With travellers.—According to some, is applied only to those who are mounted on camels, and he who is mounted on a horse is called , of which the plural in use is , as the owner of, or attendant on, mules, asses, or elephants, or the rider on one of these animals, is called , the plural being formed by the addition of . But others deny this, and quote the verse of Imr al Ḳays— “When they mount their horses, and put on their breast-plates, the earth grows hot though the day be cold:” Dîwân, p. 42. This, it is said, is a proof that can be applied to horses. But Sherîshi points out that the former opinion is, after all, correct, for the Arabs, when they use alone, apply it always to the riding on camels; and if riding on any other animal be intended, the name of the animal is mentioned, as in the verse quoted, Ḥarîri, in the Durrah (Anthol. Gram. Arabe, p. 54, Texte Arabe), says that ought not to be used of a mixed body or train of animals, since it applies to camels only; and so signifies exclusively one who is mounted on a camel. But he admits that Al Khalîl ibn Aḥmed allows and to be applied to people mounted on any kind of beasts, the difference between the two words being that the latter is applied to a more numerous company than the former. In accordance with this high authority, I have translated simply travellers.

The Benû Nomayr.—Nomayr descended from Ghaṭafân, through Khasaf, Hawâzin, Bekr, Mu‘âwiyeh, Ṣa‘ṣa‘ah and ‘Âmir. They dwelt in the plains beyond the mountains which separate Tihâmeh from Nejd, and extended as far north as Yathrib (Medina). The sons of ‘Âmir were Hilâl, Ghanî, Rabî‘ah and Nomayr (see Caussin de Perceval’s Genealogical Tables, No. X., part A.), and the sons of Rabî‘ah were ‘Âmir ibn Rabî‘ah, Kilâb, and Ka‘b. Though having this celebrated kindred, Nomayr refused to ally itself with another tribe, and hence is known as one of the three . The derivation of is doubtful; but it is applied to a tribe which is strong enough to depend on itself, and will not form alliances or confederacies with any other; so that to say of the sons of Such an one that they are a means that they are strong and able to defend themselves. Sherîshi says, “The Benû Nomayr are a tribe of the Benû Ṣa‘ṣa‘ah, and one of the of the Arabs, and the most noble of the families of Ḳays son of Ghaylân (Ghaṭafân issued from Moḍar by Ḳays ibn Ghaylân). Now the Jamrât of the Arabs are three, and were called so because they multiplied among themselves and no others mixed with them, for in the speech of the Arabs signifies collecting together; these were the Benû Nomayr and the Benû ’l Ḥârith ibn Ka‘b and the Benû Ḍabbah (son of Udd son of Ṭâbikhah son of Elyas son of Moḍar). Two of these became extinct, the Benû Ḍabbah by confederating with Ribâb, and the Benû ’l Ḥârith by confederat­ing with Methḥij, and Nomayr alone remained. One of their poets has said,

‘Nomayr are the Jamrah of the Arabs; they cease not to burn in war.’” To understand this verse it must be borne in mind that signifies a “live coal” as well as an independent tribe. Yet with all this pride of race it does not appear that they played any pre-eminently distinguished part in early Arab history.

Wealth and worth.—This is the best rendering I can find for this phrase, which belongs to the class known as . The two words have almost the same meaning, if be considered to be, like , a supply of anything which one has acquired. When used negatively the phrase means that a man is poor and useless, Arab. Prov. II. 634; and here the sense may be that they were a prosperous and serviceable people. But Sherîshi gives to the metaphorical sense of friendship, which is con­sistent with the meaning of as a maṣdar; for the latter signifies the bringing in provision for one’s friends or fellow travellers; so that the phrase may mean in the text well-to-do and liberal people.

Making a marriage feast.— is used especially in the sense of a feast at a wedding; compare a note to Assembly Eleven. is any feast to which persons are invited. is the general multitude; those who, as it were, troop or hurry in to a feast when they are invited. See Commentary, p. 373, De Sacy’s edition. is a general invitation as opposed to , a select invitation.

Both of settled land and of desert; otherwise called , the people of mortar, that is, those living in perma­nent houses; and , the people of goat’s or camel’s hair, that is, those living in tents made of such materials. Accord­ing to the commentary on a verse in the Ḥamâseh, p. 670, Arab. Text, was a man who was of the pure race of the Arabs, whether he lived in cities or in the desert; while were those who dwelt in the desert, whether Arabs by race or not; and one of the latter was . The Commentator quotes a verse, “They call us , but is our name.”

Both the important and those of no account.—Both those whom it was necessary to invite, as his own relatives and friends, and the chief merchants of the caravan; and those who might have been neglected, as the servants and drivers, and the lower class of people. This is the explanation of Sherîshi, and is obviously more reasonable than the others given in De Sacy’s Commentary.

Of one hand and two: What was soft and might be eaten with one hand, as tharîd, and the like, and what needed to be broken or pulled to pieces by using both hands, as meat. This ex­pression is ascribed to Ḥassân ibn Thâbit, who, being blind, was at a feast of the Anṣar or Moslems of Medina with his son Abd ar Raḥmân. When the tharîd was set on, he said, “My son, is it of one hand or two?” “Of one,” answered his son, and Ḥassân put forth one hand to eat it. When the roast meat came he asked the same question, and being told that it was of “two hands,” he abstained; thinking, it would seem, that he could not cut or tear it decently from the dish like the others. Ḥassân ibn Thâbit was one of the chief poets of the days of the Prophet, and one of the three who sang his praises in opposition to the satirical poets on the other side. The other two were Ka‘b ibn Mâlik and ‘Abd Allah ibn Rawâḥah. He died a.h. 54, at the age, it is said, of 120 years. Details concerning him will be found in Caussin de Perceval’s Essai; the reader may also be referred to Hammer-Purgstall’s Literaturgeschichte. A great number of his verses are to be found in the Sîrat ar Resûl, and a fragment in the Ḥamâseh, p. 737, Ar. Text. It was to his poetical powers that the conversion of the tribe of Temîm was mainly due, since he vanquished their chief poet in a mufâkharah. Like Horace, he was more eminent for his poetry than for his courage on the battle field; and his cowardice lost him the favour of the Prophet, who was also incensed against him as one of the calumniators of ‘Âyisheh in the affair of Ṣafwân ibn al Mo‘aṭṭal. When ‘Âyisheh’s innocence was re­vealed to Mohammed (Koran, xxiv. 11) he ordered Ḥassân and some others to receive each eighty strokes with a rod; a punish­ment which is still inflicted by Moslems on those who falsely accuse a woman of adultery.

Tesnîm, a fountain in Paradise. At Koran lxxxiii. 27, it is said that the wine of the blessed shall be mixed with Tesnîm, “a fountain at which those who are brought near (to God) shall drink.” According to Bayḍâwi, it is called Tesnîm from the loftiness of its position, or the nobility of its draught. He, how­ever, considers that a distinction is made in the text between the and the rest of the people of Paradise; and that the meaning is that the former will drink of the fount of Tesnîm unmixed, and the latter mixed. In Freytag’s Lexicon it is said that the fount of Tesnîm flows over the place called . It is elsewhere defined as the highest and noblest of the drinks of Paradise.