Of the epoch of the bursting of the dyke of Mârib it is im­possible to speak with accuracy. It took place probably more than a century after the birth of Christ. Mârib is mentioned by Pliny as a flourishing city in his time; and even Bayḍâwi, with all his orthodox respect for tradition, admits that the ca­lamity occurred between the time of Christ and Moḥammed. Other writers also speak of it as having occurred in the , a name applied pre-eminently to this period. De Sacy, review­ing the various narratives and genealogies, places it between 150 and 170 a.d. M. Caussin de Perceval, Essai, I. 87, inclines to a somewhat earlier epoch, the beginning of the second century. But respecting the emigration which took place we are in less doubt. The tradition related by Mas‘ûdi is that ‘Amrân, the diviner, indicated the direction that each family should take according to its strength and courage. Those who followed ‘Amr Muzayḳîyâ himself journeyed to the land of Akk, which is on the sea coast in the northern part of Yemen, and were received hospitably by the tribes. Here they established themselves, according to Mas‘ûdi, near a pool called Ghassân, from which they afterwards took their name; and here ‘Amr died. He was succeeded by his son Tha‘labeh, in whose time, or soon after it, the emigrants, who were called from their ancestor the Benû Azd, came into the district of Mecca, and either destroyed or greatly reduced the power of Jorhom. Some of the descendants of Azd settled in the country of ‘Omân. These were, according to Mas‘ûdi, the men of whom ‘Amrân said, “Ye who have a far-reaching purpose, and a strong camel, and a new provision bag,” that is the boldest and richest of the people; and they were called afterwards Azd of ‘Omân. Others, less enterprising, settled among the Kurds in the country of Hamadân, under Wâdi‘ah son of ‘Amr. They became con­founded with that people, and hence the tradition that the Kurds are the descendants of ‘Amr Muzayḳîyâ. Others repaired to Mina in the Nejd, which is the same as Sirâh. These obtained the name of because of the divisions which subsequently reigned among them. After the death of ‘Amr the emigrant families who went with him divided and settled in various countries. The family of his son Jafneh established itself in Syria. Ows and Khazraj, sons of Tha‘labeh, fixed them­selves at Yathrib, afterwards called Medina. Mâlik settled in Irak. The tribe of Ṭay went to the Nejd. The history of these emigrations is very obscure; but it is sufficiently established that many of the most powerful tribes of Arabia and the northern country, including the royal race of Ghassân and the Khozâ‘ah at Mecca, came from Yemen. It has been conjectured with great probability that political causes, as well as a falling off in the fertility of the country, may have been the cause of this celebrated emigration.

The Arabic writers generally make Saba the son of Yashjob, the son of Ya‘rob (who was the first person who spoke Arabic or made it clear by the ) the son or descendant of Ḳaḥṭân. Saba had the name of ‘Abd Shems (servant or worshipper of the sun), and he begat two sons, Ḥimyar and Kahlân. This genealogy shows that they consider the Ḥim-yaritic Arabs of the south to be identical in race with the ancient Sabæans. The name of Saba is, no doubt, of very great antiquity, since at Genesis x. 28, Sheba is made the son of Joktan, whom the Arabs identify with Ḳaḥṭân. There is another Sheba the son of Raamah and grandson of Cush mentioned at verse 7, with whom the former must not be confounded. This Sheba son of Raamah has, like Sheba the grandson of Abraham, a brother called Dedan, from which it would seem that two different genealogies have been attributed to a single race.