^'° Odyssey, that " they are works of highly finished art, which could not possibly have been produced until the poetical art had been practised for a long time." They were preserved during hundreds of years by oral tradition, as we shall explain elsewhere, and were committed to writing, for the most part, by the Moslem scholars of the early 'Abbisid age, i.e., between 750 and 900 a.d. It is a note- worthy fact that the language of these poems, the authors of which represent many different tribes and districts of the ■ First published by Sachau in Monatsberichte der KSn. Prenss. Akad. der Wissenschaften zu Berlin (February, 1881), p. 169 sqq. ' See De Vogiie, Syne Centrale, Inscriptions Simitiqites, p. 117. Other references are given in Z.D.M.G., vol. 35, p. 749. 3 On this subject the reader may consult Goldziher, Muhammedanische Studien, Part I, p. no sqq. INTRODUCTION xxiii peninsula, is one and the same. The dialectical variations are too trivial to be taken into account. We might conclude that the poets used an artificial dialect, not such as vi^as commonly spoken but resembling the epic dialect of Ionia virhich was borrowed by Dorian and iEolian bards. When we find, however, that the language in question is employed not only by the wandering troubadours, who were often men of some culture, and the Christian Arabs of Hlra on the Euphrates, but also by goat-herds, brigands, and illiterate Bedouins of every description, there can be no room for doubt that in the poetry of the sixth century we hear the Arabic language as it was then spoken throughout the length and breadth of Arabia. The success of Muhammad and the conquests made by Islam under the Orthodox Caliphs gave an entirely new importance to this classical idiom. Arabic became the sacred language of the whole Moslem world. , „ This was certainly due to the Koran ; but, on The Koran. -' . ' ' the other hand, to regard the dialect of Mecca, in which the Koran is written, as the source and prototype of the Arabic language, and to call Arabic 'the dialect of Quraysh,' is utterly to reverse the true facts of the case. Muhammad, as Noldeke has observed, took the ancient poetry for a model ; and in the early age of Islam it was the authority of the heathen poets (of whom Quraysh had singularly few) that determined the classical usage and set the standard of correct speech. Moslems, who held the Koran to be the Word of God and inimitable in point of style, naturally exalted the dialect of the Prophet's tribe above all others, even laying down the rule that every tribe spoke less purely in proportion to its distance from Mecca, but this view will not commend itself to the unprejudiced student. The Koran, however, exercised a unique influence on the history of the Arabic language and literature. We shall see in a subsequent chapter that the necessity of preserving the text of the Holy Book uncorrupted, and .of elucidating its obscurities, caused XXIV INTRODUCTION the Moslems to invent a science of grammar and lexicography, and to collect the old Pre-Muhammadan poetry and traditions which must otherwise have perished. When the Arabs settled as conquerors in Syria and Persia and mixed with foreign peoples, the purity of the classical language could no longer be maintained. While in Arabia itself, especially among the nomads of the desert, little difference was felt, in the provincial garrison towns and great centres of industry like Basra and Kiifa, where the population largely consisted of aliens who had embraced Islam and were rapidly being Arabicised, the door stood open for all sorts of depravation to creep in. Against this vulgar Arabic the Muhammadan philologists Waged unrelenting war, and it was Empire. ^^^^^ through their exertions that the classical idiom triumphed over the dangers to which it was exposed. Although the language of the pagan Bedouins did not survive intact — or survived, at any rate, only in the mouths of pedants and poets — it became, in a modified form, the universal medium of expression among the upper classes of Muham- madan society. During the early Middle Ages it was spoken and written by all cultivated Moslems, of whatever nationality they might be, from the Indus to the Atlantic ; it was the language of the Court and the Chiu-ch, of Law and Commerce, of Diplomacy and Literature and Science. When the Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century swept away the 'Abbdsid Caliphate, and therewith the last vestige of political unity in Islam, classical Arabic ceased to be the koivt) or ' common dialect ' of the Moslem world, and was supplanted in Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and other Arabic-speaking countries by a vulgar colloquial idiom. In these countries, however, it is still the language of business, literature, and education, and we are told on high authority that even now it " is undergoing a renaissance, and there is every likelihood of its again becoming a great literary vehicle." ' And if, for those ■ Professor Margoliouth in J.R.A^. for 1905, p. 418 INTRODUCTION xxv Moslems who are not Arabs, it occupies relatively much the same position as Latin and Greek in modern European culture, we must not forget that the Koran, its most renowned masterpiece, is learned by every Moslem when he first goes to school, is repeated in his daily prayers, and influences the whole course of his life to an extent which the ordinary Christian can hardly realise. I hope that I may be excused for ignoring in a work such as this the scanty details regarding Ancient Arabian history which it is possible to glean from the Babylonian and Assyrian monuments, especially when the very uncertain nature of the evidence is taken into consideration. Any sketch that might be drawn of the Arabs, say from 2500 B.C. to the beginning of our era, would resemble a map of Cathay delineated by Sir John Mandeville. But amongst the shadowy peoples of the peninsula one, besides Saba and Himyar, makes something more than a transient impression. The Nabataeans {Nabat, pi. Anhdt) dwelt in towns, drove a flourishing trade long before the birth of Christ, and founded the kingdom of Petra, which attained a high The Nabataeans. ° ■ i i ... degree of prosperity and culture until it was annexed by Trajan in 105 a.d. These Nabatasans were Arabs and spoke Arabic, although in default of a script of their own they used Aramaic for writing.^ Muhammadan authors identify them with the Aramaeans, but careful study of their inscriptions has shown that this view, which was accepted by Quatrem^re,2 is erroneous. ' The Book of Nabataean Agri- culture ' (Kttdbu '/-Faldhat al-Nabatiyya), composed in 904 a.d. by the Moslem Ibnu '1-Wahshiyya, who professed to have translated it from the Chaldaean, is now known to be a forgery. I only mention it here as an instance of the way in which Moslems apply the term ' Nabataean ' ; for the title in question does not, of course, refer to Petra but to Babylon. • Noldeke, Die Semitischen Sprachen, p. 30 sqq. and p. 43. ' Journal Asiatique (March, 1835), p. 209 sqq. xxvi INTRODUCTION From what has been said the reader will perceive that the history of the Arabs, so far as our knowledge of it SaStetory"/ IS derived from Arabic sources, may be divided into the following periods : — I. The Sabaean and Himyarite period, from 800 B.C., the date of the oldest South Arabic inscriptions, to 500 A.D. II. The Pre-islamic period (500-622 a.d.). III. The Muhammadan period, beginning with the Flight (Hijra, or Hegira, as the word is generally written) of the Prophet from Mecca to Medina in 622 a.d. and extending to the present day. For the first period, which is confined to the history of Yemen or South Arabia, we have no contemporary Arabic sources except the inscriptions. The vague and scanty TheSabasansand • c ..• u- i. ii, i • • ui ijimyarites. mtormation which these supply is appreciably increased by the traditions preserved in the Pre- islamic poems, in the Koran, and particularly in the later Muhammadan literature. It is true that most of this material is legendary and would justly be ignored by any one engaged in historical research, but I shall nevertheless devote a good deal of space to it, since my principal object is to make known the beliefs and opinions of the Arabs themselves. The second period is called by Muhammadan writers the Jdhiliyya, i.e., the Age of Ignorance or Barbarism.' Its characteristics are faithfully and vividly reflected Arff ° in the songs and odes of the heathen poets which have come down to us. There was no prose literature at that time : it was the poet's privilege to sing the history of his own people, to record their genealogies, to cele- brate their feats of arms, and to extol their virtues. Although an immense quantity of Pre-islamic verse has been lost for ever, ■ Strictly speaking, the Jdhiliyya includes the whole time between Adam and Muhammad, but in a narrower sense it may be used, as here to denote the Pre-islamic period of Arabic Literature. ' INTR OD UCTION xxvii we still possess a considerable remnant, which, together with the prose narratives compiled by Moslem philologists and antiquaries, enables us to picture the life of those wild days, in its larger aspects, accurately enough. The last and by far the most important of the three periods comprises the history of the Arabs under Islam. It falls naturally into the following sections, which are The Moslem j-i-i •. .. j Arabs. enumerated m this place in order that the reader may see at a glance the broad political outlines of the complex and difficult epoch which lies before him. J. The Life of Muhammad. About the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian era a man named Muhammad, son of 'Abdulldh, of the tribe Quraysh, appeared in Mecca with a Divine Muhammad, revelation (Koran). He called on his fellow- townsmen to renounce idolatry and worship the One God. In spite of ridicule and persecution he continued for several years to preach the religion of Islam in Mecca, but, making little progress there, he fled in 622 a.d. to the neigh- bouring city of Medina. From this date his cause prospered exceedingly. During the next decade the whole of Arabia submitted to his rule and did lip-service at least to the new Faith. B. The Orthodox Caliphate (632-661 a.d.). On the death of the Prophet the Moslems were governed in turn by four of the most eminent among his Companions — Abii Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthmdn, and 'All — who bore ^'''cSiphf'"' the title of Khalifa (Caliph), i.e.. Vicegerent, and are commonly described as the Orthodox Caliphs {al-KhulafA al-RdshitHin). Under their guidance Islam was firmly established in the peninsula and was spread far beyond its borders. Hosts of Bedouins settled as military colonists in the fertile plains of Syria and Persia. Soon, however, the xxviii INTRODUCTION recently founded empire was plunged into civil war. The murder of 'Uthmin gave the signal for a bloody strife between rival claimants of the Caliphate. ' AH, the son-in-law of the Prophet, assumed the title, but his election was contested by the powerful governor of Syria, Mu'iwiya b. AW Sufyin. C. The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 a.d.). 'AH fell by an assassin's dagger, and Mu'iwiya succeeded to the Caliphate, which remained in his family for ninety years. The Umayyads, with a single exception, were lynSty.^* Arabs first and Moslems afterwards. Religion sat very lightly on them, but they produced some able and energetic princes, worthy leaders of an imperial race. By 732 A.D. the Moslem conquests had reached the utmost limit which they ever attained. The Caliph in Damascus had his Heutenants beyond the Oxusand the Pyrenees, on the shores of the Caspian and in the valley of the Nile. Meantime the strength of the dynasty was being sapped by political and religious dissensions nearer home. The Shi'ites, who held that the Caliphate belonged by Divine right to 'All and his de- scendants, rose in revolt again and again. They were joined by the Persian Moslems, who loathed the Arabs and the oppressive Umayyad government. The 'Abbdsids, a family closely related to the Prophet, put themselves at the head of the agitation. It ended in the complete overthrow of the reigning house, which was almost exterminated. D. The 'Abbdsid Dynasty (750-1258 a.d.). Hitherto the Arabs had played a dominant r61e in the Moslem community, and had treated the non-Arab Moslems with exasperating contempt. Now the tables were The 'Abbasid ^ , ,,^ ^ dynasty. turned. We pass from the period of Arabian nationalism to one of Persian ascendancy and cosmopolitan culture. The flower of the 'Abbasid troops were Persians from Khurisdn ; Baghdad, the wonderful INTRODUCTION xxix 'Abbisid capital, was built on Persian soil ; and Persian nobles filled the highest offices of state at the 'Abbasid court. The new dynasty, if not religious, was at least favourable to religion, and took care to live in the odour of sanctity. For a time Arabs and Persians forgot their diiFerences and worked together as good Moslems ought. Piety was no longer its own reward. Learning enjoyed munificent patronage. This was the Golden Age of Islam, which culminated in the glorious reign of Hdriin al-Rashld (786-809 a.d.). On his death peace was broken once more, and the mighty empire began slowly to collapse. As province after province cut itself loose from the Caliphate, numerous independent dynasties sprang up, while the Caliphs became helpless puppets in the hands of Turkish mercenaries. Their authority was still formally recognised in most Muhammadan countries, but since the middle of the ninth century they had little or no real power. E. From the Mongol invasion to the present day (1258 A.D. — ). The Mongol hordes under Hiiligii captured Baghdid in 1258 A.D. and made an end of the Caliphate. Sweeping onward, they were checked by the Egyptian The Post-Mon- Mamelukes and retired into Persia, where, some golian period. ' ' fifty years afterwards, they embraced Islam. The successors of Hiildgii, the Il-khans, reigned in Persia until a second wave of barbarians under Tfmiir spread devastation and anarchy through Western Asia (i 380-1405 a.d.). The unity of Islam, in a political sense, was now destroyed. Out of the chaos three Muhammadan empires gradually took shape. In 1358 the Ottoman Turks crossed the Hellespont, in 1453 they entered Constantinople, and in 15 17 Syria, Egypt, and Arabia were added to their dominions. Persia became an independent kingdom under the Safawids (1502-1736) ; while in India the empire of the Great Moguls was founded by Bdbar, X5£x tNTRODVCTlON a descendant of Tlmiir, and gloriously maintained by his successors, Akbar and Awrangzlb (i525-^7°7)' Some of the political events which have been summarised above will be treated more fully in the body of this work ; others will receive no more than a passing notice. ^"''totory'"'' The ideas which reveal themselves in Arabic literature are so intimately connected with the history of the people, and so incomprehensible apart from the external circumstances in which they arose, that I have found myself obliged to dwell at considerable length on various matters of historical interest, in order to bring out what is really characteristic and important from our special point of view. The space devoted to the early periods (500-750 a.d.) will not appear excessive if they are seen in their true light as the centre and heart of Arabian history. During the next hundred years Moslem civilisation reaches its zenith, but the Arabs recede more and more into the background. The Mongol invasion virtually obliterated their national life, though in Syria and Egypt they formed an intellectual aristocracy under Turkish rule, and in Spain we meet them struggling despe- rately against Christendom. Many, centuries earlier, in the palmy days of the 'Abbisid Empire, the Arabs pur sang con- tributed only a comparatively small share to the literature which bears their name. I have not, however, enforced the test of nationality so strictly as to exclude all foreigners or men of mixed origin who wrote in Arabic. It may be said that the work of Persians (who even nowadays whoiw'oTpartiy ^""^ accustomed to use Arabic when writing on °' t?actfon. '^' theological and philosophical subjects) cannot illustrate the history of Arabian thought, but only the influence exerted upon Arabian thought by Persian ideas, and that consequently it must stand aside unless admitted for this definite purpose. But what shall we do in the case of those numerous and celebrated authors who are neither wholly INTRODUCTION xxxi Arab nor wholly Persian, but unite the blood of both races ? Must we scrutinise their genealogies and try to discover which strain preponderates ? That would be a tedious and unprofit- able task. The truth is that after the Umayyad period no hard-and-fast line can be drawn between the native and foreign elements in Arabic literature. Each reacted on the other, and often both are combined indissolubly. Although they must be distinguished as far as possible, we should be taking a narrow and pedantic view of literary history if we insisted on regarding them as mutually exclusive. CHAPTER I SABA AND HIMYAR With the Sabaeans Arabian history in the proper sense may- be said to begin, but as a preliminary step we must take account of certain races which figure more or less ^'races'^ prominently in legend, and are considered by Moslem chroniclers to have been the original inhabitants of the country. Among these are the peoples of 'Ad and Thamiid, which are constantly held up in the Koran as terrible examples of the pride that goeth before destruction. The home of the 'Adites was in Hadramawt, the province adjoining Yemen, on the borders of the desert named Ahqafu 'l-Raml. It is doubtful whether they were Semites, possibly of Aramaic descent, who were subdued and exterminated by invaders from the north, or, as Hommel maintains,^ the representatives of an imposing non - Semitic Legend of 'Ad. '; , . , . . , culture which survives in the tradition of ' Many-columned Iram,' ^ the Earthly Paradise built by Shaddid, one of their kings. The story of their destruction is related as follows : 3 They were a people of gigantic strength and stature, worshipping idols and committing all ' Die Natnen der Sdugethiere bei den Sudsemitischen VSlkern, p. 343 seq. = Iramu Dhdtu 'l-'Imdd (Koran, Ixxxix, 6). The sense of these words is much disputed. See especially Tabari's explanation in his great com- mentary on the Koran (O. Loth in Z.D.M.G., vol. 35, p. 626 sqq.). 3 I have abridged Tabari, Annals, i, 231 sqq. C/. also chapters vii, xi, xxvi, and xlvi of the Koran. 2 " 2 SABA AND HIMYAR manner of wrong ; and when God sent to them a prophet, Hud by name, who should warn them to repent, they answered : " O Hud, thou hast brought us no evidence, and we will not abandon our gods for thy saying, nor will we believe in thee. We say one of our gods hath afflicted thee with madness." ^ Then a fearful drought fell upon the land of 'Ad, so that they sent a number of their chief men to Mecca to pray for rain. On arriving at Mecca the envoys were hospitably received by the Amalekite prince, Mu'dwiya b. Bakr, who entertained them with wine and music — for he had two famous singing-girls known as al-Jaradatan ; which induced them to neglect their mission for the space of a whole month. At last, however, they got to business, and their spokesman had scarce finished his prayer when three clouds appeared, of different colours — white, red, and black — and a voice cried from heaven, " Choose for thyself and for thy people ! " He chose the black cloud, deeming that it had the greatest store of rain, whereupon the voice chanted — " Thou hast chosen embers dun | that will spare of 'Ad not one | that will leave nor father nor son | ere him to death they shall have done." Then God drove the cloud until it stood over the land of 'Ad, and there issued from it a roaring wind that consumed the whole people except a few who had taken the prophet's warning to heart and had renounced idolatry. From these, in course of time, a new people arose, who are called 'the second 'Ad.' They had their settlements in Yemen, in the region of Saba. The building of the great Dyke of Ma'rib is commonly attributed to their king, Luqman b. 'Ad, about whom many fables are told. He was surnamed ' The Man of the Vultures ' {Dhu 'l-Nusur), because it had been granted to him that he should live as long as seven vultures, one after the other. ' Koran, xi, 56-57. THE LEGEND OF 'AD AND THAMl^D 3 In North Arabia, between the Hijdz and Syria, dwelt the kindred race of Thamild, described in the Koran (vii, 72) as inhabiting houses which they cut for themselves ThSi' in the rocks. Evidently Muhammad did not know the true nature of the hewn chambers which are still to be seen at Hijr (Madi'in Sdlih), a week's journey northward from Medina, and which are proved by the Nabataean inscriptions engraved on them to have been sepulchral monuments. ^ Thamiid sinned in the same way as 'Ad, and suffered a like fate. They scouted the prophet Salih, refusing to believe in him unless he should work a miracle. Sdlih then caused a she-camel big with young to come forth from a rock, and bade them do her no hurt, but one of the miscreants, Qudir the Red (al-Ahmar), hamstrung and killed her. " Whereupon a great earthquake overtook them with a noise of thunder, and in the morning they lay dead in their houses, flat upon their breasts." = The author of this catastrophe became a byword : Arabs say, " More unlucky than the hamstringer of the she-camel," or " than Alimar of Thamiid." It should be pointed out that, unlike the 'Adites, of whom we find no trace in historical times, the Thamiidites are mentioned as still existing by Diodorus Siculus and Ptolemy ; and they survived down to the fifth century a.d. in the corps of equites Thamudeni attached to the army of the Byzantine emperors. Besides 'Ad and Thamiid, the list of primitive races includes the 'Amdlfq (Amalekites) — a purely fictitious term under which the Moslem antiquaries lumped "* ''' together several peoples of an age long past, e.g., the Canaanites and the Philistines. We hear of Amale- kite settlements in the Tihdma (Netherland) of Mecca and in other parts of the peninsula. Finally, mention should ' See Doughty's Documents Epigrafhiques recucilUs dans le nord de VArabie, p. 12 sqq. ^ Koran, vii, 76. 4 SABA AND HIMYAR be made of Tasm and Jadls, sister tribes of which nothing is recorded except the fact of their destruction and the events that brought it about. The legendary Tasm and jadis. ^^^^.^.^^j^^ in which thcse are embodied has some archaeological interest as showing the existence in early Arabian society of a barbarous feudal custom, 'le droit du seigneur,' but it is time to pass on to the main subject of this chapter. The Pre-islamic history of the Yoqtanids, or Southern Arabs, on which we now enter, is virtually the history of two peoples, the Sabaeans and the ^imyarites, History of the ^\yQ formed the successive heads of a South Yoqtanids. Arabian empire extending from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. Saba I (Sheba of the Old Testament) is often incorrectly used to denote the whole of Arabia Felix, whereas it was only one, though doubtless the first in power and TheSabffians. . ' ° i i ■ i importance, of several kmgdoms, the names and capitals of which are set down in the works of Greek and Roman geographers. However exaggerated may be the glowing accounts that we find there of Sabaean wealth and magnificence, it is certain that Saba was a flourishing com- mercial state many centuries before the birth of Christ.^ "Sea-traflic between the ports of East Arabia and India was very early established, and Indian products, especially spices and rare animals (apes and peacocks) were conveyed to the coast of 'Umdn. Thence, apparently even in the tenth century B.C., they went overland to the Arabian Gulf, where they ■ Properly Saba' with hamza, both syllables being short. » The 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 (715 B.C.), " I received the tribute of Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, of Shamsiyya, the Queen of Arabia, of Ithamara the Sab»an— gold, spices, slaves, horses, and camels." Ithamara is identical with Yatha'amar, a name borne by several kings of Saba. THE SABMAN EMPIRE 5 were shipped to Egypt for the use of the Pharaohs and grandees. . . . The difficulty of navigating the Red Sea caused the land route to be preferred for the traffic between Yemen and Syria, From Shabwat (Sabota) in Hadramawt the caravan road went to Ma'rib (Mariaba), the Sabaean capital, then northward to Macoraba (the later Mecca), and by way of Petra to Gaza on the Mediterranean." ^ The prosperity of the Sabasans lasted until the Indian trade, instead of going overland, began to go by sea along the coast of Hadramawt and through the straits of Bib al-Mandab. In consequence of this change, which seems to have taken place in the first century a.d., their power gradually declined, a great part of the population was forced to seek new homes in the north, their cities became desolate, and their massive aqueducts crumbled to pieces. We shall see presently that Arabian legend has crystallised the results of a long period of decay into a single fact — the bursting of the Dyke of Ma'rib. The disappearance of the Sabaeans left the way open for a younger branch of the same stock, namely, the Plimyarites, or, as they are called by classical authors. The yimyarites. ,^' . '' , , "' , „ , .' Homentae, whose country lay between oaba and the sea. Under their kings, known as Tubba's, they soon became the dominant power in South Arabia and exercised sway, at least ostensibly, over the northern tribes down to the end of the fifth century a.d., when the latter revolted and, led by Kulayb b. Rabi'a, shook off the suzerainty of Yemen in a great battle at Khazdzd.^ The Himyarites never flourished like the Sabasans. Their maritime situation exposed them more to attack, while the depopulation of the country had seriously weakened their military strength. The Abyssinians — originally colonists from Yemen — made repeated attempts to gain a » A. MuUer, Dir Islam im Morgen und Abendland, vol. i, p. 24 seq. ' Noldeke, however, declares the traditions which represent Kulayb as leading the Rabi'a clans to battle against the combined strength of Yemen to be entirely unhistorical [Funf Mo'allagdt, i, 44). 6 SABA AND HIMYAR foothold, and frequently managed to instal governors who were in turn expelled by native princes. Of these Abyssinian viceroys the most famous is Abraha, whose unfortunate expedi- tion against Mecca will be related in due course. Ultimately the Himyarite Empire was reduced to a Persian dependency. It had ceased to exist as a political power about a hundred years before the rise of Islam. The chief Arabian sources of information concerning Saba and Himyar are (i) the so-called 'Himyarite' inscriptions, and (2) the traditions, almost entirely of a legen- sourcesof j^rv kind, which are preserved in Muhammadan infOL'mation. J ' *■ literature. Although the South Arabic language may have maintained itself sporadically in certain remote districts down to the Prophet's time or even later, it had long ago been Ailwc"or superseded as a medium of daily intercourse by infcriplfons. the language of the North, the Arabic par excellence^ which henceforth reigns without a rival throughout the peninsula. The dead language, however, did not wholly perish. Already in the sixth century a.d. the Bedouin rider made his camel kneel down while he stopped to gaze wonderingly at inscriptions in a strange character engraved on walls of rock or fragments of hewn stone, and compared the mysterious, half-obliterated markings to the almost unrecognisable traces of the camping-ground which for him was fraught with tender memories. These inscrip- tions are often mentioned by Muhammadan authors, who included them in the term Musnad. That some Moslems — probably very few — could not only read the South Arabic alphabet, but were also acquainted with the elementary rules of orthography, appears from a passage in the eighth book of Hamddni's Iklil ; but though they might decipher proper names and make out the sense of words here and there, they had no real knowledge of the language. How the inscriptions were discovered anew by the enterprise of European travellers, SOUTH ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS 7 gradually deciphered and interpreted until they became capable of serving as a basis for historical research, and what results the study of them has produced, this I shall now set forth as briefly as possible. Before doing so it is necessary to explain why instead of ' Himyarite inscriptions' and ' Himyarite language ' I have adopted the less familiar designations ' South Arabic ' or ' Sabasan.' ' Himyarite ' is equally misleading, whether applied to the language of the inscriptions or to the inscriptions themselves. As regards the language, it was spoken in one form or another not by the Objections to . the term Himvarites alone, but also by the Sabseans, the 'Himyarite.' ■» a-. Minasans, and all the different peoples of Yemen. Muliiammadans gave the name of ' Himyarite ' to the ancient language of Yemen for the simple reason that the Himyarites were the most powerful race in that country during the last centuries preceding Islam. Had all the inscriptions belonged to the period of Himyarite supremacy, they might with some justice have been named after the ruling people ; but the fact is that many date from a far earlier age, some going back to the eighth century B.C., perhaps nearly a thousand years before the Himyarite Empire was established. The term ' Sabaean ' is less open to objection, for it may fairly be regarded as a national rather than a political denomination. On the whole, however, I prefer ' South Arabic ' to either. Among the pioneers of exploration in Yemen the first to interest himself in the discovery of inscriptions was Carsten Niebuhr, whose Beschreibung von Jrabien, pub- dedphemient Hshed in 1 772, conveycd to Europe the report Arabic that inscriptions which, though he had not seen them, he conjectured to be 'Himyarite,' existed in the ruins of the once famous city of Zafdr. On one occasion a Dutchman who had turned Muhammadan showed him the copy of an inscription in a completely unknown alphabiet, but "at that time (he says) being very ill with a violent fever, I had more reason to prepare myself for death 8 SA£A AND HIMYAR than to collect old inscriptions." ^ Thus the opportunity was lost, but curiosity had been awakened, and in 1810 Ulrich Jasper Seetzen discovered and copied several inscriptions in the neighbourhood of Zafar. Unfortunately these copies, which had to be made hastily, were very inexact. He also purchased an inscription, which he took away with him and copied at leisure, but his ignorance of the character led him to mistake the depressions in the stone for letters, so that the conclusions he came to were naturally of no value.^ The first serviceable copies of South Arabic inscriptions were brought to Europe by English officers employed on the survey of the southern and western coasts of Arabia. Lieutenant J. R. Wellsted published the inscriptions of Hisn Ghurdb and Naqb al-Hajar in his Travels in Arabia (1838). Meanwhile Emil Rodiger, Professor of Oriental Languages at Halle, with the help of two manuscripts of the Berlin Royal Library containing ' Himyarite ' alphabets, took the first step towards a correct decipherment by refuting the idea, for which De Sacy's authority had gained general acceptance, that the South Arabic script ran from left to rights; he showed, moreover, that the end of every word was marked by a straight perpendi- cular line.4 Wellsted's inscriptions, together with those which Hulton and Cruttenden brought to light at San'a, were de- ciphered by Gesenius and Rodiger working independently (1841). Hitherto England and Germany had shared the ' 0/>. cit, p. 94 seq. An excellent account of the progress made in dis- covering and deciphering the South Arabic inscriptions down to the year 1841 is given by Rodiger, Excurs ucber himjaritische Inschriften, in his German translation of Wellsted's Travels in Arabia, vol. ii, p. 368 sqq. = Seetzen's inscriptions were published in Fundgruben des Orients, vol. ii (Vienna, 1811), p. 282 sqq. The one mentioned above was after- wards deciphered and explained by Mordtmann in the Z.D.M G voMi p. 89 seq. ' 3 The oldest inscriptions, however, run from left to right and from right to left alternately (^ovarpo^riSov). « Notiz ueber die himjaritische Schrift nebst doppeltem Alphabet derselben m Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes, vol. i (Gottingen 18^71 p. 332 sqq. SOUTH ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS g credit of discovery, but a few years later France joined hands with them and was soon leading the way with characteristic brilliance. In 1843 Th. Arnaud, starting from San'a, succeeded in discovering the ruins of Ma'rib, the ancient Sabaean metropolis, and in copying at the risk of his life between fifty and sixty inscriptions, which were afterwards published in the JournaUsiatigue and found an able interpreter in Osiander.^ Still more important were the results of the expedition undertaken in 1870 by Joseph Hal6vy, who, dis- guised as a Jew, penetrated into the Jawf, or country lying east of San'a, which no European had traversed before him since 24 B.C., when ^lius Gallus led a Roman army by the same route. After enduring great fatigues and meeting with many perilous adventures, Hal6vy brought back copies of nearly seven hundred inscriptions.^ During the last twenty-five years much fresh material has been collected by E. Glaser and Julius Euting, while study of that already existing by Praetorius, Hal^vy, D. H. Miiller, Mordtmann, and other scholars has substantially enlarged our knowledge of the language, history, and religion of South Arabia in the Pre-islamic age. Neither the names of the Himyarite monarchs, as they appear in the lists drawn up by Muhammadan historians, nor the order in which these names are arranged can pretend to accuracy. If they are historical persons at all they must have reigned in fairly recent times, perhaps a short while before the rise of Islam, and probably they were unimportant princes whom the legend has thrown back into the ancient epoch, and has invested with heroic attributes. Any one who doubts this has only to compare the modern lists with those which have been made from the material in the inscriptions.3 D. H. ' See Arnaud's Relation d'un voyage a Mareb (Saba) dans I'Arabie meridionale in the journal Asiatique, 4th series, vol. v (1845), p. 311 sqq. and p. 309 sqq. ° See Rafport sur une mission archeologique dans le Yemen in the Journal Asiatique, 6th series, vol. xix (1872), pp. 5-98, 129-266, 489-547. 3 See D. H. MuUer, Die Burgemund Schlosser Siidarabiens in S.B.W.A., vol. 97, p. 981 sqq. 10 SABA AND HIMYAR Miiller has collected the names of thirty-three Sabxan kings. Certain names are often repeated — a proof of the existence of ruling dynasties — and ornamental epithets are value of usually attached to them. Thus we find Dhamar- emscnphons. ^^^ -Q\^ycxi\ (Glorious), Yatha'amar Bayyin (Dis- tinguished), Kariba'll Watdr Yuhan'im (Great, Beneficent), Samah'all Yaniif (Exalted). Moreover, the kings bear different titles corresponding to three distinct periods of Sabaean history, viz., ' Prince of Saba ' (Mukarrib Saba),^ ' King of Saba ' {Ma/k Saba), and ' King of Saba and Raydan.' In this way it is possible to determine approximately the age of the various buildings and inscriptions, and to show that they do not belong, as had hitherto been generally supposed, to the time of Christ, but that in some cases they are at least eight hundred years older. How widely the peaceful, commerce-loving people of Saba and Himyar differed in character from the wild Arabs to whom Mutiammad was sent appears most strikingly inscriptions. ''^ their Submissive attitude towards their gods, which forms, as Goldziher has remarked, the key- note of the South Arabian monuments.^ The prince erects a thank-offering to the gods who gave him victory over his enemies ; the priest dedicates his children and all his posses- sions ; the warrior who has been blessed with " due man- slayings," or booty, or escape from death records his gratitude, and piously hopes for a continuance of favour. The dead are conceived as living happily under divine protection ; they are venerated and sometimes deified.3 The following inscription, ' The name Mukarrib apparently combines the significations of prince and priest. " Goldziher, Muhammedanische Studien, Part I, p. 3. 3 See F. Prsetorius, Unsterblichkeitsglaube und Heiligenverehrung bei den Himyaren in Z.D.M.G., vol. 27, p. 645. Hubert Grimme has given an interesting sketch of the religious ideas and customs of the Southern Arabs in WeltgeschichU in Karakterbildern : Mohammed (Munich, 1904), p. 29 sqq. SOUTH ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS ii translated by Lieut.-Col. W. F. Prideaux, is a typical example of its class : — " Sa'd-ilah and his sons, Benii Marthad'", have endowed Il-Makah of Hirran with this tablet, because Il-Maljah, lord of Awwam Dhii- 'Iran Alii, has favourably heard the prayer addressed to him, and has consequently heard the Benii Marthad'" when they offered the first- fruits of their fertile lands of Arhakim in the presence of Il-Makah of Hirran, and Il-Makah of Hirran has favourably heard the prayer addressed to him that he would protect the plains and meadows and this tribe in their habitations, in consideration of the frequent gifts throughout the year ; and truly his (Sa'd-ilah' s) sons will descend to Arhakim, and they will indeed sacrifice in the two shrines of 'Athtor and Shams'", and there shall be a sacrifice in Hirran — both in order that Il-Makah may afford protection to those fields of Bin Marthad'" as well as that he may favourably listen — and in the sanctuary of Il-Makah of Harwat, and therefore may he keep them in safety according to the sign in which Sa'd-ilah was instructed, the sign which he saw in the sanctuary of Il-Makah of Na'man ; and as for Il-Mak:ah of Hirran, he has protected those fertile lands of Arhakim from hail and from all misfortune {or, from cold and from all extreme heat).' In concluding this very inadequate account of the South Arabic inscriptions I must claim the indulgence of my readers, who are aware how difficult it is to write clearly and accurately upon any subject without first-hand knowledge, in particular when the results of previous research are continually being transformed by new workers in the same field. Fortunately we possess a considerable literary supplement to these somewhat austere and meagre remains. Our knowledge of South Arabian geography, antiquities, and soiffS legendary history is largely derived from the works of two natives of Yemen, who were filled with enthusiasm for its ancient glories, and whose writings, though different as fact and fable, are from the present point of view equally instructive — Hasan b. Ahmad al-Hamdani and » Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archcuology, vol. 5, p. 409. ti SABA AlSfD HIMVAR Nashwin b. Sa'id al-Himyari. Besides an excellent geography of Arabia {^ifatu Jazlrat al-'-Arab), which has been edited by D. H. Miiller, Hamddni left a great worlc on ("94" A^D.). f^e history and antiquities of Yemen, entitled al-IkUl (' The Crown '), and divided into ten books under the following heads : — i Book I. Compendium of the beginning and origins of genealogy. Book II. Genealogy of the descendants of al-Hamaysa' b. Himyar. Book III. Concerning the pre-eminent qualities of Qahtdn. Book IV. Concerning the first period of history down to the reign of Tubba' Abu Karib. Book V. Concerning the middle period from the accession of As'ad Tubba' to the reign of Dhii Nuwds. Book VI. Concerning the last period down to the rise of Islam. Book VII. Criticism of false traditions and absurd legends. Book VIII. Concerning the castles, cities, and tombs of the Himyariies ; the extant poetry of 'Alqama,' the elegies, the inscriptions, and other matters. Book IX. Concerning the proverbs and wisdom of the Himyarites in the Himyariie language, and concerning the alphabet of the inscriptions. Book X. Concerning the genealogy of Hdshid and Bakil (the two principal tribes of Hamdan). The same intense patriotism which caused HamdinI to devote himself to scientific research inspired Nashwdn b. Sa'id, who descended on the father's side from one of the ^^^sS"''' ancient princely families of Yemen, to recall the (t ii77"a1d" legendary past and become the laureate of a long vanished and well-nigh forgotten empire. In 'The Himyarite Ode' {al-Qasidatu U-Himyariyya) he sings the might and grandeur of the monarchs who ruled over his people, and moralises in true Muhammadan spirit upon the ■ This table of contents is quoted by D. H. Miiller (Sudarabische Studien, p. 108, n. 2) from the title-page of the British Museum MS. of the eighth book of the Iklil. 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. ' The poet 'Alqama b. Dhi Jadan, whose verses are often cited in the commentary on the ' Himyarite Ode.' LITERARY MATERIALS 13 fleetingness of life and the futility of human ambition.' Accompanying the Ode, which has little value except as a comparatively unfalsified record of royal names,= is a copious historical commentary either by Nashwdn himself, as Von Kremer thinks highly probable, or by some one who lived about the same time. Those for whom history represents an aggregate of naked facts would find nothing to the purpose in this commentary, where threads of truth are almost inextricably interwoven with fantastic and fabulous embroideries. A literary form was first given to such legends by the professional story-tellers of early Islam. One of these, the South Arabian *Abid b. Sharya, visited Damascus by command of the Caliph Mu'iwiya I, who questioned him "concerning; the ancient traditions, the kings of the Arabs and other races, the cause of the confusion of tongues, and the history of the dispersion of mankind in the various countries of the world,"3 and gave orders that his answers should be put together in writing and published under his name. This work, of which unfortunately no copy has come down to us, was entitled 'The Book of the Kings and the History of the Ancients' {Kit&bu 'l-MuM wa-akhbaru l-MMn). Mas'iidi (+956 A.D.) speaks of it as a well-known book, enjoying a wide circulation.4 It was used by the commentator of the Himyarite Ode, either at first hand or through the medium of Hamddni's Iklll. We may regard it, like the commentary itself, as a historical romance in which most of the characters and some of the events are real, adorned with fairy-tales, fictitious verses, ■ Die Himjarische Kasideh herausgegeben und iibersetzt von Alfred von Kremer (Leipzig, 1865). The Lay of the Himyarites, by W. F. Prideaux (Seliore, 1879). ° Nashwan was a philologist of some repute. Hip great dictionary, the Shamsu 'l-'Uliim, is a valuable aid to those engaged in the study of South Arabian antiquities. It has been used by D. H. Miiller to fix the correct spelling of proper names which occur in the Himyarite Ode (Z.D.M.G., vol. 29, p. 620 sqq. ; Sildarabische Studien, p. 143 sqq.). 3 Fihrist, p. 89, 1. 26. * Muruju J-Dhahab, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol, iv, p. 89. 14 SABA AND HIMYAR and such entertaining matter as a man of learning and story- teller by trade might naturally be expected to introduce. Among the few remaining Muhammadan authors who bestowed special attention on the Pre-islamic period of South Arabian history, I shall mention here only "isfShIa Hamza of Isfahdn, the eighth book of whose Annals (finished in 961 a.d.) provides a useful sketch, with brief chronological details, of the Tubba's or Himyarite kings of Yemen. Qahtdn, the ancestor of the Southern Arabs, was succeeded by his son Ya'rub, who is said to have been the first to use the Arabic language, and the first to receive the salu- tations with which the Arabs were accustomed to address their kings, viz., " /«'/w sabah"^" ("Good morn- ing!") and '■'■ Abayta U-la'^na" ("Mayst thou avoid maledic- tion ! "). His grandson, 'Abd Shams Saba, is named as the founder of Ma'rib and the builder of the famous Dyke, which, according to others, was constructed by Luqman b. 'Ad. Saba had two sons, Himyar and Kahldn. Before his death he deputed the sovereign authority to Himyar, and the task of protecting the frontiers and making war upon the enemy to Kahlin. Thus Himyar ^^SkT^ obtained the lordship, assumed the title Abii Ayman, and abode in the capital city of the realm, while Kahlan took over the defence of the borders and the conduct of war.^ Omitting the long series of mythical Sabaean kings, of whom the legend has little or nothing to relate, we now come to an event which fixed itself inefFaceably in the memory of the Arabs, and which is known in their traditions as Saylu 'l-''Arim, or the Flood of the Dyke. ' Von Kremer, Die Sudarabische Sage, p. 56. Possibly, as he suggests (p. IIS), the story may be a symbolical expression of the fact that the Sabasans were divided into two great tribes, Himyar and Kahlan, the former of which held the chief power. THE DYKE OF MA RIB 15 Some few miles south-west of Ma'rib the mountains draw together leaving a gap, through which flows the River Adana. During the summer its bed is often dry, but in the ^''M?rib.°' rainy season the water rushes down with such violence that it becomes impassable. In order to protect the city from floods, and partly also for purposes of irrigation, the inhabitants built a dam of solid masonry, which, long after it had fallen into ruin, struck the imagination of Muhammad, and was reckoned by Moslems among the wonders of the world. I That their historians have clothed the bare fact of its destruction in ample robes of legendary circumstance is not surprising, but renders abridgment necessary .2 Towards the end of the third century of our era, or possibly at an earlier epoch,3 the throne of Ma'rib was temporarily occupied by 'Amr b. 'Amir Ma' al-Sami, sur- announced by named Muzayqiyd.4 His wife, Zarifa, was skilled in the art of divination. She dreamed dreams and saw visions which announced the impending calamity. " Go to the Dyke," she said to her husband, who doubted her clair- voyance, "and if thou see a rat digging holes in the Dyke with its paws and moving huge boulders with its hind-legs, be assured that the woe hath come upon us." So 'Amr went to ' C/. Koran xxxiv, 14 sqq. The existing ruins have been described by Arnaud in the Journal Asiatique, 7th series, vol. 3 (1874), p. 3 sqq. = I follow Mas'udi, Muruju 'l-Dhahab (ed. by Barbier de Meynard), vol. iii, p. 378 sqq., and Nuwayri in Reiske's Primce linece Historice Rerum Arabicarum, p. 166 sqq. 3 The 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 century a.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 iiber den Dammbruch von Marib (Mitteilungen der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1897, 6). ■• He 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. r6 SABA AND HIMYAR the Dyke and looked carefully, and lo, there was a rat moving an enormous rock which fifty men could not have rolled from its place. Convinced by this and other prodigies that the Dyke would soon burst and the land be laid waste, he resolved to sell his possessions and depart with his family ; and, lest conduct so extraordinary should arouse suspicion, he had re- course to the following stratagem. He invited the chief men of the city to a splendid feast, which, in accordance with a preconcerted plan, was interrupted by a violent altercation between himself and his son (or, as others relate, an orphan who had been brought up in his house). Blows were ex- changed, and 'Amr cried out, "O shame ! on the day of my glory a stripling has insulted me and struck my face." He swore that he would put his son to death, but the guests entreated him to show mercy, until at last he gave way. "But by God," he exclaimed, "I will no longer remain in a city where I have suffered this indignity, I will sell my lands and my stock." Having successfully got rid of his encumbrances — for there was no lack of buyers eager to take him at his word— 'Amr informed the people of the danger with which they were threatened, and set out from Ma'rib at the head of a great multitude. Gradually the waters made a breach in the Dyke and swept over the country, spreading devastation far and wide. Hence the proverb Dhahabu (or tafarraqh) aydl Saba, "They departed" (or "dispersed") "like the people of Saba." ^ This deluge marks an epoch in the history of South Arabia. The waters subside, the land returns to cultivation Fall of the , sabaean and prosperity, but Ma'rib lies desolate, and the Empire. c l_ i. j* babseans have disappeared for ever, except " to point a moral or adorn a tale." Al-A'shd sang : Metre Mutaqdrib :(^-^ \^^ — — |~— — I ^ ) ' Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. i, p. 497. DESTRUCTION OF THE DYKE 17 "Let this warn whoever a warning will take — And Ma'rib withal, which the Dam fortified. Of marble did Himyar construct it, so high. The waters recoiled when to reach it they tried. It watered their acres and vineyards, and hour By hour, did a portion among them divide. So lived they in fortune and plenty until Therefrom turned away by a ravaging tide. Then wandered their princes and noblemen through Mirage-shrouded deserts that baffle the guide."' The poet's reference to Himyar is not historically accurate. It was only after the destruction of the Dyke and the dispersion of the Sabaeans who built it a that the Himyarites, with their capital Zafar (at a later period, §an'i) became the rulers of Yemen. The first Tubba', by which name the Himyarite kings are known to Muhammadan writers, was Hdrith, called al-Ri'ish, i.e., the Featherer, because he ' feathered ' his TheTubba's. . ' people's nest with the booty which he brought home as a conqueror from India and Adharbayjdn.3 Of the Tubba's who come after him some obviously owe their place in the line of Himyar to genealogists whose respect for the Koran was greater than their critical acumen. Such a man of straw is Sa'b Dhu '1-Qarnayn (Sa'b the Two-horned). The following verses show that he is a double of the mysterious Dhu '1-Qarnayn of Koranic legend, Dhu 'l-Qamayn. ■' <> .' & > supposed by most commentators to be identical with Alexander the Great 4 : — ' Hamdani, IkUl, bk. viii, edited by D. H. Miiller in S.B.W.A. (Vienna, l88i), vol. 97, p. 1037. The verses are quoted with some textual differences by Yaqiit, Mu'jam al-Bulddn, ed. by Wiistenfeld, vol. iv, 387, and Ibn Hisham, p. 9. ' The following inscription is engraved on one of the stone cylinders described by Arnaud : " Yatha'amar Bayyin, son of Samah'ali Yaniif, Prince of Saba, caused the mountain Balaq to be pierced and erected the flood-gates (called) Rahab for convenience of irrigation." I translate after D. H. Muller, loc. laud., p. 965. 3 The words Himyar and Tubba' do not occur at all in the older inscrip- tions, and very seldom even in those of a more recent date. * See Koran, xviii, 82-98. 3 i8 SABA AND HIMYAR " Ours the realm of Dhu 'l-Qarnayn the glorious, Realm like his was never won by mortal king. Followed he the Sun to view its setting When it sank into the sombre ocean-spring ; Up he clomb to see it rise at morning, From within its mansion when the East it fired ; All day long the horizons led him onward,' All night through he watched the stars and never tired. Then of iron and of liquid metal He prepared a rampart not to be o'erpassed, Gog and Magog there he threw in prison Till on Judgment Day they shall awake at last." = Similarly, among the Tubba's we find the Queen of Sheba, whose adventures with Solomon are related in the twenty- seventh chapter of the Koran. Although Muh- ammad himself did not mention her name or lineage, his interpreters were equal to the occasion and revealed her as Bilqfs, the daughter of Sharihil (Sharahbll). The national hero of South Arabian legend is the Tubba' ' Dhu 'l-Qarnayn is described as "the measurer of the earth" (Massdhu 'l-ard) by Hamdani, yaziratu 'l-'Arab, p. 46, 1. 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-Qarnaj'n is a personification of the Sabasan divinity 'Athtar, who represents "sweet Hesper-Phosphor, double name" (see D. H. Miiller in S.B.W.A., vol. 97, p. 973 seq.). The Minasan 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 Hamdani is the name of Venus [al-Zuham), was identified by Arabian archaeologists with Bilqis. For qarn in 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 Bilqis may be added to the examples (ibid., p. in sqq.) of that peculiar conversion by which many heathen deities were enabled to maintain themselves under various dis- guises within the pale of Islam. ' The Arabic text will be found in Von Kremer's AUarabische GedichU ueber die Volkssage von Jemen, p. 15 (No. viii, 1.6 sqq.). Hassan b.Thabit, the author of these lines, was contemporary with Muhammad, to whose cause he devoted what poetical talent he possessed. In the verses imme- diately preceding those translated above he claims to be a descendant of Qahtan. THE TUBE A' AS'AD KAMIL 19 As'ad Kdmil, or, as he is sometimes called, Abi Karib. Even at the present day, says Von Kremer, his memory is kept alive, and still haunts the ruins of his palace at Zafdr. As'ad Kamil. , ^ t a 'i " No one who reads the Ballad of his Adven- tures or the words of exhortation which he addressed on his death-bed to his son Hassan can escape from the conviction that here we have to do with genuine folk-poetry — fragments of a South Arabian legendary cycle, the beginnings of which un- doubtedly reach back to a high antiquity." ^ I translate here the foi'mer of these pieces, which may be entitled THE BALLAD OF THE THREE WITCHES.^ " Time brings to pass full many a wonder Whereof the lesson thou must ponder. Whilst all to thee seems ordered fair, Lo, Fate hath wrought confusion there. Against a thing foredoomed to be Nor cunning nor caution helpeth thee. Now a marvellous tale will I recite ; Trust me to know and tell it aright ! Once on a time was a boy of Asd Who became the king of the land at last, Born in Hamdan, a villager ; The name of that village was Khamir. This lad in the pride of youth defied His friends, and they with scorn replied. None guessed his worth till he was grown Ready to spring. ' Von Kremer, Die Siidarabische Sage, p. vii of the Introduction. ' A prose translation is given by Von Kremer, ibid., p. 78 sqq. The Arabic text which he published afterwards in Altarabische 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 'Abid b. Sharya (see p. 13 supra), or Yazid b. Rabi'a b. Mufarrigh (f 688 a.d.), who is said to have invented the poems and romances of the ^limyarite kings (Aghdni, xvii, 52). 20 SABA AND HIMYAR One morn, alone On Hinwam hill he was sore afraid.' (His people knew not where he strayed ; They had seen him only yesternight, For his youth and wildness they held him light. The wretches ! Him they never missed Who had been their glory had they wist). O the fear that fell on his heart when he Saw beside him the witches three ! The eldest came with many a brew — In some was blood, blood-dark their hue. ' Give me the cup ! ' he shouted bold ; 'Hold, hold!' cried she, but he would not hold. She gave him the cup, nor he did shrink The' he reeled as he drained the magic drink. Then the second yelled at him. Her he faced Like a lion with anger in his breast. ' These be our steeds, come mount,' she cried, ' For asses are worst of steeds to ride.' ''Tis sooth,' he answered, and sHpped his flank O'er a hyena lean and lank. But the brute so fiercely flung him away. With deep, deep wounds on the earth he lay. Then came the youngest and tended him On a soft bed, while her eyes did swim In tears ; but he averted his face And sought a rougher resting-place : Such paramour he deemed too base. And himthought, in anguish lying there. That needles underneath him were.° Now when they had marked his mien so bold, Victory in all things they foretold. ' The wars, O As'ad, waged by thee Shall heal mankind of misery. ' Instead of Hinwam the original has Hayyum, for which Von Kramer reads Ahniim. But see Hamdani, Jaziratu 'l-'Arab, p. 193, last line and fol. ' I read al-jahdi for al-jahli. BALLAD OF THE THREE WITCHES 21 Thy sword and spear the foe shall rue When his gashes let the daylight through; And blood shall flow on every hand What time thou marchest from land to land. By us be counselled : stay not within Khamir, but go to Zafar and win ! To thee shall dalliance ne'er be dear, Thy foes shall see thee before they hear. Desire moved to encounter thee, Noble prince, us witches three. Not jest, but earnest on thee we tried, And well didst thou the proof abide.' As'ad went home and told his folk What he had seen, but no heed they took. On the tenth day he set out again And fared to Zafar with thoughts in his brain. There fortune raised him to high renown : None swifter to strike ever wore a crown.' Thus found we the tale in memory stored, And Almighty is the Lord. Praise be to God who liveth aye, The Glorious to whom all men pray ! " Legend makes As'ad the hero of a brilliant expedition to Persia, where he defeated the general sent against him by the Arsacids, and penetrated to the Caspian Sea. On his way home he marched through the Hijdz, and having learned that his son, whom he left behind in Medina, had been treacherously murdered, he resolved to take a terrible vengeance on the people of that city. " Now while the Tubba' was carrying on war against them, there came to him two Jewish Rabbins of the Banu Qurayza, men deep in knowledge, who when they heard that he wished to destroy the " I omit the following verses, which tell how an old woman of Medina came to King As'ad, imploring him to avenge her wrongs, and how he gathered an innumerable army, routed his enemies, and returned to Zafar in triumph. 22 SABA AND HIMYAR city and its people, said to him : ' O King, forbear I Verily, if thou wilt accept nothing save that which thou desirest, an intervention , . will be made betwixt thee and the city, and we are ^ndth"' not sure but that sudden chastisement may befall 'ofMe^cUna"' t^ee.' ' Why SO ?' he asked. They answered : "Tis the place of refuge of a prophet who in the after time shall go forth from the sacred territory of Quraysh : it shall be his abode and his home.' So the king refrained himself, for he saw that those two had a particular knowledge, and he was pleased with what they told him. On departing from Medina he followed them in their religion.' . . . And he turned his face towards Mecca, that being his way to Yemen, and when he was between ^afMecc™' 'Usfan and Amaj some Hudhalites came to him and said : ' O King, shall we not guide thee to a house of ancient treasure which the kings before thee neglected, wherein are pearls and emeralds and chrysolites and gold and silver ? ' He said, ' Yea.' They said : ' It is a temple at Mecca which those who belong to it worship and in which they pray.' Now the Hudhalites wished to destroy him thereby, knowing that destruction awaited the king who should seek to violate its precinct. So on compre- hending what they proposed, he sent to the two Rabbins to ask them about the affair. They replied : ' These folk intend naught but to destroy thee and thine army ; we wot not of any house in the world that God hath chosen for Himself, save this. If thou do that to which they invite thee, thou and those with thee vsdll surely perish together.' He said : ' What then is it ye bid me do when I come there ? ' They said : ' Thou wilt do as its people do — make the circuit thereof, and magnify and honour it, and shave thy head, and humble thyself before it, until thou go forth from its precinct.' He said: 'And what hinders you from doing that yourselves?' ' By God,' said they, ' it is the temple of our father Abraham, and verily it is even as we told thee, but we are debarred therefrom by the idols which its people have set up around it and by the blood- oEerings which they make beside it ; for they are vile polytheists,' or words to the same effect. The king perceived that their advice was good and their tale true. He ordered the Hudhalites to approach, and cut off their hands and feet. Then he continued his march to Mecca, where he made the circuit of the temple, sacrificed camels, and shaved his head. According to what is told, he stayed six days at Mecca, feasting the inhabitants with the flesh of camels ' Ibn Hisham, p. 13, 1. 14 sqq. AS' AD KAMIL and THE RABBINS 23 and letting them drink honey.' . . . Then he moved out with his troops in the direction of Yemen, the two Rabbins accompanying him ; and on entering Yemen he called on his subjects "esta'bUsh" *° adopt the religion which he himself had embraced, Judaism in but they refused unless the question were submitted to the ordeal of fire which at that time existed in Yemen ; for as the Yemenites say, there was in their country a fire that gave judgment between them in their disputes : it devoured the wrong-doer but left the injured person unscathed. The ordeal of ^j^g Yemenites therefore came forward with their idols and whatever else they used as a means of drawing nigh unto God, and the two Rabbins came forward with their scriptures hung on their necks like necklaces, and both parties seated themselves at the place from which the fire was wont to issue. And the fire blazed up, and the Yemenites shrank back from it as it approached them, and were afraid, but the bystanders urged them on and bade them take courage. So they held out until the fire enveloped them and consumed the idols and images and the men of Himyar, the bearers thereof ; but the Rabbins came forth safe and sound, their brows moist with sweat, and the scriptures were still hanging on their necks. Thereupon the Himyarites con- sented to adopt the king's religion, and this was the cause of Judaism being established in Yemen." = The poem addressed to his son and successor, Hassdn, which tradition has put into his mouth, is a sort of last will and testament, of which the greater part is taken ^^'to'hiBMn!''" up with an account of his conquests and with glorification of his family and himself.3 Nearly all that we find in the way of maxims or injunctions suitable to the solemn occasion is contained in the following verses : — " O Hassan, the hour of thy father's death has arrived at last : Look to thyself ere yet the time for looking is past. Oft indeed are the mighty abased, and often likewise Are the base exalted : such is Man who is born and dies. ■ Ibn Hisham, p. 15, 1. I sqq. ' Ibid., p. 17, 1. 2 sqq. 3 Arabic text in Von Kremer's Altarabische Gedichte ueber die Volkssage von Jemen, p. 20 seq. ; prose translation by the same author in Die Siidarabische Sage, p. 84 sqq. 24 SABA AND HIMYAR Bid ye Himyar know that standing erect would I buried be, And have my wine-skins and Yemen robes in the tomb with me.' And hearken thou to my Sibyl, for surely can she foresay The truth, and safe in laer keeping is castle Ghayman aye.'' In connection with Ghaymdn a few words may be added respecting the castles in Yemen, of which the ruined skeletons rising from solitary heights seem still to frown of Yeme" defiance upon the passing traveller. Two thou- sand years ago, and probably long before, they were occupied by powerful barons, more or less independent, who in later times, when the Himyarite Empire had begun to decline, always elected, and occasionally deposed, their royal master. Of these castles the geographer Hamdani has given a detailed account in the eighth book of his great work on the history and antiquities of Yemen entitled the Iklil, or 'Crown,' 3 The oldest and most celebrated was Ghumddn, the citadel of San'a. It is described as a huge edifice of twenty stories, each story ten cubits high. The four facades were built with stone of different colours, white, black, green, and red. On the top story was a chamber which had windows of marble framed with ebony and planewood. Its roof was a slab of pellucid marble, so that when the lord of Ghumdan lay on his couch he saw the birds fly overhead, and could distinguish a raven from a kite. At each corner stood a brazen lion, and when the wind blew ' The second half of this verse is corrupt. Von Kramer translates (in his notes to the Arabic text, p. 26) : " And bury with me the camel stallions (al-khtldn) and the slaves {al-ruqqdn)." Apart, however, from the fact that ruqqdn (plural of raqlq) is not mentioned by the lexico- graphers, it seems highly improbable that the king would have com- manded such a barbarity. I therefore take khlldn (plural of khdl) in the meaning of ' soft stuffs of Yemen,' and read zuqqdn (plural of ziqq). ' Ghayman or Miqlab, a castle near San'a, in which the Himyarite kings were buried. 3 The text and translation of this section of the Iklil have been pub- lished by D. H. Miiller in S.B.WA., vols. 94 and 97 (Vienna, 1879-1880). zarqA of yamAma 25 it entered the hollow interior of the effigies and made a sound like the roaring of lions. The adventure of As'ad Kimil with the three witches must have recalled to every reader certain scenes in Macbeth. Curiously enough, in the history of his son Hassin an incident is related which offers a striking parallel to the march of Birnam Wood. Tasm and Jadis have already been men- tioned. On the massacre of the former tribe by the latter, a single Tasmite named Ribih b. Murra made his escape and took refuge with the Tubba' Hassin, whom he persuaded to lead an expedition against the murderers. Now Ribdh's sister had married a man of Jadis. Her name was •i-Yamima. ZarqA'u '1-Yamdma — i.e., the Blue-eyed Woman of Yamama — and she had such piercing sight that she was able to descry an army thirty miles away. Hassdn therefore bade his horsemen hold in front of them leafy branches which they tore down from the trees. They advanced thus hidden, and towards evening, when they had come within a day's journey, Zarqd said to her people : " I see trees marching." No one believed her until it was too late. Next morning Hassan fell upon them and put the whole tribe to the sword. The warlike expeditions to which Hassdn devoted all his energy were felt as an intolerable burden by the chiefs of Himyar, who formed a plot to slay him and set murdered by his brother 'Amr on the throne. 'Amr was at first unwilling to lend himself to their designs, but ultimately his scruples were overcome, and he stabbed the Tubba' with his own hand. The assassin suffered a terrible punishment. Sleep deserted him, and in his remorse he began to execute the conspirators one after another. There was, however, a single chief called Dhu Ru'ayn, who had remained loyal and had done his best to save *Amr from the guilt of fratricide. Finding his efforts fruitless, he requested 'Amr to take charge of a sealed 26 SABA AND HIMYAR paper which he brought with him, and to keep it in a safe place until he should ask for it. 'Amr consented and thought no more of the matter. Afterwards, imagining that Dhu Ru'ayn had joined in the fatal plot, he gave orders for his execution. " How ! " exclaimed Dhii Ru'ayn, " did not I tell thee what the crime involved ? " and he asked for the sealed writing, which was found to contain these verses — " O fool to barter sleep for waking ! Blest Is he alone whose eyelids close in rest. Hath Himyar practised treason, yet 'tis plain That God forgiveness owes to Dhu Ru'ayn.'" On reading this, 'Amr recognised that Dhii Ru'ayn had spoken the truth, and he spared his life. With 'Amr the Tubba' dynasty comes to an end. The succeeding kings were elected by eight of the most powerful barons, who in reality were independent princes, each ruling in his strong castle over as many vassals and retainers as he could bring into subjection. During this period the Abyssinians conquered at least some part of the country, and Christian viceroys were sent by the Najashi (Negus) to govern it in his name. At last Dhii Nuwas, a descendant of the Tubba' As'ad Kdmil, crushed the rebellious barons and made himself unquestioned monarch of Yemen. A fanatical adherent of Judaism, he resolved to stamp out Christianity in Dhu Nuwas. -kt ■ ^ i • • • , / , . , , Majran, where it is said to have been introduced from Syria by a holy man called Faymiyun (Phemion). The Himyarites flocked to his standard, not so much from religious motives as from hatred of the Abyssinians. The pretended murder of two Jewish children gave Dhii Nuwds a plausible caius belli. He marched against Najrdn with an overwhelming ..u ^°'''^^> entered the city, and bade the inhabitants Massacre of the , , Christians in choose between Judaism and death. Manv Najran(523 A.D.). ■,,,,,, ■' perished by the sword ; the rest were thrown into a trench which the king ordered to be dug and filled with ' Aghdni, xx, 8, 1. 14 seq. dhO nuwAs 27 blazing fire. Nearly a hundred years later, when Muhammad was being sorely persecuted, he consoled and encouraged his followers by the example of the Christians of Najrdn, who suffered "^r no other reason but that they believed in the mighty, the glorious God" ' Dhi Nuwas paid dearly for his triumph. Daws Dhu Tha'labin, one of those who escaped from the massacre, fled to the Byzantine emperor and implored him, as the head of Christendom, to assist them in obtaining vengeance. Justinus accordingly wrote a letter to the Najashi, desiring him to take action, and ere long an Abyssinian army, 70,000 strong, under the command of Arydt, disembarked in Yemen. Dhu Nuwds could not count on the loyalty of the Himyarite nobles ; his troops melted away. " When he saw dS'nuwL. the fate that had befallen himself and his people, he turned to the sea and setting spurs to his horse, rode through the shallows until he reached the deep water. Then he plunged into the waves and nothing more of him was seen." 2 Thus died, or thus at any rate should have died, the last representative of the long line of Himyarite kings. Hence- forth Yemen appears in Pre-islamic history only as an Abys- sinian dependency or as a Persian protectorate. The events now to be related form the prologue to a new drama in which South Arabia, so far from being the centre of interest, plays an almost insignificant r61e.3 On the death of Dhii Nuwas, the Abyssinian general Aryat continued his march through Yemen. He slaughtered a third part of the males, laid waste a third part of the land, and iS^M^n^e. ss'it ^ ^'^'■■'^ P^''*^ °^ ^'^^ women and children to the Najashi as slaves. Having reduced the Yemenites to submission and re-established order, he held the position of viceroy ' Koran, Ixxxv, 4 sqq. ° Tabari, i, 927, I. 19 sqq. 3 The following narrative is abridged from Tabari, i, 928, 1. 2 sqq. = Noldeke, Geschichte der Perser and Araber zur Zdt der Sasaniden, p. 192 sqq. 28 SABA AND HIMYAR for several years. Then mutiny broke out in the Abyssinian army of occupation, and his authority was disputed by an ofiScer, named Abraha. When the rivals faced each other, Abraha said to Aryat : " What will it avail you to engage the Abyssinians in a civil war that will leave none of them alive ? Fight it out with me, and let the troops follow the victor." His challenge being accepted, Abraha stepped forth. He was a short, fleshy man, compactly built, a devout Christian, while Aryat was big, tall, and hand- ^''"''1?"'^ some. When the duel began, Aryat thrust his spear with the intention of piercing Abraha' s brain, but it glanced off his forehead, slitting his eyelid, nose, and lip — hence the name, al- Ashram, by which Abraha was afterwards known ; and ere he could repeat the blow, a youth in Abraha's service, called 'Atwada, who was seated on a hillock behind his master, sprang forward and dealt him a mortal wound. Thus Abraha found himself commander-in-chief of the Abyssinian army, but the Najashi was enraged and swore not to rest until he set foot on the soil of Yemen and cut off the rebel's forelock. On hearing this, Abraha wrote to the Najashi : " O King, Aryat was thy servant even as I am. We quarrelled over thy command, both of us owing allegiance to thee, but I had more strength than he to command the Abyssinians and keep discipline and exert authority. When I heard of the king's oath, I shore my head, and now I send him a sack of the earth of Yemen that he may put it under his feet and fulfil his oath." The Najashi answered this act of submission by appointing Abraha to be his viceroy. . . . Then Abraha buUt the church * o?Yeraen™^ (.al-Qalts) at San'a, the like of which was not to be seen at that time in the whole world, and wrote to the Najashi that he would not be content until he had diverted thither every pilgrim in Arabia. This letter made much talk, and a man of the Banu Fuqaym, one of those who arranged the calendar, was angered by what he learned of Abraha's purpose ; so he went into the church and defiled it. When Abraha heard that the author of the outrage belonged to the people of the Temple in Mecca, and that he meant to show thereby his scorn and contempt for the new foundation, he waxed wroth and swore that he would march against the Temple and lay it in ruins. The disastrous failure of this expedition, which took place in the year of the Elephant (570 a.d.), did not at once free Yemen from the Abyssinian yoke. The sons of Abraha, Yaqsiim and Masriiq, bore heavily on the Arabs. Seeing no THE ABYSSINIANS IN YEMEN 29 help among his own people, a noble Himyarite named Sayf b. Dhl Yazan resolved to seek foreign intervention. His choice lay between the Byzantine and Persian empires, Yaian. ' and he first betook himself to Constantinople. Disappointed there, he induced the Arab king of Hfra, who was under Persian suzerainty, to present him at the court of Madd'in (Ctesiphon). How he won audience of the Sdsinian monarch, Nushirwan, surnamed the Just, and tempted him by an ingenious trick to raise a force of eight hundred condemned felons, who were set free and shipped to Yemen under the command of an aged general ; how they literally 'burned their boats 'and, drawing courage from despair, routed the Abyssinian host and made Yemen a satrapy The Persians in ^ -p. . i ■ /- t Yemen ot Persia ' — this forms an almost epic narrative, which I have omitted here (apart from considera- tions of space) because it belongs to Persian rather than to Arabian literary history, being probably based, as Noldeke has suggested, on traditions handed down by the Persian con- querors who settled in Yemen to their aristocratic descendants whom the Arabs called al-Abni (the Sons) or Banu ^l-Ahrar (Sons of the Noble). Leaving the once mighty kingdom of Yemen thus pitiably and for ever fallen from its high estate, we turn northward into the main stream of Arabian history. * The reader will find a full and excellent account of these matters in Professor Brojyne's Literary History of Persia, vol. i, pp. 178-1^1. CHAPTER II THE HISTORY AND LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS MuHAMMADANS include the whole period of Arabian history from the earliest times down to the establishment of Islam in the term al-Jahiliyya, which was used by TheAgeof ,, , , . / r i_ T^ J • Barbarism Muhammad m four passages or the Koran and is (al-JahiUyya). ■ , , j f . c ■ ' generally translated 'the state of ignorance or simply ' the Ignorance.' Goldziher, however, has shown con- clusively that the meaning attached to jahl (whence Jahiliyya is derived) by the Pre-islamic poets is not so much ' ignorance ' as ' wildness,' ' savagery,' and that its true antithesis is not Him (knowledge), but rather hilm, which denotes the moral reasonableness of a civilised man. " When Muhammadans say that Islam put an end to the manners and customs of the yahiliyya, they have in view those barbarous practices, that savage temper, by which Arabian heathendom is distinguished from Islam and by the abolition of which Muhammad sought to work a moral reformation in his countrymen : the haughty spirit of the Jahiliyya [hamiyyatu '' l-J ahiliyyci), the tribal pride and the endless tribal feuds, the cult of revenge, the implaca- bility and all the other pagan characteristics which Islam was destined to overcome." i Our sources of information regarding this period may be classified as follows :— (i) Poems and fragments of verse^ which though not written ' Goldziher, Muhammedanischc Studicn, Part I, p. 225. 30 SOURCES OF INFORMATION 31 down at the time were preserved by oral tradition and com- mitted to writing, for the most part, two or three hundred years afterwards. The importance of this, virtu- infOTmation ^^^7 ^he sole Contemporary record of Pre-islamic "^"jihrnj^li.""^ history, is recognised in the well-known saying, "Poetry is the public register of the Arabs {al- shi^ru diwdnu U-^Arab) ; thereby genealogies are kept in mind and famous actions are made familiar." Some account of the chief collections of old Arabian poetry will be given in the next chapter. (2) Proverbs. These are of less value, as they seldom explain themselves, while the commentary attached to them is the work of scholars bent on explaining them at all costs, though in many cases their true meaning could only be con- jectured and the circumstances of their origin had been entirely forgotten. Notwithstanding this very pardonable excess of zeal, we could ill afford to lose the celebrated collections of Mufaddal al-Dabbi (t about 786 a.d.) and Maydani (t 1 124 A-D.),"^ which contain so much curious information throwing light on every aspect of Pre-islamic life. (3) Traditions and legends. Since the art of writing was neither understood nor practised by the heathen Arabs in general, it was impossible that Prose, as a literary form, should exist among them. The germs of Arabic Prose, however, may be traced back to the Jdhiliyya. Besides the proverb (mathal) and the oration (^hutba) we find elements of history and romance in the prose narratives used by the rhapsodists to introduce and set forth plainly the matter of their songs, and in the legends which recounted the glorious deeds of tribes and individuals. A vast number of such stories — some unmistakably genuine, others bearing the stamp of fiction — are preserved in various literary, historical, and geographical works composed under the 'Abbasid Caliphate, especially in the Kitdbu '1-Aghant (Book ' Maydani's collection has beeti edited, with a Latin translation by Freytag, in three volumes (Arabum Proverbia, Bonn, 1838-1843). 32 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS of Songs) by Abu '1-Faraj of Isfahdn (t 967 a.d.), an invaluable compilation based on the researches of the great Humanists as they have been well named by Sir Charles Lyall, of the second and third centuries after the Hijra.i The original writings of these early critics and scholars have The Book ot perished almost without exception, and beyond the copious citations in the Aghdnl we possess hardly any specimens of their work. " The Book of Songs" says Ibn Khaldiin, " is the Register of the Arabs. It comprises all that they had achieved in the past of excellence in every kind of poetry, history, music, et cetera. So far as I am aware, no other book can be put on a level with it in this respect. It is the final resource of the student of belles-lettres, and leaves him nothing further to desire." ^ In the following pages I shall not attempt to set in due order and connection the confused mass of poetry and legend in which all that we know of Pre-islamic Arabia th?s"hlp°ter ^i^^ deeply embedded. This task has already been performed with admirable skill by Caussin de Perceval in his Essai sur Vhistoire des Arabes avant P Islamisme,3 and it could serve no useful purpose to inflict a dry summary of that famous work upon the reader. The better course, I think, will be to select a few typical and outstanding features of the time and to present them, wherever possible, as they have been drawn— largely from imagination — by the Arabs themselves. If the Arabian traditions are wanting in historical accuracy they are nevertheless, taken as a whole, true in spirit to the Dark Age which they call up from the dead and reverently unfold beneath our eyes. ■ The Kitdbu 'l-Aghdni has been published at Bulaq (1284-1285 A.H.) in twenty volumes. A volume of biographies not contained in the Bulaq text was edited by R. E. Briinnow (Leiden, i888). = Muqaddima of Ibn Khaldiin (Beyrout, 1900), p. 554, 11. 8-10 ; Les Pro- legomines d' Ibn Khaldoun tradiiits par M. de Slane (Paris, 1863-68) vol. iii, p. 331. 5 Published at Paris, 1847-1848, in three volumes. ARAB KINGDOMS 33 About the middle of the third century of our era Arabia was enclosed on the north and north-east by the rival empires of Rome and Persia, to which the Syrian desert, stretching right across the peninsula, formed a natural termination. In order to protect themselves from Bedouin raiders, who poured over the frontier-provinces, and after laying hands on all the booty within reach vanished as suddenly as they came, both Powers found it necessary to plant a line of garrisons along the edge of the wilderness. Thus the tribesmen were partially held in check, but as force alone seemed an expensive and inefficient remedy it was decided, in accordance with the well- proved maxim, divide et impera, to enlist a number of the offending tribes in the Imperial service. Regular pay and the prospect of unlimited plunder — for in those days Rome and Persia were almost perpetually at war — were inducements that no true Bedouin could resist. They fought, how- dynastiesofHira evcr, as free allies under their own chiefs or phylarchs. In this way two Arabian dynasties sprang up— the Ghassdnjds^Jn Syua„and.. the Lakhmites_at Hfra, west of the Euphrates^^military bufiFerrStates, always ready to collide even when they were not urged on by the suzerain powers behind them. The Arabs soon showed what they were capable of when trained and disciplined in arms. On the defeat of Valerian by the Chosroes Sdbiir I, an Arab chieftain in Palmyra, named Udhayna (Odenathus), marched at the head of a strong force against the conqueror, drove him out of Syria, and pursued him up to the very walls of Madd'in, the Persian capital (265 a.d.). His brilliant exploits were duly rewarded by the Emperor Gallienus, who bestowed on him the title of Augustus. He was, in fact, the °^zenobia^"'* acknowledged master of the Roman legions in the East when, a year later, he was treacherously murdered. He found a worthy successor in his wife, the noble and ambitious Zenobia, who set herself the task of building up a great Oriental Empire. She fared, however, no 4 34 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS better than did Cleopatra in a like enterprise. For a moment the issue was doubtful, but Aurelian triumphed and the proud 'Queen of the East' was led a captive before his chariot through the streets of Rome (274 a.d.). These events were not forgotten by the Arabs. It flattered their national pride to recall that once, at any rate, Roman armies had marched under the flag of an Arabian princess But the legend, as told in their traditions, has little in common with reality. Not only are names and places freely altered — Zenobia herself being confused with her Syrian general, Zabdai — but the historical setting, though dimly visible in the back- ground, has been distorted almost beyond recognition : what remains is one of those romantic adventures which delighted the Arabs of the J&hiliyya^ just as their modern descendants are never tired of listening to the Story of '■Antar or to the Thousand Nights and a Night. The first king of the Arab settlers in 'Iriq (Babylonia) i is said to have been Mdlik the Azdite, who was accidentally shot with an arrow by his son, Sulayma. Before he expired he uttered a verse which has become Malik the Azdite. proverbial :■ U'alliniuhu 'l-rimdyata kulla yawnt'" falamma 'shtadda sd'iduhii ramdni. " I taught him every day the bowman's art, And when his arm grew strong, he pierced my heart." Mdlik's kingdom, if it can properly be described as such, was consolidated and organised by his son, Jadhima, surnamed al-Abrash (the Speckled) — a polite euphemism for ai^Abrash. al-Abras (the Leprous). He reigned as the vassal of Ardashir Bdbakdn, the founder (226 a.d.) of the Sdsinian dynasty in Persia, which thereafter continued to dominate the Arabs of 'Irdq during the whole Pre-islamic ■ These are the same Bedouin Arabs of Taniikh who afterwards formed part of the population of Hira. See p. 38 infra. JADHlMA AL-ABRASH 35 period, Jadhlma is the hero of many fables and proverbs. His pride, it is said, was so overweening that he would suffer no boon-companions except two stars called al-Farqadin, and when he drank wine he used to pour out a cup for each of them. He had a page, 'Adl b. Nasr, with whom his sister fell in love ; and in a moment of intoxication he gave his consent to their marriage. Next morning, furious at the trick which had been played upon him, he beheaded the unlucky bride- groom and reviled his sister for having married a slave. Nevertheless, when a son was born, Jadhlma adopted the boy, and as he grew up regarded him with the utmost affection. One day the youthful 'Amr suddenly disappeared. For a long time no trace of him could be found, but at last he was dis- covered, running wild and naked, by two brothers, Milik and 'Aqfl, who cared for him and clothed him and presented him to the king. Overjoyed at the sight, Jadhima promised to grant them whatever they asked. They chose the honour, which no mortal had hitherto obtained, of being his boon- companions, and by this title (nadmdnd Jadhlma) they are known to fame. Jadhfma was a wise and warlike prince. In one of his expeditions he defeated and slew 'Amr b. Zarib b. Hassdn b. Udhayna, an Arab chieftain who had brought part of Eastern Syria and Mesopotamia under his sway, and who, as the name Udhayna indicates, is probably identical with Odenathus, the husband of Zenobia. This opinion is confirmed by the state- ment of Ibn Qutayba that "Jadhfma sought in marriage Zabbi, the daughter of the King of Mesopotamia, ^""zabba! °' ^^° became queen after her husband." ' Accord- ing to the view generally held by Muhammadan authors Zabbd 2 was the daughter of 'Amr b. Zarib and was ' Ibn Qutayba in Briinnow's Chrestomathy, p. 29. ' Properly al-Zabbd, an epithet meaning ' hairy.' According to Tabari (ii 757) l^sr name was Na'ila. It is odd that in the Arabic version of the story the name Zenobia (Zaynab) should be borne by the heroine's sister. 36 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS elected to succeed him when he fell in battle. However this may be, she proved herself a woman of extraordinary courage and resolution. As a safeguard against attack she built two strong castles on either bank of the Euphrates and connected them by a subterranean tunnel ; she made one fortress her own residence, while her sister, Zaynab, occupied the other. Having thus secured her position she determined to take vengeance on Jadhima. She wrote to him that the sceptre was slipping from her feeble grasp, that she found no man worthy of her except himself, that she desired to unite her kingdom with his by marriage, and begged him to come and see her. Jadhima needed no urging. Deaf to the warnings of his friend and counsellor, Qasir, he started from Baqqa, a castle on the Euphrates. When they had travelled some distance, Qasir implored him to return. "No," said Jadhima, "the affair was decided at Baqqa" — words which passed into a proverb. On approaching their destination the king saw with alarm squadrons of cavalry between him and the city, and said to Qasir, "What is the prudent course?" "You left prudence at Baqqa," he replied ; " if the cavalry advance and salute you as king and then retire in front of you, the woman is sincere, but if they cover your flanks and encompass you, they mean treachery. Mount al-'Asa" — Jadhima's favourite mare — "for she cannot be overtaken or outpaced, and rejoin your troops while there is yet time." Jadhima refused to follow this advice. Presently he was surrounded by the cavalry and captured. Qasir, however, sprang on the mare's back and galloped thirty miles without drawing rein. When Jadhima was brought to Zabba she seated him on a skin of leather and ordered her maidens to open the veins in his arm, so that his blood should flow into a golden bowl. "O Jadhima,"' said she, " let not a single drop be lost. I want it as a cure for madness." The dying man suddenly moved his arm and sprinkled with his blood one of the marble pillars of the hall — an evil portent for Zabba, inasmuch as it had been prophesied by a certain soothsayer that unless every drop of the king's blood entered the bowl, his murder would be avenged. Now Qasir came to 'Amr b. 'Adi, Jadhima's nephew and son by adop- tion, who has been mentioned above, and engaged to win over the army to his side if he would take vengeance on Zabba. " But how ? " cried 'Amr ; " for she is more inaccessible than the eagle of the air." "Only help me," said Qasir, " and you will be clear of blame." He THE STORY OF ZABBA 37 cut off his nose and ears and betook himself to Zabba, pretending that he had been mutilated by 'Amr. The queen believed what she saw, welcomed him, and gave him money to trade on her behalf. Qasir hastened to the palace of 'Amr at Hira, and, having obtained permission to ransack the royal treasury, he returned laden with riches. Thus he gradually crept into the confidence of Zabba, until one day he said to her : " It behoves every king and queen to pro- vide themselves with a secret passage wherein to take refuge in case of danger." Zabba answered : " I have already done so," and showed him the tunnel which she had constructed underneath the Euphrates. His project was now ripe for execution. With the help of 'Amr he fitted out a caravan of a thousand camels, each carrying two armed men concealed in sacks. When they drew near the city of Zabba, Qasir left them and rode forward to announce their arrival to the queen, who from the walls of her capital viewed the long train of heavily burdened camels and marvelled at the slow pace with which they advanced. As the last camel passed through the gates of the city the janitor pricked one of the sacks with an ox-goad which he had with him, and hearing a cry of pain, exclaimed, " By God, there's mischief in the sacks ! " But it was too late. 'Amr and his merl threw themselves upon the garrison and put them to the sword. Zabba sought to escape by the tunnel, but Qasir stood barring the exit on the further side of the stream. She hurried back, and there was 'Amr facing her. Resolved that her enemy should not taste the sweetness of vengeance, she sucked her seal-ring, which contained a deadly poison, crying, " By my own hand, not by 'Amr's ! " ' In the kingdoms of HIra and Ghassdn Pre-islamic culture attained its highest development, and from these centres it diffused itself and made its influence felt throughout Arabia. Some account, therefore, of their history and of the circum- stances which enabled them to assume a civilising role will not be superfluous.2 ' The above narrative is abridged from Aghdni, xiv, 73, 1. 20-75, 1- 2S- Cf. Tabari, i, 757-766 ; Mas'iidi, Muruju 'l-Dhahab (ed. by Barbier de Meynard), vol. iii, pp. 189-199. " Concerning HIra and its history the reader may consult an admirable monograph by Dr. G. Rothstein, Die Dynastic der Lahmiden in al-Hira (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 38 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS About the beginning of the third century after Christ a number of Bedouin tribes, wholly or partly of Yemenite origin, who had formed a confederacy and called them- ^'"'of°Hira."°° selves collectively Tanikh, took advantage of the disorder then prevailing in the Arsacid Empire to invade 'Irdq (Babylonia) and plant their settlements in the fertile country west of the Euphrates. While part of the intruders continued to lead a nomad life, others engaged in agriculture, and in course of time villages and towns grew up. The most important of these was Hfra (properly, al-Hfra, i.e., the Camp), which occupied a favourable and healthy situation a few miles to the south of Kufa, in the neigh- bourhood of ancient Babylon. ^ According to Hishdm b. Muhammad al-Kalbi (+819 or 821 a.d.), an excellent authority for the history of the Pre-islamic period, the inhabitants of Hfra during the reign of Ardashfr Bdbakan, the first Sasdnian king of Persia (226-241 a.d.), consisted of three classes, viz. : — ( 1 ) The Tanukh, who dwelt west of the Euphrates between Hira and Anbdr in tents of camel's hair. (2) The '■Ib&d, who lived in houses in Hira. (3) The Ahldf (Clients), who did not belong to either of the above-mentioned classes, but attached themselves to the people of Hira and lived among them — blood-guilty fugitives 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. Muhammadan general histories usually contain sections, more or less mythical in character, "On the Kings of Hira and Ghassan." Attention may be called in particular to the account derived from Hisham b. Muhammad al-Kalbi, which is preserved by Tabari and has been translated with a masterly commentary by Noldeke in his Geschichte der Perser wid Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden. Hisham had access to the archives kept in the churches of Hira, and claims to have extracted therefrom many genealogical and chronological details relating to the Lakhmite dynasty (Tabari, i, 770, 7). " Hira is the Syriac hirtd (sacred enclosure, monastery), which name was appUed to the originally mobile camp of the Persian Arabs and retained as the designation of the garrison town. HlRA AND ITS INHABITANTS 39 pursued by the vengeance of their own kin, or needy emigrants seeking to mend their fortunes. Naturally the townsmen proper formed by far the most influential element in the population, Hishdm, as we have seen, calls them ' the 'Ibid.' His use of this The 'Ibad. ' term, however, is not strictly accurate. The 'Ibad are exclusively the Christian Arabs of H^ira, and are so called in virtue of their Christianity ; the pagan Arabs, who at the time when Hlra was founded and for long afterwards constituted the bulk of the citizens, were never comprised in a designation which expresses the very opposite of paganism. ^Ihdd means ' servants,' i.e., those who serve God or Christ. It cannot be determined at what epoch the name was first used to distinguish the religious community, composed of members of dijfFerent tribes, which was dominant in Hira during the sixth century. Dates are compara- tively of little importance ; what is really remarkable is the existence in Pre-islamic times of an Arabian community that was not based on blood-relationship or descent from a common ancestor, but on a spiritual principle, namely, the profession of a common faith. The religion and culture of the 'Ibdd were conveyed by various channels to the inmost recesses of the peninsula, as will be shown more fully in a subsequent chapter. They were the schoolmasters of the heathen Arabs, who could seldom read or write, and who, it must be owned, so far from desiring to receive instruction, rather gloried in their ignorance of accomplishments which they regarded as sei"vile. Nevertheless, the best minds among the Bedouins were irresistibly attracted to Hlra. Poets in those days found favour with princes. A great number of Pre-islamic bards visited the Lakhmite court, while some, like Ndbigha and 'Abid b. al-Abras, made it their permanent residence. It is unnecessary to enter into the vexed question as to the origin and rise of the Lakhmite dynasty at yira. According 40 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS to Hisham b. Muhammad al-Kalbi, who gives a list of twenty kings, covering a period of 522 years and eight months, the first Lakhmite ruler was *Amr b. 'Adi b. Nasr The Lakhmites. t» t r i t i i i j j b. Rabi'a b. Lakhm, the same who was adopted by Jadhfma, and afterwards avenged his death on Queen Zabba. Almost nothing is known of his successors until we come to Nu'mdn I, surnamed al-A'war (the One-eyed), whose reign falls in the first quarter of the fifth (nVca™oo"A'b.). Century. Nu'man is renowned in legend as the builder of Khawarnaq, a famous castle near Hfra. It was built at the instance of the Sdsdnian king, Yazdigird I, who desired a salubrious residence for his son. Prince Bahrim Gor. On its completion, Nu'mdn ordered the architect, a ' Roman ' (z.«., Byzantine subject) named Sinimmir, to be cast headlong from the battlements, either on account of his boast that he could have constructed a yet more ^hawMnaq.' wouderful edifice "which should turn round with the sun," or for fear that he might reveal the position of a certain stone, the removal of which would cause the whole building to collapse. One spring day (so the story is told) Nu'mdn sat with his Vizier in Khawarnaq, which overlooked the Fen-land (al-Najar), with its neighbouring gardens and plantations of palm-trees and canals, to the west, and the Euphrates to the east. Charmed by the beauty of the prospect, he exclaimed, " Hast thou ever seen the like of „ . this ? " " No," replied the Vizier, « if it would Nu'man t i 15 a becomesan but last. " And what is lasting ? " asked anchonte. -kt ^ r /t-. Nu'mdn. " That which is with God in heaven." " How can one attain to it ? " " By renouncing the world and serving God, and striving after that which He hath." Nu'mdn, it is said, immediately resolved to abandon his kingdom ; on the same night he clad himself in sack-cloth, stole away unperceived, and became a wandering devotee (x^'/A). This legend seems to have grown out of the following verses by 'Adl b. Zayd, the 'Ibddite :— THE LAKH MITE DYNASTY 41 "Consider thou Khawarnaq's lord — and oft Of heavenly guidance cometh vision clear — Who once, rejoicing in his ample realm, Surveyed the broad Euphrates, and Sadir ; ' Then sudden terror struck his heart : he cried, 'Shall Man, v?ho deathward goes, find pleasure here?' They reigned, they prospered ; yet, their glory past. In yonder tombs they lie this many a year. At last they were like unto withered leaves Whirled by the winds away in wild career."' The opinion of most Arabian authors, that Nu'mdn embraced Christianity, is probably unfounded, but there is reason to believe that he wras well disposed towards it, and that his Christian subjects — a Bishop of Hira is mentioned as early as 410 A,D. — enjoyed complete religious liberty. Nu'mdn's place was filled by his son Mundhir, an able and energetic prince. The pow^er of the Lakhmites at this time may be inferred from the fact that on the death Mundhir I. ■' , , . of Yazdigird I Mundhir forcibly mtervened m the dispute as to the Persian succession and procured the election of Bahrdm Gor, whose claims had previously been rejected by the priesthood. 3 In the war which broke out shortly afterwards between Persia and Rome, Mundhir proved himself a loyal vassal, but was defeated by the Romans with great loss (421 a.d.). Passing over several obscure reigns, we arrive at the beginning of the sixth century, when another Mundhir, the third and most illustrious of his b!*Md?ai-sama. name, ascended the throne. This is he whom the Arabs called Mundhir b. Md' al-samd.4 He had a long and brilliant reign, which, however, was temporarily ■ Sadir was a castle in the vicinity of Hira. = Tabari, i, 853, 20 sqq. 3 Bahram was educated at Hira under Nu'man and Mundhir. The Persian grandees complained that he had the manners and appearance of the Arabs among whom he had grown up (Tabari, i, 858, 7). < Ma' al-sama [i.e., Water of the sky) is said to have been the sobriquet of Mundhir's mother, whose proper name was Mariya or Mawiyya. 42 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS clouded by an event that cannot be understood without some reference to the general history of the period. About 480 a.d. the powerful tribe of Kinda, whose princes appear to have held much the same position under the Tubba's of Yemen as the Lakhmites under the Persian monarchs, had extended their sway over the greater part of Central and Northern Arabia, The moving spirit in this conquest was Hujr, Rise of Kinda. , ; i .i 71 tut r r i_ surnamed Akilu 1-Murdr, an ancestor or the poet Imru'u 'i-Qays. On his death the Kindite confederacy was broken up, but towards the year 500 it was re-established for a brief space by his grandson, Hdrith b. 'Amr, and became a formidable rival to the kingdoms of Ghassdn and HIra. Meanwhile, in Persia, the communistic doctrines of Mazdak had obtained wide popularity among the lower classes, and were finally adopted by King Kawddh himself.' Now, it is certain that at some date between 505 and 529 Hdrith b. 'Amr, the Kindite, invaded 'Iraq, and drove Mundhir out of his kingdom ; and it seems not impossible that, as many historians assert, the latter's down- ex^iled from ^'^ was due to his anti-Mazdakite opinions, which "'S Kindt""' v/ould naturally excite the displeasure of his suzerain. At any rate, whatever the causes may have been, Mundhir was temporarily supplanted by Harith, and although he was restored after a short interval, before the accession of Amishirwdn, who, as Crown Prince, carried out a wholesale massacre of the followers of Mazdak (528 a.d.), the humiliation which he had suffered and cruelly avenged was not soon forgotten ; = the life and poems of Imru'u '1-Oays ' For an account of Mazdak and his doctrines the reader may consult Noldeke's translation of Tabari, pp. 140-144, 154, and 455-467, and Professor Browne's Literary History of Persia, vol. i, pp. 168-172. ' Mundhir slaughtered in cold blood some forty or fiifty members of the royal house of Kinda who had fallen into his hands. Harith 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 Hadramavvt. MUNDHIR III 43 bear witness to the hereditary hatred subsisting between Lakhm and Kinda, Mundhir's operations against the Romans were conducted with extraordinary vigour ; he devastated Syria as far as Antioch, and Justinian saw himself obliged to entrust the defence of these provinces to the Ghassdnid Hdrith b. Jabala (Harith al-A'raj), in whom Mundhir at last found more than his match. From this time onward the kings of Hira and Ghassin are continually raiding and plundering each other's territory. In one of his expedi- tions Mundhir captured a son of Hirith, and " immediately sacrificed him to Aphrodite " — i.e.^ to the Arabian goddess al-'Uzz£ ; I but on taking the field again in 554 he was surprised and slain by stratagem in a battle which MundWr ni. IS known proverbially as ' The Day of Halima.' = On the whole, the Lakhmites were a heathen and barbarous race, and these epithets are richly deserved by Mundhir III. It is related in the Aghdnl that he had two boon-companions, Khalid b. al-Mudallil and 'Amr b. Mas'ild, with whom he used to carouse ; and once, being irritated by words spoken in wine, he gave orders that they should be buried alive. Next morning he did not recollect what had passed and inquired as usual for his friends. On learning the truth he was filled with remorse. He caused two obelisks to be erected over their graves, and two "Good Day and days in every year he would come and sit beside these obelisks, which were called al-Ghariyyan — i.e., the Blood-smeared. One day was the Day of Good {yawmu naHm"), and whoever first encountered him on that day received a hundred black camels. The other day was the Day of Evil [yawmu bu's'"), on which he would present the first-comer with the head of a black polecat (zaribdn), then sacrifice him and smear the obelisks with his blood.3 The ' On another occasion he sacrificed four hundred Christian nuns to the same goddess. m ' See p. 50 infra. s Aghdni, xix, 86, 1, 16 sqq. 44 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS poet 'Abi'd b. al-Abra? is said to have fallen a victim to this horrible rite. It continued until the doom fell upon a certain Hanzala of Tayyi', who was granted a year's grace in order to regulate his affairs, on condition that he should find a surety. He appealed to one of Mundhir's suite, Sharfk b. 'Amr, who straightway rose and said to the king, " My hand ^"sh-arifc"^ for his and my blood for his if he fail to return at the time appointed." When the day came Hanzala did not appear, and Mundhir was about to sacrifice Sharfk, whose mourning-woman had already begun to chant the dirge. Suddenly a rider was seen approaching, wrapped in a shroud and perfumed for burial. A mourning-woman accompanied him. It was Hanzala. Mundhir marvelled at their loyalty, dismissed them with marks of honour, and abolished the custom which he had instituted.^ He was succeeded by his son 'Amr, who is known to contemporary poets and later historians as 'Amr, son of Hind.^ During his reign Hira became an important literary (554-569a'd!). centre. Most of the famous poets then living visited his court ; we shall see in the next chap- ter what relations he had with Tarafa, 'Amr b. Kulthim, and Harith b. HiU'za. He was a morose, passionate, and tyrannical man. The Arabs stood in great awe of him, but vented their spite none the less. " At Hira," said Dahab al-'Ijlf, " there are mosquitoes and fever and lions and 'Amr b. Hind, who acts unjustly and wrongfully." 3 He was slain by the chief of Taghhb, 'Amr b. Kulthum, in vengeance for an insult offered to his mother, Layld. It is sufficient to mention the names of Qabus and ' Aghdm, xix, 87, 1. 18 sqq. = Hind was a princess of Kinda (daughter of the Harith b. 'Amr men- tioned above), whom Mundhir probably captured in one of his marauding expeditions. She was a Christian, and founded a monastery at Hira. See Noldeke's translation of Tabari, p. 172, n. i. 3 Aghdm, xxi, 194, 1. 22. NU'MAN III ABl) QABtS 45 Mundhir IV, both of whom were sons of Hind, and occu- pied the throne for short periods. We now come to the last Lakhmite king of Hira, and by far the '^"odbis*''" most celebrated in tradition, Nu'mSn III, son of Mundhir IV, with the kunya (name of honour) Abu Qdbiis, who reigned from 580 to 602 or from 585 to 607. He was brought up and educated by a noble Christian family in Hira, the head of which was Zayd b. Hammdd, father of the poet 'Adi b. Zayd. 'Adi is such an interesting figure, and his fortunes were so closely and tragically linked with those of Nu'mdn, that some account of his life and character will be acceptable. Both his father and grandfather were men of unusual culture, who held high posts in the civil administration under Mundhir III and his successors. Zayd, moreover, through the good oiSces of a dihqdn, or Persian landed proprietor, Farrukh-mdhdn by name, obtained from Khusraw Aniishirwdn an important and con- fidential appointment — that of Postmaster — ordinarily reserved for the sons of satraps.^ When 'Adi grew up, his father sent him to be educated with the son of the dihqan. He learned to write and speak Persian with complete facility and Arabic with the utmost elegance ; he versified, and his accomplish- ments included archery, horsemanship, and polo. At the Persian court his personal beauty, wit, and readiness in reply so impressed Amishirwin that he took him into his service as secretary and interpreter — Arabic had never before been written in the Imperial Chancery — and accorded him all the privileges of a favourite. He was entrusted with a mission to Constantinople, where he was honourably received ; and on his departure the Qaysar,^ following an excellent custom, instructed the officials in charge of the post-routes to provide horses and ' Zayd was actually Regent of Hira after the death of Qabus, and paved the way for Mundhir IV, whose violence had made him detested by the people (Noldeke's translation of Tabari, p. 346, n. i). = The Arabs called the Byzantine emperor ' Qaysar,' i.e., C»sar, and the Persian emperor ' Kisrd,' i.e., Chosroes. 46 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS every convenience in order that the ambassador might see for himself the extent and resources of the Byzantine Empire. 'AdI passed some time in Syria, especially at Damascus, where his first poem is said to have appeared. On his father's death, which happened about this time, he renounced the splendid position at Hfra which he might have had for the asking, and gave himself up to hunting and to all kinds of amusement and pleasure, only visiting Madd'in (Ctesiphon) at intervals to perform his secretarial duties. While staying at Hlra he fell in love with Nu'man's daughter Hind, who was then eleven years old. The story as told in the 'Book of Songs is too curious to be entirely omitted, though want of space prevents me from giving it in full.i It is related that Hind, who was one of the fairest women of her time, went to church on Thursday of Holy Week, three days after Palm Sunday, to receive the sacrament. 'Adi had 'Adi meets the entered the church for the same purpose. He espied in church. her — she was a big, tall girl — while she was off her guard, and fixed his gaze upon her before she became aware of him. Her maidens, who had seen him approaching, said nothing to their mistress, because one of them called Mariya was enamoured of 'Adi and knew no other way of making his acquaint- ance. When Hind saw him looking at herself, she was highly displeased and scolded her handmaidens and beat some of them. 'Adi had fallen in love with her, but he kept the matter secret for a whole year. At the end of that time Mariya, thinking that Hind had forgotten what passed, described the church of Thoma (St. Thomas) and the nuns there and the girls who frequented it, and the beauty of the building and of the lamps, and said to her, " Ask thy mother's leave to go." As soon as leave was granted, Mariya conveyed the intelligence to 'Adi, who immediately dressed himself in a magnifi- ' My friend and colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, writes to me that " the story of 'Adi'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 {Aghdni, ii, 26, 1. 5), and partly on another verse in which he mentions ' the home of Hind ' {ibid., ii, 32, 1. 1). But this Hind was evidently a Bedouin woman, not the king's daughter." 'ADl THE SON OF ZAYD 4; cent gold-embroidered Persian tunic (yalmaq) and hastened to the rendezvous, accompanied by several young men of Hira, When Mariya perceived him, she cried to Hind, " Look at this youth : by God, he is fairer than the lamps and all things else that thou seest." " Who is he ? " she asked. " 'Adi, son of Zayd." " Do you think," said Hind, "that he will recognise me if I come nearer?" Then she advanced and watched him as he conversed with his friends, outshining them all by the beauty of his person, the elegance of his language, and the splendour of his dress. "Speak to him," said Mariya to her young mistress, whose countenance betrayed her feelings. After exchanging a few words the lovers parted. Mariya went to 'Adi and promised, if he would first gratify her wishes, to bring about his union with Hind. She lost no time in warning Nu'mdn that his daughter was desperately in love with 'Adi and would either disgrace herself or die of grief unless he gave her to him. Nu'man, however, was too proud to make overtures to 'Adi, who on his part feared to anger the prince by proposing an alliance. The ingenious Mariya found a way out of the difficulty. She sug- gested that 'Adi should invite Nu'man and his suite to a banquet, and having well plied him with wine should ask for the hand of his daughter, which would not then be refused. So it "'^ "v^iT '° came to pass. Nu'mdn gave his consent to the mar- riage, and after three days Hind was brought home to her husband." On the death of Mundhir IV 'Adi warmly supported the claims of Nu'man, who had formerly been his pupil and was ,, ,, ,. now his father-in-law, to the throne of Hira. 'Adi secures the ' • Nutain'asKine "^^^ ^^se which he employed on this occasion of Hira. ^3g completely successful, but it cost him his life.2 The partisans of Aswad b. Mundhir, one of the defeated candidates, resolved on vengeance. Their intrigues awakened " Aghdni, ii, 22, 1. 3 sqq. ' When Hurmuz summoned the sons of Mundhir to Ctesiphon that he might choose a king from among them, 'Adi said to each one privately, " If the Chosroes demands whether you can keep the Arabs in order, reply, ' All except Nu'man.' " To Nu'man, 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 waa satisfied with this answer and conferred the crown upon Nu'man. 48 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS the suspicions of Nu'man against the 'King-maker.' 'Adi was cast into prison, where he languished for a and'p™todeath long time and was finally murdered by Nu'mdn y uman. ^^^^ ^}jg Chosroes (Parwfe, son of Hurmuz) had already intervened to procure his release.^ 'Adi left a son named Zayd, who, on the recommendation of Nu'mdn, was appointed by Khusraw Parw^z to succeed his The vengeance father as Secretary for Arabian Affairs at the court of Zayd b. 'Adi. ^f Ctesiphon. Apparently reconciled to Nu'man, he was none the less bent on vengeance, and only waited for an opportunity. The kings of Persia were connoisseurs in female beauty, and when they desired to replenish their harems they used to circulate an advertisement describing with extreme particularity the physical and moral qualities which were to be sought after ; ^ but hitherto they had neglected Arabia, which, as they supposed, could not furnish any woman possessed of these perfections. Zayd therefore approached the Chosroes and said : " I know that Nu'man has in his family a number of women answering to the description. Let me go to him, and send with me one of thy guardsmen who understands Arabic." The Chosroes complied, and Zayd set out for Hira. On learning the object of his mission, Nu'mdn exclaimed with indignation : " What ! are not the gazelles of Persia suflScient for your needs ? " The comparison of a beautiful woman to a gazelle is a commonplace in Arabian poetry, but the ofBcer accompanying Zayd was ill acquainted with Arabic, and asked the meaning of the word ('/w or mahd) which Nu'min had employed. "Cows," said Zayd. When Parw(5z heard from Death of his guardsman that Nu'man had said, "Do not the Nu'man HI. ^^^^ ^f p^^.^;^ content him ? " he could scarcely suppress his rage. Soon afterwards he sent for Nu'mdn, ' A full account of these matters is given by Tabari, i, 1016-1024 = Noldeke's translation, pp. 314-324. = A similar description occurs in Freytag's Arabum Proverbia, vol. ii. p. 589 sqq. DEATH OF NU'MAN III 49 threw him intO\ chains, and caused him to be trampled to pieces by elephants.' Nu'mdn III appears in tradition as a tyrannical prince, devoted to wine, women, and song. He was the patron of Character of many Celebrated poets, and especially of Ndbigha Nu'manni. Dhubydni, who was driven from HIra in con- sequence of a false accusation. This episode, as well as another in which the poet Munakhkhal was concerned, gives us a glimpse into the private life of Nu'mdn. He had married his step-mother, Mutajarrida, a great beauty in her time ; but though he loved her passionately, she bestowed her affections elsewhere. Nibigha was suspected on account of a poem in which he described the charms of the queen with the utmost minuteness, but Munakhkhal was the real culprit. The lovers were surprised by Nu'man, and from that day Munakhkhal was never seen again. Hence the proverb, " Until Munakh- khal shall return," or, as we might say, " Until the coming of the Coqcigrues." Although several of the kings of Hi'ra are said to have been Christians, it is very doubtful whether any except Nu'man III deserved even the name ; the Lakhmites, unlike Nu'man's , . , . , . , . , , , conversion to the maioritv of their subjects, were thoroughly Christianity. xt f r . i • 11 11 pagan. Nu'man s education would naturally pre- dispose him to Christianity, and his conversion may have been wrought, as the legend asserts, by his mentor 'Adf b. Zayd. According to Muhammadan genealogists, the Ghassdnids, both those settled in Medina and those to whom the name The Ghassanids '^ consecrated by popular usage — the Ghassanids orjafnites. ^^ Syria— are descended from 'Amr b. 'Amir al-Muzayqiyd, who, as was related in the last chapter, sold his possessions in Yemen and quitted the country, taking with him a great number of its inhabitants, shortly before the Bursting of ' Tabari, i, 1024-1029 = Noldeke's translation, pp. 324-331. Ibn Qutayba in Briinnow's Chrestomathy, pp. 32-33. s so THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS the Dyke of Ma'rib. His son Jafna is generally regarded as the founder of the dynasty. Of their early history very few authentic facts have been preserved. At first, w^e are told, they paid tribute to the Daj^'ima, a family of the stock of Salfh, who ruled the Syrian borderlands under Roman pro- tection. A struggle ensued, from which the Ghassdnids emerged victorious, and henceforth we find them established in these regions as the representatives of Roman authority with the official titles of Patricius and Phylarch, which they and the Arabs around them rendered after the simple Oriental fashion by 'King' [malik). The first (says Ibn Qutayba) that reigned in Syria of the family of Jafna was Harith b. 'Amr Muharriq, who was so called because he burnt (harraqa) the Arabs in their houses. He is ibnQutayba's Harith the Elder (al-Akbar), and his name of honour Ghassanids. (kunya) is Abii Shamir. After him reigned Harith b. Abi Shamir, known as Harith the Lame (al-A'raf), whose mother was Mariya of the Ear-rings. He was the best of their kings, and the most fortunate, and the craftiest ; and in his raids he went the farthest afield. He led an expedition against Khaybar ' and carried off a number of prisoners, but set them free after his return to Syria. When Mundhir b. Ma' al-sama marched u- •.■.!.. T against him with an army 100,000 strong, Harith sent ^anth the Lame. , , , , ... r , a hundred men to meet him — among them the poet Labid, who was then a youth — ostensibly to make peace. They surrounded Mundhir's tent and slew the king and his companions ; then they took horse, and some escaped, while others were slain. The Ghassanid cavalry attacked the army of Mundhir and put them to flight. Harith had a daughter named Halima, who perfumed the hundred champions on that day and clad them in shrouds of white linen and coats of mail. She is the heroine of the proverb, " The day of Halima is no secret." = Harith was succeeded by his son, Harith the Younger. Among his other sons were 'Amr b. Harith (called Abii Shamir the Younger), to whom Nabigha came on leaving Nu'man b. Mundhir ; Mundhir b. Harith ; and al-Ayham b. Harith. Jabala, the son of al-Ayham, was the last of the kings of Gliassan. ' A town in Arabia, some distance to the north of Medina. ^ See Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. ii, p. 611. THE JAFNITE DYNASTY Si He was twelve spans in height, and his feet brushed the ground when he rode on horseback. He reached the Islamic period and be- came a Moslem in the Caliphate of 'Umar b. al-Khattab, ^ Ayham.^'" but afterwards he turned Christian and went to live in the Byzantine Empire. The occasion of his turning Christian was this : In passing through the bazaar of Damascus he let his horse tread upon one of the bystanders, who sprang up and struck Jabala a blow on the face. The Ghassanis seized the fellow and brought him before Abu 'Ubayda b. al-Jarrah," complaining that he had struck their master. Abii' Ubayda demanded proof. "What use wilt thou make of the proof ? " said Jabala. He answered : " If he has struck thee, thou wilt strike him a blow in return." " And shall not he be slain ? " " No." " Shall not his hand be cut off ? " "No," said Abii 'Ubayda; "God has ordained retaliation only — blow for blow." Then Jabala went forth and betook himself to Roman territory and became a Christian ; and he stayed there all the rest of his life.= The Arabian traditions respecting the dynasty of Ghassdn are hopelessly confused and supply hardly any material even for the rough historical sketch which may be pieced Harith the Lame. ° ^ ^ , together from the scattered notices in Byzantme authors.3 It w^ould seem that the first unquestionable Ghas- sinid prince was Hirith b. Jabala {'ApiOag tov TajSaXa), who figures in Arabian chronicles as ' Hdrith the Lame,' and who was appointed by Justinian (about 529 a.d.) to balance, on the Roman side, the active and enterprising King of Hira, Mundhir b. Ma' al-samd. During the greater part of his long reign (529-569 A.D.) he was engaged in war with this dangerous rival, to whose defeat and death in the decisive battle of ^yalfma we have already referred. Like all his line, Hdrith was a Christian of the Monophysite Church, which he defended with equal zeal and success at a time when its very existence ' A celebrated Companion of the Prophet. He led the Moslem army to the conquest of Syria, and died of the plague in 639 a.d. ' Ibn Qutayba in Briinnow's Chrestomathy, pp. 26-28. 3 The following details are extracted from Noldeke's monograph : Die Ghassdnischen Fiirsten aus dem Hause Gafna's, in Abhand. d. Kon. Preuss. Akad. d. Wissenschaften (Berlin, 1887). 52 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS was at stake. The following story illustrates his formidable character. Towards the end of his life he visited Constanti- nople to arrange with the Imperial Government which of his sons should succeed him, and made a powerful impression on the people of that city, especially on the Emperor's nephew, Justinus. Many years afterwards, when Justinus had fallen into dotage, the chamberlains would frighten him, when he began to rave, with " Hush ! Arethas will come and take you." ' Harith was succeeded by his son, Mundhir, who vanquished the new King of Hi'ra, Qibiis b. Hind, on Ascension Day, Mundhir b. 57° A.D., in a battle which is perhaps identical "^""'- with that celebrated by the Arabs as the Battle of 'Ayn Ubdgh. The refusal of the Emperor Justinus to furnish him with money may have prevented Mundhir from pursuing his advantage, and was the beginning of open hostility between them, which culminated about eleven years later in his being carried off to Constantinople and forced to reside in Sicily. From this time to the Persian conquest of Palestine (614 A.D.) anarchy prevailed throughout the Ghassdnid kingdom. The various tribes elected their own princes, who sometimes, no doubt, were Jafnites ; but the dynasty had virtually broken up. Possibly it was restored by Heraclius when he drove the Persians out of Syria (629 a.d.), as the Ghassdnians are repeatedly found fighting for Rome against the Moslems, and according to the unanimous testimony of Arabian writers, the Jafnite Jabala b. al-Ayham, who took an active part in the struggle, was the last king of Ghassan. His accession may be placed about 635 a.d. The poet Hassin b. Thdbit, who as a native of Medina could claim kinship with the Ghassanids, and visited their court in his youth, gives a glowing description of its luxury and mag- nificence. ■ Noldeke, of. cit, p. 20, refers to John of Ephesus, iii, 2. See The Third Part of the Ecclesiastical History of John, Bishop of Ephesus, translated by R. Payne Smith, p. 168. THE JAFNITE DYNASTY 53 " I have seen ten singing-girls, five of them Greeks, singing Greek songs to the music of lutes, and five from Hira who had been pre- sented to King Jabala by lyas b. Qabisa,' chanting Th^T*°'t' Babylonian airs. Arab singers used to come from of the Mecca and elsewhere for his delight j and when he *^cotirtf"* would drink wine he sat on a couch of myrtle and jasmine and all sorts of sweet-smelling flowers, sur- rounded by gold and silver vessels full of ambergris and musk. During winter aloes-wood was burned in his apartments, while in summer he cooled himself with snow. Both he and his courtiers wore light robes, arranged with more regard to comfort than cere- mony,' in the hot weather, and white furs, called /anaA,^ or the like, in the cold season ; and, by God, I was never in his company but he gave me the robe which he was wearing on that day, and many of his friends were thus honoured. He treated the rude with for- bearance ; he laughed without reserve and lavished his gifts before they were sought. He was handsome, and agreeable in conversa- tion : I never knew him offend in speech or act." * Unlike the rival dynasty on the Euphrates, the Ghassanids had no fixed residence. They ruled the country round Damascus and Palmyra, but these places were never in their possession. The capital of their nomad kingdom was the temporary camp (in Aramaic, hirti) which followed them to and fro, but was generally to be found in the Gaulonitis ' lyas b. Qabisa succeeded Nu'man III as ruler of Hira (602-611 a.d.). He belonged to the tribe of Tayyi'- See Rothstein, Lahmiden, p. ug. » I read yatafad4alu for yanfasilu. 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 ex- tremity under his right arm, and tying the two extremities together in a knot upon his bosom." 3 The fanak is properly a kind of white stoat or weasel found in Abyssinia and northern Africa, but the name is also applied by Muham- madans to other furs. 4 Aghdni, xvi, 15, 11. 22-30. So far as it purports to proceed from Hassan, 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's diwdn in which the Ghassanids are often spoken of. The par- ticular reference to Jabala b. al-Ayham is a mistake. Hassan's acquaint- ance with the Ghassanids belongs to the pagan period of his life, and he is known to have accepted Islam many years before Jabala began to reign. 54 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS (al-Jawldn), south of Damascus. Thus under the quickening impulse of Hellenistic culture the Ghassanids developed a civi- lisation far superior to that of the Lakhmites, who, dvuSon. just because of their half-barbarian character, were more closely in touch with the heathen Arabs, and exercised a deeper influence upon them. Some aspects of this civilisation have been indicated in the descrip- tion of Jabala b. al-Ayham's court, attributed to the poet Hassdn. An earlier bard, the famous Nibigha, having fallen out of favour with Nu'mdn III of H{ra, fled to Syria, where he composed a splendid eulogy of the Ghassdnids encSm. '" honour of his patron, King 'Amr, son of Harith the Lame. After celebrating their warlike prowess, which he has immortalised in the oft-quoted verse — " One fault they have : their swords are blunt of edge Through constant beating on their foemen's mail," he concludes in a softer strain : "Theirs is a liberal nature that God gave To no men else ; their virtues never fail. Their home the Holy Land : their faith upright : They hope to prosper if good deeds avail. Zoned in fair wise and dehcately shod, They keep the Feast of Palms, when maidens pale, Whose scarlet silken robes on trestles hang. Greet them with odorous boughs and bid them hail. Long lapped in ease tho' bred to war, their limbs Green-shouldered vestments, white-sleeved, richly veil."' The Pre-islamic history of the Bedouins is mainly a record of wars, or rather guerillas, in which a great deal of raiding and plundering was accomplished, as a rule without serious bloodshed. There was no lack of shouting ; volleys of vaunts ■ Nabigha, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 78 ; Noldeke's Delectus, p. 96. The whole poem has been translated by Sir Charles Lyall in his Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 95 sqq. HISTORY OF THE BEDOUINS 55 and satires were exchanged ; camels and women were carried ofF; many skirmishes took place but few pitched battles : it was an Homeric kind of warfare that called forth individual exertion in the highest degree, and gave ample opportunity for single-handed deeds of heroism, " To write a true history of such Bedouin feuds is well-nigh impossible. As compara- tively trustworthy sources of information we have only the poems and fragments of verse which have been preserved. Character of ■^'^'^°''^''ig ^° Suyuti, the Arabian traditionists Bedouin used to demand from any Bedouin who related history. , . . an historical event the citation of some verses in its support ; and, in effect, all such stories that have come down to us are crystallised round the poems. Unfortunately these crystals are seldom pure. It appears only too often that the narratives have been invented, with abundant fancy and with more or less skill, to suit the contents of the verses." ^ But although what is traditionally related concerning the Battle-days of the Arabs {Ayyimu H-'^Arah') is to a large extent legendary, it describes with sufficient fidelity how tribal hos- tilities generally arose and the way in which they were con- ducted. The following account of the War of Basus — the most famous of those waged in Pre-islamic times — will serve to illustrate this important phase of Bedouin life.^ Towards the end of the fifth century a.d. Kulayb, son of Rabi'a, was chieftain of the Banu Taghlib, a powerful tribe which divided with their kinsmen, the Banii Bakr, a vast tract in Basiis.' north-eastern Arabia, extending from the central highlands to the S3rrian desert. His victory at the head of a confederacy formed by these tribes and others over the Yemenite Arabs made him the first man in the peninsula, and soon his pride became no less proverbial than his power.' He was " Thorbecke, 'Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter, p. 14. " The following narrative is an abridgment of the history of the War of Basus as related in Tibrizi's commentary on the Hantdsa (ed. by Freytag), pp. 420-423 and 251-255. Cf. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 39 sqq. 3 See p. 5 supra. 56 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS married to Halila, daughter of Murra, of the Banii Bakr, and dwelt in a 'preserve ' (Ifimd), where he claimed the sole right of pasturage for himself and the sons of Murra. His brother-in-law, Jassas, had an aunt named Basiis. While living under her nephew's protection she was joined by a certain Sa'd, a client of her own people, who brought with him a she-camel called Sarabi. Now it happened that Kulayb, seeing a lark's nest as he walked on his land, said to the bird, which was screaming and fluttering distressfully over her eggs, " Have no fear ! I will Kulayb b. protect thee." But a short time afterwards he Jassas b. Murra. observed in that place the track of a strange camel and found the eggs trodden to pieces. Next morning when he and Jassas visited the pasture ground, Kulayb noticed the she-camel of Sa'd among his brother-in-law's herd, and conjecturing that she had destroyed the eggs, cried out to Jassas, " Take heed thou ! Take heed ! I have pondered something, and were I sure, I would have done it ! May this she-camel never come here again with this herd ! " " By God," exclaimed Jassas, " but she shall come ! " and when Kulayb threatened to pierce her udder with an arrow, Jassas retorted, " By the stones of Wa'il,' fix thine arrow in her udder and I will fix my lance in thy backbone ! " Then he drove his camels forth from the himd. Kulayb went home in a passion, and said to his wife, who sought to discover what ailed him, " Knowest thou any one who durst defend his client against me ? " She answered, " No one except my brother Jassas, if he has given his word." She did what she could to prevent the quarrel going further, and for a time nothing worse than taunts passed between them, until one day Kulayb went to look after his camels which were being taken to water, and were followed by those of Jassas. While the latter were waiting their turn to ^"ors!,™!"^ '^^^^^' ^^''^'^ she-camel broke loose and ran towards she-camel. the water. Kulayb imagined that Jassas had let her go deliberately, and resenting the supposed insult, he seized his bow and shot her through the udder. The beast lay down, moaning loudly, before the tent of Basus, who in vehement mdignation at the wrong suffered by her friend, Sa'd, tore the veil from her head, beating her face and crying, " O shame, shame ! " Then, addressing Sa'd, but raising her voice so that Jassas might ' Wa'il is the common ancestor of Bakr and Taghlib. For the use of stones {ansdb) in the worship of the Pagan Arabs see Wellhausen Reste Arabtschen Heidentuws (2nd ed.), p. loi sqq. Robertson Smith, Lectures on the Religion of the Semites (London, 1894), p. 200 sqq. THE WAR OF BAStTS 57 hear, she spoke these verses, which are known as ' The Instigators ' (al-Muwatkthibdt) : — "O Sa'd, be not deceived I Protect thyself 1 This people for their clients have no care. Look to my herds, I charge thee, for I doubt ^^^^ISfe™ ^'^«» '^y ^^^i^^ daughters ill may fare. By thy life, had I been in Minqar's house. Thou would'st not have been wronged, my client, there ! But now such folk I dwell among that when The wolf comes, 'tis my sheep he comes to tear ! " ' Jassas was stung to the quick by the imputation, which no Arab can endure, that injury and insult might be inflicted upon his guest- friend with impunity. Some days afterwards, having ascertained that Kulayb had gone out unarmed, he followed and slew him, and fled in haste to his own people. Murra, when he heard the news, said to his son, " Thou alone must answer for thy deed : thou shalt be put in chains that his kinsmen may slay thee. By the stones of Wa'il, never will Bakr and Taghlib be joined together Kulayb in welfare after the death of Kulayb. Verily, an evil ™"jaSs. ^ thing hast thou brought upon thy people, O Jassas ! Thou hast slain their chief and severed their union and cast war into their midst." So he put Jassas in chains and con- fined him in a tent ; then he summoned the elders of the families and asked them, " What do ye say concerning Jassas ? Here he is, a prisoner, until the avengers demand him and we deUver him unto them." " No, by God," cried Sa'd b. Malik b. Dubay'a b. Qays, " we will not give him up, but will fight for him to the last man ! " With these words he called for a camel to be sacrificed, and when its throat was cut they swore to one another over the blood. There- upon Murra said to Jassas : — " // thou hast plucked down war on me, No laggard I with arms outworn. Whate'er befall, I make to flow "^"Te fitto'"' T^^^ baneful cups of death at morn. of Jassas. When spear-points clash, my wounded man Is forced to drag the spear he stained. Never I reck, if war must be. What Destiny hath preordained. Hamdsa, 422, 14 sqq. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 39, last line and foil. 58 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS Donning war's harness, I will strive To fend from me the shame that sears. Already I thrill and eager am For the shock of the horsemen against the spears !" ' Thus began the War of Basiis between Taghlib on the one side and the clan of Shayban, to which Murra belonged, on the other ; for at first the remaining divisions of Bakr held aloof war'between from the struggle, Considering Shayban to be clearly Tagwib and jjj (-hg wrong. The latter were reduced to dire straits, when an event occurred which caused the Bakrites to rise as one man on behalf of their fellows. Harith b. 'Ubad, a famous knight of Bakr, had refused to take part in the contest, saying in words which became proverbial, " I have neither camel nor she-camel in it," i.e., "it is no affair of mine." One day his nephew, Bujayr, encountered Kulayb's brother, Muhalhil, on whom the mantle of the murdered chief had fallen ; and Muhalhil, struck with admiration for the youth's comeliness, asked him who he was. " Bujayr,'' said he, " the son of 'Amr, the son of 'Ubad." " And who is thy uncle on the mother's side ? " " My mother is a cap- tive '' (for he would not name an uncle of whom he had no honour). Then Muhalhil slew him, crying, " Pay for Kulayb's shoe-latchet ! " On hearing this, Harith sent a message to Muhalhil in which he declared that if vengeance were satisfied by the death of Bujayr, he for his part would gladly acquiesce. But Muhalhil replied, " I have taken satisfaction only for Kulayb's shoe-latchet." Thereupon Harith sprang up in wrath and cried : — " God knows, I kindled not this fire, altho' I am burned in it to-day. A lord for a shoe-latchet is too dear : To horse ! To horse ! Away ! " ' And al-Find, of the Banii Bakr, said on this occasion :— " We spared the Bami Hind^ and said, ' Our brothers they remain : It may be Time will make of us one people yet again.' ' Hamdsa, 423, ii sqq. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 41, 1, 3 sqq. ' Hamdsa, 252, 8 seq. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 44, 1. 3 seq. 3 Hind is the mother of Bakr and Taghlib. Here the Banu Hind (Sons of Hind) are the Taghlibites. THE WAR OF BAStTS 59 But when the wrong grew manifest, and naked III stood plain, And naught was left but ruthless hate, we paid them ^^-Hnd?' *«»« ^^'^^ ^«»« / As lions marched we forth to war in wrath and high disdain : Our swords brought widowhood and tears and wailing in theii train. Our spears dealt gashes wide whence blood like water spilled amain. No way but Force to weaken Force and mastery obtain; 'Tis wooing contumely to meet wild actions with humane : By evil thou may'st win to peace when good is tried in vain." ' The Band Bakr now prepared for a decisive battle. As their enemy had the advantage in numbers, they adopted a stratagem devised by Harith. " Fight them," said he, " with your women. Equip every woman with a small waterskin and give her a club. Place the whole body of them behind you — this will make you more resolved in battle — and wear some distinguishing mark which they will recognise, so that when a woman passes by one of your wounded she may know him by his mark and give him water to drink, and raise him from the ground ; but when she passes by one of your foes she will smite him with her club and slay him." So the Bakrites shaved their heads, devoting themselves to ^SheStng'' death, and made this a mark of recognition between themselves and their women, and this day was called the Day of Shearing. Now Jahdar b. Dubay'a was an ill-favoured, dwarfish man, with fair flowing love-locks, and he said, "O my people, if ye shave my head ye will disfigure me, so leave my locks for the first horseman of Taghlib that shall emerge from the hill-pass on the morrow " (meaning " I will answer for him, if my locks are spared"). On his request being granted, he exclaimed : — " To wife and daughter Henceforth I am dead : Dust for ointment On my hair is shed. Let me close with the horsemen The vow of Who hither ride, piibay'a.' Cut my locks from me If I stand aside ! Hamdsa, g, 17 seq. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 45, 1. 10 sqq. 6o THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS Well wois a mother If the son she bore And swaddled in her bosom And smelt him o'er. Whenever warriors In the mellay meet, Is a puny weakling Or a man complete!" ' He kept his promise but in the course of the fight he fell, severely wounded. When the women came to him, they saw his love-locks and imagining that he was an enemy despatched him with their clubs. The presence of women on the field and the active share they took in the combat naturally provoked the bitterest feelings. If they were not engaged in finishing the bloody work of Women as ^jjg ^gn, their tongues were busy inciting them. We combatants. ' , r , , r , t^- i i j i_ ir are told that a daughter of al-Fmd bared herself recklessly and chanted :— " War ! War ! War ! War ! It has blazed up and scorched us sore. The highlands are filled with its roar. Well done, the morning when your heads ye shore ! " ' The mothers were accompanied by their children, whose tender age did not always protect them from an exasperated foe. It is related that a horseman of the Banii Taghlib transfixed a young boy and lifted him up on the point of his spear. He is said to have been urged to this act of savagery by one al-Bazbaz, who was riding behind him on the crupper. Their triumph was short ; al-Find saw them, and with a single spear-thrust pinned them to each other — an exploit which his own verses record. On this day the Banii Bakr gained a great victory, and broke the power of Taghlib. It was the last battle of note in the Forty Years' War, which was carried on, by raiding and plundering, until the exhaustion of both tribes and the influence of King Mundhir III of Hira brought it to an end. Not many years after the conclusion of peace between ' Hamdsa, 252, 14 seq. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 46, 1. 16 sqq. = Hamdsa, 254, 6 seq. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 47, 1. 2 seq. THE WAR OF DAHIS AND GHABRA 6i Bakr and Taghlib, another war, hardly less famous in tradition than the War of Basus, broke out in Central Arabia. The combatants were the tribes of 'Abs and Dhu- Diijis and bydn, the principal stocks of the Banu Ghatafdn, ^ "" and the occasion of their coming to blows is related as follows : — Qays, son of Zuhayr, was chieftain of 'Abs. He had a horse called Dahis, renowned for its speed, which he matched against Ghabra, a mare belonging to Hudhayfa b. Badr, the chief of Dhubyan. It was agreed that the course should be a hundred bow-shots in length, and that the victor should receive a hundred camels. When the race began Ghabra took the lead, but as they left the firm ground and entered upon the sand, where the ' going ' was heavy, Dahis gradually drew level and passed his antagonist. He was nearing the goal when some Dhubyanites sprang from an ambuscade prepared beforehand, and drove him out of his course, thus enabling Ghabra to defeat him. On being informed of this foul play Qays naturally claimed that he had won the wager, but the men of Dhubyan refused to pay even a single camel. Bitterly resenting their treachery, he waylaid and slew one of Hudhayfa's brothers. Hudhayfa sought vengeance, and the murder of Malik, a brother of Qays, by his horsemen gave the signal for war. In the fighting which ensued Dhubyan more than held their own, but neither party could obtain a decisive advantage. Qays slew the brothers Hudhayfa and Hamal — " Hamal I slew and eased my heart thereby, Hudhayfa glutted my avenging brand; But though I slaked my thirst by slaying them, I would as lief have lost my own right hand." ' After a long period — forty years according to the traditional computation — 'Abs and Dhubyan were reconciled by the exertions of two chieftains of the latter tribe, Harith b. 'Awf and Harim b. ■ Ifamdsa, g6. Ibn Nubata, cited by Rasmussen, Additamenta ad His- toriam Arabum ante Islamismum, p. 34, remarks that before Qays no one had ever lamented a foe slain by himself {wa-huwa awwalu man rathd maqtulahu). 62 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS Sinan, whose generous and patriotic intervention the poet Zuhayr has celebrated. Qays went into exile. " I will not look," he said, " on the face of any woman of Dhubyan whose father or brother or husband or son I have killed." If we may believe the legend, he became a Christian monk and ended his days in 'Uman. Descending westward from the highlands of Najd the traveller gradually approaches the Red Sea, which is separated from the mountains running parallel to it by a narrow strip of coast-land, called the Tihima (Netherland). The rugged plateau between Najd and the coast forms the IiJijdz (Barrier), through which in ancient times the Sabaean caravans laden with costly merchandise passed on their way to the Mediterranean ports. Long before the beginning of our era two considerable trading settlements had sprung up in this region, viz., Macoraba (Mecca) and, some distance farther north, Yathrippa (Yathrib, the Pre- islamic name of Medina). Of their early inhabitants and history we know nothing except what is related by Muham- madan writers, whose information reaches back to the days of Adam and Abraham. Mecca was the cradle of Islam, and Islam, according to Muhammad, is the religion of Abraham, which was corrupted by succeeding generations until he him- self was sent to purify it and to preach it anew. Consequently the Pre-islamic history of Mecca has all been, so to speak, ' Islamised.' The Holy City of Islam is made to appear in the same light thousands of years before the Prophet's time : here, it is said, the Arabs were united in worship of Allah, hence they scattered and fell into idolatry, hither^hey return annually as pilgrims to a shrine which had b^n originally dedicated to the One Supreme Being, but which afterwards became a Pantheon of tribal deities. This theory lies at the root of the Muhammadan legend which I shall now recount as briefly as possible, only touching on the salient points of interest. In the Meccan valley — the primitive home of that portion EARLY HISTORY OF MECCA 63 of the Arab race which claims descent from Ismi'il (Ishmael), the son of Ibrdhfm (Abraham) by Hijar (Hagar) — stands an irregular, cube-shaped building of small dimensions *'°SeK"b°.°* —the Ka'ba, Legend attributes its foundation to Adam, who built it by Divine command after a celestial archetype. At the Deluge it was taken up into heaven, but was rebuilt on its former site by Abraham and Ishmael. While they were occupied in this work Gabriel brought the celebrated Black Stone, which is set in the south- east corner of the building, and he also instructed them in the ceremonies of the Pilgrimage. When all was finished Abraham stood on a rock known to later ages as the Maqimu Ibrdhim, and, turning to the four quarters of the sky, made proclama- tion : "O ye people ! The Pilgrimage to the Ancient House is prescribed unto you. Hearken to your Lord ! " And from every part of the world came the answer: ^^Labbayka Ulihumma^ labbayka" — i.e.y "We obey, O God, we obey." The descendants of Ishmael multiplied exceedingly, so that the barren valley could no longer support them, and a great number wandered forth to other lands. They were succeeded as rulers of the sacred territory by the tribe of Jurhum, who waxed in pride and evil-doing until the vengeance of God fell upon them. Mention has frequently been made of the Burst- ing of the Dyke of Ma'rib, which caused an extensive move- ment of Yemenite stocks to the north. The invaders halted in the Hijdz and, having almost exterminated the Jurhumites, resumed their journey. One group, however — the Bani Khuzd'a, led by their chief Luhayy — settled in the neigh- bourhood of Mecca. 'Amr, son of Luhayy, was renowned among the Arabs for his wealth and generosity, Ibn Hishim says : ' I have been told by a learned man that 'Amr b. Lutiayy went from Mecca to Syria on some business du.fedat'MKoa. and when he arrived at Md'ab, in the land of al-Balqd, he found the inhabitants, who were 'AmAlIq, worshipping idols. " What are these idols ? " he in- 64 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS quired, " They are idols that send us rain when we ask them for rain, and help us when we ask them for help." " Will ye not give me one of them," said 'Amr, " that I may take it to Arabia to be worshipped there ? " So they gave him an idol called Hubal, which he brought to Mecca and set it up and bade the people worship and venerate it.' ' Following his example, the Arabs brought their idols and installed them round the sanctuary. The triumph of Paganism was com- plete. We are told that hundreds of idols were destroyed by Muhammad when he entered Mecca at the head of a Moslem army in 8 a.h. = 629 a.d. To return to the posterity of Ismd'll through 'Adnin : the principal of their descendants who remained in the Hijdz were the Hudhayl, the Kindna, and the Quraysh. The The Quraysh. j^g^.^^jj^gj ^^ji^g j^j^gt; hqw engage our attention almost exclusively. During the century before Muhammad we find them in undisputed possession of Mecca and acknow- ledged guardians of the Ka'ba — an office which they adminis- tered with a shrewd appreciation of its commercial value. Their rise to power is related as follows : — Kilab b. Murra, a man of Quraysh, had two sons, Zuhra and Zayd. The latter was still a young child when his father died, and soon afterwards his mother, Fatima, who had married again, ^ Qusayy°' left Mecca, taking Zayd with her, and went to live in her new husband's home beside the Syrian borders. Zayd grew up far from his native land, and for this reason he got the name of Qusayy — i.e., ' Little Far-away.' When he reached man's estate and discovered his true origin he returned to Mecca, where the hegemony was wholly in the hands of the Khuza'ites under their chieftain, Hulayl b. Hubshiyya, with the determination to procure the superintendence of the Ka'ba for his own people, the Quraysh, who as pure-blooded descendants of Isma'il had the best right to that honour. By his marriage with Hubba, the daughter of Hulayl, he hoped to inherit the privileges vested in his father-in-law, but Hulayl on his death-bed committed the keys of the Ka'ba to a ' Ibn Hisham, p. 51, I. 7 sqq. THE QURAYSH 65 kinsman named Abii Ghubshdn. Not to be baffled, Qusayy made the keeper drunk and persuaded him to sell the keys for a skin of wine— hence the proverbs "A greater fool than Abii Ghubshan" and "Abii Ghubshan's bargain," denoting a miserable fraud. Naturally the Khuza'ites did not acquiesce in the results of this transaction ; they took up arms, but Qusayy was prepared for the struggle and won a decisive victory. He was now master of Temple and Town and could proceed to the work of organisation. His first step was to bring together the Quraysh, who had ^'of*^eoca'''' previously been dispersed over a wide area, into the Meccan valley — this earned for him the title of al- Mujammi' (the Congregator) — so that each family had its allotted quarter. He built a House of Assembly (Ddru 'l-Nadwa), where matters affecting the common weal were discussed by the Elders of the tribe. He also instituted and centred in himself a number of dignities in connection with the government of the Ka'ba and the administration of the Pilgrimage, besides others of a political and military character. Such was his authority that after his death, no less than during his life, all these ordinances were regarded by the Quraysh as sacred and inviolable. The death of Qusayy may be placed in the latter half of the fifth century. His descendant, the Prophet Muhammad, was born about a hundred years afterwards, in 570 or Mecca in the _,,, , ,. . , sixth century KTi A.D. With onc notable cxception, to be after Christ. •" . , . ... , ,. ^,, mentioned immediately, the history or Mecca during the period thus defined is a record of petty factions unbroken by any event of importance. The Prophet's ancestors fill the stage and assume a commanding position, which in all likelihood they never possessed ; the historical rivalry of the Umayyads and 'Abbdsids appears in the persons of their founders, Umayya and Hdshim — and so forth. Mean- while the influence of the Quraysh was steadily maintained and extended. The Ka'ba had become a great national rendezvous, and the crowds of pilgrims which it attracted from almost every Arabian clan not only raised the credit ot the Quraysh, but also materially contributed to their com- mercial prosperity. It has already been related how Abraha, the Abyssinian viceroy of Yemen, resolved to march against 6 66 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS Mecca with the avowed purpose of avenging upon the Ka'ba a sacrilege committed by one of the Quraysh in the church at San'd. Something of that kind may have served as a pretext, but no doubt his real aim was to conquer Mecca and to gain control of her trade. This memorable expedition ^ is said by Moslem historians to have taken place in the year of Muhammad's birth (about 570 A.D.), usually known as the Year of the the^Ei^phMt. Elephant — a proof that the Arabs were deeply impressed by the extraordinary spectacle of these huge animals, one or more of which accompanied the Abyssinian force. The report of Abraha's preparations filled the tribesmen with dismay. At first they endeavoured to oppose his march, regarding the defence of the Ka'ba as a sacred duty, but they soon lost heart, and Abraha, after defeating Dhii Nafar, a Himyarite chieftain, encamped in the neighbourhood of Mecca without further resistance. He sent the following message to 'Abdu '1-Muttalib, the ^''°at*Mecca:'°' Prophet's grandfather, who was at that "time the most influential personage in Mecca : " I have not come to wage war on you, but only to destroy the Temple. Unless you take up arms in its defence, I have no wish to shed your blood." 'Abdu '1-Muttalib replied : " By God, we seek not war, for which we are unable. This is God's holy House and the House of Abraham, His Friend ; it is for Him to protect His House and Sanctuary ; if He abandons it, we cannot defend it." Then 'Abdu '1-Muttalib was conducted by the envoy to the Abyssinian camp, as Abraha had ordered. There he inquired after ■Abdu'i-Mutta- ^^^ ^^^^^' who was his friend, and found him a wWhAbra'ht P"^""^""" "^ ^hu Nafar," said he, "can you do aught m that which has befallen us?" Dhii Nafar answered, "What can a man do who is a captive in the hands of a " In the account of Abraha's invasion given below I have followed Tabari, i, 936, 9 - 945, 19 = Noldeke's translation, pp. 206-220. THE ABYSSINIAN INVASION 67 king, expecting day and night to be put to death ? I can do nothing at all in the matter, but Unays, the elephant-driver, is my friend ; I will send to him and press your claims on his consideration and ask him to procure you an audience with the king. Tell Unays what you wish : he will plead with the king in your favour if he can." So Dhii Nafar sent for Unays and said to him, "O Unays, 'Abdu 1-Muttalib is lord of Quraysh and master of the caravans of Mecca. He feeds the people in the plain and the wild creatures on the mountain-tops. The king has seized two hundred of his camels. Now get him admitted to the king's presence and help him to the best of your power." Unays consented, and soon 'Abdu '1-Muttalib stood before the king. When Abraha saw him he held him in too high respect to let him sit in an inferior place, but was unwilling that the Abyssinians should see the Arab chief, who was a large man and a comely, seated on a level with himself ; he therefore descended from his throne and sat on his carpet and bade 'Abdu '1-MuttaUb sit beside him. Then he said to his dragoman, "Ask him what he wants of me." 'Abdu '1-Muttalib replied, " I want the king to restore to me two hundred camels of mine which he has taken away." Abraha said to the dragoman, " Tell him : You pleased me when I first saw you, but now that you have spoken to me I hold you cheap. What ! do you speak to me of two hundred camels which I have taken, and omit to speak of a temple venerated by you and your fathers which I have come to destroy ? " Then said 'Abdu '1-Muttalib : " The camels are mine, but the Temple belongs to another, who will defend it," and on the king exclaiming, " He cannot defend it from me," he said, " That is your affair ; only give me back my camels." As it is related in a more credible version, the tribes settled round Mecca sent ambassadors, of whom 'Abdu '1-Muttalib was one, offer- ing to surrender a third part of their possessions to Abraha on con- dition that he should spare the Temple, but he refused. Having recovered his camels, 'Abdu '1-Muttalib returned to the Quraysh, told them what had happened, and bade them leave the city and take shelter in the mountains. Then he went to the Ka'ba, accom- panied by several of the Quraysh, to pray for help against Abraha and his army. Grasping the ring of the door, he cried : — "0 God, defend Thy neighbouring folk even as a man his gear' defendeih ! Let not their Cross and guileful plans defeat the plans Thyself intendeth ! But if Thou make it so, 'tis well : according to Thy will it endeih.''' ' I read ftildlak. See Glossary to 'Tabari. "^ 'Tabari, i, 940, 13. 68 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS Next morning, when Abraha prepared to enter Mecca, his elephant knelt down and would not budge, though they beat its head with an axe and thrust sharp stakes into its flanks ; but when they turned it in the direction of Yemen, it rose up and trotted with alacrity. Then God sent from the sea a flock of birds like swallows every one of which carried three stones as large as a Rout of the chick-pea or a lentil, one in its bill and one in each Abyssm.ans. ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ perished.' The rest fled in disorder, dropping down as they ran or wherever they halted to quench their thirst. Abraha himself was smitten with a plague so that his limbs rotted off piecemeal.' These details are founded on the 105th chapter of the Koran, entitled ' The Siira of the Elephant,' which may be freely rendered as follows : — " Hast not thou seen the people of the Elephant, how dealt with them the Lord ? Did not He make their plot to end in ruin abhorred ?— When He sent against them birds, horde on horde, And stones of baked clay upon them poured, And made them as leaves of corn devoured." The part played by 'Abdu '1-Muttalib in the story is, ot course, a pious fiction designed to glorify the Holy City and to claim for the Prophet's family fifty years before Islam a predominance which they did not obtain until long afterwards ; but equally of course the legend reflects Muhammadan belief, and may be studied with advantage as a characteristic specimen of its class. " When God repulsed the Abyssinians from Mecca and smote them with His vengeance, the Arabs held the Quraysh ' Another 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 " (Tabari, i, 943, 2 sqq.). Here we have the historical fact — an outbreak ot pestilence in the Abyssinian army — which gave rise to the legend related above. = There is trustworthy evidence that Abraha continued to rule Yemen for some time after his defeat. ROUT OF THE ABYSSINIANS 69 in high respect and said, ' They are God's people : God hath fought for them and hath defended them against their enemy ; ' and made poems on this matter." ^ The following verses, according to Ibn Ishaq, are by Abu '1-Salt b. Ab{ Rabf'a of Thaqlf; others more reasonably ascribe them to his son Umayya, a well-known poet and monotheist {Hanif) con- temporary with Muhammad : — " Lo, the signs of our Lord are everlasting, None disputes them except the unbeliever. He created Day and Night : unto all men Is their Reckoning ordained, clear and certain. Gracious Lord ! He illumines the daytime With a sun widely scattering radiance. Verses by He the Elephant stayed at Mughammas Umayya b. Abi „ ,, , ., ,. , ,, , . '1-Sait. So that sore it limped as though it were hamstrung, Cleaving close to its halter, and down dropped, As one falls from the crag of a mountain. Gathered round it were princes of Kinda, Noble heroes, fierce hawks in the mellay. There they left it : they all fled together. Every man with his shank-bone broken. Vain before God is every religion. When the dead rise, except the Hanifite.'" The patriotic feelings aroused in the Arabs of the IJijdz by the Abyssinian invasion — feehngs which must have been shared to some extent by the Bedouins generally — received a fresh stimulus through events which occurred about forty years after this time on the other side of the peninsula. It will be remembered that the Lakhmite dynasty at Hira came to an end with Nu'min III, who was cruelly executed by Khusraw Parw^z (602 or 607 a.d.).3 Before his death he had deposited his arms and other property with Hani', a chieftain of the Banu Bakr. These were claimed by Khusraw, and as Hdni' refused to give them up, a Persian army was sent to Dhii Qdr, ' Ibn Hisham, p. 38, 1. 14 sqq. = Ibid., p. 40, 1. 12 sqq. 3 See pp. 48-49 supra. 70 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS a place near Kufa abounding in water and consequently a favourite resort of the Bakrites during the dry season. A desperate conflict ensued, in which the Persians Qar (civco 6io were completely routed. ^ Although the forces engaged were comparatively small,^ this victory was justly regarded by the Arabs as marking the com- mencement of a new order of things ; e.g., it is related that Muhammad said when the tidings reached him : " This is the first day on which the Arabs have obtained satisfaction from the Persians." The desert tribes, hitherto overshadowed by the Sisinian Empire and held in check by the powerful dynasty of Hira, were now confident and aggressive. They began to hate and despise the Colossus which they no longer feared, and which, before many years had elapsed, they trampled in the dust. " Full details are given by Tabari, i, ioi6-io37=Noldeke's translation, pp. 311-345- = A poet speaks of three thousand Arabs and two thousand Persians Tabari, i, 1036, 5-6). CHAPTER III AND RELIGION " When there appeared a poet in a family of the Arabs, the other tribes round about would gather together to that family and wish them joy of their good luck. Feasts would be got ready, the women of the tribe would join together in bands, playing upon lutes, as they were wont to do at bridals, and the men and boys would congratulate one another ; for a poet was a defence to the honour of them all, a weapon to ward o£F insult from their good name, and a means of perpetuating their glorious deeds and of establishing their fame for ever. And they used not to wish one another joy but for three things — the birth of a boy, the coming to light of a poet, and the foaling of a noble mare." i As far as extant literature is concerned — and at this time there was only a spoken literature, which was preserved by oral tradition, and first committed to writing long afterwards — the yihiliyya or Pre-islamic Age covers scarcely more than a century, from about 500 a.d., when the oldest poems of which we have any record were composed, to the year of Muhammad's Flight to Medina (622 a.d.), which is the starting-point of a new era in Arabian history. The influence of these hundred and twenty years was great and lasting. ' Ibn Rashiq in Suyiiti's Muzhir (Bulaq, 1282 A.H.), Part II, p. 236, 1. 22 sqq. I quote the translation of Sir Charles Lyall in the Introduction to his Ancient 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. 71 72 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY They saw the rise and incipient decline of a poetry which most Arabic-speaking Moslems have always regarded as a model of unapproachable excellence ; a poetry rooted in the life of the people, that insensibly moulded their minds and fixed their character and made them morally and spiritually a nation long before Muhammad welded the various conflicting groups into a single organism, animated, for some time at least, by a common purpose. In those days poetry was no luxury for the cultured few, but the sole medium of literary expression. Every tribe had its poets, who freely uttered what they felt and thought. Their unwritten words " flew across the desert faster than arrows," and came home to the hearts and bosoms of all who heard them. Thus in the midst of outward strife and disintegration a unifying principle was at work. Poetry gave life and currency to an ideal of Arabian virtue {muruwwa), which, though based on tribal community of blood and insisting that only ties of blood were sacred, nevertheless became an invisible bond between diverse clans, and formed, whether consciously or not, the basis of a national community of sentiment. In the following pages I propose to trace the origins of Arabian poetry, to describe its form, contents, and general features, to give some account of the most cele- AraWan°poetry grated Pre-islamic poets and collections of Pre- islamic verse, and finally to show in what manner it was preserved and handed down. By the ancient Arabs the poet {sha^ir, plural shu'ard), as his name implies, was held to be a person endowed with super- natural knowledge, a wizard in league with spirits (//««) or satans (shaydtin) and dependent on them for the magical powers which he displayed. This view of his personality, as well as the influential position which he occupied, are curi- ously indicated by the story of a certain youth who was refused the hand of his beloved on the ground that he was neither a poet THE POET AS A WIZARD 73 nor a soothsayer nor a water-diviner.' The idea of poetry as an art was developed afterwards ; the pagan sMHr is the oracle of his tribe, their guide in peace and their champion in war. It was to him they turned for counsel when they sought new pastures, only at his word would they pitch or strike their ' houses of hair,' and when the tired and thirsty wanderers found a well and drank of its water and washed themselves, led by him they may have raised their voices together and sung, like Israel — " Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it." ' Besides fountain-songs, war-songs, and hymns to idols, other kinds of poetry must have existed in the earliest times — e.g.^ the love-song and the dirge. The powers of the shdHr, however, were chiefly exhibited in Satire (hija), which in the oldest known form " introduces and accompanies the tribal feud, and is an element of war just as important as the actual fighting." 3 The menaces which he hurled against the foe were believed to be inevitably fatal. His rhymes, often compared to arrows, had all the effect of a solemn curse spoken by a divinely inspired prophet or priest,4 and their pronunciation was attended with peculiar ceremonies of a symbolic character, such as anointing the hair on one side of the head, letting the mantle hang down loosely, and wear- ing only one sandal.S Satire retained something of these ominous associations at a much later period when the magic utterance of the shd'ir had long given place to the lampoon ' Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. ii, p. 494. ' Numb, xxi, 17. Such well-songs are still sung in the Syrian desert (see Enno Littmann, Neuarabische Volkspoesie, in Abhand. der Kdn. Gesell- schaft der Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse, Gbttingen, 1901), p. 92. In a specimen cited at p. 81 we find the words witlayd dlewena — i.e., " Rise, O bucket ) " several times repeated. 3 Goldziher, Ueber die Vorgeschichte der Higd'-Poesie in his Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie, Part I (Leyden, 1896), p. 26. * Cf. the story of Balak and Balaam, with Goldziher's remarks thereon, ibid., p. 42 seq. s Ibid., p. 46 seq. 74 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY by which the poet reviles his enemies and holds them up to shame. The obscure beginnings of Arabian poetry, presided over by the magician and his familiar spirits, have left not a rack behind in the shape of literature, but the task ^' ■ of reconstruction is comparatively easy where w^e are dealing with a people so conservative and tenacious of antiquity as the Arabs. Thus it may be taken for certain that the oldest form of poetical speech in Arabia was rhyme without metre (fo/), or, as we should say, *■ rhymed prose,' although the fact of Muhammad's adversaries calling him a poet because he used it in the Koran shows the light in which it was regarded even after the invention and elaboration of metre. Later on, as we shall see, 5a/' became a merely rhetorical ornament, the distinguishing mark of all eloquence whether spoken or written, but originally it had a deeper, almost religious, significance as the special form adopted by poets, soothsayers, and the like in their supernatural revelations and for conveying to the vulgar every kind of mysterious and esoteric lore. Out of 5fl;'' was evolved the most ancient of the Arabian metres, which is known by the name of Rajaz^ This is an irregular iambic metre usually consisting of four ^'^^' or six — an Arab would write ' two or three ' — feet to the line ; and it is a peculiarity of Raj'az, marking its affinity to Saj\ that all the lines rhyme with each other, whereas in the more artificial metres only the opening verse ^ ' Rajaz primarily means " a tremor (which is a symptom of disease) in the hind-quarters of a camel." This suggested to Dr. G. Jacob his interest- ing theory that tlie Arabian metres arose out of the camel-driver's song [hidd) in harmony with the varying paces of the animal which he rode (Studien in arabischen Dichtern, Heft III, p. 179 sqq.). = The Arabic verse {bayt) consists of two halves or hemistichs [misrd'). It is generally convenient to use the word ' line ' as a translation of mifrd', but the reader must understand that the ' line ' is not, as in English poetry, an independent unit. Rajaz is 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. ARABIAN METRES 75 is doubly rhymed. A further characteristic of Rajaz. is that it should be uttered extempore, a few verses at a time — com- monly verses expressing some personal feeling, emotion, or experience, like those of the aged warrior Durayd b. Zayd b. Nahd when he lay dying : — " The house of death ' is builded for Durayd to-day. Could Time be worn out, sure had I worn Time away. No single foe but I had faced and brought to bay. The spoils I gathered in, how excellent were they ! The women that I loved, how fine was their array l"" Here would have been the proper place to give an account of the principal Arabian metres — the ' Perfect ' {K&mil), the 'Ample' {Wafir), the 'Long' {Tawil\ the other metres, c ^j j^ , {Basit\ the 'Light' {Khaflf), and several more — but in order to save valuable space I must content myself with referring the reader to the extremely lucid treatment of this subject by Sir Charles Lyall in the Introduction to his Ancient Arabian Poetry, pp. xlv-lii. All the metres are quantitative, as in Greek and Latin. Their names and laws were unknown to the Pre-islamic bards : the rules of prosody were first deduced from the ancient poems and systematised by the grammarian, Khalil b. Ahmad (t 791 a.d.), to whom the idea is said to have occurred as he watched a coppersmith beating time on the anvil with his hammer. We have now to consider the form and matter of the oldest extant poems in the Arabic language. Between these highly developed productions and the rude doggerel of extant°poems. -Sfl/' or Rajaz there lies an interval, the length of which it is impossible even to conjecture. The first poets are already consummate masters of the craft. " The number and complexity of the measures which they use, their established laws of quantity and rhyme, and the uniform " In Arabic ' al-bayt,' the tent, which is here used figuratively for the grave. ' Ibn Qutayba, Kitdbu 'l-Shi'r wa-'l-Shu'atd, p. 36, 1. 3 sqq. ye PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY manner in which they introduce the subject of their poems,' notwithstanding the distance which often separated one com- poser from another, all point to a long previous study and cultivation of the art of expression and the capacities of their language, a study of which no record now remains." ^ It is not improbable that the dawn of the Golden Age of Arabian Poetry coincided with the first decade of the sixth century after Christ. About that time the War of Basils, the chronicle of which has preserved a considerable amount of contemporary verse, was in full blaze ; and the first Arabian ode was composed, according to tradition, by Muhalhil b. Rabi'a the Taghlibite on the death of his brother, the chieftain Kulayb, which caused war to break out between Bakr and Taghlib. At any rate, during the next hundred years in almost every part of the peninsula we meet with a brilliant succession of singers, all using the same poetical dialect and strictly adhering to the same rules of composition. The fashion which they set maintained itself virtually unaltered down to the end of the Umayyad period (750 A.D.), and though challenged by some daring spirits under the 'Abbasid Caliphate, speedily reasserted its supremacy, which at the present day is almost as absolute as ever. This fashion centres in the Qas!da,3 or Ode, the only form, or rather the only finished type of poetry that existed ' Already in the sixth century a.d. the poet 'Antara complains that his predecessors have left nothing new for him to say (Mu'allaqa, v. i). Ancient Arabian Poetry, Introduction, p. xvi. 3 Qasida is explained by Arabian lexicographers to mean a poem with an artistic purpose, but they differ as to the precise sense in which ' pur- pose ' 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 praiseland flattery. Ahlwardt (Bemerkungen uber die Aechtheit der alien Arab. Gedichte, p. 24 seq.) connects it with qasada, 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 is broken, as it were, into two halves ;" while in the Rajaz verses, as we have seen (p. 74 s««m), there is no such break. THE QAStDA OR ODE ^^ in what, for want of a better word, may be called the classical period of Arabic literature. The verses {ahy&t^ singular hayt) of which it is built vary in number, but are seldom The Qasida. , , ~ , , , , less than twenty-hve or more than a hundred ; and the arrangement of the rhymes is such that, while the two halves of the first verse rhyme together, the same rhyme is repeated once in the second, third, and every following verse to the end of the poem. Blank-verse is alien to the Arabs, who regard rhyme not as a pleasing ornament or a " trouble- some bondage," but as a vital organ of poetry. The rhymes are usually feminine, e.g.^ sa.khind, tuHnd, muhlnd ; mukhlidl, yadl, ^uwwadl ; rijdmuhd, sUdmuhd, hardmuhd. To surmount the difficulties of the monorhyme demands great technical skill even in a language of which the peculiar formation renders the supply of rhymes extraordinarily abundant. The longest of the Mvf'allaqdt, the so-called 'Long Poems,' is considerably shorter than Gray's Elegy. An Arabian Homer or Chaucer must have condescended to prose. With respect to metre the poet may choose any except Rajaz, which is deemed beneath the dignity of the Ode, but his liberty does not extend either to the choice of subjects or to the method of handling them : on the , contrary, the course of his ideas is determined by rigid conventions which he durst not overstep. "I have heard," says Ibn Qutayba, "from a man of learning that the composer of Odes began by mentioning the deserted dwelling- places and the relics and traces of habitation. Then account'of'the ^^ wept and complained and addressed the desolate contents and encampment, and begged his companion to make a Ode. halt, in order that he might have occasion to speak of those who had once lived there and afterwards departed ; for the dwellers in tents were different from townsmen or villagers in respect of coming and going, because they moved from one water-spring to another, seeking pasture and searching out the places where rain had fallen. Then to this he linked the erotic prelude (nasib), and bewailed the violence of his love and the anguish of separation from his mistress and the extremity of his passion and desire, so as to win the hearts of his hearers and divert 78 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY their eyes towards him and invite their ears to listen to him, since the song of love touches men's souls and takes hold of their hearts, God havingiput it in the constitution of His creatures to love dalUance and the society of women, in such wise that we find very few but are attached thereto by some tie or have some share therein, whether lawful or unpermitted. Now, when the poet had assured himself of an attentive hearing, he followed up his advantage and set forth his claim : thus he went on to complain of fatigue and want of sleep and travelling by night and of the noonday heat, and how his camel had been reduced to leanness. And when, after representing all the discomfort and danger of his journey, he knew that he had fully justified his hope and expectation of receiving his due meed from the person to whom the poem was addressed, he entered upon the panegyric {madih), and incited him to reward, and kindled his generosity by exalting him above his peers and pronouncing the greatest dignity, in comparison with his, to be little." ' Hundreds of Odes answer exactly to this description, which must not, however, be regarded as the invariable model. The erotic prelude is often omitted, especially in elegies ; or if it does not lead directly to the main subject, it may be followed by a faithful and minute delineation of the poet's horse or camel which bears him through the wilderness with a speed like that of the antelope, the wild ass, or the ostrich : Bedouin poetry abounds in fine studies of animal life.^ The choice of a motive is left open. Panegyric, no doubt, paid better than any other, and was therefore the favourite ; but in Pre- islamic times the poet could generally please himself. The qasida is no organic whole : rather its unity resembles that of a series of pictures by the same hand or, to employ an Eastern trope, of pearls various in size and quality threaded on a necklace. The ancient poetry may be defined as an illustrative criti- • Kitdbu 'l-Shi'r wa-'l-Shu'ard, p. 14, 1. 10 sqq. ' Noldeke (Fiinf Mo'allaqdt, 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. - SHANFARA 79 cism of Pre-islamic life and thought. Here the Arab has drawn himself at full length without embellishment or ex- tenuation. It is not mere chance that Abu Tammdm's famous anthology is called the Ifamdsa^ i.e., ' Fortitude,' from the title of its first chapter, which occupies nearly a half of the book. ' Hamdsa ' denotes the virtues most highly prized by the Arabs — bravery in battle, patience in misfortune, persist- ence in revenge, protection of the weak and defiance of the strong ; the will, as Tennyson has said, " To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." As types of the ideal Arab hero we may take Shanfard of Azd and his comrade in foray, Ta'abbata Sharr'°, ™^ hero*'^*'' ^°*^ ^^''^ brigands, outlaws, swift runners, and excellent poets. Of the former " it is said that he was captured when a child from his tribe by the Banii Salaman, and brought up among them : he did not learn his origin until he had grown up, when he vowed vengeance against his captors, and returned to his own tribe. His oath was that he would slay a hundred men of Salaman ; he slew ninety-eight, when an ambush of his enemies succeeded in taking him prisoner. In the struggle one of his hands was hewn off by a sword Shanfara. gt-j-Q^e^ an(j, taking it in the other, he flung it in the face of a man of Salaman and killed him, thus making ninety-nine. Then he was overpowered and slain, with one still wanting to make up his number. As his skull lay bleaching on the ground, a man of his enemies passed by that way and kicked it with his foot ; a spUnter of bone entered his foot, the wound mortified, and he died, thus completing the hundred." ' The following passage is translated from Shanfard's splendid Ode named Ldmiyyatu 'l-^Arab (the poem rhymed in /of the ' Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. i'i. 8o PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY Arabs), in which he describes his own heroic character and the hardships of a predatory life : — == " Somewhere the noble find a refuge afar from scathe, The outlaw a lonely spot where no kin with hatred burn. Oh, never a prudent man, night-faring in hope or fear, Hard pressed on the face of earth, but still he hath room to turn. To me now, in your default, are comrades a wolf untired, A sleek leopard, and a fell hyena with shaggy mane :" True comrades, who yield not up the secret consigned to them, Nor basely forsake their friend because that he brought them bane. And each is a gallant heart and ready at honour's call. Yet I, when the foremost charge, am bravest of all the brave ; But if they with hands outstretched are seizing the booty won, The slowest am I whenas most quick is the greedy knave. By naught save my generous will I reach to the height of worth Above them, and sure the best is he with the will to give. Yea, well I am rid of those who pay not a kindness back, Of whom I have no delight though neighbours to me they live. Enow are companions three at last : an intrepid soul, A glittering trenchant blade, a tough bow of ample size, Loud-twanging, the sides thereof smooth-polished, a handsome bow Hung down from the shoulder-belt by thongs in a comely wise. That groans, when the arrow slips away, like a woman crushed By losses, bereaved of all her children, who wails and cries." ■ Verses 3-13. I have attempted to imitate the ' Long ' (Tawil) metre of the original, viz. : — — -I — r-i ri The Arabic text of the Ldmiyya, with prose translation and commentary, is printed in De Sacy's Chrestomathie Arahe (2nd ed.), vol. 11=-, 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 Noldeke, Beitnlge zur Kenntniss d. Poesic d. alien Arabcr, p. 200. = The poet, apparently, means that his three friends are like the animals menhoned. Prof. Bevan remarks, however, that this interpretation is doubtful, smce an Arab would scarcely compare his friend to a hyena. TA'ABBATA SHARR^'' 8i On quitting his tribe, who cast him out when they were threatened on all sides by enemies seeking vengeance for the blood that he had spilt, Shanfari said : — " Bury me not ! Me you are forbidden to bury, But thou, O hyena, soon wilt feast and make merry, When foes bear away mine head, wherein is the best of me, And leave on the battle-field for thee all the rest of me. Here nevermore I hope to live glad — a stranger Accurst, whose wild deeds have brought his people in danger." • Thdbit b. Jibir b. Sufydn of Fahm is said to have got his nickname, Ta'abbata Sharr"", because one day his mother, who had seen him go forth from his tent with a sword ^Iharranf Under his arm, on being asked, " Where is Thdbit ? " replied, " I know not : he put a mischief under his arm-pit {ta'abbata sharr°") and departed." According to another version of the story, the 'mischief was a Ghoul whom he vanquished and slew and carried home in this manner. The following lines, which he addressed to his cousin. Shams b. MAlik, may be applied with equal justice to the poet himself : — " Little he complains of labour that befalls him ; much he wills ; Diverse ways attempting, mightily his purpose he fulfils. Through one desert in the sun's heat, through another in star- light. Lonely as the wild ass, rides he bare-backed Danger noon and night. He the foremost wind outpaceth, while in broken gusts it blows. Speeding onward, never slackening, never staying for repose. Prompt to dash upon the foeman, every minute watching well — Are his eyes in slumber lightly sealed, his heart stands sentinel. When the first advancing troopers rise to sight, he sets his hand From the scabbard forth to draw his sharp-edged, finely-mettled brand. ' Hatndsa, 242. 7 82 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY When he shakes it in the breast-bone of a champion of the foe, How the grinning Fates in open glee their flashing side-teeth show ! Solitude his chosen comrade, on he fares while overhead By the Mother of the mazy constellations he is led."' These verses admirably describe the rudimentary Arabian virtues of courage, hardness, and strength. We must now take a wider survey of the moral ideas on which pagan society was built, and of which Pre-islamic poetry is at once the pro- mulgation and the record. There was no written code, no legal or religious sanction — nothing, in eflFect, save the binding force of traditional sentiment and opinion, i.e.^ The old Arabian ^t ttti i i i* • r points of Honour. What, then, are the salient pomts of honour in which Virtue [Muruwwa\ as it was understood by the heathen Arabs, consists ? Courage has been already mentioned. Arab courage is like that of the ancient Greeks, " dependent upon excitement and vanishing quickly before depression and delay." » Hence the Arab hero is defiant and boastful, as he appears, e.g., in the Mu'-allaqa of 'Amr b. Kulthum. When there is little to lose by flight he will ride oflF un- ashamed ; but he will fight to the death for his womenfolk, who in serious warfare often accompanied the tribe and were stationed behind the line of battle. 3 "When I saw the hard earth hollowed By our women's flying footprints, And Lamis her face uncovered Like the full moon of the skies. Showing forth her hidden beauties — Then the matter was grim earnest : I engaged their chief in combat, Seeing help no other wise.'' ■• ' ffamdsa, 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. ' Mahaffy, Social Life in Greece, p. 21. 3 See pp. 59-60 supra. * Hamdsa, 82-83. The poet is 'Amr b. Ma'dikarib, a famous heathen knight who accepted Islam and afterwards distinguished himself in the Persian wars. COURAGE AND LOYALTY 83 The tribal constitution was a democracy guided by its chief men, who derived their authority from noble blood, noble character, wealth, wisdom, and experience. As a Bedouin poet has said in homely language — " A folk that hath no chiefs must soon decay, And chiefs it hath not when the vulgar sway. Only with poles the tent is reared at last, And poles it hath not save the pegs hold fast. But when the pegs and poles are once combined, Then stands accomplished that which was designed." ' The chiefs, however, durst not lay commands or penalties on their fellow-tribesmen. Every man ruled himself, and was free to rebuke presumption in others. " If you are our lord " (/.«., if you act discreetly as a sayyid should), " you will lord over us, but if you are a prey to pride, go and be proud ! " (i.e., we will have nothing to do with you).^ Loyalty in the mouth of a pagan Arab did not mean allegiance to his superiors, but faithful devotion to his equals ; and it was closely connected with the idea of kinship. The family and the tribe, which included strangers living in the tribe under a covenant of protection — to defend these, individually and collectively, was a sacred duty. Honour required that a man should stand by his own people through thick and thin. " I am of Ghazi3rya : if she be in error, then I will err ; And if Ghaziyya be guided right, I go right with her ! " sang Durayd b. Simma, who had followed his kin, against his better judgment, in a foray which cost the life of his brother 'Abdullah. 3 If kinsmen seek help it should be given promptly, without respect to the merits of the case ; if they do wrong ■ Al-Afwah al-Awdi in Noldeke's Delectus, p. 4, 11. 8-10. The poles and pegs represent lords and commons. ' Ifamasa, 122. ^ ibid., 378. 84 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY it should be suffered as long as possible before resorting to violence.! The utilitarian view of friendship is often em- phasised, as in these verses : — " Take for thy brother whom thou wilt in the days of peace, But know that when fighting comes thy kinsman alone is near. Thy true friend thy kinsman is, who answers thy call for aid With good will, when deeply drenched in bloodshed are sword and spear. Oh, never forsake thy kinsman e'en tho' he do thee wrong, For what he hath marred he mends thereafter and makes At the same time, notw^ithstanding their shrewrd common sense, nothing is more characteristic of the Arabs — heathen and Muhammadan alike — than the chivalrous devotion and disinterested self-sacrifice of which they are capable on behalf of their friends. In particular, the ancient poetry affords proof that they regarded with horror any breach of the solemn covenant plighted between patron and client or host and guest. This topic might be illustrated by many striking examples, but one will suffice : — The Arabs say: "Awfd mina ' l-Samaw' ali" — "More loyal than al-Samaw'al " ; or Wa/a"" ka-wafd'i 'l-Samaw'ali " — " A loyalty like that of al-Samaw'al." These proverbs refer to Samaw'aib Samaw'al b. 'Adiya, an Arab of Jewish descent and 'Adiya. Jew by religion, who lived in his castle, called al-Ablaq (The Piebald), at Tayma, some distance north of Medina. There he dug a well of sweet water, and would entertain the Arabs who used to alight beside it ; and they supplied them- selves with provisions from his castle and set up a market. It is related that the poet Imru'u '1-Qays, while fleeing, hotly pursued by his enemies, towards Syria, took refuge with Samaw'al, and before proceeding on his way left in charge of his host five coats of mail wiich had been handed down as heirlooms by the princes of his family. Then he departed, and in due course arrived at Constanti- nople, where he besought the Byzantine emperor to help him to " Cf. the verses by al-Find, p. 58 supra. = Hamdsa, 327. SAMAW'AL B. 'AD/YA 85 recover his lost kingdom. His appeal was not unsuccessful, but he died on the way home. Meanwhile his old enemy, the King of Hira, sent an army under Harith b. Zalim against Samaw'al, demanding that he should surrender the coats of mail. Samaw'al refused to betray the trust committed to him, and defended himself in his castle. The besiegers, however, captured his son, who had gone out to hunt. Harith asked Samaw'al : " Dost thou know this lad?" "Yes, he is my son." "Then wilt thou deliver what is in thy possession, or shall I slay him ? " Samaw'al answered : " Do with him as thou wilt. I will never break my pledge nor give up the property of my guest-friend." So Harith smote the lad with his sword and clove him through the middle. Then he raised the siege. And Samaw'al said thereupon : — " / was true with the mail-coats of the Kindite,^ I am true though many a one is blamed for treason. Once did 'Adiyd, my father, exhort me : ' Samaw'al, ne'er destroy what I have builded.' For me built 'Adiyd a strong-walled castle With a well where I draw water at pleasure; So high, the eagle slipping back is baffled. When wrong befalls me I endure not tamely."' The Bedouin ideal of generosity and hospitality is personified in Hitim of Tayyi', of whom many anecdotes are told. We may learn from the following one how extravagant are an Arab's notions on this subject : — When Hatim's mother was pregnant she dreamed that she was asked, " Which dost thou prefer ? — a generous son called liatim, or ten like those of other folk, lions in the hour of battle, Hatim of Tayyi'. brave lads and strong of limb ?" and that she answered, " Hatim." Now, when Hatim grew up he was wont to take out his food, and if he found any one to share it he would eat, otherwise he threw it away. His father, seeing that ' Imru'u '1-Qays was one of the princes of Kinda, a powerful tribe in Central Arabia. = Aghdni, xix, 99. The last two lines are wanting in the poem as there cited, but appear in the Selection from the Aghdni published at Beyrout in 1888, vol. ii, p. 18. 86 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY he wasted his food, gave him a slave-girl and a mare with her foal and sent him to" herd the camels. On reaching the pasture, Hatim began to search for his fellows, but none was in sight ; then he came to the road, but found no one there. While he was thus engaged he descried a party of riders on the road and went to meet them. " O youth," said they, " hast thou aught to entertain us withal ? " He answered : " Do ye ask me of enter- tainment when ye see the camels ? " Now, these riders were 'Abid b. al-Abras and Bishr b. Abi Khazim and Nabigha al- Dhubyani, and they were on their way to King Nu'man.' Hatim slaughtered three camels for them, whereupon 'Abid said : " We desired no entertainment save milk, but if thou must needs charge thyself with something more, a single young she-camel would have sufficed us." Hatim replied : " That I know, but seeing different faces, and diverse fashions I thought ye were not of the same country, and I wished that each of you should mention what ye saw, on returning home.'' So they spoke verses in praise of him and celebrated his generosity, and Hatim said : " I wished to bestow a kindness upon you, but your bounty is greater than mine. I swear to God that I will hamstring every camel in the herd unless ye come forward and divide them among yourselves." The poets did as he desired, and each man received ninety-nine camels ; then they proceeded on their journey to Nu'man. When Hatim's father heard of this he came to him and asked, "Where are the camels ? " " O my father," replied IJatim, " by means of them I have conferred on thee everlasting fame and honour that will cleave to thee like the ring of the ringdove, and men will always bear in mind some verse of poetry in which we are praised. This is thy recompense for the camels." On hearing these words his father said, " Didst thou with my camels thus ? " " Yes." " By God, I will never dwell with thee again." So he went forth with his family, and Hatim was left alone with his slave-girl and his mare and the mare's foal.° We are told that Hdtim's daughter was led as a captive before the Prophet and thus addressed him : " ' O Muhammad, my sire is dead, and he who would have come to plead for me is gone. Release me, if it seem good to thee, and do not let the Arabs rejoice at my misfortune ; for I am the daughter of the chieftain of my people. My father was wont to free the captive, and protect those near and dear to him, and entertain ■ See p. 45 sqq. = Aghdm, xvi, 98, 11. 5-22. UATIM OF TAYYF 87 the guest, and satisfy the hungry, and console the afflicted, and give food and greeting to all ; and never did he turn away _ any who sought a boon. 1 am Hatim's daugh- daughter before ter.' The Prophet (on whom be the blessing the Prophet. , r /-. ix ^ and peace of God) answered her : ' O maiden, the true believer is such as thou hast described. Had thy father been an Islamite, verily we should have said, " God have mercy upon him!" Let her go,' he continued, 'for her sire loved noble manners, and God loves them likewise.' " ' Hatim was a poet of some repute.^ The following lines are addressed to his wife, Mdwiyya : — " O daughter of 'Abdullah and Malik and him who wore The two robes of Yemen stuff — the hero that rode the roan, When thou hast prepared the meal, entreat to partake thereof A guest — I am not the man to eat, like a churl, alone — : Some traveller thro' the night, or house-neighbour ; for in sooth I fear the reproachful talk of men after I am gone. The guest's slave am I, 'tis true, as long as he bides with me. Although in my nature else no trait of the slave is shown."' Here it will be convenient to make a short digression in order that the reader may obtain, if not a complete view, at least some glimpses of the position and influence of women in Pre-islamic society. On the whole, their position was high and their influence great. They were free to choose their husbands, and could return, if ill-treated or displeased, to their own people ; in some cases ' AgMni, xvi, 97, 1. S sqq. " His Diwdn has been edited with translation and notes by F. Schulthess (Leipzig, 1897). 3 Hamdsa, 729. The hero mentioned in the first verse is 'Amir b, Uhaymir of Bahdala. On a certain occasion, when envoys from the Arabian tribes were assembled at Hira, King Mundhir b. Ma' al-sama produced two pieces of cloth of Yemen and said, " Let him whose tribe is noblest rise up and take them." Thereupon 'Amir stood forth, and wrapping one piece round his waist and the other over his shoulders, carried off the prize unchallenged. Position of women. 88 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY they even offered themselves in marriage and had the right of divorce. They wrere regarded not as slaves and chattels, but as equals and companions. They inspired the poet to sing and the warrior to fight. The chivalry of the Middle Ages is, perhaps, ultimately traceable to heathen Arabia. "Knight- errantry, the riding forth on horseback in search of adventures, the rescue of captive maidens, the succour rendered everywhere to women in adversity — all these were essentially Arabian ideas, as was the very name of chivalry^ the connection of honourable conduct with the horse-rider, the man of noble blood, the cavalier." '^ But the nobility of the women is not only reflected in the heroism and devotion of the men ; it stands recorded in song, in legend, and in history. Fitima, the daughter of Khurshub, was one of three noble matrons who bore the title al-Munjibdt, "• the Mothers heroines. of Heroes.' She had seven sons, three of whom, viz., Rabl' and ' Umdra and Anas, were called 'the Perfect' {al-Kamala). One day Hamal b. Badr the Fazdrite raided the Band 'Abs, the tribe to which Fdtima belonged, and made her his prisoner. As he led away the camel on which she was mounted at the time, she cried : " Man, thy wits are wandering. By God, if thou take me captive, and if we leave behind us this hill which is now in front of us, surely there will never be peace Fatima, ' "^ "^ daughter of between thee and the sons of Ziyad f Ziydd was Khurshub. j \ j the name of her husband), "because people will say what they please, and the mere suspicion of evil is enough." " I will carry thee off," said he, " that thou mayest herd my camels." When Fatima knew that she was certainly his prisoner she threw herself headlong from her camel and died ; so did she fear to bring dishonour on her sons.^ Among the names which have become proverbial for loyalty we find ■ Lady Anne and Mr. Wilfrid Blunt, The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan Arabia, Introduction, p. 14. ' Aghdni xvi, 22, 11. 10-16. WOMEN OF THE HEROIC AGE 89 those of two women, Fukayha and Umm Jamil. As to Fukayha, it is related that her clansmen, having been raided by the brigand Sulayk b. Sulaka, resolved to attack Fukayha. ° . J ' him ; but smce he was a famous runner, on the advice of one of their shaykhs they waited until he had gone down to the water and quenched his thirst, for they knew that he would then be unable to run. Sulayk, however, seeing himself caught, made for the nearest tents and sought refuge with Fukayha. She threw her smock over him, and stood with drawn sword between him and his pursuers ; and as they still pressed on, she tore the veil from her hair and shouted for help. Then her brothers came and defended Sulayk, so that his life was saved.': Had space allowed, it would have been a pleasant task to make some further extracts from the long Legend of Noble Women. I have illustrated their keen sense of honour and loyalty, but I might equally well have chosen examples of gracious dignity and quick intelligence and passionate affection. Many among them had the gift of poetry, which they bestowed especially on the dead ; it is a final proof of the high character and position of women in Pre-islamic Arabia that the hero's mother and sisters were deemed most worthy to mourn and praise him. The praise of living women by their lovers necessarily takes a different tone ; the physical charms of the heroine are fully described, but we seldom find any appreciation of moral beauty. One notable exception to this rule occurs at the beginning of an ode by Shanfari. The passage defies translation. It is, to quote Sir Charles Lyall, with whose faithful and sympathetic rendering of the ancient poetry every student of Arabic literature should be acquainted, " the most lovely picture of womanhood which heathen Arabia has left us, drawn by the same hand that has given us, in the unrivalled Ldmiyah, its highest ideal of heroic hardness and virile strength." 2 ' Aghdni, xviii, 137, 11. 5-10. Freytag, Arabuni Proverbia, vol. ii, p. 834. ' Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 81. 90 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY UMAYMA. "She charmed me, veiling bashfully her face, Keeping with quiet looks an even pace ; Some lost thing seem to seek her downcast eyes : Aside she bends not— softly she replies. Ere dawn she carries forth her meal — a gift To hungry wives in days of dearth and thrift. No breath of blame up to her tent is borne, While many a neighbour's is the house of scorn. Her husband fears no gossip fraught with shame, For pure and holy is Umayma's name. Joy of his heart, to her he need not say When evening brings him home — ' Where passed the day ? Slender and full in turn, of perfect height, A very fay were she, if beauty might Transform a child of earth into a fairy sprite!"' Only in the freedom of the desert could the character thus exquisitely delineated bloom and ripen. These verses, taken by themselves, are a sufficient answer to any one who would maintain that Islam has increased the social influence of Arabian women, although in some respects it may have raised them to a higher level of civilisation. ^ There is, of course, another side to all this. In a land where might was generally right, and where "the simple plan That he should take who has the power And he should keep who can," was all but universally adopted, it would have been strange it the weaker sex had not often gone to the wall. The custom which prevailed in the ydhiliyya of burying female infants alive, revolting as it appears to us, was due partly to the frequent famines with which Arabia is afflicted through lack of rain, and partly to a perverted sense of honour. Fathers " Mufaddaliyydt, ed. Thorbecke, p. 23. See Goldziher, Muhammedanische Studien, Part II, p. 295 sqq. THE CUSTOM OF INFANTICIDE 91 feared lest they should have useless mouths to feed, or lest they should incur disgrace in consequence of their daughters being made prisoners of war. Hence the birth of a daughter was reckoned calamitous, as we read in the Koran : " They attribute daughters unto God— far be it from Him ! — and for themselves they desire them not. When a female child is announced to one of them, his face darkens •wrathfully : he hides himself from his people because of the bad news, thinking — '■Shall I keep the child to my disgrace or cover it away in the dustF'"^ It was said proverbially, "The despatch of daughters is a kindness" and "The burial of daughters is a noble deed." 2 Islam put an end to this barbarity, which is expressly forbidden by the Koran : " Kill not your children in fear of impoverishment : we will provide for them and for you : verily their killing was a great sin." 3 Perhaps the most touching lines in Arabian poetry are those in which a father struggling with poverty wishes that his daughter may die before him and thus be saved from the hard mercies of her relatives : — THE POOR MAN'S DAUGHTER. " But for Umayma's sake I ne'er had grieved to want nor braved Night's blackest horror to bring home the morsel that she craved. Now my desire is length of days because I know too well The orphan girl's hard lot, with kin unkind enforced to dwell. I dread that some day poverty will overtake my child, And shame befall her when exposed to every passion wild.^ ' Koran, xvi, 59-61. ' Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. i, p. 229. 3 Koran, xvii, 33. Cf. Ixxxi, 8-9 (a description of the Last Judgment) : " When the girl buried alive shall be asked for what crime she was killed." •• Literally : " And tear the veil from (her, as though she were) flesh on a butcher's board," i.e., defenceless, abandoned to the first-comer. 92 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY She wishes me to live, but I must wish her dead, woe's me : Death is the noblest wooer a helpless maid can see. I fear an uncle may be harsh, a brother be unkind, When I would never speak a word that rankled in her mind."' And another says : — " Were not my little daughters Like soft chicks huddling by me, Through earth and all its waters To win bread would I roam free. Our children among us going, Our very hearts they be ; The wind upon them blowing Would banish sleep from me." ^ " Odi et amo " : these words of the poet might serve as an epitome of Bedouin ethics. For, if the heathen Arab was, as we have seen, a good friend to his friends, he had in the same degree an intense and deadly feeling of hatred tow^ards his enemies. He who did not strike back when struck was regarded as a coward. No honourable man could forgive an injury or fail to avenge it. An Arab, smarting under the loss of some camels driven off by raiders, said of his kin who refused to help him : — " For all their numbers, they are good for naught, My people, against harm however light : They pardon wrong by evildoers wrought, Malice with lovingkindness they requite." ^ The last verse, which would have been high praise in the ' Hamdsa, 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, Ishaq b. Khalaf, lived under the Caliph Ma'mun (813-833 a.d.). He survived his adopted daughter — for Umayma was his sister's child — and wrote an elegy on her, which is preserved in the Kdmil of al-MubaiTad, p. 715, 1. 7 sqq., and has been translated, together with the verses now in question, by Sir Charles Lyall, Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 26. = Hamdsa, 142. Lyall, op. oil., p. 28. 3 Hamdsa, 7. Treatment of enemies. BLOOD-REVENGE 93 mouth of a Christian or Muhatnmadan moralist, conveyed to those who heard it a shameful reproach. The approved method of dealing with an enemy is set forth plainly enough in the following lines : — " Humble him who humbles thee, close tho' be your kindred- ship : If thou canst not humble him, wait till he is in thy grip. Friend him while thou must ; strike hard when thou hast him on the hip." ' Above all, blood called for blood. This obligation lay heavy on the conscience of the pagan Arabs. Vengeance, with them, was "almost a physical necessity, Blood-revenge. ,. , .^ ' , , , .„ , . . which if It be not obeyed will deprive its subject of sleep, of appetite, of health." It was a tormenting thirst which nothing would quench except blood, a disease of honour which might be described as madness, although it rarely prevented the sufferer from going to work with coolness and circumspection. Vengeance was taken upon the murderer, if possible, or else upon one of his fellow- tribesmen. Usually this ended the matter, but in some cases it was the beginning of a regular blood-feud in which the entire kin of both parties were involved ; as, e.g.^ the murder of Kulayb led to the Forty Years' War between Bakr and Taghlib.2 The slain man's next of kin might accept a blood-wit {diya\ commonly paid in camels — the coin of the country — as atonement for him. If they did so, however, it was apt to be cast in their teeth that they preferred milk {t.e.^ she-camels) to blood.3 The true Arab feeling is expressed in verses like these : — "With the sword will I wash my shame away. Let God's doom bring on me what it may 1 " *■ ' Hamdsa, 321. = See p. 55 sqq. 3 Cf. Riickert's Hamdsa, vol. i, p. 61 seq. * Hamdsa, 30. 94 P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY It was believed that until vengeance had been taken for the dead man, his spirit appeared above his tomb in the shape of an owl {Mma or sada\ crying " Isqimi " (" Give me to drink "). But pagan ideas of vengeance were bound up with the Past far more than with the Future. The shadowy after-life counted for little or nothing beside the deeply-rooted memories of fatherly affection, filial piety, and brotherhood in arms. Though liable to abuse, the rough-and-ready justice of the vendetta had a salutary effect in restraining those who would otherwise have indulged their lawless instincts without fear of punishment. From our point of view, however, its interest is not so much that of a primitive institution as of a pervading element in old Arabian life and literature. Full, or even adequate, illustration of this topic would carry me far beyond the limits of my plan. I have therefore selected from the copious material preserved in the Book of Songs a character- istic story which tells how Qays b. al-Khatlm took vengeance on the murderers of his father and his grandfather.^ It is related on the authority of Abii 'Ubayda that 'Adi b. 'Amr, the grandfather of Qays, was slain by a man named Malik belong- ing to the Banii 'Amr b. 'Amir b. Rabi'a b. 'Amir b. ^venge2i?lo'f'° Sa'sa'a ; and his father, Khatim b. 'Adi, by one of Q^ysb-3'- the Banii 'Abd al-Qays who were settled in Hajar. Khatim died before avenging his father, 'Adi, when Qays was but a young lad. The mother of Qays, fearing that he would sally forth to seek vengeance for the blood of his father and his grandfather and perish, went to a mound of dust beside the door of their dwelling and laid stones on it, and began to say to Qays, " This is the grave of thy father and thy grandfather ; " and Qays never doubted but that it was so. He grew up strong in the arms, and one day he had a tussle with a youth of the Banu Zafar, who said to him : " By God, thou would'st do better to turn the strength of thine arms against the slayers of thy father and grandfather instead of putting it forth upon me." " And who are their slayers ? " " Ask thy mother, she will tell thee." So Qays ' Aghdni, ii, i6o, 1. 11-162, 1. i = p. 13 sqq. of the Beyrout Selection. QAYS IBN AL-KHATiM 95 took his sword and set its hilt on the ground and its edge between his two breasts, and said to his mother : " Who killed my father and my grandfather ? " " They died as people die, and these are their graves in the camping-ground." " By God, verily thou wilt tell me who slew them or I will bear with my whole weight upon this sword until it cleaves through my back." Then she told him, and Qays swore that he would never rest until he had slain their slayers. " O my son," said she, " Malik, who killed thy grandfather, is of the same folk as Khidash b. Zuhayr, and thy father once bestowed a kindness on Khidash, for which he is grateful. Go, then, to him and take counsel with him touching thine affair and ask him to help thee." So Qays- set out immediately, and when he came to the garden where his water-camel was watering his date-palms, he smote the cord (of the bucket) with his sword and cut it, so that the bucket dropped into the well. Then he took hold of the camel's head, and loaded the beast with two sacks of dates, and said : " Who will care for this old woman " (meaning his mother) " in my absence ? If I die, let him pay her expenses out of this garden, and on her death it shall be his own ; but if I live, my property will return to me, and he shall have as many of its dates as he wishes to eat." One of his folk cried, " I am for it," so Qays gave him the garden and set forth to inquire concerning Khidash. He was told to look for him at Marr al-?ahran, but not finding him in his tent, he alighted beneath a tree, in the shade of which the guests of Khidash used to shelter, and called to the wife of Khidash, " Is there any food ? " Now, when she came up to him, she admired his comeli- ness — for he was exceeding iair of countenance — ^and said : " By God, we have no fit entertainment for thee, but only dates." He replied, " I care not, bring out what thou hast." So she sent to him dates in a large measure (qubd'), and Qays took a single date and ate half of it and put back the other half in the qubd', and gave orders that the qubd' should be brought in to the wife of Khidash ; then he departed on some business. When Khidash returned and his wife told him the news of Qays, he said, " This is a man who would render his person sacred."' While he sat there with his wife eating fresh ripe dates, Qays returned on camel-back ; and Khidash, when he saw the foot of the approaching rider, said to his wife, " Is this thy guest ? " " Yes." " 'Tis as though his foot were the foot of ' The 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 called dakhil. See Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahdbys (London, 1831), vol. i, p. 160 sqq. and 329 sqq. 96 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY my good friend, Khatim the Yathribite." Qays drew nigh, and struck the tent-rope with the point of his spear, and begged leave to come in. Having obtained permission, he entered to Khidash and told his lineage and informed him of what had passed, and asked him to help and advise him in his affair. Khidash bade him welcome, and recalled the kindness which he had of his father, and said, "As to this affair, truly I have been expecting it of thee for some time. The slayer of thy grandfather is a cousin of mine, and I will aid thee against him. When we are assembled in our meeting- place, I will sit beside him and talk with him, and when I strike his thigh, do thou spring on him and slaylhim." Qays himself relates : " Accompanied by Khidash, I approached him until I stood over his head when Khidash sat with him, and as soon as he struck the man's thigh I smote his head with a sword named Dhu 'l-Khursayn'' (the Two-ringed). " His folk rushed on me to slay me, but Khidash came between us, crying, ' Let him alone, for, by God, he has slain none but the slayer of his grandfather.' " Then Khidash called for one of his camels and mounted it, and started with Qays to find the 'Abdite who killed his father. And when they were near Hajar Khidash advised him to go and inquire after this man, and to say to him when he discovered him : " I encountered a brigand of thy people who robbed me of some articles, and on asking who was the chieftain of his people I was directed to thee. Go with me, then, that thou mayest take from him my property. If," Khidash continued, " he follow thee unattended, thou wilt gain thy desire of him ; but should he bid the others go with thee, laugh, and if he ask why thou laughest, say, 'With us, the noble does not as thou dost, but when he is called to a brigand of his people, he goes forth alone with his whip, not with his sword ; and the brigand when he sees him gives him everything that he took, in awe of him.' If he shall dismiss his friends, thy course is clear ; but if he shall refuse to go without them, bring him to me nevertheless, for I hope that thou wilt slay both him and them." So Khidash stationed himself under the shade of a tree, while Qays went to the 'Abdite and addressed him as Khidash had prompted ; and the man's sense of honour was touched to the quick, so that he sent away his friends and went with Qays. And when Qays came back to Khidash, the latter said to him, " Choose, O Qays ! Shall I help thee or shall I take thy place?" Qays answered, "I desire neither of these alternatives, but if he slay me, let him not slay thee ! " Then he rushed upon him and wounded him in the flank and drove his lance through the other side, and he fell dead on the spot. When Qays had finished with him, Khidash said, "If we flee just now, his folk SONGS OF REVENGE . 97 will pursue us ; but let us go somewhere not far off, for they will never think that thou hast slain him and stayed in the neighbour- hood. No ; they will miss him and follow his track, and when they find him slain they will start to pursue us in every direction, and will only return when they have lost hope." So those two entered some hollows of the sand, and after staying there several days (for it happened exactly as Khidash had foretold), they came forth when the pursuit was over, and did not exchange a word until they reached the abode of Khidash. There Qays parted from him and returned to his own people. The poems relating to blood-revenge show all that is best and much that is less admirable in the heathen Arab — on the one hand, his courage and resolution, his contempt of death and fear of dishonour, his single-minded devotion to the dead as to the living, his deep regard and tender affection for the men of his own flesh and blood ; on the other hand, his implacable temper, his perfidious cruelty and reckless ferocity in hunting down the slayers, and his savage, well-nigh inhuman exultation over the slain. The famous Song or Ballad of Vengeance that I shall now attempt to render in English verse is usually attri- buted to Ta'abbata Sharr"",' although some pro- vengelnce nounce it to be a forgery by Khalaf al-Ahmar, ''shareaa^* the fcputed author of Shanfard's masterpiece, and beyond doubt a marvellously skilful imitator of the ancient bards. Be that as it may, the ballad is utterly pagan in tone and feeling. Its extraordinary merit was de- tected by Goethe, who, after reading it in a Latin translation, published a German rendering, with some fine criticism of the poetry, in his IVest-oestluher Divanfi I have endeavoured to suggest as far as possible the metre and rhythm of the original, ■ See p. 81 supra. " Stuttgart, 1819, p. 253 sqq. The other renderings in verse with which I am acquainted are those of Riickert {Hamdsa, 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. 8 98 P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY since to these, in my opinion, its peculiar effect is largely due. The metre is that known as the ' Tall ' {Madid), viz. : — Thus the first verse runs in Arabic : — Inna btl-shi' \ bi 'lladhi \ 'inda Sal"" la-qatU"" | damuhi \ mdyufallu. Of course, Arabic prosody differs radically from English, but mutatis mutandis several couplets in the following version {e.g. the third, eighth, and ninth) will be found to correspond exactly with their model. As has been said, however, my object was merely to suggest the abrupt metre and the heavy, emphatic cadences, so that I have been able to give variety to the verse, and at the same time to retain that artistic freedom without which the translator of poetry cannot hope to satisfy either himself or any one else. The poet tells how he was summoned to avenge his uncle, slain by the tribesmen of Hudhayl : he describes the dead man's heroic character, the foray in which he fell, his former triumphs over the same enemy, and finally the terrible ven- geance taken for him.' "In the glen there a murdered man is lying — Not in vain for vengeance his blood is crying. He hath left me the load to bear and departed ; I take up the load and bear it true-hearted, I, his sister's son, the bloodshed inherit, I whose knot none looses, stubborn of spirit ; = Glowering darkly, shame's deadly out-wiper. Like the serpent spitting venom, the viper. ' The Arabic text will be found in the Hamdsa, p. 382 sqq. =■ This 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, POEM BY TA' ABB ATA SHARR"'' 99 Hard the tidings that befell us, heart-breaking ; Little seemed thereby the anguish most aching. Fate hath robbed me — still is Fate fierce and froward — Of a hero whose friend ne'er called him coward : As the warm sun was he in wintry weather, 'Neath the Dog-star shade and coolness together : Spare of flank — ^yet this in him showed not meanness ; Open-handed, full of boldness and keenness : Firm of purpose, cavalier unaffrighted — Courage rode with him and with him alighted : In his bounty, a bursting cloud of rain-water ; Lion grim when he leaped to the slaughter. Flowing hair, long robe his folk saw aforetime. But a lean-haunched wolf was he in war-time. Savours two he had, untasted by no men : Honey to his friends and gall to his foemen. Fear he rode nor recked what should betide him : Save his deep-notched Yemen blade, none beside him. Oh, the warriors girt with swords good for slashing. Like the levin, when they drew them, outflashing ! Through the noonday heat they fared: then, benighted, Farther fared, till at dawning they alighted.' Breaths of sleep they sipped ; and then, while they noddod. Thou didst scare them : lo, they scattered and scudded. Vengeance wreaked we upon them, unforgiving : Of the two clans scarce was left a soul living." Ay, if they bruised his glaive's edge 'twas in token That by him many a time their own was broken. Oft he made them kneel down by force and cunning — Kneel on jags where the foot is torn with running. Many a morn in shelter he took them napping; After killing was the rieving and rapine. They have gotten of me a roasting — I tire not Of desiring them till me they desire not. First, of foemen's blood my spear deeply drinketh, Then a second time, deep in, it sinketh. ' In the original this and the preceding verse are transposed. ' Although 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. 100 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY Lawful now to me is wine, long forbidden : Sore my struggle ere the ban was o'erridden.' Pour me wine, O son of 'Amr ! I would taste it, Since with grief for mine uncle I am wasted. O'er the fallen of Hudhayl stands screaming The hyena ; see the wolf's teeth gleaming ! Dawn will hear the flap of wings, will discover Vultures treading corpses, too gorged to hover.'' All the virtues which enter into the Arabian conception of Honour were regarded not as personal qualities inherent or acquired, but as hereditary possessions which a fared by"" Hian derived from his ancestors, and held in trust e ances ry. ^j^^^ j^^ might transmit them untarnished to his descendants. It is the desire to uphold and emulate the fame of his forbears, rather than the hope of winning immortality for himself, that causes the Arab " to say the say and do the deeds of the noble." Far from sharing the sentiment of the Scots peasant — " a man's a man for a' that " — he looks askance at merit and renown unconsecrated by tradition. "The glories that have grown up with the grass Can match not those inherited of old."" Ancestral renown (hasab) is sometimes likened to a strong castle built by sires for their sons, or to a lofty mountain which defies attack. 3 The poets are full of boastings {mafdkhir) and revilings (mathdlib) in which they loudly pro- claim the nobility of their own ancestors, and try to blacken those of their enemy without any regard to decorum. It was my intention to add here some general remarks on Arabian poetry as compared with that of the Hebrews, the ' It was customary for the avenger to take a solemn vow that he would drink no wine before accomplishing his vengeance. " Hamdsa, 679. 3 Cf. the lines translated below from the Mu'allaqa of IJarith. THE MU'ALLAQAT ioi Persians, and our own, but since example is better than precept I will now tunn directly to those celebrated odes which are well known by the title of Mu^allagdt, or ' Suspended Poems,' to all who take the slightest interest in Arabic literature.^ Mu'allaqa (plural, Mu^allaqdt) " is most likely derived from the word 'z'/y, meaning 'a precious thing or a thing held in high estimation,' either because one ' hangs on ' tenaciously to it, or because it is ' hung up ' in a place of honour, or in a conspicuous place, in a treasury or store-house." ' In course of time the exact signification of Mu^allaqa was forgotten, and it became necessary to find a plausible explanation. or%uspended' Hence arose the legend, which frequent repetition ™^' has made familiar, that the ' Suspended Poems ' were so called from having been hung up in the Ka'ba on account of their merit ; that this distinction was awarded by the judges at the fair of 'Uka?, near Mecca, where poets met in rivalry and recited their choicest productions ; and that the successful compositions, before being affixed to the door of the Ka'ba, Were transcribed in letters of gold upon pieces of fine Egyptian linen.3 Were these state- ' The best edition of the Mu'allaqdt is Sir Charles Lyall's {A Commentary en Ten Ancient Arabic Poems, Calcutta, 1894), which contains in addition to the seven Mu'allaqdt three odes by A'sha, Nabigha, and 'Abid b. al-Abras. Noldeke has translated five Mu'allaqas (omitting those of Imru' u' 1-Qays and Tarafa) 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 satis- factory 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). ' Ancient Arabian Poetry, Introduction, p. xliv. Many other interpre- tations 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. Miiller). 3 The belief that the Mu'allaqdt were written in letters of gold seems to have arisen from a misunderstanding of the name Mudhhabdt or Mudhahhabdt (i.e., the Gilded Poems) which is sometimes given to them in token of their excellence, just as the Greeks gave the title xp^'E" tirt] 102 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY ments true, we should expect them to be confirmed by some allusion in the early literature. But as a matter of fact nothing of the kind is mentioned in the Koran or in religious tradition, in the ancient histories of Mecca, or in such works as the Kit&bu 'l-Jghdni, which draw their information from old and trustworthy sources.^ Almost the first authority who refers to the legend is the grammarian Ahmad al-Nahhds ( t 949 a.d.), and by him it is stigmatised as entirely groundless. Moreover, although it was accepted by scholars like Reiske, Sir W. Jones, and even De Sacy, it is incredible in itself. Hengstenberg, in the Prolegomena to his edition of the Mu'-allaqa of Imru'u '1-Qays (Bonn, 1823) asked some pertinent questions : Who were the judges, and how were they appointed ? Why were only these seven poems thus distinguished ? His further objection, that the art of writing was at that time a rare accom- plishment, does not carry so much weight as he attached to it, but the story is sufficiently refuted by what we know of the character and customs of the Arabs in the sixth century and afterwards. Is it conceivable that the proud sons of the desert could have submitted a matter so nearly touching their tribal honour, of which they were jealous above all things, to external arbitration, or meekly acquiesced in the partial verdict of a court sitting in the neighbourhood of Mecca, which would certainly have shown scant consideration for competitors belonging to distant clans ? 2 However Mu'-allaqa is to be explained, the name is not contemporary with the poems themselves. In all probability they were so entitled by the person who first chose them to a poem falsely attributed to Pythagoras. That some of the Mu'allaqdt were recited at 'Ukaz is probable enough and is definitely affirmed in the case of 'Amr b. Kulthum (Aghdni, ix, 182). • The legend first appears in the 'Iqd al-Farid (ed. of Cairo, 1293 A.H., vol. iii, p. 116 seq.) of Ibn 'Abdi Rabbihi, who died in 940 a.d. ' See the Introduction to Noldeke's BeitrUge zur Kenntniss der Pocsie der alien Araber (Hannover, 1864), p, xvii sqq.,and his article 'Mo'alla^at ' in the Encyclofadia Britannica. THE MU'ALLAQAt 103 out of innumerable others and embodied them in a separate collection. This is generally allowed to have been Hammdd al-Riwiya, a famous rhapsodist who flourished in °MUKao^° *^^ 1^'^ts'' tlays of the Umayyad dynasty, and died about 772 a.d., in the reign of the 'Abbdsid Caliph MahdL What principle guided Hammad in his choice we do not know. Noldeke conjectures that he was influenced by the fact that all the Mu'-allaq&t are long poems — they are sometimes called 'The Seven Long Poems' (al-Sab' al-Tiwil) — for in Hammdd's time little of the ancient Arabian poetry survived in a state even of relative completeness. It must be confessed that no rendering of the Mu^allaqit can furnish European readers with a just idea of the originals, a literal version least of all. They contain much translating that only a full Commentary can make intelligible, ua aqa jjjy^-jj ^Yat to modem taste is absolutely incon- gruous with the poetic style. Their finest pictures of Bedouin life and manners often appear uncouth or grotesque, because without an intimate knowledge of the land and people it is impossible for us to see what the poet intended to convey, or to appreciate the truth and beauty of its expression ; while the artificial framework, the narrow range of subject as well as treatment, and the frank realism of the whole strike us at once. In the following pages I shall give some account of the Mu^allaqdt and their authors, and endeavour to bring out the characteristic qualities of each poem by selecting suitable passages for translation. ' The oldest and most famous of the Mu^allaqat is that of Imru'u 'I-Qays, who was descended from the ancient kings of Yemen. His grandfather was King Hdrith of Kinda, the antagonist of Mundhir III, King of Hfra, by whom he was ' It is well known that the order of the verses in the Mu'allaqdt, 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 Noldeke in his German translation. 104 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY defeated and slain,^ On Hirith's death, the confederacy which he had built up split asunder, and his sons divided among themselves the diiFerent tribes of which it was i^a'ys. composed, Hujr, the poet's father, ruled for some time over the Band Asad in Central Arabia, but finally they revolted and put him to death. "The duty of avenging his murder fell upon Imru'u '1-Qays, who is repre- sented as the only capable prince of his family ; and the isw historical data which we have regarding him relate to his adventures while bent upon this vengeance." = They are told at considerable length in the Kitdbu 'l-Aghdnl^ but need not detain us here. Suffice it to say that his efforts to punish the rebels, who were aided by Mundhir, the hereditary foe of his house, met with little success. He then set out for Constan- tinople, where he was favourably received by the Emperor Justinian, who desired to see the power of Kinda re-established as a thorn in the side of his Persian rivals. The emperor appointed him Phylarch of Palestine, but on his way thither he died at Angora (about 540 a.d.). He is said to have perished, like Nessus, from putting on a poisoned robe sent to him as a gift by Justinian, with whose daughter he had an intrigue. Hence he is sometimes called 'The Man of the Ulcers' {Dhu 'l-Qurhh). Many fabulous traditions surround the romantic figure of Imru'u 'l-Qays.3 According to one story, he was banished by his father, who despised him for being a poet and was enraged by the scandals to which his love adventures gave rise. Imru'u '1-Qays left his home and wandered from tribe to tribe with a company of outcasts like himself, leading a wild life, which caused him to be known as ' The Vagabond Prince ' {al-Malik al-Dillil). When the news of his father's death ' See p. 42 supra. ' Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 105. 3 See the account of his life (according to the Kitdbu' l-Aglidnt) in Le Diwan d'Amro'lkais, edited with translation and notes by Baron MacGuckin de Slane (Paris, 1837), pp. 1-51 ; and in Amrilkais, der Dichter und KOiiig by Friedrich Riickert (Stuttgart and Tiibingen, 1843). IMRU'U 'L-QAYS 105 reached him he cried, " My father wasted my youth, and now that I am old he has laid upon me the burden of blood-revenge. Wine to-day, business to-morrow ! " Seven nights he con- tinued the carouse ; then he swore not to eat flesh, nor drink wine, nor use ointment, nor touch woman, nor wash his head until his vengeance was accomplished. In the valley of Tabdla, north of Najrdn, there was an idol called Dhu '1-Khalasa much reverenced by the heathen Arabs. Imru'u '1-Qays visited this oracle and consulted it in the ordinary way, by drawing one of three arrows entitled ' the Commanding,' 'the Forbidding,' and ' the Waiting.' He drew the second, whereupon he broke the arrows and dashed them on the face of the idol, exclaiming with a gross imprecation, " If thy father had been slain, thou would'st not have hindered me ! " Imru'u '1-Qays is almost universally reckoned the greatest of the Pre-islamic poets. Muhammad described him as ' their leader to Hell-fire,' while the Caliphs 'Umar and 'All, odium theologkum notwithstanding, extolled his genius and origin- ality.^ Coming to the Mu^allaqa itself, European critics have vied with each other in praising its exquisite diction and splendid images, the sweet flow of the verse, the charm and variety of the painting, and, above all, the feeling by which it is inspired of the joy and glory of youth. The passage trans- lated below is taken from the first half of the poem, in which love is the prevailing theme : — 2 " Once, on the hill, she mocked at me and swore, 'This hour I leave thee to return no more.' ' That he was not, however, the inventor of the Arabian qa^ida as described above (p. 76 sqq.) appears from the fact that he mentions in one of his verses a certain Ibn Humam or Ibn Khidham 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'ard, p. 52). • The following lines are translated from Arnold's edition of the Mu'allaqdt (Leipsic, 1850), p. g sqq., vv, 18-35. io6 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY Soft ! if farewell is planted in thy mind, Yet spare me, Fatima, disdain unkind. Because my passion slays me, wilt thou part ? Because thy wish is law unto mine heart ? Nay, if thou so mislikest aught in me. Shake loose my robe and let it fall down free. But ah, the deadly pair, thy streaming eyes ! They pierce a heart that all in ruin lies. How many a noble tent hath oped its treasure To me, and I have ta'en my fill of pleasure. Passing the warders who with eager speed Had slain me, if they might but hush the deed, What time in heaven the Pleiades unfold A belt of orient gems distinct with gold. I entered. By the curtain there stood she. Clad lightly as for sleep, and looked on me. ' By God,' she cried, ' what recks thee of the cost ? I see thine ancient madness is not lost.' I led her forth — she trailing as we go Her broidered skirt, lest any footprint show — Until beyond the tents the valley sank With curving dunes and many a piled bank. Then with both hands I drew her head to mine. And lovingly the damsel did incline Her slender waist and legs more plump than fine ; — A graceful figure, a complexion bright, A bosom like a mirror in the light ; Her face a pearl where pale contends with rose ; For her, clear water from the untrodden fountain flows. Now she bends half away : two cheeks appear. And such an eye as marks the frighted deer Beside her fawn ; and lo, the antelope-neck Not bare of ornament, else without a fleck ; While from her shoulders in profusion fair. Like clusters on the palm, hangs down her jet-black hair." In strange contrast with this tender and delicate idyll are the wild, hard verses almost immediately following, in which the poet roaming through the barren waste hears the howl of a starved wolf and hails him as a comrade : — IMRU'U 'L-QAYS lo; " Each one of us what thing he finds devours : Lean is the wretch whose living is like ours." ' The noble qualities of his horse and its prowess in the chase are described, and the poem ends with a magnificent picture of a thunder-storm among the hills of Najd. Tarafa b. al-'Abd was a member of the great tribe of Bakr. The particular clan to which he belonged was settled in Bahrayn on the Persian Gulf. He early developed a talent for satire, which he exercised upon friend and foe indifferently ; and after he had squandered his patrimony in dissolute pleasures, his family chased him away as though he were 'a mangy camel.' At length a recon- ciliation was effected. He promised to mend his ways, re- turned to his people, and took part, it is said, in the War of Basus. In a little while his means were dissipated once more and he was reduced to tend his brother's herds. His Mu^allaqa composed at this time won for him the favour of a rich kins- man and restored him to temporary independence. On the conclusion of peace between Bakr and Taghlib the youthful poet turned his eyes in the direction of Hira, where *Amr b. Hind had lately succeeded to the throne (554 A.D.). He was well received by the king, who attached him, along with his uncle, the poet Mutalammis, to the service of the heir-apparent. But Tarafa's bitter tongue was destined to cost him dear. Fatigued and disgusted by the rigid ceremony of the court, he improvised a satire in which he said — "Would that we had instead of 'Amr A milch-ewe bleating round our tent 1 " Shortly afterwards he happened to be seated at table opposite the king's sister. Struck with her beauty, he exclaimed — ' The native commentators are probably right in attributing this and the three preceding verses (48-51 in Arnold's edition) to the brigand-poet, Ta'abbata Sharr»°. io8 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY " Behold, she has come back to me, My fair gazelle whose ear-rings shine ; Had not the king been sitting here, I would have pressed her lips to mine ! " ' Amr b. Hind was a man of violent and implacable temper, Tarafa's satire had already been reported to him, and this new impertinence added fuel to his wrath. Sending for Tarafa and Mutalammis, he granted them leave to visit their homes, and gave to each of them a sealed letter addressed to the governor of Bahrayn. When they had passed outside the city the suspicions of Mutalammis were aroused. As neither he nor his companion could read, he handed his own letter to a boy of Hfra^ and learned that it contained orders to bury him alive. Thereupon he flung the treacherous missive into the stream and implored Tarafa to do likewise. Tarafa refused to break the royal seal. He continued his journey to Bahrayn, where he was thrown into prison and executed. Thus perished miserably in the flower of his youth — accord- ing to some accounts he was not yet twenty — the passionate and eloquent Tarafa. In his Mu'-allaqa he has drawn a spirited portrait of himself. The most striking feature of the poem, apart from a long and, to us who are not Bedouins, painfully tedious description of the camel, is its insistence on sensual enjoyment as the sole business of life : — " Canst thou make me immortal, O thou that blamest me so For haunting the battle and loving the pleasures that fly ? If thou hast not the power to ward me from Death, let me go To meet him and scatter the wealth in my hand, ere I die. Save only for three things in which noble youth take delight, I care not how soon rises o'er me the coronach loud : Wine that bubbles when water is poured on it, ruddy and bright. Red wine that I quaff stol'n away from the cavilling crowd ; ' We have already (p. 39) referred to the culture of the Christian Arabs of Hira, TARAFA 109 "And second, my charge at the cry of distress on a steed Bow-legged like the wolf you have startled when thirsty he cowers ; And third, on a wet day — oh, wet days are pleasant indeed I — 'Neath a propped leathern tent with a girl to beguile the slow hours." ' Keeping, as far as possible, the chronological order, we have now to mention two Mu^allaqas which, though not directly related to each other, = are of the same period — the reign of *Amr b. Hind, King of Hira (554-568 a.d.). Moreover, their strong mutual resemblance and their difference from the other Mu^allaqas^ especially from typical qasidas like those of 'Antara and Labid, is a further reason for linking them together. Their distinguishing mark is the abnormal space devoted to the main subject, which leaves little room for the subsidiary motives. 'Amr b. Kulthiim belonged to the tribe of Taghlib. His mother was LaylA, a daughter of the famous poet and warrior Muhalhil. That she was a woman of heroic Kulthiim Hiould appears from the following anecdote, which records a deed of prompt vengeance on the part of 'Amr that gave rise to the proverb, " Bolder in onset than 'Amr b. Kulthiim " 3 :— One day 'Amr. b. Hind, the King of Hira, said to his boon-com- panions, " Do ye know any Arab whose mother would disdain to serve mine ? " They answered, " Yes, the mother of ' Amr b. ■ Vv. S4-S9 (Lyall) ; 56-61 (Arnold). ^ See Noldeke, Fiinf Mu'allaqdt, i, p. 51 seq. According to the traditional version {Aghdni, be, 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 Band Bakr. Thereupon Taghlib appealed to King 'Amr to enforce payment of the blood-money which they claimed, and chose 'Amr b. Kulthum to plead their cause at pira. So 'Amr recited his Mu'allaqa before the king, and was answered by Harith on behalf of Bakr. 3 Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. ii, p. 233. no PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY Kulthum." " Why so ? " asked the king. " Because," said they, " her father is Muhalhil b. Rabi'a and her uncle is Kulayb b. Wa'il, the most puissant of the Arabs, and her husband is aveDged'an Kulthiim b. Malik, the knightliest, and her son is 'Amr, insult to his the chieftain of his tribe." Then the king sent to 'Amr b. Kulthum, inviting him to pay a visit to himself, and asking him to bring his mother, Layla, to visit his own mother. Hind. So 'Amr came to Hira with some men of Taghlib, and Layla came attended by a number of their women ; and while the king entertained 'Amr and his friends in a pavilion which he had caused to be erected between Hira and the Euphrates, Layla found quarters with Hind in a tent adjoining. Now, the king had ordered his mother, as soon as he should call for dessert, to dismiss the servants, and cause Layla to wait upon her. At the pre-arranged signal she desired to be left alone with her guest, and said, "O Layla, hand me that dish." Layla answered, " Let those who want anything rise up and serve themselves." Hind repeated her demand, and would take no denial. " O shame ! " cried Layla. " Help ! Taghlib, help ! " When 'Amr heard his mother's cry the blood flew to his cheeks. He seized a sword hanging on the wall of the pavilion — the only weapon there — and with a single blow smote the king dead. • 'Amr's Mu'^allaqa is the work of a man who united in himself the ideal qualities of manhood as these were under- stood by a race which has never failed to value, even too highly, the display of self-reliant action and decisive energy. And if in 'Amr's poem these virtues are displayed with an exaggerated boastfulness which oflfends our sense of decency and proper reserve, it would be a grave error to conclude that all this sound and fury signifies nothing. The Bedouin poet deems it his bounden duty to glorify to the utmost himself, his family, and his tribe ; the Bedouin warrior is never tired of proclaiming his unshakable valour and recounting his brilliant feats of arms : he hurls menaces and vaunts in the same breath, but it does not follow that he is a Miles Gloriosus, 'Amr certainly was not : his Mu'-allaqa leaves a vivid impression of conscious and exultant strength. The first eight verses seem ' Aghdnt, ix, 182. 'AMR IBN KULTHtJM in to have been added to the poem at a very early date, for out of them arose the legend that 'Amr drank himself to death with unmixed wine. It is likely that they were included in the original collection of the Mu^allaqit^ and they are worth translating for their own sake : — " Up, maiden I Fetch the morning-drink and spare not The wine of Andarin, Clear wine that takes a saffron hue when water Is mingled warm therein. The lover tasting it forgets his passion, His heart is eased of pain ; The stingy miser, as he lifts the goblet, Regardeth not his gain. Pass round from left to right ! Why lef st thou, maiden, Me and my comrades thirst ? Yet am I, whom thou wilt not serve this morning. Of us three not the worst I Many a cup in Baalbec and Damascus And Qasirin I drained, Howbeit we, ordained to death, shall one day Meet death, to us ordained." ' In the next passage he describes his grief at the departure of his beloved, whom he sees in imagination arriving at her journey's end in distant Yamdma : — "And oh, my love and yearning when at nightfall I saw her camels haste. Until sharp peaks uptowered like serried sword-blades. And me Yamama faced ! Such grief no mother-camel feels, bemoaning Her young one lost, nor she. The grey-haired woman whose hard fate hath left her Of nine sons graves thrice three." ^ Now the poet turns abruptly to his main theme. He • Vv. 1-8 (Arnold) ; in Lyall's edition the penultimate verse is omitted. ' Vv. 1S-18 (Lyall) ; 19-22 (Arnold). 112 PRE-ISLAMJC POETRY addresses the King of Hfra, 'Amr b. Hind, in terms of defiance, and warns the foes of Taghlib that they will meet more than their match : — " Father of Hind,' take heed and ere thou movest Rashly against us, learn That still our banners go down white to battle And home blood-red return. And many a chief bediademed, the champion Of the outlaws of the land. Have we o'erthrown and stripped him, while around him Fast-reined the horses stand. Our neighbours lopped like thorn-trees, snarls in terror Of us the demon-hound ; " Never we try our hand-mill on the foemen But surely they are ground. We are the heirs of glory, all Ma'add knows,' Our lances it defend. And when the tent-pole tumbles in the foray. Trust us to save our friend ! * O 'Amr, what mean'st thou ? Are we, we of Taghlib, Thy princeKng's retinue ? O 'Amr, what mean'st thou, rating us and hearkening To tale-bearers untrue ? O 'Amr, ere thee full many a time our spear-shaft Has baffled foes to bow ; s Nipped in the vice it kicks like a wild camel That will no touch allow — Like a wild camel, so it creaks in bending And splits the bender's brow ! " * The Mu^allaqa ends with a eulogy, superb in its extravagance, of the poet's tribe : — ' The Arabs use the term kunya to 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). ' I.e., even the jinn (genies) stand in awe of us. 3 Here Ma'add signifies the Arabs in general. ' Vv. 20-30 (Lyall), omitting vv. 22, 27, 28. s This is a figurative way of saying that Taghlib has never been subdued ' Vv. 46-51 (Lyall), omitting v. 48. 'AMR IBN KVLTHtM 113 "Well wot, when our tents rise along their valleys, The men of every clan That we give death to those who durst attempt us. To friends what food we can ; That staunchly we maintain a cause we cherish, Camp where we choose to ride, Nor will we aught of peace, when we are angered, , Till we are satisfied. We keep our vassals safe and sound, but rebels We soon bring to their knees ; And if we reach a well, we drink pure water. Others the muddy lees. Ours is the earth and all thereon : when we strike. There needs no second blow ; Kings lay before the new-weaned boy of Taghlib Their heads in homage low. We are called oppressors, being none, but shortly A true name shall it be ! ' We have so filled the earth 'tis narrow for us. And with our ships the sea ! ° Less interesting is the Mu^allaqa of Harith b. Hilliza of Bakr. Its inclusion among the Mu^allaqat is probably due, as Noldeke suggested, to the fact that ^ammad, himself a client of Bakr, wished to flatter his patrons by selecting a counterpart to the Mu^allaqa of 'Amr b. Kulthiim, which immortalised their great rivals, the Banu Taghlib. Harith's poem, however, has some historical im- portance, as it throws light on feuds in Northern Arabia connected with the antagonism of the Roman and Persian Empires. Its purpose is to complain of unjust accusations made against the Banii Bakr by a certain group of the Band Taghlib known as the Araqim : — ' I.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. ' Vv. 94-104 (Arnold), omitting w. 100 and loi. If the last words are anything more than a poetic fiction, ' the sea ' must refer to the River Euphrates. 9 114 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY "Our brothers the Araqim let their tongues Against us rail unmeasuredly. The innocent with the guilty they confound : Of guilt what boots it to be free ? They brand us patrons of the vilest deed, Our clients in each miscreant see.'' ' A person whom Harith does not name was ' blackening ' the Banii Bakr before the King of flira. The poet tells him not to imagine that his calumnies will have any lasting effect : often had Bakr been slandered by their foes, but (he finely adds) : — " Maugre their hate we stand, by firm-based might Exalted and by ancestry — Might which ere now hath dazzled men's eyes : thence scorn To yield and haughty spirit have we. On us the Days beat as on mountain dark That soars in cloudless majesty, Compact against the hard calamitous shocks And buffetings of Destiny." ' He appeals to the offenders not wantonly to break the peace which ended the War of Basus : — " Leave folly and error ! If ye blind yourselves, Just therein lies the malady. Recall the oaths of Dhu 'l-Majaz^ for which Hostages gave security, Lest force or guile should break them : can caprice Annul the parchments utterly?* 'Antara b. Shadddd, whose father belonged to the tribe of 'Abs, distinguished himself in the War of Dihis.S In modern times it is not as a poet that he is chiefly remem- bered, but as a hero of romance — the Bedouin Achilles. Goddess-born, however, he could not be called by » Vv. i6-i8. = Vv. 23-26. 3 A place in the neighbourhood of Mecca. ' Vv. 40-42 (Lyall) ; 65-67 (Arnold). s See 'Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter, by H. Thorbecke (Leipzig, 1867). HARITH and 'ANTARA 115 any stretch of imagination. His mother was a black slave, and he must often have been taunted with his African blood, which showed itself in a fiery courage that gained the respect of the pure-bred but generally less valorous Arabs. 'Antara loved his cousin 'Abla, and following the Arabian custom by which cousins have the first right to a girl's hand, he asked her in marriage. His suit was vain — the son of a slave mother being regarded as a slave unless acknowledged by his father — until on one occasion, while the 'Absites were hotly engaged with some raiders who had driven off their camels, 'Antara refused to join in the mel6e, saying, " A slave does not under- stand how to fight ; his work is to milk the camels and bind their udders." " Charge ! " cried his father, " thou art free." Though 'Antara uttered no idle boast when he sang — " On one side nobly born and of the best Of 'Abs am 1 : my sword makes good the rest ! " his contemptuous references to 'jabbering barbarians,' and to ' slaves with their ears cut off, clad in sheepskins,' are charac- teristic of the man who had risen to eminence in spite of the stain on his scutcheon. He died at a great age in a foray against the neighbouring tribe of Tayyi'. His Mu^allaqa is famous for its stirring battle-scenes, one of which is translated here : — ' " Learn, Malik's daughter, how I rush into the fray. And how I draw back only At sharing of the prey. I never quit the saddle, My strong steed nimbly bounds; Warrior after warrior Have covered him with wounds. • I 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. ii6 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY Full-armed against me stood One feared of fighting men : He fled not oversoon Nor let himself be ta'en. With straight hard-shafted spear I dealt him in his side A sudden thrust which opened Two streaming gashes wide, Two gashes whence outgurgled His life-blood : at the sound Night-roaming ravenous wolves Flock eagerly around. So with my doughty spear I trussed his coat of mail — For truly, when the spear strikes, The noblest man is frail — And left him low to banquet The wild beasts gathering there ; They have torn off his fingers. His wrist and fingers fair ! " While 'Antara's poem belongs to the final stages of the War of Dalhis, the Mu^allaqa of his contemporary, Zuhayr b. Abi Sulmi, of the tribe of Muzayna, celebrates an act of private munificence which brought about the conclusion of peace. By the self-sacrificing inter- vention of two chiefs of Dhuby£n, Harim b. Sindn and Hdrith b. 'Awf, the whole sum of blood-money to which the 'Absites were entitled on account of the greater number of those who had fallen on their side, was paid over to them. Such an example of generous and disinterested patriotism — for Harim and Hdrith had shed no blood themselves — was a fit subject for one of whom it was said that he never praised men but as they deserved : — ZUHAYR 117 Noble pair of Ghayz ibn Murra,' well ye laboured to restore Ties of kindred hewn asunder by the bloody strokes of war. Witness now mine oath the ancient House in Mecca's hallowed bound," Which its builders of, Quraysh and Jurhum solemnly went round,' That in hard or easy issue never wanting were ye found ! Peace ye gave to 'Abs and Dhubyan when each fell by other's hand And the evil fumes they pestled up between them filled the land." * At the end of his panegyric the poet, turning to the lately reconciled tribesmen and their confederates, earnestly warns them against nursing thoughts of vengeance : — "Will ye hide from God the guilt ye dare not unto Him dis- close ? Verily, what thing soever ye would hide from God, He knows. Either it is laid up meantime in a scroll and treasured there For the day of retribution, or avenged all unaware.^ War ye have known and war have tasted : not by hearsay are ye wise. Raise no more the hideous monster ! If ye let her raven, she cries Ravenously for blood and crushes, like a mill-stone, all below, And from her twin-conceiving womb she brings forth woe on woe." ° After a somewhat obscure passage concerning the lawless deeds of a certain Husayn b, Damdam, which had well-nigh ■ Ghayz b. Murra was a descendant of Dhubyan and the ancestor of Harim and Harith. ' The Ka'b'a. s This refers to the religious circumambulation (tawdj), ♦ Vv. 16-19 (Lyall). 5 There 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'ard, p. 58, 1. 12), « Vv, 27-31. Ii8 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY caused a fresh outbreak of hostilities, Zuhayr proceeds, with a natural and touching allusion to his venerable age, to en- force the lessons of conduct and morality suggested by the situation : — " I am weary of life's burden ; well a man may weary be After eighty years, and this much now is manifest to me : Death is like a night-blind camel stumbling on : — the smitten die But the others age and wax in weakness whom he passes by. He that often deals with folk in unkind fashion, underneath They will trample him and make him feel the sharpness of their teeth. He that hath enough and over and is niggard with his pelf Will be hated of his people and left free to hug himself. He alone who with fair actions ever fortifies his fame Wins it fully : blame will find him out unless he shrinks from blame. He that for his cistern's guarding trusts not in his own stout arm Sees it ruined : he must harm his foe or he must suffer harm. He that fears the bridge of Death across it finally is driven, Though he bridges with a ladder all the space 'tvdxt earth and heaven. He that will not take the lance's butt-end while he has the chance Must thereafter be contented with the spike-end of the lance. He that keeps his word is blamed not ; he whose heart re- paireth straight To the sanctuary of duty never needs to hesitate. He that hies abroad to strangers doth account his friends his foes ; He that honours not himself lacks honour wheresoe'er he goes. Be a man's true nature what it will, that nature is revealed To his neighbours, let him fancy as he may that 'tis con- cealed." ' The ripe sententious wisdom and moral earnestness of Zuhayr's poetry are in keeping with what has been said ■ The order of these verses in Lyall's edition is as follows : 56, 57, 54, 50. 55, 53. 49. 47. 48. 52. 58. ZUHAYR 119 above concerning his religious ideas and, from another point of view, with the tradition that he used to compose a qaslda in four months, correct it for four months, submit it to the poets of his acquaintance during a like period, and not make it public until a year had expired. Of his life there is little to tell. Probably he died before Islam, though it is related that when he was a centenarian he met the Prophet, who cried out on seeing him, "O God, preserve me from his demon ! " ^ The poetical gifts which he inherited from his uncle Bashdma he bequeathed to his son Ka'b, author of the famous ode, Bdnat Su^dd. Labfd b. Rabi'a, of the Band 'Amir b. Sa'§a'a, was born in the latter half of the sixth century, and is said to have died soon after Mu'dwiya's accession to the Caliphate, which took place in a.d. 661. He is thus the youngest of the Seven Poets. On accepting Islam he abjured poetry, saying, "God has given me the Koran in exchange for it." Like Zuhayr, he had, even in his heathen days, a strong vein of religious feeling, as is shown by many passages in his Dlwdn. Labid was a true Bedouin, and his Mu''allaqa, with its charmingly fresh pictures of desert life and scenery, must be considered one of the finest examples of the Pre-islamic qaslda that have come down to us. The poet owes something to his predecessors, but the greater part seems to be drawn from his own observation. He begins in the conventional manner by describing the almost unrecognisable vestiges of the camping- ground of the clan to which his mistress belonged : — "Waste lies the land where once alighted and did wone The people of Mina : Rijam and Ghawl are lone. " Reference has been made above to the old Arabian belief that poets owed their inspiration to the jinn (genii), who are sometimes called shaydtin (satans). See Goldziher, Abhand. zur arab. Philologie, Part I, pp. 1-14. 120 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY The camp in Rayyan's vale is marked by relics dim Like weather-beaten script engraved on ancient stone. Over this ruined scene, since it vyas desolate, Whole years with secular and sacred months had flown. In spring 'twas blest by showers 'neath starry influence shed, And thunder-clouds bestowed a scant or copious boon. Pale herbs had shot up, ostriches on either slope Their chicks had gotten and gazelles their young had thrown ; And large-eyed wild-cows there beside the new-born calves Reclined, while round them formed a troop the calves half- grown. Torrents of rain had swept the dusty ruins bare. Until, as writing freshly charactered, they shone, Or like to curved tattoo-lines on a woman's arm. With soot besprinkled so that every line is shown. I stopped and asked, but what avails it that we ask Dumb changeless things that speak a language all unknown?"' After lamenting the departure of his beloved the poet bids himself think no more about her : he will ride swiftly away from the spot. Naturally, he must praise his camel, and he introduces by way of comparison two wonderful pictures of animal life. In the former the onager is described racing at full speed over the backs of the hills when thirst and hunger drive him with his mate far from the barren solitudes into which they usually retire. The second paints a wild-cow, whose young calf has been devoured by wolves, sleeping among the sand-dunes through a night of incessant rain. At daybreak " her feet glide over the firm wet soil." For a whole week she runs to and fro, anxiously seeking her calf, when suddenly she hears the sound of hunters approaching and makes ofiFin alarm. Being unable to get within bowshot, the hunters loose their dogs, but she turns desperately upon them, woimding one with her needle-like horn and killing another. Then, once more addressing his beloved, the poet speaks complacently of his share in the feasting and revelling, on which a noble Arab plumes himself hardly less than on his bravery : — ' Vv. l-io (Lyall^, omitting v. 5. LABlD 121 " Know'st thou not, O Nawar, that I am wont to tie The cords of love, yet also snap them without fear ? That I abandon places when I like them not. Unless Death chain the soul and straiten her career ? Nay, surely, but thou know'st not I have passed in talk Many a cool night of pleasure and convivial cheer, And often to a booth, above which hung for sign A banner, have resorted when old wine was dear. For no light price I purchased many a dusky skin Or black clay jar, and broached it that the juice ran clear ; And many a song of shrill-voiced singing-girl I paid, And her whose fingers made sweet music to mine ear." ' Continuing, he boasts of dangerous service as a spy in the enemy's country, when he watched all day on the top ot a steep crag ; of his fearless demeanour and dignified assertion of his rights in an assembly at Hira, to which he came as a delegate, and of his liberality to the poor. The closing verses are devoted, in accordance with custom, to matters of immediate interest and to a panegyric on the virtues of the poet's kin. Besides the authors of the Mu'-allaqit three poets may be mentioned, of whom the two first-named are universally acknowledged to rank with the greatest that Arabia has produced — Ndbigha, A'shd, and 'Alqama. Ndbigha 2 — his proper name is Ziydd b. Mu'dwiya, ot the tribe Dhubyin — lived at the courts of Ghassdn and Hlra during the latter half of the century before 'ohilyla Islam, His chief patron was King Nu'mdn b. Mundhir Abii Qabiis of Hira. For many years he basked in the sunshine of royal favour, enjoying every privilege that Nu'mdn bestowed on his most intimate friends. The occasion of their falling out is differently related. According to one story, the poet described the charms of ' Vv. SS-60 (Lyall). " The term ndbigha is applied to a poet whose genius is slow in de- claring itself but at last^" jets forth vigorously. and abundantly " {nabagha). 122 P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY Queen Mutajarrida, which Nu'min had asked him to celebrate, with such charm and liveliness as to excite her husband's suspicion ; but it is said — and Ndbigha's own words make it probable — that his enemies denounced him as the author of a scurrilous satire against Nu'mdn which had been forged by themselves. At any rate he had no choice but to quit HIra with all speed, and ere long we find him in Ghassin, welcomed and honoured, as the panegyrist of King 'Amr b. Hdrith and the noble house of Jafna. But his heart was in Hira still. Deeply wounded by the calumnies of which he was the victim, he never ceased to affirm his innocence and to lament the misery of exile. The following poem, which he addressed to Nu'mdn, is at once a justification and an appeal for mercy ^ : — " They brought me word, O King, thou blamedst me ; For this am I o'erwhelmed with grief and care. I passed a sick man's night : the nurses seemed. Spreading my couch, to have heaped up briars there. Now (lest thou cherish in thy mind a doubt) Invoking our last refuge, God, I swear That he, whoever told thee I was false, Is the more lying and faithless of the pair. Exiled perforce, I found a strip of land Where I could live and safely take the air : Kings made me arbiter of their possessions. And called me to. their side and spoke me fair — Even as thou dost grace thy favourites Nor deem'st a fault the gratitude they bear.'' O leave thine anger ! Else, in view of men A mangy camel, smeared with pitch, I were. Seest thou not God hath given thee eminence Before which monarchs tremble and despair ? ' Dlwdn, ed. by Derenbourg, p . 83 ; Noldeke's Delectus, p. g6. " He means to say that Nu'man has no reason to feel aggrieved because he (Nabigha) is grateful to the Ghassanids for their munificent patronage ; since Nu'man does not consider that his own favourites, in showing grati- tude to himself, are thereby guilty of treachery towards their former patrons. NABIGHA op DHUBYAn 123 All other kings are stars and thou a sun : When the sun rises, lo, the heavens are bare ! A friend in trouble thou wilt not forsake ; I may have sinned : in sinning all men share. If I am wronged, thou hast but wronged a slave, And if thou spar'st, 'tis like thyself to spare." It is pleasant to record that Ndbigha was finally reconciled to the prince whom he loved, and that H{ra again became his home. The date of his death is unknown, but it certainly took place before Islam was promulgated. Had the oppor- tunity been granted to him he might have died a Moslem : he calls himself ' a religious man ' (dhh, umtnaf"), ' and although the tradition that he was actually a Christian lacks authority, his long residence in Syria and 'Iriq must have made him acquainted with the externals of Christianity and with some, at least, of its leading ideas. The grave and earnest tone characteristic of Nibigha's poetry seldom prevails in that of his younger contemporary, Maymin b. Qays, who is generally known by his surname, al-A'shd — that is, 'the man of weak sight.' A professional troubadour, he roamed from one end of Arabia to the other, harp in hand, singing the praises of those who rewarded him; and such was his fame as a satirist that few ventured to withhold the bounty which he asked. By common consent he stands in the very first rank of Arabian poets. Abu '1-Faraj, the author of the Kitdbu 'l-Jghdnl, declares him to be superior to all the rest, adding, however, " this opinion is not held unanimously as regards A'shd or any other." His ' Diwdn, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 76, ii, 21. In another place (p. 81, vi, 6) he says, addressing his beloved : — " Wadd give thee greeting ! for dalliance with women is lawful to me no more, Since Religion has become a serious matter." Wadd was a god worshipped by the pagan Arabs. Derenbourg's text has rabbi, i.e., Allah, but see Noldeke's remarks in Z.D.M.G., vol. xli (1887), p. 708- 124 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY wandering life brought him into contact with every kind of culture then existing in Arabia, Although he was not an avowed Christian, his poetry shows to what an extent he was influenced by the Bishops of Najrdn, with whom he was intimately connected, and by the Christian merchants of Hira who sold him their wine. He did not rise above the pagan level of morality. It is related that he set out to visit Muhammad for the purpose of reciting to him an ode which he had composed in his honour. When the Ouraysh heard of this, they feared lest their adversary's reputation should be increased by the panegyric of a bard so famous and popular. Accordingly, they intercepted him on his way, and asked whither he was bound. " To your kinsman,'' said he, " that I may accept Islam." " He will forbid and make unlawful to thee certain practices of which thou art fond." " What are these ?" said A'sha. " Fornication," said Abii Sufyan. " I have not abandoned it," he replied, " but it has abandoned me. What else ? " " Gambling." " Perhaps I shall obtain from him something to compensate me for the loss of gambling. What else ? " " Usury." " I have never borrowed nor lent. What else ? " " Wine."' " Oh, in that case I will drink the water I have left stored at al-Mihras." Seeing that A'shi was not to be deterred, Abii Sufyan offered him a hundred camels on condition that he should return to his home in Yamama and await the issue of the struggle between Muhammad and the Quraysh. " I agree," said A'sha. " O ye Quraysh," cried Abii Sufyan, " this is A'sha, and by God, if he becomes a follower of Muhammad, he will inflame the Arabs against you by his poetry. Collect, therefore, a hundred camels for him. " ' A'shd excels in the description of wine and wine-parties. One who visited Manfiiha in Yamama, where the poet was buried, relates that revellers used to meet at his grave and pour out beside it the last drops that remained in their cups. As an example of his style in this genre I translate a few lines from the most celebrated of his poems, which is included by some critics among the Mu'ailaqdt : — ■ Aghdni, viii, 85, last line-86, 1. lo, A'SI/A AND 'ALQAMA 12S " Many a time I hastened early to the tavern — while there ran At my heels a ready cook, a nimble, active serving-man — 'Midst a gallant troop, like Indian scimitars, of mettle high ; Well they know that every mortal, shod and bare alike, must die. Propped at ease I greet them gaily, them with myrtle-boughs I greet. Pass among them wine that gushes from the jar's mouth bitter- sweet. Emptying goblet after goblet — but the source may no man drain — Never cease they from carousing save to cry, ' Fill up again ! ' Briskly runs the page to serve them : on his ears hang pearls : below. Tight the girdle draws his doublet as he bustles to and fro. 'Twas the harp, thou mightest fancy, waked the lute's respon- sive note. When the loose-robed chantress touched it and sang shrill with quavering throat. Here and there among the party damsels fair superbly glide : Each her long white skirt lets trail and swings a wine-skin at her side." ' Very little is known of the life of 'Alqama b. 'Abada, who was surnamed al-Fa}}l (the Stallion). His most famous poem is that which he addressed to the Ghassinid Harith al-A'raj after the Battle of Halima, imploring him to set free some prisoners of Tamim — the poet's tribe — among whom was his own brother or nephew, Shds. The following lines have almost become proverbial : — " Of women do ye ask me ? I can spy Their ailments with a shrewd physician's eye. The man whose head is grey or small his herds No favour wins of them but mocking words. Are riches known, to riches they aspire. And youthful bloom is still their heart's desire." ' ' Lyall, Ten Ancient Arabic Poems, p. 146 seq., vv. 25-31. • Ahlwardt, The Divans, p. 106, vv. 8-10. 126 PRB'ISLAMIC POETRY In view of these slighting verses it is proper to observe that the poetry of Arabian women of the Pre-islamic period is dis- tinctly masculine in character. Their songs are seldom of Love, but often of Death. Elegy {;rttha or marthiya) was regarded as their special province. The oldest form of elegy appears in the verses chanted on the death of Ta'abbata Sharr'° by his sister : — " O the good knight ye left low at Rakhman, Thabit son of Jabir son of Sufyan ! He filled the cup for friends and ever slew his man."' " As a rule the Arabian dirge is very simple. The poetess begins with a description of her grief, of the tears that she cannot quench, and then she shows how worthy to be deeply mourned was he whom death has taken away. He is described as a pattern of the two principal Arabian virtues, bravery and liberality, and the question is anxiously asked, ' Who will now make high resolves, overthrow the enemy, and in time of want feed the poor and entertain the stranger ? ' If the hero of the dirge died a violent death we find in addition a burning lust of revenge, a thirst for the slayer's blood, expressed with an intensity of feeling of which only women are capable."* Among Arabian women who have excelled in poetry the place of honour is due to Khansi — her real name was Tumi^ir — ^who flourished in the last years before Islam. By far the most famous of her elegies are those in which she bewailed her valiant brothers, Mu'iwiya and Sakhr, both of whom were struck down by sword or spear. It is impossible to translate the poignant and vivid emotion, the energy of passion and noble simplicity of style which distinguish the poetry of Khansi, but here are a few verses : — ' Hamdsa, p. 382, 1. 17. ' Noldeke, BeitrUge zur Kenntniss dor Poesie der alien Araber, p. 152. WOMEN AS ELEGISTS 127 Death's messenger cried aloud the loss of the generous one, So loud cried he, by my life, that far he was heard and wide. Then rose' I, and scarce my soul could follow to meet the news. For anguish and sore dismay and horror that Sakhr had died. In my misery and despair I seemed as a drunken man, Upstanding awhile — then soon his tottering limbs subside." ' Yudhakkiruni tuld'u 'l-shamsi Sakhr^ wa-adhkuruhu likulli ghuriibi shamsi. "Sunrise awakes in me the sad remembrance Of Sakhr, and I recall him at every sunset.'' To the poets who have been enumerated many might be added — e.g., Hassdn b. Thibit, who was 'retained' by the Prophet and did useful work on his behalf ; Ka'b The last poets , iL , born in the Age b. Zuhayf, author of the famous panegyric on Muhammad beginning " Bdnat SuW (Su'ad has departed) ; Mutammim b. Nuwayra, who, like Khansa, mourned the loss of a brother ; Abii Mihjan, the singer or wine, whose devotion to the forbidden beverage was punished by the Caliph 'Umar with imprisonment and exile ; and al-Hutay'a (the Dwarf), who was unrivalled in satire. All these belonged to the class of Mukhadramim, i.e., they were born in the Pagan Age but died, if not Moslems, at any rate after the proclamation of Islam. The grammarians of Bafra and Kiifa, by whom the remains of ancient Arabian poetry were rescued from oblivion, arranged and collected their material according to various ancient poetry, principles. Either the poems of an individual or those of a number of individuals belonging to the same tribe or class were brought together — rsuch a collection was called Diurdn, plural Dawdwln ; or, again, the compiler edited a certain number of qasidas chosen for their fame or • Noldeke, ibid., p. 175. 128 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY excellence or on other grounds, or he formed an anthology of shorter pieces or fragments, which were arranged under dif- ferent heads according to their subject-matter. Among Dlwins mention may be made of The Dlwdns oj the Six Poets, viz. Ndbigha, *Antara, Tarafa, Zuhayr, 'Alqama, „, , and Imru'u '1-Qays, edited with a full commen- tary by the Spanish philologist al-A'lam (11083 A.D.) and published in 1870 by Ahlwardt ; and of The Poems of the Hudhaylites {Jsh'dru ' l-Hudhaliyyln) collected by al-Sukkari (t 888 a.d.), which have been published by Kosegarten and Wellhausen. The chief Anthologies, taken in the order of their composi- tion, are : — 1. The Mu^allaq&ty which is the title given to a collection of seven odes by Imru'u '1-Qays, Tarafa, Zuhayr, Labid, 'Antara, 'Amr b. KulthiSm, and Hdrith b. Hilliza ; J. The °M»wia- to these two odes by Nabigha and A'shd are sometimes added. The compiler was probably Hammid al-Rawiya, a famous rhapsodist of Persian descent, who flourished under the Umayyads and died in the second half of the eighth century of our era. As the Mu^allaqat have been discussed above, we may pass on directly to a much larger, though less celebrated, collection dating from the same period, viz. : — 2. The Mufaddaliyyit^ by which title it is generally known after its compiler, Mufaddal al-Pabbl (t circa 786 a.d.), who made it at the instance of the Caliph Mansiir for \iyyit' ■ the instruction of his son and successor, Mahdl, It comprises 128 odes and is extant in two recensions, that of Anbdrl (t 916 a.d.), which derives from Ibnu '1-A'r4bi, the stepson of Mufaddal, and that of Marziiqi ( + 1030 A.D.). About a third of the Mufaddaliyydt was pub- %.' The original title is al-Mukhtdrdt (The Selected Odes) or al-Ikhtiydrdt (The Selections). THE PRINCIPAL COLLECTIONS 129 lished in 1885 by Thorbecke, and Sir Charles Lyall is now preparing a complete edition,^ All students of Arabian poetry are familiar with — 3. The Ifamha of Abii Tammam Habib b. Aws, himself a distinguished poet, who flourished under the Caliphs Ma'miin and Mu'tasim, and died about 850 a.d. Towards liAbiTa^mmd^" the end of his life he visited 'Abdullah b. T^hir, the powerful governor of Khurdsdn, who was virtually an independent sovereign. It was on this journey, as Ibn Khallikan relates, that Abu Tammim composed the I^amisa ; for on arriving at Hamadhdn (Ecbatana) the winter had set in, and as the cold was excessively severe in that country, the snow blocked up the road and obliged him to stop and await the thaw. During his stay he resided with one of the most eminent men of the place, who possessed a library in which were some collections of poems composed by the Arabs of the desert and other authors. Having then sufficient leisure, he perused those works and selected from them the passages out of which he formed his Hamha.^ The work is divided into ten sections of unequal length, the first, from which it received its name, occupying (together with the commentary) 360 pages in Freytag's edition, while the seventh and eighth require only thirteen pages between them. These sections or chapters bear the following titles : — I. The Chapter of Fortitude {Bdbu 'l-Hamdsa). II. The Chapter of Dirges {Bdbu 'l-Mardtht). III. The Chapter of Good Manners (Bdbu 'l-Adab). IV. The Chapter of Love-songs {Bdbu 'l-Nasib). V. The Chapter of Satire {Bdbu 'l-Hijd). VI. The Chapter of Guests (Hospitality) and Panegyric {Bdbu 'l-Adydf wa'-l-Madih). • A Projected Edition of the Mufaddaliydt, by Sir Charles Lyall. J.R.A.S. for 1904, p. 315 sqq. " Ibn Khallikan, ed. by Wustenfeld, No. 350 = De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. SI. 10 130 P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY VII. The Chapter of Descriptions {B&hu 'l-Sif&f). VIII. The Chapter of Travel and Repose (BifeM 'l-Sayr wa- 'l-Nu'ds). IX. The Chapter of Facetiae (Bdbu 'l-Mulah). X. The Chapter of Vituperation of Women {Bdbu Madhammati •l-Nisd). The contents of the Ham&sa include short poems complete in themselves as well as passages extracted from longer poems ; of the poets represented, some of whom belong to the Pre- islamic and others to the early Islamic period, comparatively few are celebrated, while many are anonymous or only known by the verses attached to their names. If the high level of excellence attained by these obscure singers shows, on the one hand, that a natural genius for poetry was widely diffused and that the art was successfully cultivated among all ranks of Arabian society, we must not forget how much is due to the fine taste of Abu Tammam, who, as the commentator Tibrizi has remarked, " is a better poet in his Hamdsa than in his poetry." 4. The Hamdsa of Buhturi (t 897 a.d.), a younger con- temporary of Abu Tammdm, is inferior to its model. '^ How- ever convenient from a practical standpoint, the *' of Biihtai.^" division into a great number of sections, each illustrating a narrowly defined topic, seriously impairs the artistic value of the work ; moreover, Buhturi seems to have had a less catholic appreciation of the beauties of poetry — he admired, it is said, only what was in harmony with his own style and ideas. 5. The Jamharatu Ash^Ari ^l-'-Arab^ a collection of forty- nine odes, was put together probably about =• ^'i^„^^""'- 1000 A.D. by Abi Zayd Muhammad al-Qurashi, of whom we find no mention elsewhere. ' See Noldeke, BeitrSge, p. 183 sqq. There would seem to be com- paratively few poems of Pre-islaiijic date in Butituri's anthology. ORAL TRADITION 131 Apart from the Dlwdm and anthologies, numerous Pre- isiamic verses are cited in biographical, philological, and other works, e.g., the Kitdbu U-Aghinl by Abu 'l-Faraj Prose sources. ) a > t, j j of Isfahdn (t 967 a.d.), the 'Iqd al-Farld by Ibn 'Abdi Rabbihi of Cordova (t 940 a.d.), the Kimil oi MwhsxTzA (+ 898 A.D.), and the Khizdnatu U-Adab of 'Abdu '1-Qadir of Baghdad (t 1682 a.d.). We have seen that the oldest existing poems date from the beginning of the fifth century of our era, whereas the art of writing did not come into general use among the The tradition . , ., , , i ,- , of Pre-isiamic Arabs until some two hundred years afterwards, poetry, , , Pre-islamic poetry, therefore, was preserved by oral tradition alone, and the question arises. How was this possible ? What guarantee have we that songs living on men's lips for so long a period have retained their original form, even approximately ? No doubt many verses, e.g., those which glorified the poet's tribe or satirised their enemies, were constantly being recited by his kin, and in this way short occasional poems or fragments of longer ones might be perpetuated. Of whole qa^idas like the Mu^allaqdt, however, none or very few would have reached us if their survival had depended solely on their popularity. What actually saved them in the first place was an institution resembling that of , , the Rhapsodists in Greece. Every professed poet had his Rdwl (reciter), who accompanied him everywhere, committed his poems to memory, and handed them down, as well as the circumstances connected with them, to others. The characters of poet and rdwl were often combined ; thus Zuhayr was the rdwl of his step- father, Aws b, Hajar, while his own rdwl was al-Hutay'a. If the tradition of poetry was at first a labour of love, it afterwards became a lucrative business, and the Rdwls, instead of being attached to individual poets, began to form an independent class, carrying in their memories a prodigious 132 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY stock of ancient verse and miscellaneous learning. It is related, for example, that Hammid once said to the Caliph Walid b. Yazid : " I can recite to you, for each letter of the alphabet, one hundred long poems rhyming in that letter, without taking into count the short pieces, and all that composed exclusively by poets w^ho lived before the promulgation of Islamism." He commenced and continued until the Caliph, having grovi^n fatigued, virithdrew, after leaving a person in his place to verify the assertion and hear him to the last. In that sitting he recited tvifo thousand nine hundred qasidas by poets vifho flourished before Muhammad. Walfd, on being informed of the fact, ordered him a present of one hundred thousand dirhems.' Thus, tovcards the end of the first century after the Flight, i.e., about 700 A.D., when the custom of writing poetry began, there was much of Pre-islamic origin still in circula- tion, although it is probable that far more had already been irretrievably lost. Numbers of Rdivis perished in the wars, or passed away in the course of nature, without leaving any one to continue their tradition. New times had brought new interests and other ways of life. The great majority of Moslems had no sympathy whatever with the ancient poetry, which represented in their eyes the unregenerate spirit of heathendom. They wanted nothing beyond the Koran and the Hadith. But for reasons which will be stated in another chapter the language of the Koran and the Hadith was rapidly becoming obsolete as a spoken idiom outside of the Arabian peninsula : the ' perspicuous Arabic' on which Muhammad prided himself had ceased to be fully intelligible to the Moslems settled in 'Iriq and Khurdsdn, in Syria, and in Egypt. It was essen- tial that the Sacred Text should be explained, and this necessity gave birth to the sciences of Grammar and Lexi- ■ Ibn Khallikan, ed. by WustenfeW, No. 204 = De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 470. THE rAwIs or RHAPSODISTS 133 cography. The Philologists, or, as they have been aptly designated, the Humanists of Basra and Kiifa, where these ^^ „ . ^ studies were prosecuted with peculiar zeal, natu- The Humanists. ^ '^ . . . rally found their best material in the Pre-islamic poems — a well of Arabic undefiled. At first the ancient poetry merely formed a basis for philological research, but in process of time a literary enthusiasm was awakened. The surviving Rdwls were eagerly sought out and induced to yield up their stores, the compositions of famous poets were collected, arranged, and committed to writing, and as the demand increased, so did the supply.^ In these circumstances a certain amount of error was in- evitable. Apart from unconscious failings of memory, there can be no doubt that in many cases the Rdwls Coimpt , . , . , . _,, tradition of tiie acted With mtent to deceive. The temptation old poetry. . . to father their own verses, or centos which they pieced together from sources known only to them- selves, upon some poet of antiquity was all the stronger because they ran little risk of detection. In knowledge of poetry and in poetical talent they were generally far more than a match for the philologists, who seldom possessed any critical ability, but readily took whatever came to hand. The stories which are told of Hammad al-Rdwiya, aT-Rivrijra. clearly show how unscrupulous he was in his methods, and we have no reason to suppose that he was an exception to the rule. His contemporary, Mufaddal al-Dabbl, is reported to have said that the corrup- tion which poetry suffered through Hammdd could never be repaired, " for," he added, " Hammid is a man skilled in the language and poesy of the Arabs and in the styles and ideas of the poets, and he is always making verses in imitation of some ' Many interesting details concerning tiie tradition of Pre-islamic poetry by tlie Rdwis and tlie Philologists will be found in Atilwardt's Bemerkungen ueber die Aechtheit der alten Arabischen Gedichte (Greifs- wald, 1872), which has supplied materials for the present sketch. 134 PRE-ISLAMtC POETRY one and introducing them into genuine compositions by the same author, so that the copy passes everywhere for part of the original, and cannot be distinguished from it except by critical scholars — and where are such to be found ? " ' This art of forgery was brought to perfection by Khalaf ai-Aifmlr. al-Ahmar (+ about 800 a.d.), who learned it in the school of Hammdd. If he really composed the famous Ldmiyya ascribed to Shanfard, his own poetical endowments must have been of the highest order. In his old age he repented and confessed that he was the author of several poems which the scholars of Basra and Kufa had accepted as genuine, but they laughed him to scorn, saying, " What you said then seems to us more trustworthy than your present assertion." Besides the corruptions due to the Rdwls, others have been accumulated by the philologists themselves. As the Koran and the Hadlth were, of course, spoken and ^corrupScm."' afterwards written in the dialect of Quraysh, to whom Muhammad belonged, this dialect was regarded as the classical standard ; 2 consequently the varia- tions therefrom which occurred in the ancient poems were, for the most part, 'emended' and harmonised with it. Many changes were made under the influence of Islam, e.g., 'Allah' was probably often substituted for the pagan goddess *al-Lit.' Moreover, the structure of the qasida, its disconnectedness and want of logical cohesion, favoured the omission and transposition of whole passages or single verses. All these modes of depravation might be illus- trated in detail, but from what has been said the reader can judge for himself how far the poems, as they now stand, are likely to have retained the form in which they were first uttered to the wild Arabs of the Pre-islamic Age, ' Aghdni, v, 172, 1. 16 sqq. = This view, however, is in accordance neither with the historical facts nor with the public opinion of the 1 Pre-islamic Arabs (see Noldeke, Die Semitischen Sprachen, p. 47). INFLUENCE OF RELIGION 135 Religion had so little influence on the lives of the Pre- islamic Arabs that we cannot expect to find much trace of it in their poetry. They believed vaguely in a supreme God, Allah, and more definitely in his three daughters — al-Ldt, Mandt, and al-'Uzzd — wrho were venerated all over Arabia and whose intercession was graciously accepted by Allah. There were also numerous idols enjoying high favour while they continued to bring good luck to their worshippers. Of real piety the ordinary Bedouin knew nothing. He felt no call to pray to his gods, although he often found them convenient to swear by. He might invoke Allah in the hour of need, as a drowning man will clutch at a straw ; but his faith in superstitious ceremonies was stronger. He did not take his religion too seriously. Its practical advantages he was quick to appreciate. Not to mention baser pleasures, it gave him rest and security during the four sacred months, in which war was forbidden, while the institution of the Meccan Pilgrimage enabled him to take part in a national fete. Commerce went hand in hand with religion. ■'^''•Uklli °' Great fairs were held, the most famous being that of 'Ukdz, which lasted for twenty days. These fairs were in some sort the centre of old Arabian social, political, and literary life. It was the only occasion on which free and fearless intercourse was possible between the members of diflFerent clans.' Plenty of excitement was provided by poetical and oratorical displays — not by athletic sports, as in ancient Greece and modern England. Here rival poets declaimed their verses and submitted them to the judgment of an acknowledged master. Nowhere else had rising talents such an oppor- tunity of gaining wide reputation : what 'Ukdz said to-day all Arabia would repeat to-morrow. At 'Ukdz, we are told, the youthful Muhammad listened, as though spellbound, to ' See Wellhausen, ResU Arab. Heidentums (2nd ed.), p. 88 seq. 136 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY the persuasive eloquence of Quss b. Sd'ida, Bishop of Najran ; and he may have contrasted the discourse of the Christian preacher with the brilliant odes chanted by heathen bards. The Bedouin view of life was thoroughly hedonistic. Love, wine, gambling, hunting, the pleasures of song and romance, the brief, pointed, and elegant expression of wit and wisdom — these things he knew to be good. Beyond them he saw only the grave. " Roast meat and wine : the swinging ride On a camel sure and tried, Which her master speeds amain O'er low dale and level plain : Women marble-white and fair Trailing gold-fringed raiment rare : Opulence, luxurious ease, With the lute's soft melodies — Such delights hath our brief span ; Time is Change, Time's fool is Man. Wealth or want, great store or small, All is one since Death's are all." • It would be a .mistake to suppose that these men always, or even generally, passed their lives in the aimless pursuit of pleasure. Some goal they had — earthly, no doubt — such as the accumulation of wealth or the winning of glory or the ful- filment of blood-revenge. " Gai forbid" says one, ^'■that I should die while a grievous longing^ as it were a mountain, weighs on my breast / " 2 A deeper chord is touched by Imru'u '1-Qays : " If I strove for a bare livelihood, scanty means would suffice me and I would seek no more. But I strive for lasting renown, and 'tis men like me that some- times attain lasting renown. Never, while life endures, does a man reach the summit of his ambition or cease from toil." 3 ' flamdsa, 506. = ibid., 237. 3 Diwdn of Imru'u 'I-Qays, ed. by De Slane, p. 22 of the Arabic text, 1. 17 sqq. = No. 52, U. 57-59 (p. 154) in Ahlwardt's Divans of the Six Poets. JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY 137 These are noble sentiments nobly expressed. Yet one hears the sigh of weariness, as if the speaker were struggling against the conviction that his cause is already lost, and would welcome the final stroke of destiny. It was a time of wild uproar and confusion. Tribal and family feuds filled the land, ais Zuhayr says, with evil fumes. No wonder that earnest and thoughtful minds asked themselves — What worth has our life, what mean- ing ? Whither does it lead ? Such questions paganism could not answer, but Arabia in the century before Muhammad was not wholly abandoned to paganism. Jewish colonists had long been settled in the Hijaz. Probably the earliest settlements date from the conquest of Palestine by Titus or Hadrian. In their new home the refugees, through contact Judaism and , , . , , , Christianity in with a people nearly akin to themselves, became fully Arabicised, as the few extant specimens of their poetry bear witness. They remained Jews, however, not only in their«cu]tivation of trade and various industries, but also in the most vital particular — their religion. This, and the fact that they lived in isolated communities among the surrounding population, marked them out as the salt of the desert. In the Hijdz their spiritual predominance was not seriously challenged. It was otherwise in Yemen. We may leave out of account the legend according to which Judaism was introduced into that country from the Hijaz by the Tubba' As'ad Kamil. What is certain is that towards the beginning of the sixth century it was firmly planted there side by side with Christianity, and that in the person of the Himyarite monarch Dhu Nuwas, who adopted the Jewish faith, it won a short-lived but sanguinary triumph over its rival. But in Yemen, except among the highlanders of Najran, Christianity does not appear to have flourished as it did in the extreme north and north-east, where the Roman and With the last line, however, cf. the words of Qays b. al-Khatim on accom- plishing his vengeance : " When this death comes, there will not be found any need of my soul that J have not satisfied" (Hamdsa, 87). 138 P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY Persian frontiers were guarded by the Arab levies of Ghassin and Hira. We have seen that the latter city contained a large Christian population who were called distinctively 'S^Hi^a!' 'Ibit^j ^"•^■> Servants (of God), Through them the Aramaic culture of Babylonia was transmitted to all parts of the peninsula. They had learned the art of writing long before it was generally practised in Arabia, as is shown by the story of Tarafa and Mutalammis, and they pro- duced the oldest written poetry in the Arabic language — a poetry very different in character from that which forms the main subject of this chapter. Unfortunately the bulk of it has perished, since the rhapsodists, to whom we owe the preservation of so much Pre-islamic verse, were devoted to the traditional models and would not burden their memories with anything new-fashioned. The most famous of the 'Ib£d{ poets is 'Adi b. Zayd, whose adventurous career as a politician has been sketched above. He is not reckoned by Muhamma- dan critics among the Fuhlil or poets of the first rank, because he was a townsman (qarawl). In this connec- 'Adi b. Zayd. . , ^ „ . , . . . «-,, tion the following anecdote is instructive. The poet al-'Ajjaj (t about 709 a.d.) said of his contemporaries al-Tirimmdh and al-Kumayt: "They used to ask me concern- ing rare expressions in the language of poetry, and I informed them, but afterwards I found the same expressions wrongly applied in their poems, the reason being that they were townsmen who described what they had not seen and mis- applied it, whereas I who am a Bedouin describe what I have seen and apply it properly." ' 'Adi is chiefly remembered for his wine-songs. Oriental Christianity has always been associated with the drinking and selling of wine. Christian ideas were carried into the heart of Arabia by 'Ibidi wine merchants, who are said to have taught their religion to the celebrated A'shi. 'Ad{ drank and was merry like the rest, but the underlying thought, 'for to-morrow we die,' repeatedly ' Aghdni, ii, 18, I. 23 sqq. RELIGIOUS IDEAS 139 makes itself heard. He walks beside a cemetery, and the voices of the dead call to him — ' "Thou who seest us unto thyself shalt say, ' Soon upon me comes the season of decay.' Can the solid mountains evermore sustain Time's vicissitudes and all they bring in train ? Many a traveller lighted near us and abode, Quaffing wine wherein the purest water flowed — Strainers on each flagon's mouth to clear the wine, Noble steeds that paw the earth in trappings fine 1 For a while they lived in lap of luxury. Fearing no misfortune, dallying lazily. Then, behold, Time swept them all, like chaff, away : Thus it is men fall to whirling Time a prey. Thus it is Time keeps the bravest and the best Night and day still plunged in Pleasure's fatal quest." It is said that the recitation of these verses induced Nu'min al-Akbar, one of the mythical pagan kings of Hira, to accept Christianity and become an anchorite. Although the story involves an absurd anachronism, it is hen trovato in so far as it records the impression which the graver sort of Christian poetry was likely to make on heathen minds. The courts of Hfra and Ghassin were well known to the wandering minstrels of the time before Muhammad, who flocked thither in eager search of patronage and remuneration. We may be sure that men like Ndbigha, Labid, and A'sha did not remain unaiFected by the culture around them, even if it seldom entered very deeply into their lives. That considerable traces of religious feeling are to be found in Pre-islamic poetry admits of no denial, but the passages in question were formerly explained as due to interpolation. This view no longer pre- vails. Thanks mainly to the arguments of Von poetr'ynSt'ex- Kremer, Sir Charles Lyall, and Wellhausen, it tn^seniimeltl" ^^* come to be recognised (i ) that in many cases the above-mentioned religious feeling is not Islamic in tone ; (2) that the passages in which it occurs ' Aglidni, ii, 34, 1. 22 sqq. 140 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY are not of Islamic origin ; and (3) that it is the natural and necessary result of the widely spread, though on the whole superficial, influence of Judaism, and especially of Christianity.^ It shows itself not only in frequent allusions, e.g., to the monk in his solitary cell, whose lamp serves to light belated travellers on their way, and in more significant references, such as that of Zuhayr already quoted, to the Heavenly Book in which evil actions are enscrolled for the Day of Reckoning, but also in the tendency to moralise, to look within, to meditate on death, and to value the life of the individual rather than the continued existence of the family. These things are not characteristic of old Arabian poetry, but the fact that they do appear at times is quite in accord with the other facts which have been stated, and justifies the conclusion that during the sixth century religion and culture were imperceptibly extending their sphere of influence in Arabia, leavening the pagan masses, and gradually preparing the way for Islam. ' See Von Kremer, Vebcr die. Gedichte des Labyd in S.B.W.A., Phil.-Hist. Klasse (Vienna, 1881), vol. 98, p. 555 sqq. Sir Charles Lyall, Ancient Arabian Poetry, pp. 92 and 119. Wellliausen, Reste Arabischen Heidentums (2nd ed.), p. 224 sqq. CHAPTER IV THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN With the appearance of Muhammad the almost impenetrable veil thrown over the preceding age is suddenly lifted and we find ourselves on the solid ground of historical tradition. In order that the reasons for this change may be understood, it is necessary to give some account of the principal sources from which our knowledge of the Prophet's life and teaching is derived. There is first, of course, the Koran,i consisting " exclusively of the revelations or commands which Muhammad professed, from time to time, to receive through Gabriel as matitm :°i."The' a message direct from God ; and which, under an alleged Divine direction, he delivered to those about him. At the time of pretended inspiration, or shortly after, each passage was recited by Muhammad before the Companions or followers who happened to be present, and was generally committed to writing by some one amongst them upon palm-leaves, leather, stones, or such other rude material as conveniently came to hand. These Divine messages con- tinued throughout the three-and-twenty years of his prophetical life, so that the last portion did not appear till the year of his death. The canon was then closed ; but the contents were ' I prefer to retain the customary spelling instead of Qur'an, as it is correctly transliterated by scholars. Arabic words naturalised in English, like Koran, Caliph, Vizier, &c., require no apology. 141 142 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN never, during the Prophet's lifetime, systematically arranged, or even collected together." ' They were preserved, how- ever, in fragmentary copies and, especially, by oral "?raervld^ recitation until the sanguinary wars which fol- lowed Muhammad's death had greatly diminished the number of those who could repeat them by heart. Accordingly, after the battle of Yamama (633 a.d.) 'Umar b. al-Khattdb came to Abii Baler, who was then Caliph, and said : " I fear that slaughter may wax hot among the Reciters on other battle-fields, and that much of the Koran may be lost ; so in my opinion it should be collected without delay." Abii Baler agreed, and entrusted the task to Zayd b. Thdbit, one of the Prophet's amanuenses, who collected the fragments with great difficulty " from bits of parchment, thin white stones, leafless palm-branches, and the bosoms of men." The manuscript thus compiled was deposited with Abii Baler during the remainder of his life, then with *Umar, on whose death it passed to his daughter Hafsa. Afterwards, in the Caliphate of 'Uthman, Hudhayfa b. al-Yamdn, observ- ing that the Koran as read in Syria was seriously at variance with the text current in 'Irdq, warned the Caliph to interfere, lest the Sacred Book of the Moslems should become a subject of dispute, like the Jewish and Christian scriptures. In the year 651 a.d. 'Uthmdn ordered Zayd b. Thdbit to prepare a Revised Version with the assistance of three Qurayshites, saying to the latter, " If ye differ from Zayd regarding any word of the Koran, write it in the dialect of Quraysh ; for it was revealed in their dialect." "^ This has ever since remained the final and standard recension of the Koran. " Transcripts were multiplied and forwarded to the chief cities in the empire, and all previously existing copies were, by the Caliph's com- ■ Muir's Life of Mahomet, Introduction, p. 2 seq. I may as well say at once that I entirely disagree with the view suggested in this passage that Muhammad did not believe himself to be inspired. = The above details are taken from the Fihrist, ed. by G. Fluegel, p. 24, 1. 14 sqq. HISTORICAL VALUE OF THE KORAN 143 mand, committed to the flames." ' In the text as it has come down to us the various readings are few and unimportant, and its genuineness is above suspicion. We shall see, Koran°asan morcovcr, that the Koran is an exceedingly oriy. jmnian document, reflecting every phase of Muhammad's personality and standing in close relation to the ontward events of his life, so that here we have materials of unique and incontestable authority for tracing the origin and early development of Islam — such materials as do not exist in the case of Buddhism or Christianity or any other ancient religion. Unfortunately the arrangement of the Koran can only be described as chaotic. No chronological sequence is observed in the order of the Siiras (chapters), which is deter- mined simply by their length, the longest being placed first.2 Again, the chapters themselves are sometimes made up of disconnected fragments having nothing in common except the rhyme ; whence it is often impossible to discover the original context of the words actually spoken by the Prophet, the occasion on which they were revealed, or the period to which they belong. In these circumstances the Koran must be supplemented by reference to our second main source of in- formation, namely. Tradition. Already in the last years of Muhammad's life (writes Dr. Sprenger) it was a pious custom that when two Moslems met, one should ask for news {hadlth) and the other ^'(Hadtth)°° should relate a saying or anecdote of the Prophet. After his death this custom continued, and the name Hadlth was still applied to sayings and stories which were no longer new.3 In the course of time an elaborate system of Tradition was built up, as the Koran — originally the sole criterion by which Moslems were guided alike in the ' Muir, op. cit., Introduction, p. 14. " With the exception of the Opening Siira (al-Fdtiha), which is a short prayer. 3 Sprenger, Ueber das Traditionswesm bei den Arabern, Z.DM.G,, vol. X, p. 2, 144 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN greatest and smallest matters of public and private interest — was found insufEcient for the complicated needs of a rapidly extending empire. Appeal was made to the sayings and practice [sunna) of Muhammad, which now acquired "the force of law and some of the authority of inspiration." The Prophet had no Boswell, but almost as soon as he began to preach he was a marked man whose obiter dicta could not fail to be treasured by his Companions, and whose actions were attentively watched. Thus, during the first century of Islam there was a multitude of living witnesses' from whom traditions were collected, committed to memory, and orally handed down. Every tradition consists of two parts : the text [matn) and the authority (sanad, or isnad), e.g.^ the relater says, " I was told by A, who was informed by B, who had it from C, that the Prophet (God bless him !) and Abii Bakr and 'Umar used to open prayer with the words ' Praise to God, the Lord of all creatures.' " Written records and compilations were com- paratively rare in the early period. Ibn Ishaq (t 768 a.d.) composed the oldest extant Biography of the Prophet, which we do not possess, however, in its original shape Biographies of 1,^ o^jy jjj tjjg reccnsion of Ibn Hishim (t 833 A.D.). Two important and excellent works of the same kind are the Kitabu ' l-Afaghdzi (' Book of the Wars') by Waqidi (t 822 a.d.) and the Kitdhu U-Tahaqdt al-Kabir {' The Great Book of the Classes,' i.e., the diiFerent classes of Muhammad's Companions and those who came after them) by Ibn Sa'd (t 844 a.d.). Of miscellaneous traditions intended to serve the Faithful as a model and rule of life in every particular, and arranged in chapters according to the subject-matter, the most ancient and authoritative Generai^coUec- collections are those of Bukhari (t 870 a.d.) and Muslim (t 874 A.D.), both of which bear the same title, viz., al-Sahlh, ' The Genuine.' It only remains to speak of Commentaries on the Koran. Some passages were explained by Muhammad himself, but the real founder of THE TRADITIONS OF MUHAMMAD 145 Koranic Exegesis was 'AbduUdh b. 'Abbds, the Prophet's cousin. Although the writings of the early interpreters have entirely perished, the gist of their researches is on"tte Komn! embodied in the great commentary of Tabari (t 922 A.D.), a man of encyclopedic learning who absorbed the whole mass of tradition existing in his time. Subsequent commentaries are largely based on this colossal work, which has recently been published at Cairo in thirty volumes. That of Zamakhshari (t 1143 a.d.), which is entitled the Kashshif, and that of Bayddwi (t 1286 a.d.) are the best known and most highly esteemed in the Muhammadan East. A work of wider scope is the Itqdn of Suyuti (t 1505 A.D.), which takes a general survey of the Koranic sciences, and may be regarded as an introduction to the critical study of the Koran. While every impartial student will admit the justice of Ibn Qutayba's claim that no religion has such historical attesta- tions as Islam — laysa li-ummaf" mina 'l-umami Moslem tra- asndd"" ka-asitcidihim i — he must at the same time cordially assent to the observation made by another Muhammadan : " In nothing do we see pious men more given to falsehood than in Tradition " {lam nara 'l-sd/ihina fl shay"" akdhaba minhum fi 'l-hadlth).'^ Of this severe judgment the reader will find ample confirmation in the Second Part of Goldziher's Muhammedanische Studien.3 During the first century of Islam the forging of Traditions became a recognised political and religious weapon, of which all parties availed themselves. Even men of the strictest piety practised this species of fraud (tad/is), and maintained that the end justified the means. Their point of view is well expressed in the following words which are supposed to have been spoken by the Prophet : " You must compare the sayings attributed ' Quoted by Sprenger, loc. cit, p. i. = Quoted by Noldeke in the Introduction to his Geschichte des Qordns, p. 22. 3 See especially pp. 28-130. II 146 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN to me with the Koran ; what agrees therewith is from me, whether I actually said it or no ; " and again, " Whatever good saying has been said, I myself have said it." ^ As the result of such principles every new doctrine took the foVm of an Apostolic Hadlth ; every sect and every system defended itself by an appeal to the authority of Muhiammad. We may see how enormous was the number of false Traditions in circu- lation from the fact that when Bukharl (t 870 a.d.) drew up his collection entitled ' The Genuine ' {al-Sahih), he limited it to some 7,000, which he picked out of 600,000. The credibility of Tradition, so far as it concerns the life of the Prophet, cannot be discussed in this place.^ The oldest and best biography, that of Ibn Ishaq, undoubtedly contains a great deal of fabulous matter, but his narrative appears to be honest and fairly authentic on the whole. If we accept the traditional chronology, Muhammad, son of 'Abdullah and Amina, of the tribe of Quraysh, was born at Mecca on the 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal, in the Mu'h^mld, Year of the Elephant (570-571 a.d.). His descent from Qusayy is shown by the following table : — Qusayy. 'Abd Manaf. 'Abd Shams. Hashim. Umayya. 'Abdu '1-Muttalib. 'Abbas. 'Abdullah. Abii Talib. Muhammad. ■ Miihamm. Studieu, Part II, p. 48 seq. = The reader may consult Muir's Introduction to his Life of Mahomet, pp. 28-87. MUHAMMAD'S BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD 147 Shortly after his birth he was handed over to a Bedouin nurse — Halima, a woman of the Band Sa'd — so that until he was five years old he breathed the pure air and His childhood. ■' ^ learned to speak the unadulterated language of the desert. One marvellous event which is said to have happened to him at this time may perhaps be founded on fact : — "He and his foster-brother" (so Halima relates) " were among the cattle behind our encampment when my son came running to us and cried, ' My brother, the Qurayshite ! two men clad and the in white took him and laid him on his side and cleft two angels, j^jg belly ; and they were stirring their hands in it.' When my husband and I went out to him we found him standing with his face turned pale, and on our asking, ' What ails thee, child ? ' he answered, ' Two men wearing white garments came to me and laid me on my side and cleft my belly and groped for something, I know not what.' We brought him back to our tent, and my husband said to me, ' O Halima, I fear this lad has been smitten (usiba) ; so take him home to his family before it becomes evident.' When we restored him to his mother she said, ' What has brought thee, nurse ? Thou wert so fond of him and anxious that he should stay with thee.' I said, ' God has made him grow up, and I have done my part. I feared that some mischance would befall him, so I brought him back to thee as thou wishest.' ' Thy .case is not thus,' said she ; ' tell me the truth,' and she gave me no peace until I told her. Then she said, ' Art thou afraid that he is possessed by the Devil ? ' I said, ' Yes.' ' Nay, by God,' she replied, ' the Devil cannot reach him ; my son hath a high destiny.' " ' Other versions of the story are more explicit. The angels, it is said, drew forth Muhammad's heart, cleansed it, and removed the black clot — i.e., the taint of original sin.^ If these inventions have any basis at all beyond the desire to glorify the future Prophet, we must suppose that they refer ■ Ibn Hisham, p. 105, 1. 9 sqq. ' This legend seems to have arisen out of a literal interpretation of Koran, xciv, i, " Did we not open thy breast f " — i.e., give thee comfort or enlightenment. 148 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN to some kind of epileptic fit. At a later period he was subject to such attacks, which, according to the unanimous voice of Tradition, often coincided with the revelations sent down from heaven. 'Abdullih had died before the birth of his son, and when, in his sixth year, Muljammad lost his mother also, the charge of the orphan was undertaken first by his grandfather, the aged 'Abdu '1-Muttalib, and then by his uncle, Abu Tdlib, a poor but honourable man, who nobly fulfilled the duties of a guardian to the last hour of his life. Muhammad's small patrimony was soon spent, and he was reduced to herding sheep — a despised employment which usually fell to the lot of women or slaves. In his twelfth year he accompanied Abd Tdlib on a trading expedition to Syria, in the course of which he is said to have encountered a Christian with the monk called Bahirl, who discovered the Seal of monk Ba];iira. -n . * i i m i Prophecy between the boy's shoulders, and hailed him as the promised apostle. Such anticipations deserve no credit whatever. The truth is that until Muhammad assumed the prophetic role he was merely an obscure Qurayshite ; and scarcely anything related of him anterior to that event can be deemed historical except his marriage to Khadija, an elderly widow of considerable fortune, which took place when he was about twenty-five years of age. During the next fifteen years of his life Muhammad was externally a prosperous citizen, only distinguished from those around him by an habitual expression of thoughtful melan- choly. What was passing in his mind may be conjectured with some probability from his first utterances when he came forward as a preacher. It is certain, and he himself has acknowledged, that he formerly shared the idolatry of his countrymen. '■'■Did not He find thee astray and lead thee aright ?" (Kor. xciii, 7). When and how did the process of conversion begin ? These questions cannot be answered, but it is natural to suppose that the all-important result, on which THE HANfFS 149 Muhammad's biographers concentrate their attention, was pre- ceded by a long period of ferment and immaturity. The idea of monotheism was represented in Arabia by the Jews, who were particularly numerous in the Hijiz, and by several Christian sects of an ascetic character — e.g., the Sibians^ and the Rakiisians. Furthermore, " Islamic tradition knows of a number of religious thinkers before Muhammad who are described as Hanlfs,"^ and of whom the best known are Waraqa b. Nawfal of Quraysh ; Zayd b. 'Amr b. Nufayl, also of Quraysh ; and Umayya b. Abi '1-Salt of Thaqlf. They formed no sect, as Sprenger imagined ; and more recent research has demonstrated the baselessness of the same scholar's theory that there was in Pre-islamic times a widely-spread religious movement which Muhammad organised, directed, and employed for his own ends. His Arabian pre- cursors, if they may be so called, were merely a few isotated individuals. We are told by Ibn Ish£q that Waraqa and Zayd, together with two other Qurayshites, rejected idolatry and left their homes in order to seek the true religion of Abraham, but whereas Waraqa is said to have become a Christian, Zayd remained a pious dissenter unattached either to Christianity or to Judaism ; he abstained from idol-worship, from eating that which had died of itself, from blood, and from the flesh of animals offered in sacrifice to idols ; he condemned the barbarous custom of burying female infants alive, and said, » This name, which signifies 'Baptists,' was applied by the heathen Arabs to Muhammad and his followers, probably in consequence of the ceremonial ablutions which are incumbent upon every Moslem before the five daily prayers (see Wellhausen, Reste Arab. Heid., p. 237). ' Sir Charles Lyall, The Words ' Hanif and 'Muslim,' J.R.A.S. for 1903, p. 772. The original meaning of hanif is no longer traceable, but it may be connected with the Hebrew hanif, ' profane.' In the Koran it generally refers to the religion of Abraham, and sometimes appears to be nearly synonymous with Muslim. Further information concerning the Hanifs will be found in Sir Charles Lyall's article cited above ; Sprenger, Das Leben und die Lehre des Mohammed, vol. i, pp. 45-134 ; Wellhausen, Reste Arab. Heid., p. 238 sqq. ; Caetani, Annali dell' Islam, vol. i, pp. 181-192. ISO THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN " I worship the Lord of Abraham." == As regards Umayya b. Abi '1-Salt, according to the notice of him in the Aghani^ he had inspected and read the Holy Scriptures ; he wore sack- cloth as a mark of devotion, held wine to be unlawful, was inclined to disbelieve in idols, and earnestly sought the true religion. It is said that he hoped to be sent as a prophet to the Arabs, and therefore when Muhammad appeared he envied and bitterly opposed him.^ Umayya's verses, some of which have been translated in a former chapter,3 are chiefly on religious topics, and show many points of resem- blance with the doctrines set forth in the early Siiras of the Koran. With one exception, all the Hanlfs whose names are recorded belonged to the Hijdz and the west of the Arabian peninsula. No doubt Muhammad, with whom most of them were contemporary, came under their influence, and he may have received his first stimulus from this quarter.4 While they, however, were concerned only about their own salvation, Muhammad, starting from the same position, advanced far beyond it. His greatness lies not so much in the sublime ideas by which he was animated as in the tremendous force and enthusiasm of his appeal to the universal conscience of mankind. In his fortieth year, it is said, Muhammad began to dream dreams and see visions, and desire solitude above all things else. He withdrew to a cave on Mount Hir5, near '^^"vfsion!"^^ Mecca, and engaged in religious austerities {tahan- nuth). One night in the month of RamaddnS the Angel ^ appeared to him and said, " Read ! " (iqra'). He ' Ibn Hisham, p. 143, 1. 6 sqq. " Aghdni, iii, 187, 1. 17 sqq. 3 See p. 69 supra. * Tradition associates him especially with Waraqa, who was a cousin of his first wife, Khadija, and is said to have hailed him as a prophet while Muhammad himself was still hesitating (Ibn Hisham, p. 153, 1. 14 sqq.). s This is the celebrated ' Night of Power ' (Laylatu 'l-Qadr) menrioned in the Koran, xcvii, i. ° The Holy Ghost (Ruhn'l-Quds), for whom in the Medina Suras Gabriel (Jibril) is substituted. THE FIRST REVELATION 151 answered, " I am no reader " [m& ana bi-qir?^').^ Then the Angel seized him with a strong grasp, saying, " Read ! " and, as Muhammad still refused to obey, gripped him once more and spoke as follows : — THE SURA OF COAGULATED BLOOD (XCVI). (i) Read in the name of thy Lord" who created, (2) Who created Man of blood coagulated. (3) Read ! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, (4) Who taught by the Pen,3 (5) Taught that which they knew not unto men. On hearing these words Muhammad returned, trembling, to Khadija and cried, " Wrap me up ! wrap me up ! " and remained covered until the terror passed away from him.4 Another tradition relating to the same event makes it clear ' But another version (Ibn Hisham, p. 152, 1. 9 sqq.) represents Muhammad as replying to the Angel, "What am I to read ? " (md aqra'u or md dhd aqra'ti). Professor Bevan has pointed out to me that the tradition in this form bears a curious resemblance, which can hardly be accidental, to the words of Isaiah xl. 6: "The voice said, Cry. And he said. What shall I cry ? " The question whether the Prophet could read and write is discussed by Noldeke (Geschichte des Qordns, p. 7 sqq.), who leaves it undecided. According to Noldeke (loc, cit., p. 10), the epithet ummi, which is applied to Muhammad in the Koran, and is commonly rendered by ' illiterate," does not signify that he was ignorant of reading and writing, but only that he was unacquainted with the ancient Scriptures ; cf. ' Gentile.' However this may be, it appears that he wished to pass for illiterate, with the object of confirming the belief in his inspiration : " Thou " (Muhammad) " didst not use to read any book before this ' (the Koran) " nor to write it with thy right hand; else the liars wotdd have doubted (Koran, xxix, 47). = The meaning of these words (iqra' bismi rabbika) is disputed. Others translate, " Preach in the name of thy Lord " (Noldeke), or " Proclaim the name of thy Lord " (Hirschfeld). I see no sufficient grounds for abandon- ing the traditional interpretation supported by verses 4 and 5. Muhammad dreamed that he was commanded to read the Word of God inscribed in the Heavenly Book which is the source of all Revelation. 3 Others render, " who taught (the use of) the Pen." 4 This account of Muhammad's earliest vision (Bukhari, ed. by Krehl, vol. iii, p. 380, 1. 2 sqq.) is derived from 'A'isha, his favourite wife, whom he married after the death of Khadija. 1 52 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN that the revelation occurred in a dream.^ "I awoke," said the Prophet, " and methought it was written in my heart." If we take into account the notions prevalent among the Arabs of that time on the subject of inspiration,^ it will not appear surprising that Muhammad at first believed himself to be possessed, like a poet or soothsayer, by one of the spirits called collectively yinn. Such was his anguish of mind that he even meditated suicide, but Khadija comforted and reassured him, and finally he gained the unalterable convic- tion that he was not a prey to demoniacal influences, but a prophet divinely inspired. For some time he received no further revelation. 3 Then suddenly, as he afterwards related, he saw the Angel seated on a throne between earth and heaven. Awe-stricken, he ran into his house and bade them wrap his limbs in a warm garment (dithdr). While he lay thus the following verses were revealed : — THE SURA OF THE ENWRAPPED (LXXIV). (i) O thou who enwrapped dost lie ! (2) Arise and prophesy,* (3) And thy Lord magnify, (4) And thy raiment purify, (5) And the abomination, fly ! s Muhammad no longer doubted that he had a divinely ordained mission to preach in public. His feelings of relief and thankfulness are expressed in several Suras of this period, e.g.— THE SURA OF THE MORNING (XCIII). (i) By the Morning bright (2) And the softly falling Night, (3) Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither art thou hateful in His sight. ' Ibn Hisham, p. 152, 1. 9 sqq. = See p. 72 supra. 3 This interval is known as the Fatra. < Literally, ' warn.' s ' The abomination ' (al-rujz) probably refers to idolatry. EARLY CONVERTS iS3 (4) Verily, the Beginning is hard unto thee, but the End shall be light.' (5) Thou shalt be satisfied, the Lord shall thee requite. (6) Did not He shelter thee when He found thee in orphan's plight ? (7) Did not He find thee astray and lead thee aright? (8) Did not He find thee poor and make thee rich by His might ? (9) Wherefore, the orphan betray not, (10) And the beggar turn away not, (11) And tell of the bounty of thy Lord. According to his biographers, an interval of three years elapsed between the sending of Muhammad and his appearance as a public preacher of the faith that was in him. Naturally, he would first turn to his own family and friends, but it is difficult to accept the statement that he made no proselytes openly during so long a period. The contrary is asserted in an ancient tradition related by al-Zuhri (t 742 a.d.), where we read that the Prophet summoned the people to embrace Islam 2 both in private and public ; and that those who responded to his appeal were, for the most part, young men belonging to the poorer class.3 He found, however, some influential adherents. Besides Khadija, who was Moslems. ^^^ ^^st to belicvc, there were his cousin 'AH, his adopted son, Zayd b. Hdritha, and, most im- portant of all, Abu Bakr b. Abi Quhdfa, a leading merchant of the Quraysh, universally respected and beloved for his integrity, wisdom, and kindly disposition. At the outset Muhammad seems to have avoided everything calculated to ofFend the heathens, confining himself to moral and religious generalities, " Literally, " The Last State shall be better for thee than the First," referring either to Muhammad's recompense 'in the next world or to the ultimate triumph of his cause in this world. = Isldm is a verbal noun formed from Aslania, which means 'to surrender ' and, in a religious sense, ' to surrender one's self to tlie will of God.' The participle, Muslim (Moslem), denotes one who thus sur- renders himself. 3 Sprenger, Leben des Mohammad, vol. i, p. 356. rS4 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN so that many believed, and the Meccan aristocrats themselves regarded him with good-humoured toleration as a harmless oracle-monger. " Look ! " they said as he passed by, " there goes the man of the Banii 'Abd al-Muttalib who tells of heaven." But no sooner did he begin to emphasise the Unity of God, to fulminate against idolatry, and to preach "°Qui:ayh. '"^ the Resurrection of the dead, than his followers melted away in face of the bitter antagonism which these doctrines excited amongst the Quraysh, who saw in the Ka'ba and its venerable cult the mainspring of their commercial prosperity, and were irritated by the Prophet's declaration that their ancestors were burning in hell-fire. The authority of Ab\i Talib secured the personal safety of Muhammad ; of the little band who remained faithful some were protected by the strong family feeling characteristic of old Arabian society, but many were poor and friendless ; and these, especially the slaves, whom the levelling ideas of Islam had attracted in large numbers, were subjected to cruel persecution.^ Nevertheless Muhammad continued to preach. "I will not forsake this cause" (thus he is said to have answered Abii Talib, who informed him of the threatening attitude of the Quraysh and begged him not to lay on him a greater burden than he could bear) " until God shall make it manifest or until I shall perish therein — not though they should set the sun on my right hand and the moon on my left ! " 2 But progress '■ It must be remembered that this branch of Muhammadan tradition derives from the pietists of the first century after the Flight, who were profoundly dissatisfied with the reigning dynasty (the Umayyads), and revenged themselves by painting the behaviour of the Meccan ancestors of the Umayyads towards Muhammad in the blackest colours possible. The facts tell another story. It is significant that hardly any case of real persecution is mentioned in the Koran. Muhammad was allowed to remain at Mecca and to carry on, during many years, a religious propaganda which his fellow-citizens, with few exceptions, regarded as detestable and dangerous. We may well wonder at the moderation of the Quraysh, which, however, was not so much deliberate policy as the result of their indifference to religion and of Muhammad'^ failure to make appreciable headway in Mecca. ' Ibn Hisham, p. 168, 1. g. sqq. FAILURE OF THE MISSION AT MECCA 155 was slow and painful : the Meccans stood obstinately aloof, deriding both his prophetic authority and the Divine chastise- ment with which he sought to terrify them. Moreover, they used every kind of pressure short of actual violence in order to seduce his followers, so that many recanted, and in the fifth year of his mission he saw himself driven to the necessity of commanding a general emigration to the Christian ^Aby?si'n°a.'° kingdom of Abyssinia, where the Moslems would be received with open arms ^ and would be with- drawn from temptation.2 About a hundred men and women went into exile, leaving their Prophet with a small party of staunch and devoted comrades to persevere in a struggle that was daily becoming more diiEcult. In a moment of weakness Temporary Muhammad resolved to attempt a compromise "°wuh'the°" with his countrymen. One day, it is said, the Quraysh. chief men of Mecca, assembled in a group beside the Ka'ba, discussed as was their wont the affairs of the city, when Muhammad appeared and, seating himself by them in a friendly manner, began to recite in their hearing the 53rd Siira of the Koran. When he came to the verses (19-20) — " Do ye see Al-Lat and Al-'Uzza, and Manat, the third and last ? " Satan prompted him to add : — "These are the most exalted Cranes (or Swans), And verily their intercession is to be hoped for." The Quraysh were surprised and delighted with this acknowledgment of their deities ; and as Muhammad wound up the Sura with the closing words — "Wherefore bow down before God and serve Him," ' At this time Muhamiriad believed the doctrines of Islam and Christianity to be essentially the same. = Tabarl, i, 1180, 8 sqq. Cf. Caetani, Annali dell' Islam, vol. i, p. 267 sqq. 156 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN the whole assembly prostrated themselves with one accord on the ground and worshipped. ^ But scarcely had Muhammad returned to his house when he repented of the sin into which he had fallen. He cancelled the idolatrous verses and revealed in their place those which now stand in the Koran — " Shall yours be the male and his the female ? ' This were then an unjust division ! They are naught but names which ye and your fathers have named." We can easily comprehend why Ibn Hishdm omits all mention of this episode from his Biography, and why the fact itself is denied by many Moslem theologians.3 concession to The Prophet's friends were scandalised, his the idolaters. enemies laughed him to scorn. It was probably no sudden lapse, as tradition represents, but a calculated endeavour to come to terms with the Quraysh ; and so far from being immediately annulled, the reconciliation seems to have lasted long enough for the news of it to reach the emigrants in Abyssinia and induce some of them to return to Mecca. While putting the best face on the matter, Muhammad felt keenly both his own disgrace and the public discredit. It speaks well for his sincerity that, as soon as he perceived any compromise with idolatry to be impossible — to be, in fact, a surrender of the great principle by which he was inspired — he frankly confessed his error and delusion. ' Muir, hife of Mahomet, vol. ii, p. 151. = We have seen (p. 91 sufra) that the heathen Arabs disliked female offspring, yet they called their three principal deities the daughters of Allah. 3 It is related by Ibn Ishaq (Tabari, i, 1192, 4sqq.). In his learned work, Annali deW Islam,oi which the first volume appeared in 1905, Prince Caetani impugns the authenticity of the tradition and criticises the narrative i,n detail (p. 279 sqq.), but his arguments do not touch the main question. As Muir says, " it is hardly possible to conceive how the tale, if not founded in truth, could ever have been invented." BACKSLIDING AND REPENTANCE 15; Henceforth he "wages mortal strife with images in every shape" — there is no god but Allah. The further course of events which culminated in Muljammad's Flight to Medina may be sketched in a few words. Persecution now waxed hotter than ever, as the Prophet, rising from his temporary vacillation like a giant refreshed, threw his whole force into the denunciation of idolatry. The conversion of 'Umar b. al-Khattdb, the future Caliph, a man of ' blood and iron,' gave the signal for open revolt. "The Moslems no longer concealed their worship within their own dwellings, but with conscious strength and defiant attitude assembled in companies about the Ka'ba, per- formed their rites of prayer and compassed the Holy House. Their courage rose. Dread and uneasiness seized the Quraysh," The latter retaliated by cutting off all relations with the Hishimites, who were pledged to defend their kins- man, whether they recognised him as a prophet or no. This ban or boycott secluded them in an outlying quarter of the city, whei'e for more than two years they endured the utmost privations, but it only cemented their loyalty to Muljammad, and ultimately dissensions among the Quraysh themselves caused it to be removed. Shortly afterwards the Prophet suffered a double bereavement — the death of his wife, of Khadija and Khadfja, was followcd by that of the noble Abu TAlib, who, though he never accepted Islam, stood firm to the last in defence of his brother's son. Left alone to protect himself, Muhammad realised that he must take some decisive step. The situation was critical. Events had shown that he had nothing to hope and everything to fear from the Meccan aristocracy. He had warned them again and again of the wrath to come, yet they gave no heed. He was now convinced that they would not and could not believe, since God in His inscrutable wisdom had predestined them to eternal damnation. Consequently he resolved on a bold and, according to Arab ways of thinking, abominable expedient, IS8 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN namely, to abandon his fellow-tribesmen and seek aid from strangers.i Having vainly appealed to the inhabitants of Ta'if, he turned to Medina, where, among a population largely composed of Jews, the revolutionary ideas of Islam might more readily take root and flourish than in the Holy City of Arabian heathendom. This time he was not disappointed. A strong party in Medina hailed him as the true Prophet, eagerly embraced his creed, and swore to defend him at all hazards. In the spring of the year 622 a.d. the Moslems of Mecca quietly left their homes and journeyed northward. A few months later (September, 622) Muhammad himself, eluding the vigilance of the Quraysh, entered Medina in triumph amidst the crowds and acclamations due to a conqueror. This is the celebrated Flight or Hegira (properly Hijra) which marks the end of the Barbaric Age {al-Jahiliyyd) and the beginning; of the Muhammadan Era. It also Flight to Medina mai'ks a new epoch in the rrophet s history : but (622A.D.), Y ■ i- \, f L before attempting to indicate the nature of the change it will be convenient, in order that we may form a juster conception of his character, to give some account of his early teaching and preaching as set forth in that portion of the Koran which was revealed at Mecca. ' The Meccan view of Muhammad's action may be gathered from the words uttered by Abii Jahl on the field of Badr — " O God, bring woe upon him who more than any of us hath severed tlie ties of kinship and dealt dishonourably ! " (Tabari, i, 1322, 1. 8 seq.). Alluding to the Moslems who abandoned their native city and fled with the Prophet to Medina, a Meccan poet exclaims (Ibn Hisham, p. 519, U. 3-5) : — They (the Quraysh slain at Badr) fell in honour. They did not sell their kinsmen for strangers living in afar land and of remote lineage ; Unlike you, who have made friends ofGhassdn (the people of Medina), taking them instead of us — 0, what a shameful deed ! Tis an impiety and u manifest crime and a cutting of all ties of blood : your iniquity therein is discerned by men of judgment and under- standing. THE FLIGHT TO MEDINA 159 Koran (Qur'dn) is derived from the Arabic root qara^a, ' to read,' and means ' reading aloud ' or ' chanting.' This term may be applied either to a single Revelation The Koran. , • , , . . , or to several recited together or, m its usual accep- tation, to the whole body of Revelations wfhich are thought by Moslems to be, actually and literally, the Word of God ; so that in quoting from the Koran they say qdla 'Mhu, i.e., ' God said,' Each Revelation forms a separate SUra (chapter) ^ composed of verses of varying length which have no metre but are generally rhymed. Thus, as regards its external features, the style of the Koran is modelled upon the Sff;',2 or rhymed prose, of the pagan soothsayers, but with such freedom that it may fairly be described as original. Since it was not in Muhammad's power to create a form that should be absolutely new, his choice lay between Saj^ and poetry, the only forms of elevated style then known to the Arabs. He himself declared that he was no poet,3 and this is true in the sense that he may have lacked the technical accomplishment of verse-making. It must, however, be borne in ^^"^p^"""""' mind that his disavowal does not refer primarily to the poetic art,' but rather to the person and character of the poets themselves. He, the divinely inspired Prophet, could have nothing to do with men who owed their inspiration to demons and gloried in the ideals of paganism which he was striving to overthrow. " And the poets do those follow who go astray ! Dost thou not see that they wander distraught in every vale ? and that they say that which they do not?" (Kor. xxvi, 224-226). Muhammad was not of these ; although he was not so unlike them as he pretended. His kinship with the pagan Shamir is clearly shown, for example, in the 113th and 114th Siiras, which are charms against magic and diablerie, as well as in the solemn imprecation calling down destruction upon the head of his uncle, 'Abdu 'l-'Uzzd, nick- named Abii Lahab (Father of Flame). ' Sura is properly a row of stones or bricks in a wall. ' See p. 74 supra. 3 Koran, Ixix, 41. i6o THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN THE SURA OF ABU LAHAB (CXI). (i) Perish the hands of Abu Lahab and perish he ! (2) His wealth shall not avail him nor all he hath gotten in fee. (3) Burned in blazing fire he shall be ! (4) And his wife, the faggot-bearer, also she : (5) Upon her neck a cord of fibres of the palm-tree. If, then, we must allow that Muhammad's contemporaries had some justification for bestowing upon him the title of poet against which he protested so vehemently, still less can his plea be accepted by the modern critic, whose verdict will be that the Koran is not poetical as a whole ; that it contains many pages of rhetoric and much undeniable prose ; but that, although Muhammad needed " heaven-sent moments for this skill," in the early Meccan Suras frequently, and fitfully else- where, his genius proclaims itself by grand lyrical outbursts which could never have been the work of a mere rhetorician. " Muhammad's single aim in the Meccan Siiras," says Noldeke,"is to convert the people, by means of persuasion, from their false gods to the One God. To whatever point the discourse is ^""^liJlsf^" directed, this always remains the ground-thought ; but instead of seeking to convince the reason of his hearers by logical proofs, he employs the arts of rhetoric to work upon their minds through the imagination. Thus he glorifies God, describes His working in Nature and History, and ridicules on the other hand the impotence of the idols. Especially important are the descriptions of the everlasting bliss of the pious and the torments of the wicked : these, particularly the latter, must be regarded as one of the mightiest factors in the propagation of Islam, through the impression which they make on the imagination of simple men who have not been hardened, from their youth up, by similar theological ideas. The Prophet often attacks his heathen adversaries personally and threatens them with eternal punishment ; but while he is living among heathens alone, he seldom assails the Jews who stand much nearer to him, and the Christians scarcely ever." ' ' Noldeke, Geschichte des Qordns, p. 56. THE MECCAN StiRAS i6i The preposterous arrangement of the Koran, to which I have already adverted, is mainly responsible for the opinion almost unanimously held by European readers that it is obscure, tire- some, uninteresting ; a farrago of long-winded narratives and prosaic exhortations, quite unworthy to be named in the same breath with the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament. One may, indeed, peruse the greater part of the volume, beginning with the first chapter, and find but a few passages of genuine enthusiasm to relieve the prevailing dulness. It is in the short Siiras placed at the end of the Koran that we must look for evidence of Muhammad's prophetic gift. These are the earliest of all ; in these the flame of inspiration burns purely and its natural force is not abated. The following versions, like those which have preceded, imitate the original form as closely, I think, as is possible in English. They cannot, of course, do more than faintly suggest the striking e£Fect of the sonorous Arabic when read aloud. The Koran was designed for oral recitation, and it must be heard in order to be justly appraised. THE SURA OF THE SEVERING (LXXXH). (i) When the Sky shall be severed, (2) And when the Stars shall be shivered, (3) And when the Seas to mingle shall be suffered, (4) And when the Graves shall be uncovered — (5) A soul shall know that which it hath deferred or delivered/ (6) O Man, what beguiled thee against thy gracious Master to rebel, (7) Who created thee and fashioned thee right and thy frame did fairly build f (8) He composed thee in whatever form He willed. (9) Nay, but ye disbelieve in the Ordeal ! ' (10) Verily over you are Recorders honourable, (n) Your deeds inscribing without fail -.^ ' I.e., what it has done or left undone. = The Last Judgment. 3 Moslems believe that every man is attended by two Recording Angels who write down his good and evil actions. 12 J 62 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN (12) What ye do they know well. (13) Surely the pious in delight shall dwell, (14) And surely the wicked shall be in Hell, (15) Burning there on the Day of Ordeal ; (16) And evermore Hell-fire they shall feel ! (17) What shall make thee to understand what is the Day of Ordeal ? (18) Again, what shall make thee to understand what is the Day of Ordeal?— (19) A Day when one soul shall not obtain anything for another soul, but the command on that Day shall be with God alone. THE SURA OF THE SIGNS (LXXXV). (i) By the Heaven in which Signs are set, (2) By the Day that is promised, (3) By the Witness and the Witnessed : — (4) Cursed be the Fellows of the Pit, they that spread (5) The fire with fuel fed, (6) When they sate by its head (7) And saw how their contrivance against the Believers sped;' (8) And they punished them not save that they believed on God, the Almighty, the Glorified, (9) To whom is the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth, and He seeth every thing beside. (10) Verily, for those who afflict believing men and women and repent not, the torment of Gehenna and the torment of burning is prepared. (11) Verily, for those who believe and work righteousness are Gardens beneath which rivers flow : this is the great Reward. (12) Stern is the vengeance of thy Lord. (13) He createth the living and reviveth the dead : (14) He doth pardon and kindly entreat : (15) The majestic Throne is His seat : (16) That he willeth He doeth indeed. (17) Hath not word come to thee of the multitude (18) Of Pharaoh, and of Thamiid?' ' This is generally supposed to refer to the persecution of the Christians of Najran by Dhii Nuwas (see p. 26 supra). Geiger takes it as an allusion to the three men who were cast into the fiery furnace (Daniel, ch. iii). ° See above, p. 3. THE MECCAN StJRAS 163 (19) Nay, the infidels cease not from falsehood, (20) But God encompasseth them about. (21) Surely, it is a Sublime Koran that ye read, (22) On a Table inviolate.' THE SURA OF THE SMITING (CI). (i) The Smiting ! What is the Smiting ? (2) And how shalt thou be made to understand what is the Smiting ? (3) The Day when Men shall be as flies scattered, (4) And the Mountains shall be as shreds of wool tattered. (5) One whose Scales are heavy, a pleasing life he shall spend, (6) But one whose Scales are light, to the Abyss he shall descend. (7) What that is, how shalt thou be made to comprehend ? (8) Scorching Fire without end ! THE SURA OF THE UNBELIEVERS (CIX). (i) Say: 'O Unbelievers, (2) I worship not that which ye worship, (3) And ye worship not that which I worship. (4) Neither will I worship that which ye worship, (5) Nor will ye worship that which I worship. (6) Ye have your religion and I have my religion.' To summarise the cardinal doctrines preached by Muljammad during the Meccan period : — I. There is no god but God. Muijamm'^at 2. Muhammad is the Apostle of God, and the Koran is the Word of God revealed to His Apostle. 3. The dead shall be raised to life at the Last Judgment, when every one shall be judged by his actions in the present life. 4. The pious shall enter Paradise and the wricked shall go dowrn to Hell. Taking these doctrines separately, let us consider a little more in detail howr each of them is stated and by what argu- ments it is enforced. The time had not yet come for drawing ' According to Muhammadan belief, the archetype of the Koran and of all other Revelations is written on the Guarded Table [al-Lawh al-Mahfu?) in heaven. i64 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN the sword : Muhammad repeats again and again that he is only a Warner {nadhlr) invested with no authority to compel where he cannot persuade. I. The Meccans acknowledged the supreme position of Allah, but in ordinary circumstances neglected him in favour of their idols, so that, as Muhammad complains, ^''^Go'd'''"' ''''When danger befalls you on the sea, the gads whom ye invoke are forgotten except Him alone ; yet when He brought you safe to land, ye turned your hacks on Him, for Man is ungrateful." ' They were strongly attached to the cult of the Ka'ba, not only by self-interest, but also by the more respectable motives of piety towards their ancestors and pride in their traditions. Muhammad himself regarded Allah as Lord of the Ka'ba, and called upon the Quraysh to worship him as such (Kor. cvi, 3). When they refused to do so on the ground that they were afraid lest the Arabs should rise against them and drive them forth from the land, he assured them that Allah was the author of all their prosperity (Kor. xxviii, 57). His main argument, however, is drawn from the weakness of the idols, which cannot create even a fly, contrasted with the wondrous manifestations of Divine power and providence in the creation of the heavens and the earth and all living things.^ It was probably towards the close of the Meccan period that Muhammad summarised his Unitarian ideas in the following emph«itic formula : — THE SURA OF PURIFICATION (CXII).3 (i) Say: 'God is One; (2) God who liveth on ; {3) Without father and without son ; (4) And like to Him there is none !' ' Koran, xvii, 69. = See, for example, the passages translated by Lane in his Selections from the Kur-dn (London, 1843), pp. 100-113. 3 Ikhlds means ' purifying one's self of belief in any god except Allah.' CARDINAL DOCTRINES 165 2. We have seen that when Muhammed first appeared as a prophet he was thought by all except a very few to be majnUn, ?'.«., possessed by a jinnl, or genie, Muhammad, the .ci j i ■ i mi i i t Apostle of u 1 may use a word which will send the reader back to his Arabian Nights. The heathen Arabs regarded such persons — soothsayers, diviners, and poets — with a certain respect ; and if Muhammad's ' madness ' had taken a normal course, his claim to inspiration would have passed unchallenged. What moved the Quraysh to oppose him was not disbelief in his inspiration — it mattered little to them whether he was under the spell of Allah or one of the yinn — but the fact that he preached doctrines which wounded their sentiments, threatened their institutions, and subverted the most cherished traditions of old Arabian life. But in order successfully to resist the propaganda for which he alleged a Divine warrant, they were obliged to meet him on his own ground and to maintain that he was no prophet at all, no Apostle of Allah, as he asserted, but "an insolent liar," "a schooled madman," " an infatuated poet," and so forth ; and that his Koran, which he gave out to be the Word of Allah, was merely "old folks' tales" {asdtlru ' l-awwalin), or the invention of a poet or a sorcerer. " Is not he," they cried, " a man like ourselves, who wishes to domineer over us ? Let him show us a miracle, that we may believe." Muhammad could only reiterate his former assertions and warn the infidels that a terrible punishment was in store for them either in this world or the next. Time after time he compares himself to the ancient prophets — Noah, Abraham, Moses, and their successors — who are represented as employing exactly the same arguments and receiving the same answers as Muham- mad ; and bids his people hearken to him lest they utterly perish like the ungodly before them. The truth of the Koran is proved, he says, by the Pentateuch and the Gospel, all being Revelations of the One God, and therefore identical in substance. He is no mercenary soothsayer, he seeks no l66 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN personal advantage : his mission is solely to preach. The demand for a miracle he could not satisfy except by pointing to his visions of the Angel and especially to the Koran itself, every verse of wrhich was a distinct sign or miracle (&yat)J- If he has forged it, why are his adversaries unable to produce any- thing similar ? " Say : ^ If men and genies united to bring the like of this Koran, they could not bring the like although they should back each other up^ " (Kor. xvii, 90). 3. Such notions of a future life as were current in Pre- islamic Arabia never rose beyond vague and barbarous super- stition, e.g., the fancy that the dead man's tomb and ' was haunted by his spirit in the shape of a screeching owl.^ No wonder, then, that the ideas of Resurrection and Retribution, which are enforced by threats and arguments on almost every page of the Koran, appeared to the Meccan idolaters absurdly ridiculous and incredible. " Does Ibn Kabsha promise us that we shall live ? " said one of their poets. " Hoiv can there be life for the sadi and the h&ma ? Dost thou omit to ward me from death, and wilt thou revive me when my bones are rotten ? " 3 God provided His Apostle with a ready answer to these gibes : " Say : ' He shall revive them who produced them at first, for He knoweth every ' The Prophet's confession of his inability to perform miracles did not deter his followers from inventing them after his death. Thus it was said that he caused the infidels to see " the moon cloven asunder " (Koran, liv, i), though, as is plain from the context, these words refer to one of the signs of the Day of Judgment. ' I take this opportunity of calling the reader's attention to a most interesting article by my friend and colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, entitled The Beliefs of Early Mohammedans respecting a Future Existence {journal of Theological Studies, October, 1904, p. 20 sqq.), where the whole subject is fully discussed. 3 Shaddad b. al-Aswad al-Laythi, quoted in the Risdlatu 'l-Ghufrdn of Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma'arri (see my article in the J.R.A.S. for 1902, pp. 94 and 818) ; cf. Ibn Hisham, p. 530, last line. Ibn (Abi) Kabsha was a nickname derisively applied to Muhammad. Sadd and hdma refer to the death-bird which was popularly supposed to utter its shriek from the skull (hdma) of the dead, and both words may be rendered by ' soul ' or ' wraith.' CONCEPTIONS OF THE FUTURE LIFE 167 creation " (Kor, xxxvi, 79). This topic is eloquently illustrated, but Muhammad's hearers were probably less impressed by the creative power of God as exhibited in Nature and in Man than by the awful examples, to which reference has been made, of His destructive power as manifested in History. To Muhammad himself, at the outset of his mission, it seemed an appalling certainty that he must one day stand before God and render an account ; the overmastering sense of his own re- sponsibility goaded him to preach in the hope of saving his countrymen, and supplied him, weak and timorous as he was, with strength to endure calumny and persecution. As Noldeke has remarked, the grandest Suras of the whole Koran are those in which Muhammad describes how all Nature trembles and quakes at the approach of the Last Judgment. "It is as though one actually saw the earth heaving, the mountains crumbling to dust, and the stars hurled hither and thither in wild confusion."^ Suras Ixxxii and ci, which have been translated above, are specimens of the true prophetic style.^ 4. There is nothing spiritual in Muhammad's pictures of Heaven and Hell. His Paradise is simply a glorified pleasure- garden, where the pious repose in cool shades, Muhiammadan quaffing spicy wine and diverting themselves with the Houris {Hlir), lovely dark-eyed damsels |Hke pearls hidden in their shells.3 This was admirably calculated to allure his hearers by reminding them of one of their chief enjoyments — the gay drinking parties which occasionally broke the monotony of Arabian life, and which are often described in Pre-islamic poetry ; indeed, it is highly probable that Muhammad drew a good deal of his Paradise from this source. The gross and sensual character of the Muhammadan Afterworld is commonly thought to betray a particular weak- ' Noldeke, Geschichte des Oordns, p. 78. » Cf. also Koran, xviii, 45-47 ; xx, 102 sqq. ; xxxix, 67 sqq. ; Ixix, 13-37. 3 The famous freethinker, Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma'arri, has cleverly satirised Muhammadan notions on this subject in his Risdlatu 'l-Ghufrdn (y.RA.S. for October, 1900, p. 637 sqq.). i68 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN ness of the Prophet or is charged to the Arabs in general, but as Professor Bevan has pointed out, "the real explanation seems to be that at first the idea of a future retribution was absolutely new both to Muhammad himself and to the public which he addressed. Paradise and Hell had no traditional associations, and the Arabic language furnished no religious terminology for the expression of such ideas ; if they were to be made comprehensible at all, it could only be done by means of precise descriptions, of imagery borrowed from earthly affairs." i Muhammad was no mere visionary. Ritual observances, vigils, and other austerities entered largely into his religion, endowing it with the formal and ascetic character which it retains to the present day. Prayer was introduced soon after the first Revelations : in one of the oldest (Siira Ixxxvii, 14—15) we read, " Prosperous is he who purifies himself (or gives alms) and repeats the name of his Lord and prays." Although the five daily prayers obligatory upon every true believer are nowhere mentioned in the Koran, the opening chapter [Skratu 'l-Fdtiha\ which answers to our Lord's Prayer, is constantly recited on these occasions, and is seldom omitted from any act of public or private devotion. Since the Fdtiha probably belongs to the latest Meccan period, it may find a place here. THE OPENING SURA (I). (i) In the name of God, the Merciful, who forgiveth aye ! (2) Praise to God, the Lord of all that be, (3) The Merciful, who forgiveth aye, (4) The King of Judgment Day ! (5) Thee we worship and for Thine aid we pray. (6) Lead us in the right way, (7) The way of those to whom thou hast been gracious, against whom thou hast not waxed wroth, and who go not astray ! ' Journal of Theological Studies for October, 1904, p. 22. MUffAMMAD'S ASCENSION 169 About the same time, shortly before the Flight, Muhammad dreamed that he was transported from the Ka'ba to the Temple at Jerusalem, and thence up to the seventh heaven. joumey'lnd The former part of the vision is indicated in the ofM^iammad. Koran (xvii, i) : " G/ory to him who took His servant a journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, the precinct whereof we have blessecly to show him of our signs ! " Tradition has wrondrously em- bellished the Mi'-r&j, by which name the Ascension of the Prophet is generally known throughout the East ; while in Persia and Turkey it has long been a favourite theme for the mystic and the poet. According to the popular belief, which is also held by the majority of Moslem divines, Muhammad was transported in the body to his journey's end, but he himself never countenanced this literal interpretation, though it seems to have been current in Mecca, and we are told that it caused some of his incredulous followers to abandon their faith. Possessed and inspired by the highest idea of which man is capable, fearlessly preaching the truth revealed to him, leading almost alone what long seemed to be a forlorn hope against the impregnable stronghold of superstition, yet facing these tremendous odds with a calm resolution which yielded nothing to ridicule or danger, but defied his enemies to do their worst — Muhammad in the early part of his career presents a spectacle of grandeur which cannot fail to win our sympathy and admiration. At Medina, whither we must '''"Metoa."'^* now return, he appears in a far less favourable light : the days of pure religious enthusiasm have passed away for ever, and the Prophet is overshadowed by the Statesman. The Flight was undoubtedly essential to the establishment of Islam. It was necessary that Muhammad should cut himself ofF from his own people in order that he might found a community in which not blood but religion formed the sole bond that was recognised. This task he i;o THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN accomplished with consummate sagacity and skill, but the unscrupulous methods in which he indulged have left a dark stain on his reputation. As the supreme head of the Moslem theocracy both in spiritual and temporal matters — for Islam allows no distinction between Church and State — he exercised all the authority of a mediaeval Pope, and he did not hesitate to justify by Divine mandate acts of which the heathen Arabs, cruel and treacherous as they were, would have been ashamed to be guilty. We need not inquire how much was due to self-deception and how much to pious fraud. Although his vices, which were those of his age and country, may be con- doned or at least palliated, it revolts us to see him introducing God Almighty in the r61e of devil's advocate. The conditions prevailing at Medina were singularly adapted to his design. Ever since the famous battle of Bu'dth (about 615 A.D.), in which the Banu Aws, with the help prems^med to ^^ t^eir Jewish allies, the Banu Qurayza and the Muham^das Banu Nadir, inflicted a crushing defeat upon the ^'ftophet"'* Banu Khazraj, the city had been divided into two hostile camps ; and if peace had hitherto been preserved, it was only because both factions were too exhausted to renew the struggle. Wearied and distracted by earthly calamities, men's minds willingly admit the consolations of religion. We find examples of this tendency at Medina even before the Flight. Abu 'Amir, whose ascetic life gained for him the title of ' The Monk ' {al-Rdhib), is numbered among the Hanlfs.^ He fought in the ranks of the Quraysh at Uhud, and finally went to Syria, where he died an outlaw. Another Pre-islamic monotheist of Medina, Abii Qays b. Abl Anas, is said to have turned Moslem in his old age.^ "The inhabitants of Medina had no material interest in idol- worship and no sanctuary to guard. Through uninterrupted contact with the Jews of the city and neighbourhood, as also with the Christian tribes settled in the extreme north of Arabia on Ibn Hisham, p. 411, I. 6 sqq. = Ibid., p. 347. FRIENDS AND FOES AT MEDINA 171 the confines of the Byzantine Empire, they had learned, as it were instinctively, to despise their inherited belief in idols and to respect the far nobler and purer faith in a single God ; and lastly, they had become accustomed to the idea of a Divine revelation by means of a special scripture of supernatural origin, like the Pentateuch and the Gospel. From a religious standpoint paganism in Medina offered no resistance to Islam : as a faith, it was dead before it was attacked ; none defended it, none mourned its disappearance. The pagan opposition to Muhammad's work as a reformer was entirely political, and proceeded from those who wished to preserve the anarchy of the old heathen life, and who disliked the dictatorial rule of Muhammad." ' There were in Medfna four principal parties, consisting of those w^ho either warmly supported or actively opposed the Prophet, or who adopted a relatively neutral 'mSFm" attitude, viz., the Refugees {MuMjiriin\ the Helpers {Ansdr), the Hypocrites [Mundfiqlm), and the Jews (Tahiid). The Refugees were those Moslems who left their homes at Mecca and accompanied the Prophet in his Flight [Hijra) — whence their name, MuMjirlin — to Medina in The Refugees. , , ^ ...ji the year 022. Inasmuch as they had lost every- thing except the hope of victory and vengeance, he could count upon their fanatical devotion to himself. The Helpers were those inhabitants of Medina who had accepted Islam and pledged themselves to protect Muhammad in case of attack. Together with the Refugees The Helpers. , . i r * i i i i they constituted a formidable and ever-increasmg body of true believers, the first champions of the Church militant. " Many citizens of Medina, however, were not so well disposed towards Muljammad, and neither acknowledged him as a Prophet nor would submit to him as their Ruler ; but since ypocn es. ^^^^ durst not come forward against him openly on account of the multitude of his enthusiastic adherents, they met him with a passive resistance which more than once thwarted his plans : ' L. Caetani, Annali deW Islam, vol. i, p. 389. 172 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN their influence was so great that he, on his part, did not venture to take decisive measures against them, and sometimes even found it necessary to give way." ' These are the Hypocrites whom Muhammad describes in the following verses of the Koran : — THE SURA OF THE HEIFER (II). (7) And there are those among men who say, ' We believe in God and in the Last Day ' ; but they do not believe. (8) They would deceive God and those who do believe ; but they deceive only themselves and they do not perceive. (9) In their hearts is a sickness, and God has made them still more sick, and for them is grievous woe because they lied.' Their leader, 'Abdullih b. Ubayy, an able man but of weak character, was no match for Muhammad, whom he and his partisans only irritated, without ever becoming really dangerous. The Jews, on the other hand, gave the Prophet serious trouble. At first he cherished high hopes that they would accept the new Revelation which he brought to them, and which he maintained to be the original Word of God as it was formerly revealed to Abraham and Moses ; but when the Jews, perceiving the absurdity of this idea, plied him with all sorts of questions and made merry over his ignorance, Muhammad, keenly alive to the damaging efFect of the criticism to which he had exposed himself, turned upon his tormentors, and roundly accused them of having falsified and corrupted their Holy Books. Henceforth he pursued them with a deadly hatred against which their political disunion rendered them helpless. A few sought refuge in Islam ; the rest were either slaughtered or driven into exile. It is impossible to detail here the successive steps by which " Noldeke, Geschichte des Qordns, p, 122. " Translated by E. H. Palmer. MUHAMMAD AS LEGISLATOR 173 Mu{jammad in the course of a few years overcame all opposition and established the supremacy of Islam from one end of Arabia to the other. I shall notice the out- standing events very briefly in order to make room for matters which are more nearly connected with the subject of this History. Muhammad's first care was to reconcile the desperate factions within the city and to introduce law and order among the heterogeneous elements which have t^e"Mos!em' been described. " He drew up in writing a charter between the Refugees and the Helpers, in which charter he embodied a covenant with the Jews, confirming them in the exercise of their religion and in the possession of their properties, imposing upon them certain obligations, and granting to them certain rights." ' This remarkable document is extant in Ibn Hishdm's Biography of Muhammad, pp. 341-344. Its contents have been analysed in masterly fashion by Wellhausen,= who observes with justice that it was no solemn covenant, accepted and duly ratified, by representatives of the parties concerned, but merely a decree of Muhammad based upon conditions already existing which had developed since his arrival in Medina. At the same time no one can study it without being impressed by the political genius of its author. Ostensibly a cautious and tactful reform, it was in reality a revolution. Muhammad durst not strike openly at the independence of the tribes, but he destroyed it, in effect, by shifting the centre of power from the tribe to the comnmnity ; and although the community included Jews and pagans as well as Moslems, he fully recognised, what his opponents failed to foresee, that the Moslems were the active, and must soon be the predominant, partners in the newly founded State. ■ Ibn Hisham, p. 341, 1. 5. ' Muhammad' sGemeindeordnung von Medina in Skizzen und Vorarbeiten, Heft IV, p. 67 sqq. 174 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN AH was now ripe for the inevitable struggle with the Quraysh, and God revealed to His Apostle several verses of the Koran in which the Faithful are commanded to wage a Holy War against them : " Permission is given to those who fight because they have been wronged^ — and verily God to help them has the might, — who have been driven forth from their homes undeservedly, only for that they said, ' Our Lord is God''" (xxii, 40-41). '■'■Kill them wherever ye find them, and drive them out from whence they drive you out" (ii, 187). " Fight them that there be no sedition and that the religion may be God^s" (ii, 189). In January, 624 a.d., the Moslems, some three hundred strong, won a glorious victory at Badr over a greatly superior force which had marched jMra^fe^^ii). out from Mecca to relieve a rich caravan that Muhammad threatened to cut off. The Quraysh fought bravely, but were borne down by the irresistible onset of men who had learned discipline in the mosque and looked upon death as a sure passport to Paradise. Of the Moslems only fourteen fell ; the Quraysh lost forty-nine killed and about the same number of prisoners. But the importance of Muljammad's success cannot be measured by the material damage which he inflicted. Considering the momentous issues involved, we must allow that Badr, like Marathon, is one of the greatest and most memorable battles in all history. Here, at last, was the miracle which the Prophet's enemies demanded of him : " Te have had a sign in the two parties who met ; one party fighting in the way of God, the other misbelieving ; these saw twice the same number as themselves to the eye- sight, fir God aids with His help those whom He pleases. Verily in that is a lesson for those who have perception " (Kor. iii, 11). And again, " Te slew them not, hut God slew them" (Kor. viii, 17). The victory of Badr turned all eyes upon Muhammad. However little the Arabs cared for his religion, they could not but respect the man who had humbled the lords of Mecca. He was now a power in the land — TRIUMPH OF THE PROPHET 17S " Muhammad, King of the Hijdz," ' In Medina his cause flourished mightily. The zealots were confirmed in their faith, the waverers convinced, the disaffected overawed. He sustained a serious, though temporary, check in the following year at Uhud, where a Moslem army was routed ^""asl"-""*' ^y the Quraysh under Abd Sufyin, but the victors were satisfied with having taken vengeance for Badr and made 00 attempt to follow up their advantage ; while Muljammad, never resting on his laurels, never losing sight of the goal, proceeded with remorseless calculation to crush his adversaries one after the other, until in January, 630 A.D., the Meccans themselves, seeing the futility of further resistance, opened their gates to the Mecca^^oVD P^ophet and acknowledged the omnipotence of Allah. The submission of the Holy City left Muhammad without a rival in Arabia. His work was almost done. Deputations from the Bedouin tribes poured into Medina, offering allegiance to the conqueror of the Quraysh, and reluctantly subscribing to a religion in which they saw nothing so agreeable as the prospect of plundering its enemies. Muhammad died, after a brief illness, on the 8th of June, 632 A.D. He was succeeded as head of the Moslem com- munity by his old friend and ever-loyal supporter, Muhammad, Abu Bakr, who thus became the first Khalifa^ or ^ Caliph. It only remains to take up our survey of the Koran, which we have carried down to the close of the Meccan period, and to indicate the character and contents of the Revelation during the subsequent decade. The Medina Sdras faithfully reflect the marvellous change in Muljammad's fortunes, which began with his flight from Mecca. He was now recognised as the Prophet and Apostle of God, but this recognition made him an earthly potentate and turned his religious activity into secular channels. One ' Ibn Hisham, p. 763, 1. 12. 176 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN who united in himself the parts of prince, legislator, politician, diplomatist, and general may be excused if he sometimes neg- lected the Divine injunction to arise and preach, ^''liiM^'"^ or at any rate interpreted it in a sense very dif- ferent from that which he formerly attached to it. The Revelations of this time deal, to a large extent, with matters of legal, social, and political interest ; they promulgate religious ordinances — e.g., fasting, alms-giving, and pilgrimage — ■■ expound the laws of marriage and divorce, and comment upon the news of the day ; often they serve as bulletins or mani- festoes in which Muhammad justifies what he has done, urges the Moslems to fight and rebukes the laggards, moralises on a victory or defeat, proclaims a truce, and says, in short, whatever the occasion seems to require. Instead of the Meccan idolaters, his opponents in Medina — the Jews and Hypocrites — have become the great rocks of offence ; the Jews especially are denounced in long passages as a stiff-necked generation who never hearkened to their own prophets of old. However valuable historically, the Medina Suras do not attract the literary reader. In their flat and tedious style they resemble those of the later Meccan period. Now and again the ashes burst into flame, though such moments of splendour are increasingly rare, as in the famous ' Throne-verse ' {^Ayatu n-Kursf) :— "God, there is no god but He, the living, the self-subsistent Slumber takes Him not, nor sleep. His is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth. Who is it that intercedes ^''^eree™"' with Him save by His permission ? He knows what is before them and what behind them, and they com- prehend not aught of His knowledge but of what He pleases. His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and it tires Him not to guard them both, for He is high and grand." ' The Islam which Muhammad brought with him to Medina was almost entirely derived by oral tradition from Christianity ' Koran, ii, 256, translated by E. H. Palmer. THE MEDINA StlRAS 177 and Judaism, and just for this reason it made little impression on the heathen Arabs, whose religious ideas were generally of the most primitive kind. Notwithstanding its foreign character and the absence of anything which appealed to Arabian national sentiment, it spread rapidly in Medina, where, as we have seen, the soil was already prepared for it ; but one may well doubt whether it could have extended its sway over the peninsula unless the course of events had deter- mined Muhammad to associate the strange doctrines of Islam with the ancient heathen sanctuary at Mecca, the Ka'ba, which was held in universal veneration by the Arabs and formed the centre of a worship that raised no diflGculties in their minds. Before he had lived many months ^"tiorofTsfim' '" Medina the Prophet realised that his hope of converting the Jews was doomed to disappoint- ment. Accordingly he instructed his followers that they should no longer turn their faces in prayer towards the Temple at Jerusalem, as they had been accustonied to do since the Flight, but towards the Ka'ba ; while, a year or two later, he incorporated in Islam the superstitious ceremonies of the pilgrimage, which were represented as having been origi- nally prescribed to Abraham, the legendary founder of the Ka'ba, whose religion he professed to restore. These concessions, however, were far from sufficient to reconcile the free-living and free-thinking people of the desert to a religion which restrained their pleasures, forced them to pay taxes and perform prayers, and stamped with the name of barbarism all the virtues they held most dear. The teaching of Islam ran directly counter to the ideals and traditions of heathendom, and, as Goldziher has remarked, its originality lies not in its doctrines, which are Jewish and Christian, but in the fact that it was Muhammad who first maintained these doctrines with persistent energy against the Arabian view of life.^ While we must refer the reader to Dr. ' Muhamm. Studien, Part I, p. 12. 13 i;8 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN Goldziher's illuminating pages for a full discussion of the con- flict between the new Religion (Z)/«) and the old Virtue (Muruwwa), it will not be amiss to summarise the ?siamro'™d chief points at which they clashed with each other.i In the first place, the fundamental idea of Islam was foreign and unintelligible to the Bedouins. "It was not the destruction of their idols that they opposed so much as the spirit of devotion which it was sought to implant in them : the determination of their whole lives by the thought of God and of His pre-ordaining and retributive omnipotence, the prayers and fasts, the renouncement of coveted pleasures, and the sacrifice of money and property which was demanded of them in God's name." In spite of the saying, Ld dina illi. hi ' l-muruwwati (" There is no religion without virtue"), the Bedouin who accepted Islam had to unlearn the greater part of his unwritten moral code. As a pious Moslem he must return good for evil, forgive his enemy, and find balm for his wounded feelings in the assurance of being admitted to Paradise (Kor. iii, 128). Again, the social organisation of the heathen Arabs was based on the tribe, whereas that of Islam rested on the equality and fraternity of all believers. The religious bond cancelled all distinctions of rank and pedigree ; it did away, theoretically, with clannish feuds, contests for honour, pride of race — things that lay at the very root of Arabian chivalry. " Lo" cried Muhammad, " the noblest of you in the sight of God is he who most doth fear Him" (Kor. xlix, 13). Against such doctrine the conservative and material instincts of the desert people rose in revolt ; and although they became Moslems en masse, the majority of them neither believed in Islam nor knew what it meant. Often their motives were frankly utilitarian : they expected that Islam would bring them luck ; and so long as they were sound in body, and their mares had fine foals, and ■ See Goldziher's introductory chapter entitled Muruwwa und Din (ibid., pp. 1-39). THE ARABS AND ISLAM 179 their wives bore well-formed sons, and their wealth and herds multiplied, they said, " We have been blessed ever since we adopted this religion," and were content ; but if things went ill they blamed Islam and turned their backs on it.i That these men were capable of religious zeal is amply proved by the triumphs which they won a short time after- wards over the disciplined armies of two mighty empires ; but what chiefly inspired them, apart from love of booty, was the conviction, born of success, that Allah was fighting on their side. We have sketched, however barely and imperfectly, the progress of Islam from Muhammad's first appearance as a preacher to the day of his death. In these twenty years the seeds were sown of almost every development which occurs in the political and intellectual history of the Arabs during the ages to come. More than any man that has ever lived, Muhammad shaped the destinies of his people ; and though they left him far behind as they moved along the path of civi- lisation, they still looked back to him for guidance and autho- rity at each step. This is not the place to attempt an estimate of his character, which has been so diversely judged. Per- sonally, I feel convinced that he was neither a shameless impostor nor a neurotic degenerate nor a socialistic reformer, but in the beginning, at all events, a sincere religious enthu- siast, as truly inspired as any prophet of the Old Testament. " We find in him," writes Da Goeje, " that sober understanding which distinguished his fellow-tribesmen : dignity, tact, and equi- librium ; qualities which are seldom found in people Muhammad. °^ morbid constitution : self-control in no small degree. Circumstances changed him from a Prophet to a Legislator and a Ruler, but for himself he sought nothing beyond the acknowledgment that he was Allah's Apostle, since this acknow- Baydawi on Koran, xxii, ii. i8o THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN ledgment includes the whole of Islam. He was excitable, like every true Arab, and in the spiritual struggle which preceded his call this quality was stimulated to an extent that alarmed even him- self ; but that does not make him a visionary. He defends himself, by the most solemn asseveration, against the charge that what he had seen was an illusion of the senses. Why should not we believe him ? " ' ■ Die Berufung Mohammed's, by M. J. de Goeje in NSldeke-Festschrift (Giessen, 1906), vol. i, p. 5. CHAPTER V THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE AND THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY The Caliphate — i.e., the period of the Caliphs or Successors of Muhammad — extends over six centuries and a quarter (632- 1258 A.D.), and falls into three clearly-marked divisions of very unequal length and diverse character. The first division begins with the election of Abii Bakr, the first Caliph, in 632, and comes to an end with the assassina- tion of 'AH, the Prophet's son-in-law and fourth The Orthodox • en t*!. r /^ i • l i Caliphate (632- successor, m 001. These four Cahphs are known as the Orthodox {al-R&shid{in\ because they trod faithfully in the footsteps of the Prophet and ruled after his example in the holy city of Medina, with the assistance of his leading Companions, who constituted an informal Senate. The second division includes the Caliphs of the family of Umayya^ from the accession of Mu'dwiya in 66 1 to the great battle of the Zib in 750, when Mar wan II, the iCaiiphate^cMi- last of his line, was defeated by the 'Abbasids, who claimed the Caliphate as next of kin to the Prophet. According to Moslem notions the Umayyads were kings by right. Caliphs only by courtesy. They had, as we shall see, no spiritual title, and' little enough religion of any sort. This dynasty, which had been raised and was upheld by the Syrian Arabs, transferred the seat of government from Medina to Damascus. i82 THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE The third division is by far the longest and most important. Starting in 750 with the accession of Abu 'l-'Abbds al-SaiFdh, it presents an unbroken series of thirty-seven Caliphate (750- Caliphs of the same House, and culminates, after 125 A.D.) ^^ lapse of half a millennium, in the sack of Baghddd, their magnificent capital, by the Mongol HiiMgii (January, 1258). The 'Abbdsids were no less despotic than the Umayyads, but in a more enlightened fashion ; for, while the latter had been purely Arab in feeling, the 'Abbdsids owed their throne to the Persian nationalists, and were imbued with Persian ideas, which introduced a new and fruitful element into Moslem civilisation. From our special point of view the Orthodox and Umayyad Caliphates, whicfi form the subject of the present chapter, are somewhat barren. The simple life of the pagan Arabs found full expression in their poetry. The many-sided life of the Moslems under 'Abbisid rule may be studied in a copious literature which exhibits all the characteristics of the age ; but of contemporary documents illustrating the intel- ^uterlt^'" lectual history of the early Islamic period com- paratively little has been preserved, and that little, being for the most part anti-Islamic in tendency, gives only meagre information concerning what excites interest beyond anything else — the religious movement, the rise of theology, and the origin of those great parties and sects which emerge, at various stages of development, in later literature. Since the Moslem Church and State are essentially one, it is impossible to treat of politics apart from religion, nor can religious phenomena be understood without con- "°and state"!"* tinual reference to political events. The follow- ing brief sketch of the Orthodox Caliphate will show how completely this unity was realised, and what far- reaching consequences it had. That Muhammad left no son was perhaps of less moment than his neglect or refusal to nominate a successor. The ABl) BAKR 183 Arabs were unfamiliar with the hereditary descent of kingly power, while the idea had not yet dawned of a Divine right resident in the Prophet's family. It was thoroughly in accord with Arabian practice that the Moslem community should elect its own leader, just as in heathen days the tribe chose its own chief. The likeliest men — all three belonged to Quraysh — were Abii Bakr, whose daughter 'A'isha had been Muham- mad's favourite wife, 'Umar b. al-Khattdb, and AH, Abii filib's son and Fatima's husband, who was thus connected with the Prophet by blood as well as by marriage. Abil Bakr was the eldest, he was supported by 'Umar, and elected Caliph on him the choice ultimately fell, though not (June, 632 A.D.). . , . 1 II- • r •/• A without an ominous ebullition of party strife. A man of simple tastes and unassuming demeanour, he had earned the name al-Siddlq, i.e., the True, by his unquestioning faith in the Prophet ; naturally gentle and merciful, he stood firm when the cause of Islam was at stake, and crushed with iron hand the revolt which on the news of Muhammad's death spread like wildfire through Arabia. False prophets arose, and the Bedouins rallied round them, eager to throw off the burden of tithes and prayers. In the centre of the penin- Musayiimathe ^^i^^ j^e Banii Hanifa were led to battle by Musaylima, who imitated the early style of the Koran with ludicrous effect, if we may judge from the sayings ascribed to him, e.g., " The elephant, what is the elephant, and who shall tell you what is the elephant ? He has a poor tail, and a long trunk : and is a trifling part of the creations of thy God." Moslem tradition calls him the Liar (al-Kadhdhdb), and represents him as an obscene miracle-monger, which can hardly be the whole truth. It is possible that he got some of his doctrines from Christianity, as Professor Margoliouth has sug- gested,! but we know too little about them to arrive at any conclusion. After a desperate struggle Musaylima was defeated ■ On the Origin and Impart of the Names Muslim and Hanif{J.R.A.S. for 1903, p. 491). 1 84 THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE and slain by 'the Sword of Allah/ Khdlid b. Walid. The Moslem arms were everywhere victorious. Arabia bowed in sullen submission. Although Muir and other biographers of Muhammad have argued that Islam was originally designed for the Arabs alone, and made no claim to universal acceptance, their ''^'rdigi™'^''*' assertion is contradicted by the unequivocal testi- mony of the Koran itself. In one of the oldest Revelations (Ixviii, 51-52), we read : " It wanteth little but that the unbelievers dash thee to the ground with their looks (of anger) •when they hear the Warning {i.e., the Koran) ; and they say, ' He is assuredly mad'' : but it (the Koran) is no other than a Warning unto all creatures" {dhikr'"' li 'l-'dlamln).^ The time had now come when this splendid dream was to be, in large measure, fulfilled. The great wars of Conquest of • ■ i i i rk i > ■ Persia and Syria conquest Were mspired by the rrophets mis- sionary zeal and justified by his example. Pious duty coincided with reasons of state. " It was certainly good policy to turn the recently subdued tribes of the wilderness towards an external aim in which they might at once satisfy their lust for booty on a grand scale, maintain their warlike feeling, and strengthen themselves in their attachment to the new faith." 2 The story of their achievements cannot be set down here. Suffice it to say that within twelve years after the Prophet's death the Persian Empire had been reduced to a tributary province, and Syria, together with Egypt, torn away from Byzantine rule. It must not be supposed that the fol- lowers of Zoroaster and Christ in these countries Mosiemtoiera- ^^^g forcibly Converted to Islam. Thousands embraced it of free will, impelled by various motives which we have no space to enumerate ; those who clung to the religion in which they had been brought up " See T. W. Arnold's The Preaching of Islam, p. 23 seq., where several passages of like import are collected. • Noldeke, Sketches from Eastern History, translated by J. S. Black, P-73. MOSLEM CONQUESTS 185 secured protection and toleration by payment of a capitation- tax {jizya)j The tide of foreign conquest, which had scarce begun to flow before the death of Abii Bakr, swept with amazing rapidity over Syria and Persia in the Caliphate of TheCaljph ir J J r 'Umar (634-644 'Umar b. al-Khattib {634-644), and continued to advance, though with diminished fury, under the Prophet's third successor, 'Uthmdn. We may dwell for a little on the noble figure of 'Umar, who was regarded by good Moslems in after times as an embodiment of all the virtues which a Caliph ought to possess. Probably his character has been idealised, but in any case the anecdotes related of him give an admirable picture of the man and his age. Here are a few, taken almost at random from the pages of Tabari. One said : " I saw 'Umar coming to the Festival. He walked with bare feet, using both hands (for he was ambidextrous) to draw round him a red embroidered cloth. He towered above the people, as though he were on horseback." ' A client of (the Caliph) 'Uthman b. 'Affan relates that he mounted behind his patron and they rode together to the enclosure for the beasts which were delivered in payment of the poor-tax. It was an ^'lan™? exceedingly hot day and the simoom was blowing fiercely. They saw a man clad only in a loin-cloth and a short cloak (ridd), in which he had wrapped his head, driving the camels into the enclosure. 'Uthman said to his companion, " Who is this, think you ? " When they came up to him, behold, it was 'Umar b. al-Khattab. " By God," said 'Uthman, " this is the strong, the trusty." ^ — 'Umar used to go round the markets and recite the Koran and judge between disputants wherever he found them. — When Ka'bu '1-Ahbar, a well-known Rabbin of Medina, asked how he could obtain access to the Commander of the Faithful,'' he received this answer : " There ' See Professor Browne's Literary History of Persia, vol. i, p. 200 sqq. = Tabari, i, J729, 1. 15 sqq. 3 /fad., i, 2736, 1. 5 sqq. The words in italics are quoted from Koran, xxviii, 26, where they are applied to Moses. * 'Umar was the first to assume this title (Amiru 'l-Mu'minin), by which the Caliphs after him were generally addressed. 1 86 THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE is no door nor curtain to be passed ; he performs the rites of prayer, then he takes his seat, and any one that wishes may speak to him." ' 'Umar said in one of his pubUc orations : " By Him who sent His sense of Muhammad with the truth, were a single camel to die personal of neglect On the bank of the Euphrates, I should fear responsi i y. j^^^ ^^^ should call the family of al-Khattab " (meaning himself) " to account therefor." = — " If I live," he is reported to have said on another occasion, " please God, I will assuredly spend a whole year in travelling among my subjects, for I know they have wants which are cut short ere they reach my ears : the governors do not bring the wants of the people before me, while the people themselves do not attain to me. So I will journey to Syria and remain there two months, then to Mesopotamia and remain there two months, then to Egypt and remain there two months, then to Batirayn and remain there two months, then to Kiifa and remain there two months, then to Basra and remain there two months ; and by God, it will be a year well spent ! " ^ — One night he came to the house of 'Abdu '1-Rahman b. 'Awf and knocked at the door, which was opened by 'Abdu '1-Rahman's wife. " Do not enter," said she, " until I go back and sit in my place ; " so he waited. Then she bade him come in, and on his asking, " Have you anything in the house ? " she fetched him some food. Mean- while 'Abdu '1-Rahman was standing by, engaged in prayer. " Be quick, man ! " cried 'Umar. 'Abdu '1-Rahman immediately pro- nounced the final salaam, and turning to the Caliph said : " O Com- mander of the Faithful, what has brought you here at this hour ? " 'Umar replied : " A party of travellers who aUghted in the neigh- bourhood of the market : I was afraid that the thieves ^ poiTcemaZ' " °^ Medina might fall upon them. Let us go and keep watch." So he set off with 'Abdu '1-Rahman, and when they reached the market-place they seated themselves on some high ground and began to converse. Presently they descried, far away, the i light of a lamp. " Have not I forbidden lamps after bedtime ? " * exclaimed the Caliph. They went to the spot and found a company drinking wine. " Begone," said 'Umar to 'Abdu '1-Rahman ; " I know him." Next morning he sent for the culprit and said, addressing him by name, " Last night you were drinking wine with your friends." " O Commander of the Faithful, how did ' Tabari, i, 2738, 7 sqq. ' Ibid., i, 2739, 4 sqq. 3 ibid., i, 2737, 4 sqq. * It is explained that 'Umar prohibited lamps because rats used to take the lighted wick and set fire to the house-roofs, which at that time were made of palm-branches. 'UMAR IBNU 'L-KHATTAB 187 you ascertain that ? " "I saw it with my own eyes." " Has not God forbidden you to play the spy ? " 'Umar made no answer and pardoned his offence.' — When 'Umar ascended the pulpit for the purpose of warning the people that they must not do something, he „. , . ^ gathered his family and said to them : " I have for- xiis strictness towards his own bidden the people to do so-and-so. Now, the people family. look at you as birds look at flesh, and I swear by God that if I find any one of you doing this thing, I will double the penalty against him." '' — Whenever he appointed a governor he used to draw up in writing a certificate of investiture, which he caused to be witnessed by some of the hS'^govemors° Refugees or Helpers. It contained the following instructions : That he must not ride on horseback, nor eat white bread, nor wear fine clothes, nor set up a door between himself and those who had aught to ask of him. 3— It was 'Umar's custom to go forth with his governors, on their appointment, to bid them farewell. " I have not appointed you," he would say, " over the people of Muljammad (God bless him and grant him peace !) that you may drag them by their hair and scourge their skins, but in order that you may lead them in prayer and judge between them with right and divide (the public money) amongst them with equity. I have not made you lords of their skin and hair. Do not flog the Arabs lest you humiliate them, and do not keep them long on foreign service lest you tempt them to sedition, and do not neglect them lest you render them desperate. Confine yourselves to the Koran, write few Traditions of Muhammad (God bless him and grant him peace !), and I am your ally." He used to permit retahation against his governors. On receiving a complaint about any one of them he confronted him with the accuser, and punished him if his guilt were proved.'' It was 'Umar who first made a Register (Dlwdn) of the The Register of ^^^^^ ''^ Islam and entered them therein accord- 'Umar. jjjg j.q their tribes and assigned to them their stipends. The following account of its institution is extracted from the charming history entitled al-Fakhrl : — In the fifteenth year of the Hijra (636 a.d.) 'Umar, who was then Caliph, seeing that the conquests proceeded without interruption ' Tabari, i, 2742, 13 sqq. = lUd., i, 2745, 15 sqq. 3 Ibid., i, 2747, 7 sqq. '' Ihid., i, 2740, last line and foil. i88 THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE and that the treasures of the Persian monarchs had been taken as spoil, and that load after load was being accumulated of gold and silver and precious jewels and splendid raiment, resolved to enrich the Moslems by distributing all this wealth amongst them ; but he did not know how he should manage it. Now there was a Persian satrap (marzubdn) at Medina who, when he saw 'Umar's bewilder- ment, said to him, " O Commander of the Faithful, the Persian kings have a thing they call a Diwdn, in which is kept the whole of their revenues and expenditures without exception ; and therein those who receive stipends are arranged in classes, so that no confusion occurs." 'Umar's attention was aroused. He bade the satrap describe it, and on comprehending its nature, he drew up the registers and assigned the stipends, appointing a specified allow- ance for every Moslem ; and he allotted fixed sums to the wives of the Apostle (on whom be God's blessing and peace !) and to his concubines and next-of-kin, until he exhausted the money in hand. He did not lay up a store in the treasury. Some one came to him and said : " O Commander of the Faithful, you should have left something to provide for contingencies." 'Umar rebuked him, say- ing, " The devil has put these words into your mouth. May God preserve me from their mischief ! for it were a temptation to my successors. Come what may, I will provide naught except obedience to God and His Apostle. That is our provision, whereby we have gained that which we have gained." Then, in respect of the stipends, he deemed it right that precedence should be according to priority of conversion to Islam and of service rendered to the Apostle on his fields of battle." Affinity to Muhammad was also considered. " By God," exclaimed 'Umar, " we have not won superiority in this world, nor do we hope for recompense for our works from ^""ofMam""^ God hereafter, save through Muhammad (God bless him and grant him peace !). He is our title to nobility, Tiis tribe are the noblest of the Arabs, and after them those are the nobler that are nearer to him in blood. Truly, the Arabs are ennobled by God's Apostle. Peradventure some of them have many ancestors in common with him, and we ourselves are only removed by a few forbears from his line of descent, in which we accompany him back to Adam. Notwith- standing this, if the foreigners bring good works and ' tolae go(S°^'* ^® bring none, by God, they are nearer to Muhammad on the day of Resurrection than we. Therefore let no man regard affinity, but let him work for that which is in God's • Al-Fakhrl, ed. by Derenbourg, p. ii6, 1. 1 to p. 117,1. 3. 'UMAR IBNU 'L-KHATTAB 189 hands to bestow. He thatis retarded by his works Will not be sped by his lineage." ' It may be said of 'Umar, not less appropriately than of Cromwell, that he "cast the kingdoms old Into another mould ; " and he too justified the poet's maxim — " The same arts that did gain A power, must it maintain." Under the system which he organised Arabia, purged of infidels, became a vast recruiting-ground for the standing armies of Islam : the Arabs in the conquered territories formed an exclusive military class, living in great camps and supported by revenues derived from the non-Mubammadan population. Out of such camps arose two cities destined to make their mark in literary history — Basra (Bassora) on the Foundation of ■;. . , t-. * i \ ti- ^ r Basra and Kufa delta of the Tigris and Jiuphrates, and Kufa, which was founded about the same time on the western branch of the latter stream, not far from Hira. 'Umar was murdered by a Persian slave named Ffriiz while Death of 'Umar leading the prayers in the Great Mosque. With (644 A.D.) Yiis death the military theocracy and the palmy days of the Patriarchal Caliphate draw to a close. The broad lines of his character appear in the anecdotes translated above, . though many details might be added to complete the picture. Simple and frugal ; doing his duty without fear or favour ; energetic even to harshness, yet capable of tenderness towards the weak ; a severe judge of others and especially of himself, he was a born ruler and every inch a man. Looking back on ' Tabari, i, 2751, 9 sqq. 190 THE ORTHODOX. CALIPHATE the turmoils which followed his death one is inclined to agree with the opinion of a saintly doctor who said, five centuries afterwards, that " the good fortune of Islam was shrouded in the grave-clothes of 'Umar b. al-Khattdb." ^ When the Meccan aristocrats accepted Islam, they only yielded to the inevitable. They were now to have an oppor- tunity of revenging themselves. 'Uthmdn b. S'hrt ''^D ? 'AfFdn, who succeeded 'Umar as Caliph, belonged to a distinguished Meccan family, the Umayyads or descendants of Umayya, which had always taken a leading part in the opposition to Muhammad, though 'Uthmdn himself was among the Prophet's first disciples. He was a pious, well- meaning old man — an easy tool in the hands of his ambitious kinsfolk. They soon climbed into all the most lucrative and important oflRces and lived on the fat of the land, while too often their ungodly behaviour gave point to the question whether these converts of the eleventh hour were not still heathens at heart. Other causes contributed to excite a general General disaffec- discontent. The rapid growth of luxury and immorality in the Holy Cities as well as in the new settlements was an eyesore to devout Moslems. The true Islamic aristocracy, the Companions of the Prophet, headed by 'Ali, Talha, and Zubayr, strove to undermine the rival nobility which threatened them with destruction. The factious soldiery were ripe for revolt against Umayyad arrogance 'Uthmin mur- ^"'^ greed. Rebellion broke out, and finally the dered(6s6A.D.). ^ggj Caijph^ after enduring a siege of several weeks, was murdered in his own house. This event marks an epoch in the history of the Arabs. The ensuing civil wars rent the unity of Islam from top to bottom, and the wound has never healed. 'All, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, who had hitherto ' Ibn Khallikan (ed. by Wiistenfeld), No. 68, p. 96, 1. 3 ; De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 152. 'UTHMAN and 'ALl 191 remained in the background, was now made Caliph. Al- though the suspicion that he was in league with the murderers may be put aside, he showed cul- Cailph (656 A^.). pable weakness in leaving 'Uthman to his fate without an effort to save him. But 'AH had almost every virtue except those of the ruler : energy, decision, and foresight. He was a gallant warrior, a wise counsellor, a true friend, and a generous foe. ^^'"f^l °^ ^^ excelled in poetry and in eloquence ; his verses and sayings are famous throughout the Muhammadan East, though few of them can be considered authentic. A fine spirit worthy to be compared with Montrose and Bayard, he had no talent for the stern realities of statecraft, and was overmatched by unscrupulous rivals who knew that "war is a game of deceit." Thus his career was in one sense a failure : his authority as Caliph was never admitted, while he lived, by the whole community. On the other hand, he has exerted, down to the present day, a posthumous influence only second to that of Muhammad himself. Within a century of his death he came to be regarded as the Prophet's successor jure divino; as a blessed martyr, sinless and infallible ; and by some even as an incarnation of God. The 'AH of Shi'ite legend is not an historical figure glori- fied : rather does he symbolise, in purely mythical fashion, the religious aspirations and political aims of a large section of the Moslem world. To return to our narrative. No sooner was 'AH pro- claimed Caliph by the victorious rebels than Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan, the governor of Syria, raised the Mu'dTOya' '"'^ °^ Vengeance for 'Uthmdn and refused to take the oath of allegiance. As head of the Umayyad family, Mu'dwiya might justly demand that the murderers of his kinsman should be punished, but the con- 192 THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE test between him and 'AH was virtually for the Caliphate. A great battle was fought at SiiFfn, a village on the Euphrates. 'AH had well-nigh gained the day ^^ffcy'ADf'" when Mu'dwiya bethought him of a stratagem. He ordered his troops to fix Korans on the points of their lances and to shout, "Here is the Book ot God : let it decide between us ! " The miserable trick succeeded. In 'Ali's army there were many pious fanatics to whom the proposed arbitration by the Koran appealed with irresistible force. They now sprang forward clamorously, threatening to betray their leader unless he would submit his cause to the Book. Vainly did 'AH remonstrate with the mutineers, and warn them of the trap into which they were driving him, and this too at the moment when victory was within their grasp. He had no choice but to yield and name as his umpire a man of doubtful loyalty, Abii Miisi al-Ash'ari, one of the oldest surviving Companions of the Prophet. Mu'iwiya on his part named 'Amr b. al-'As, whose cunning had prompted the decisive manoeuvre. When the umpires came forth to give judgment, Abii Musa rose and in accordance with what had been arranged at the preliminary conference pronounced that both 'AH and Mu'dwiya should be deposed and that the people should elect a proper Caliph in their stead. " Lo," said he, laying down his sword, " even thus do I depose 'All b. Abi Talib." Then 'Amr advanced and spoke as follows : " O people ! ye have heard the judgment of my colleague. He has called you to witness that he deposes 'AH. Now I call you to witness that I confirm Mu'dwiya, even as I make fast this sword of mine," and suiting the action to the word, he returned it to its sheath. It is characteristic of Arabian notions of morality that this impudent fraud was hailed by Mu'dwiya's adherents as a diplomatic triumph which gave him a colourable pretext CIVIL WAR 193 for assuming the title of Caliph. Both sides prepared to renew the struggle, but in the meanwhile 'All found his hands full nearer home. A numerous party among his troops, including the same zealots who had forced arbitra- tion upon him, now cast hitti off because he had accepted it, fell out froni the ranks, and raised the revolt against Standard of revolt. These 'Outgoers,' or Kharijites, as they were called, maintained their theocratic principles with desperate courage, and though often defeated took the field again and again. 'All's plans for recovering Syria were finally abandoned in 660, when he concluded peace with *''(66iTd!)^'"* Mu'dwiya, and shortly afterwards he was struck down in the Mosque at Kufa, which he had made his capital, by Ibn Muljarti, a Kharijite conspirator. With 'All's fall our sketch of the Orthodox Caliphate may fitly end. It was necessary to give some account of these years so vital in the history of Islam, even at the risk of wearying the reader, who will perhaps wish that less space were devoted to political affairs. The Umayyads came into power, but, except in Syria and Egypt, they ruled solely by the sword. As descendants and representatives of the pagan aristocracy, which The umayyad strove with all its might to defeat Muhammad, they were usurpers in the eyes of the Moslem community which they claimed to lead as his successors.'^ We shall see, a little further on, how this opposition ex- pressed itself in two great parties : the Shi'ites or followers of *A1{, and the radical sect of the Kharijites, who have been mentioned above ; and how it was gradually rein- forced by the non-Arabian Moslems until it overwhelmed ' Mu'awiya himself said : " I am the first of the kings " (Ya'qiibi, ed. by Houtsma, vol. ii, p. 276, 1. 14). 14 t94 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY the Umayyad Government and set up the 'Abbdsids in their place. In estimating the character of the Umayyads one must bear in mind that the epitaph on the fallen Moslem tradi- , j i_ ^i_ * * j tion hostile to dynasty was composed by their enemies, and can mayya s. ^^ niore be considered historically truthful than the lurid picture which Tacitus has drawn of the Emperor Tiberius. Because they kept the revolutionary forces in check with ruthless severity, the Umayyads pass for blood- thirsty tyrants ; whereas the best of them at any rate were strong and singularly capable rulers, bad Moslems and good men of the world, seldom cruel, plain livers if not high thinkers ; who upon the whole stand as much above the 'Abbdsids in morality as below them in culture and intel- lect. Mu'dwiya's clemency was proverbial, though he too could be stern on occasion. When members of the house of 'AH came to visit him at Damascus, which was now the capital of the Muhammadan Empire, he gave them honourable lodging and entertainment and was anxious to do what they asked ; but they (relates the his- demency.^ torian approvingly) used to address him in the rudest terms and affront him in the vilest manner : sometimes he would answer them with a jest, and another time he would feign not to hear, and he always dismissed them with splendid presents and ample donations.' " I do not employ my sword," he said, " when my whip suffices me, nor my whip when my tongue suffices me ; and were there but a single hair (of friendship) between me and my subjects, I would not let it be snapped." = After the business of the day he sought relaxation in books. '^'^Judr"' "He consecrated a third part of every night to the history of the Arabs and their famous battles ; the history of foreign peoples, their kings, and their govern- ment ; the biographies of monarchs, including their wars ' Al-Fakhri, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 145 ' Ya'qubi, vol. ii, p. 283, 1. 8 seq. MU'AWIYA - 195 and stratagems" and methods of rule ; and other matters connected with Ancient History." ^ Mu'iwiya's chief henchman was Ziydd, the son of Sumayya (Sumayya being the name of his mother), or, as he is generally called, Ziydd ibn Abfhi, /.*., 'Ziydd his father's ^'Xvhi'" ^°"'' ^°^ none knew who was his sire, though rumour pointed to Abil Sufyin ; in which case Ziyid would have been Mu'awiya's half-brother. Mu'iwiya, instead of disavowing the scandalous imputation, acknowledged him as such, and made him governor of Basra, where he ruled the Eastern provinces with a rod of iron. Mu'awiya was a crafty diplomatist — he has been well com- pared to Richelieu — whose profound knowledge of human nature enabled him to gain over men of moderate opinions in all the parties opposed to him. Events were soon to prove the hollowness of this outward reconciliation. Yazid, who suc- ceeded his father, was the son of Maysiin, a (680^83'%) Bedouin lady whom Mu'dwiya married before he rose to be Caliph. The luxury of Damascus had no charm for her wild spirit, and she gave utterance to her feeling of homesickness in melancholy verse : — "A tent with rustling breezes cool Delights me more than palace high, And more the cloak of simple wool Than robes in which I learned to sigh. The crust I ate beside my tent Was more than this fine bread to me ; The wind's voice where the hill-path went Was more than tambourine can be. And more than purr of friendly cat I love the watch-dog's bark to hear; And more than a barbarian fat A cousin brave and gaunt is dear."." ' Mas'udI, Muruju 'l-Dhahab (ed. by Barbier de Meynard), vol. v. p. 77, ' Noldeke's Delectus, p. 25, 1. 3 sqq., omitting 1. 8. 196 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY Mu'dwiya, annoyed by the contemptuous allusion to him- self, took the dame at her word. She returned to her own family, and Yazld grew up as a Bedouin, with the instincts and tastes which belong to the Bedouins — love of pleasure, hatred of piety, and reckless disregard for the laws of religion. The beginning of his reign was marked by an event of which even now few Moslems can speak without a thrill of horror and dismay. The facts are briefly these : In the autumn of the year 680 Husayn, the son of 'AH, claiming to be the rightful Caliph in virtue of his descent from the Prophet, quitted Mecca with his whole family and a number of devoted friends, and set out for Kdfa, where he expected the population, which was almost entirely Shl'ite, to rally to his cause. It was a foolhardy adventure, marcheson The poct Farazdaq, who knew the fickle tem- per of his fellow-townsmen, told Husayn that although their hearts were with him, their swords would be with the Umayyads ; but his warning was given in vain. Meanwhile 'UbaydulUh b, Ziydd, the governor of Kufa, having overawed the insurgents in the city and beheaded their leader, Muslim b. 'Aqil, who was a cousin of Husayn, sent a force of cavalry with orders to bring the arch-rebel to a stand. Retreat was still open to him. But his followers cried out that the blood of Muslim must be avenged, and Husayn could not hesitate. Turning northward along the Euphrates, he encamped at Karbala with his little band, which, including the women and children, amounted to some two hundred souls. In this hopeless situation he offered terms which might have been accepted if Shamir b. Dhi '1-Jawshan, a name for ever infamous and accursed, had not persuaded 'Ubaydulldh to insist on unconditional sur- render. The demand was refused, and Husayn drew up his comrades — a handful of men and boys — for battle against the host which surrounded them. All the harrow- ing details invented by grief and passion can scarcely BATTLE OF KARBALA 197 heighten the tragedy of the closing scene. It would appear that the Umayyad officers themselves shrank from the odium of a general massacre, and hoped to ySlrynWhis take the Prophet's grandson alive. Shamir, KarMffioth howcver, had no such scruples. Chafing at tfkM^wih delay, he urged his soldiers to the assault. The '^a.d"'**' unequal struggle was soon over. Husayn fell, pierced by an arrow, and his brave followers were cut down beside him to the last man. Muhammadan tradition, which with rare exceptions is uniformly hostile to the Umayyad dynasty, regards Husayn as a martyr and Yazld as his murderer ; while o?MSt,ammaTan modern historians, for the most part, agree with ''"^wmerr"" Sir W. Muir, who points out that IJusayn, " having yielded himself to a treasonable, though impotent design upon the throne, was committing an offence that endangered society and demanded swift suppres- sion." This was naturally the view of the party in power, and the reader must form his own conclusion as to how far it justifies the action which they took. For Moslems the question is decided by the relation of the Umayyads to Islam. Violators of its laws and spurners of its 'judged ideals, they could never be anything but tyrants; and being tyrants, they had no right to slay believers who rose in arms against their usurped authority. The so-called verdict of history, when we come to examine it, is seen to be the verdict of religion, the judgment of theocratic Islam on Arabian Imperialism. On this ground the Umayyads are justly condemned, but it is well to re- member that in Moslem eyes the distinction between Church and State does not exist. Yazid was a '^'^ Yari" °* ^^^ Churchman : therefore he was a wicked tyrant ; the one thing involves the other. From our unprejudiced standpoint, he was an amiable prince who inherited his mother's poetic talent, and infin- 198 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY itely preferred wine, music, and sport to the drudgery of public affairs. The Syrian Arabs, who recognised the Umayyads as legitimate, thought highly of him : "Jucun- dissimus," says a Christian writer, " et cunctis nationibus regni ejus subditis vir gratissime habitus, qui nullam unquam, ut omnibus moris est, sibi regalis fastigii causa gloriam appetivit, sed communis cum omnibus civiliter vixit.''^ He deplored the fate of the women and children of Husayn's family, treated them with every mark of respect, and sent them to Medina, where their account of the tragedy added fresh fuel to the hatred and indignation with which its authors were generally regarded. The Umayyads had indeed ample cause to rue the day of Karbala, It gave the Shl'ite faction a rallying-cry — " Vengeance for Husayn ! " — which was taken up on all sides, and especially by the Persian Maw&ll, or Clients, who longed for deliverance from the Arab yoke. Their amalga- mation with the ShI'a — a few years later they flocked in thousands to the standard of Mukhtdr — was an event of the utmost historical importance, which will be discussed when we come to speak of the Shi'ites in particular. The slaughter of Husayn does not complete the tale of Yazld's enormities. Medina, the Prophet's city, having expelled its Umayyad governor, was sacked by ^^UeccT^ a Syrian army, while Mecca itself, where 68l!3"*D0. 'Abdulldh b. Zubayr had set up as rival Caliph, was besieged, and the Ka'ba laid in ruins. These outrages, shocking to Moslem sentiment, kindled a flame of rebellion. Husayn was avenged by Mukhtdr, Rebellion of , • \ tt- r r i i ^ i_ Mukhtar who scizcd Kuta and executed some three hun- dred of the guilty citizens, including the mis- creant Shamir. His troops defeated and slew 'UbaydullAh b. Ziyad, but he himself was slain, not long afterwards, by ■ The Continuatio of Isidore of Hispalis, § 27, quoted by Wellhausen, Das Arabische Reich unci sein Sturz, p. 105. YAZlD 199 Mus'ab, the brother of Ibn Zubayr, and seven thousand of his followers were massacred in cold blood. On Yazfd's death (683) the Umayyad Empire threatened to fall to pieces. As a contemporary poet sang — "Now loathed of all men is the Fury blind Which blazeth as a fire blown by the wind. They are split in sects : each province hath its own Commander of the Faithful, each its throne." " Fierce dissensions broke out among the Syrian Arabs, the backbone of the dynasty. The great tribal groups of Kalb and Qays, whose coalition had hitherto maintained renewed!^ ^^e Umayyads in power, fought on opposite sides at Marj Rihit (684), the former for Marwdn and the latter for Ibn Zubayr. Marwan's victory secured the allegiance of Syria, but henceforth Qays and Kalb were always at daggers drawn.2 This was essentially a feud between the Northern and the Southern Arabs — a feud which rapidly extended and developed into a permanent racial enmity. They carried it with them to the farthest ends Northern and of the world, SO that, for example, after the Southern Arabs. - „ • • i i i i conquest or bpam precautions had to be taken against civil war by providing that Northerners and Southerners should not settle in the same districts. The literary history of this antagonism has been sketched by Dr. Goldziher with his wonted erudition and acumen.3 Satire was, of course, the ' Hamdsa, 226. The word translated 'throne' is in Arabic minbar, i.e., the pulpit from which the Caliph conducted the public prayers and addressed the congregation. ' Kalb was properly one of the Northern tribes (see Robertson Smith's Kinship and Marriage, 2nd ed., p. 8 seq. — a reference which I owe to Professor Bevan), but there is evidence that the Kalbites were regarded as ' Yemenite ' or ' Southern ' Arabs at an early period of Islam. C/. Goldziher, Muhammedanische Siudien, Part I, p. 83, 1. 3 sqq. ' Muhammedanische Studien, i, 78 sqq. 20Q THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY principal weapon of both sides. Here is a fragment by a Northern poet which belongs to the Umayyad period : — " Negroes are better, when they name their sires, Than Qahtan's sons,' the uncircumcised cowards : A folk whom thou mayst see, at war's outflame. More abject than a shoe to tread in baseness ; Their women free to every lecher's lust. Their clients spoil for cavaliers and footmen." ' Thus the Arab nation was again torn asunder by the old tribal pretensions which Muhammad sought to abolish. That they ultimately proved fatal to the Umayyads is no matter for surprise ; the sorely pressed dynasty was already tottering, its enemies were at its gates. By good fortune it produced at this crisis an exceptionally able and vigorous ruler, 'Abdu '1-Malik b. Marwan, who not only saved bis house from destruction, but re-established its supremacy and inaugurated a more brilliant epoch than any that had gone before. 'Abdu '1-Malik succeeded his father in 685, but required seven years of hard fighting to make good his claim to the Caliphate. When his most formidable rival, Ibn and his Zubayr, had fallen in battle (692), the eastern provinces were still overrun by rebels, who offered a desperate resistance to the governor of 'Irdq, the iron- handed Hajjdj. But enough of bloodshed. Peace also had her victories during the troubled reign of 'Abdu '1-Malik and the calmer sway of his successors. Four of the next five Caliphs were his own sons — Walfd (705-715), Sulayman (715-717), Yazfd II (720-724), and Hishdm (724-743) ; the fifth, 'Umar II, was the son of his brother, 'Abdu 'l-'Azfz. For the greater part of this time the Moslem lands enjoyed a well-earned interval of repose and prosperity, which mitigated, though it could not undo, the frightful devastation wrought by ' Qahtan is the legendary ancestor of the Southern Arabs. " Aghdni, xiii, 51, cited by Goldziher, ibid,, p. 82. 'ABDU 'L-MALIK 201 twenty years of almost continuous civil war. Many reforms were introduced, some wholly political in character, while others inspired by the same motives have, none the less, a direct bearing on literary history. 'Abdu '1-Malik 'Abdu°S^k. organised an excellent postal service, by means of relays of horses, for the conveyance of despatches and travellers ; he substituted for the Byzantine and Persian coins, which had hitherto been in general use, new gold and silver pieces, on which he caused sentences from the Koran to be engraved ; and he made Arabic, instead of Greek or Persian, the official language of financial administration. Steps were taken, moreover, to improve the extremely defective Arabic script, and in this way to provide a sound basis for the study and interpretation of the Koran as well as for the collection of hadlths or sayings of the Prophet, which form an indispensable supplement thereto. The Arabic alphabet, as it was then written, consisted entirely ^''XaL'ic.^ °' of consonants, so that, to give an illustration from English, bnd might denote band, bend, bind, or bond ; crt might stand for cart, carat, curt, and so on. To an Arab this ambiguity mattered little ; far worse confusion arose from the circumstance that many of the consonants themselves were exactly alike : thus, e.g., it was possible to read the same combination of three letters as bnt, nbt, byt, tnb, nth, nyb, and in various other ways. Considering the difficul- ties of the Arabic language, which are so great that a European aided by scientific grammars and unequivocal texts will often find himself puzzled even when he has become tolerably familiar with it, one may imagine that the Koran was virtually a sealed book to all but a few among the crowds of foreigners who accepted Islam after the early conquests. 'Abdu'l-Malik's viceroy in 'Irdq, the famous flajjaj, who began life as a school- master, exerted himself to promote the use of vowel-marks (borrowed from the Syriac) and ot the diacritical points placed above or below similar consonants. This extraordinary man 202 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY deserves more than a passing mention. A stern disciplinarian, who could be counted upon to do his duty without any regard to public opinion, he was chosen by 'Abdu '1-Malik ■ WyHA.Dl)" to besiege Mecca, which Ibn Zubayr was holding as anti-Caliph, Hajjaj bombarded the city, defeated the Pretender, and sent his head to Damascus. Two years afterwards he became governor of 'Iraq. Entering the Mosque at Kiifa, he mounted the pulpit and introduced himself to the assembled townsmen in these memorable words : — "I am he who scattereth the darkness and climbeth o'er the summits. When I Hft the turban from my face, ye will know me.' O people of Kiifa I I see heads that are ripe for cutting, and I am the man to do it ; and methinks, I see blood between the turbans and beards." = The rest of his speech was in keeping with the commencement. He used no idle threats, as the malcontents soon found out. Rebellion, which had been rampant before his arrival, was rapidly extinguished. " He restored order in 'Iraq and subdued its people." 3 For twenty years his despotic rule gave peace and security to the Eastern world. Cruel he may have been, though the tales of his bloodthirstiness are beyond doubt grossly exaggerated, but it should be put to his credit that he estab- "ifteSire.'" lished and maintained the settled conditions which afford leisure for the cultivation of learning. Under his protection the Koran and Traditions were diligently studied both in Kufa and Basra, where many Companions of the Prophet had made their home : hence arose in Basra the science of Grammar, with which, as we shall see in a subse- quent page, the name of that city is peculiarly associated. " A verse of the poet SuJtiaym b. Wathil. » The K&mil of al-Mubarrad, ed. by W. Wright, p. 215, 1. 14 sqq. 3 Ibn Qutayba, Kitdbu 'l-Ma'drif, p. 20S. HAJjAj IBN YtfSUF 203 Hajjij shared the literary tastes of his sovereign ; he admired the old poets and patronised the new ; he was a master of terse eloquence and plumed himself on his elegant Arabic style. The most hated man of his time, he lives in history as the savage oppressor and butcher of God-fearing Moslems. He served the Umayyads well and faithfully, and when he died in 714 a.d. he left behind him nothing but his Koran, his arms, and a few hundred pieces of silver. It was a common saying at Damascus that under Walld people talked of fine buildings, under Sulaymdn of cookery and the fair sex, while in the reign of 'Umar b. (7o5^?5A.D.). '-^'"^ al-'Azfz the Koran and religion formed favourite topics of conversation.' Of Walid's passion for architecture we have a splendid monument in the Great Mosque of Damascus (originally the Cathedral of St. John), which is the principal sight of the city to this day. He spoke Arabic very incorrectly, and though his father rebuked him, observing that " in order to rule the Arabs one must be proficient in their language," he could never learn to express himself with propriety.^ The unbroken peace which now prevailed within the Empire enabled Walid to resume the work of conquest. In the East his armies invaded Transoxania, captured Bokhir£ and Samarcand, and pushed forward to the Chinese frontier. Another conquests in the force crossed the Indus and penetrated as far as Miiltan, a renowned centre of pilgrimage in the Southern Punjaub, which fell into the hands of the Moslems after a prolonged siege. But the most brilliant advance, and the richest in its results, was that in the extreme West, which decided the fate of Spain. Although the Moslems had obtained a footing in Northern Africa some thirty years before this time, their position was always precarious, until in 709 Musa ' Al-Fakhri, p. 173 ; Ibnu 'l-Athfr, ed. by Tornberg, v, 5. = Ibid., p. 174. Cf. Mas'iidi, Muruju l-Dhahab, v, 412. 204 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY b. Nusayr completely subjugated the Berbers, and extended not only the dominion but also the faith of Islam to the Atlantic Ocean. Two years later his freedman Tariq °spain ° crossed the straits and took possession of the commanding height, called by the ancients Calpe, but henceforth known as Jabal Tariq (Gibraltar), Roderic, the last of the West Gothic dynasty, gathered an army in defence of his kingdom, but there were traitors in the camp, and, though he himself fought valiantly, their defection turned the fortunes of the day. The king fled, and it was never ascertained what became of him. Tdriq, meeting with feeble resistance, marched rapidly on Toledo, while Miisi, whose jealousy was excited by the triumphal progress of his lieu- tenant, now joined in the campaign, and, storming city after city, reached the Pyrenees. The conquest of Spain, which is told by Moslem historians with many romantic circumstances, marks the nearest approach that the Arabs ever made to World-Empire. Their advance on French soil was finally hurled back by Charles the Hammer's great victory at Tours (732 A.D.). Before taking leave of the Umayyads we must not forget to mention 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz, a ruler who stands out in singular contrast with his predecessors, and whose ai-'AJii brief reign is regarded by many Moslems as the sole bright spot in a century of godless and blood- stained tyranny. There had been nothing like it since the days of his illustrious namesake and kinsman,^ 'Umar b. al-Khattab, and we shall find nothing like it in the future history of the Caliphate. Plato desired that every king should be a philosopher : according to Muhammadan theory every Caliph ought to be a saint. 'Umar satisfied these aspirations. When he came to the throne the following dialogue is said to have occurred between him and one of his favourites, Silim al-Suddi : — ' His mother, Umm 'Asim, was a granddaughter of 'Umar I. 'UMAR B. 'ABD AL-'AZlZ 205 'Umar : " Are you glad on account of my accession, or sorry ?" Salim : " I am glad for the people's sake, but sorry for yours." 'Umar : " I fear that I have brought perdition upon my soul." Salim : " If you are afraid, very good. I only fear that you may cease to be afraid." 'Umar : " Give me a word of counsel." Salim : " Our father Adam was driven forth from Paradise because of one sin." ' Poets and orators found no favour at his court, which was thronged by divines and men of ascetic life.= He warned his governors that they must either deal justly or go. He would not allow political considerations to interfere with his ideal of righteousness, but, as Wellhausen points out, he had practical ends in view : his piety made him anxious for the common weal no less than for his own salvation. Whether he administered the State successfully is a matter of dispute. It has been generally supposed that his financial reforms were Utopian in character and disastrous to the Exchequer.3 However this may be, he showed wisdom in seeking to bridge the menacing chasm between Islam and the Imperial house. Thus, e.g., he did away with the custom which had long prevailed of cursing 'All from the pulpit at Friday prayers. The policy of conciliation was tried too late, and for too short a space, to be efiFective ; but it was not entirely fruitless. When, on the overthrow of the Umayyad dynasty, the tombs of the hated ' tyrants ' were defiled and their bodies dis- interred, 'Umar's grave alone was respected, and Mas'iidl ■ Mas'iidi, Muruju 'l-Dhahab, v, 419 seq. = Ibnu '1-Athir, ed. by Tornberg, v, 46. C/. Aghdnt, xx, p. 119, 1. 23. 'Umar made an exception, as Professor Bevan reminds me, in favour of the poet Jarir. See Brockelmann's Gesch. der Arab. LUteratur, vol. i, p. 57. 3 The exhaustive researches of Wellhausen, Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz (pp. 169-192) have set this complicated subject in a new light. He contends that 'Umar's reform was not based on purely ideal grounds, but was demanded by the necessities of the case, and that, so far from introducing disorder into the finances, his measures were designed to remedy the confusion which already existed. 206 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY (t956 A.D.) tells us that in his time it was visited by crowds of pilgrims. The remaining Umayyads do not call for particular notice. Hishim ranks as a statesman with Mu'dwiya and 'Abdu '1-Malik : the great 'Abbasid Caliph, Mansur, is "widi?.^ said to have admired and imitated his methods of government.! Walld II was an incorrigible libertine, whose songs celebrating the forbidden delights of wine have much merit. The eminent poet and freethinker, Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma'arrf, quotes these verses by him ^ : — "The Imam Walfd am I ! In all my glory Of trailing robes I listen to soft lays. Verses by Walld II When proudly I sweep on towards her chamber, (743-4 A-D.)- J gjjfg jjQf ^jjQ inveighs. There's no true joy but lending ear to music, Or wine that leaves one sunk in stupor dense. Houris in Paradise I do not look for : Does any man of sense ? " Let us now turn from the monarchs to their subjects. In the first place we shall speak of the political and religious parties, whose opposition to the Umayyad House gradually undermined its influence and in the end brought re^Mous move- ^bout its fall. Some account will be given of the "'perM.""' i