As the Rebels invested Abû Na‘âmeh.—Among the bands of Separatists, or Rebels, who arose after the death of ‘Othmân and disturbed the Khalifate during many years, was the sect of the Azâriḳah, implacable enemies of the House of Omayyeh. In the 68th year of the Hijra (a.d. 687) they made an eruption out of Persia and overran all Irak till they came near Kufa. Al Moḥallib, governor of Mowṣil, mustered his troops at Basra and met them in battle: they are said to have fought for eight months without intermitting a single day. Abû Na‘âmet al Ḳa-ṭarî ibn al Fujâ’ah seems to have been at the head of these fierce sectaries. His life is given by Ibn Khallikân, who says that he commenced his revolt when Muṣ‘ab ibn az Zobayr was governing Irak as lieutenant of his brother ‘Abdallah. Muṣ‘ab was ap­pointed to this post in the year 66, and Abû Na‘âmeh continued for twenty years to wage war, and to be saluted with the title of Khalif. He was a man of wonderful bravery; and unless the lines which bear his name in the Ḥamâseh have been falsely at­tributed to him, he had some poetical genius. It is related of him that in one of his battles he rode forth from the ranks on a lean horse, with a cudgel in his hand, and challenged the opposite party to send out a man to fight with him. One of them went forth to encounter him, but fled when Abû Na‘âmeh removed the covering from his face and showed who he was. “Whither art thou going?” exclaimed the rebel champion. “No man need be ashamed of flying from thee,” returned his adversary. Ibn Khallikân goes on to say that Abû Na‘âmeh continued his suc­cesses until Sofyân ibn al Abrad al Kelbi marched against him and defeated him in the year 78; and notices the discrepancy between this date and the assertion that he was saluted as Khalif for twenty years after his revolt.

Verses by Abû Na‘âmet al Ḳaṭari are to be found in the Ḥa­mâseh, Vol. I. p. 44. The warrior addresses his soul and bids it to be courageous in war, to remember the certainty of death, the worthlessness of life, and the common fate which awaits all mor­tals. Ibn Khallikân says of them, “They would give courage to the greatest coward God ever created; and I know of nothing on the subject to be compared with them: they could only have proceeded from a haughty spirit aspiring after glory.” Like many of the early Arab heroes he was also famous for his pulpit oratory. Sherîshi gives a Khoṭbah by him on the worthlessness of the world, and cites some verses of his composition. He says that he had the kinyeh of Abû Na‘âmeh in war from his mare Na‘âmeh (ostrich), but that in peace he was called Abû Mo-ḥammed.

The name of Khawârij was given to those fanatical followers of ‘Ali who, after the battle of Ṣiffîn, repudiated his authority and went into open revolt against both the contending Khalifs. The Azâriḳah owed their origin to Nâfi‘ ibn al Azraḳ, a heretical leader. An account of their tenets is given by Ash Shahrestâni. They held ‘Ali to be an unbeliever, and reverenced his murderer, ‘Abdallah ibn Muljim. But with impartial hatred they damned ‘Othmân, Ṭalḥah, Zobayr, ‘Âyisheh, ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Abbâs, and other Moslems. For a full account of Abû Na‘âmeh, see Weil, Geschichte der Chalifen, Vol. I. p. 395.

The straightening of my crookedness: the deliverance of my­self from embarrassment.

Come with a sign, etc.—Koran xxvi. 154.

Wool thy inkflask.—Make it ready by putting into it the wool in which the ink is kept absorbed, to prevent it from drying up.

Ghassân is my noble kindred.—The metre of these verses is . The has been described in the notes to the Fourth Assembly. The present measure is considered to be of the third , which is , and the first which is , and the metre is as follows:

On these beautiful verses Rückert, who has so well imitated them, remarks: “Dieser Ton, den Abû Seid öfter, und nie ohne zu rühren, anstimmt, ist gleichsam der zurückgedrängte reine Grundton seines Innern, der von Zeit zu Zeit aus den moralischen Dissonanzen hervorbricht, und sie in sich aufzulösen strebt. Ohne diese einzige Wahrheit in seinem aus Lug und Trug gewebten Leben könnte er gar keine poetische Person vorstellen. Diese elegische Klage um ein verlorenes Jugendparadies, und diese Sehnsucht nach einem theueren Vaterland, sind nicht er-dichtet. Man fühlt das überall, wo dieser Ton anhebt, aber voll-ständigen Aufschluss darüber gibt der Dichter, sehr kunstgerecht, erst in der ehvorletzten Makame. Mann kann sagen: Dieses gute Härchen am grauen Sünderkopf ist es, woran der Himmel ihn hält, um ihn zuletzt aus der Irre zur Heimat zurück zu führen.”

Filled his mouth with pearls.—Conferred on him rich presents.

Sure to traverse the lands.—Metre . See notes to First Assembly.