f\

f\
EL-MAS'UDf S

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA,

ENTITLED

MEADOWS OF GOLD AND MINES OF GEMS"

TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC

BY

ALOYS SPRENGER, M.D.

VOL. I.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THE ORIENTAL TRANSLATION FUND
OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
SOLD BY
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET;
AND
PARBURY, ALLEN, AND Co., LEADENHALL STREET.

MDCCCXLI.
 5)17

LONDON :

HARRISON AND CO., PRINTERS,

ST. MARTIN'S LANE.
 THIS WORK

IS

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

TO THE

RIGHT HONOURABLE

THE EARL OF MUNSTER,

BY

THE TRANSLATOR,

790984
 PREFACE.

"SOME authors treat in their works exclu-

sively on history, as el-Mas' udi in his book
entitled THE MEADOWS OF GOLD in which
;

he describes the state of the nations and

countries of the East and West, as they
were in his age, that is to say, in 330 (332),
A.H. He gives an account of the genius and
usages of the nations, a description of the
countries, mountains, seas, kingdoms, and
dynasties ; and he distinguishes the Arabian
race from the Barbarians. El-Mas'udi be-
came, through this work, the prototype of

Uf

fAxl>*
VI PREFACE.

all historians to whom

they refer, and the
authority on which they rely in the critical
estimate of many facts, which form the
subject of their labours.
"Then came el-Bekri, who followed the

example of el-Mas'udi, but only in geogra-

phy, and not with respect to other subjects
(ethnography and history) for the changes
;

which had taken place in his time, since

el-Mas'udi, in the relative position and state
of nations, and in the spirit of times (literally,
the generations) were not material. But,
at present, at the end of the eighth cen-

tury, a complete revolution has taken place

with the Maghrib, where we live.
"I take advantage, in this book, of all

the opportunities of collecting information

 PREFACE. VII

which are at my command here in the

Maghrib, to give an idea (of human society
and its history), and a systematical and
full account (of the facts referring to this
subject). But my object is to
particular
describe the Maghrib, and the condition of
the inhabitants of this part of the globe in
different periods (literally, the condition of
the generations) and of its various nations,
and to give a narrative of the kingdoms
which flourished here, and of the dynasties
which ruled over it. I must exclude the

history of other countries, for I do not know

the condition and circumstances in which
the Eastern countries, and the nations who
live there, are and mere report, however
;

exact it may be, does not enable me to

accomplish the task which I have in view.

El-Mas'udi has fully accomplished this task,
having made very extensive journeys, and
 PKEFACK.

examined almost all countries, as we learn

from his book but where he speaks of the
;

Maghrib, his account is too short/' (Ibn

Khaldun, Proleg.)
The frequent quotations and extracts
from el-Mas'udi, in other Arabic authors,
show that Ibn Khaldun' s opinion of our
author was universal. And we cannot hesi-
tate to compare him with the Jonian histo-
rian: If it is the warmth for his own

nationality and tenets without prejudice

against what is foreign; the elasticity of
mind to receive impressions, and to appre-
ciate opinions, without want of firmness and
principles ;
the thirst for correctness of
information without preconceived criticism,
which rejects what is unknown, if it differs
from known facts the vastness of experi-
;

c .s

MS. of Leyden,
No. 1350, foL 12; addit. MS. of the British
Museum, No. 9574, fol. 23.
 PREFACE. IX

ence and deep learning acquired through

extensive journeys, frequent intercourse
with men of all nations and opinions, with-
out neglecting that self-knowledge which is

acquired in solitary self- contemplation and

the basis of history and if it is that ex-
;

tensiveknowledge and enlarged mind which

embraces all the past, reflecting on the
present; and that sound criticism, which,
entering into the feelings of nations, and
penetrated by those ideas, imaginations,
and tendencies, which mankind feel at all
times, selects what is national and charac-
teristic although itnot always bear the
may
stamp of logical reasoning if it is for these
;

merits that Herodotus has acquired the

name of Father of History, and of the great-
est of all Historians, el-Mas'udi has a just
claim to be called the Herodotus of the
Arabs. Combining, like Herodotus, ethno-
graphy and geography with history, and
learning with experience and oral informa-
tion, he distinguishes between the various
nations of the East, and gives us a picture of
their innate character then he follows up
;

those ideas and principles, which, under the

X PREFACE.

form of religion for the uneducated, and as

philosophy or as an instrument to lead the
great mass, for men in power, have grown up
from the character of each nation, or were
embraced by the nation, if they had been
first pronounced by one man or a prophet.

He shows us particularly, in the second

part, how such opinions served as a spiritual
link to connect man with man, to strengthen
the ties of blood and language, and to cover
interests with the veil of sacredness ; and
how religious opinions brought nations into
conflict with each other.
El-Mas' iidi has the merit of treating the
tenets of all sects with equal attention; and
ancient traditions which had existed in the
East for thousands of years, seem to have
been melted, as it were, in his mind, into
one original idea, as they had flowed from
one common In this respect, even
source.
his History of the Creation is of interest ;

for he unites the traditions respecting cos-

mogony which were kept up in the East,

together with the documents of Moses and

Sanchoniaton, with the Scriptural accounts*.

* This
may be shown by the classification of the fruit trees
 PREFACE. XI

Although the praise which Ibn Khaldun

gives to El-Mas'udi, considering him as the
Imam of all Arabic historians, does not
apply to the first period of Arabic literature ;

yet he may indeed be considered as the re-

presentative of the learning of the second
period the importance of his work must
:

therefore be identified with that of Moham-

medan But the useful-
literature generally.
ness of Oriental studies has been questioned

by a class of men whose opinions deserve

which el-Mas'udi gives, p. 60 infra, which is a tradition of

the Guebres, and agrees as well with the Zend-Avesta, as if it

were a translation: " Tout arbre qui vient dans les deux Mondes,

(dont) le bois (est) sec ou humide, et qui est cultive (par la main
de 1'homme), porte des fleurs et des fruits, est de trente especes.
Dix (de ces) especes (portent des fruits) dont on peut manger
le dedans et le dehors, comme le figuier, le pommier, le coignas-

sier, 1'oranger, la vigne, le murier, le dattier, le myrthe, et les

autres arbres de cette espece.

Dix (especes portent des fruits), dont on peut manger le de-

dans, comme le dattier, le pecher, 1'abricotier blanc, et les autres

arbres de cette espece.

Ceux-ci (les dix dernieres especes, portent des fruits), dont
on peut manger le dedans, et dont on ne doit pas manger le dehors,

s^avoir, le noyer, 1'amandier, le grenadier, le cocotier, le noisetier,

le chateignier, le pistachier sauvage, le noyer, dont le fruit a la
coquille tendre. II
y a encore beaucoup d'arbres fruitiers de cette
espece." (Boun Dehesch xxvii., vol. ii., p. 406.)
Xll PREFACE.

respect. These dry grammatical studies,

being mostly a task for memory, enslave the
mind, and contract its horizon, instead of
enlarging it whereas, all pursuits which
;

have no practical use should contribute to

raise the energies of man, to enlarge his
views on the condition of mankind, and to
make him more free. This is their language.
It is, therefore, the best introduction for the
reader to our author, and for our author to
the reader, to devote this Preface to some
considerations on the relation of Oriental
studies to the present state of European
knowledge. It is the more necessary to

speak on this point, that the reader may

know the tendency of the notes of the trans-
lator, otherwise he might be blamed for his

endeavour, because it cannot be denied, that

the senseless learning displayed by some

philologists, of all denominations, in their

notes, full of useless quotations, are the
overflowings of a weak brain, but industrious
hand, and as offensive to common sense as
the eructations of a weak but overloaded
stomach, with which they may be compared.
It may be presumed that, if we had an
 PREFACE. Xlll

exact picture of the rise, progress, height, and

downfall of a nation, we might, by compari-
son, come
to the result, that there are cer-
tain laws in the growth of nations, as we
observe them in individuals, which develope
certain faculties and feelings at certain

periods of historical life.* And how should

it be otherwise, since we find that certain
tendencies, wants, and ideas, are as con-
stantly met with in the mind of man, under
every climate and circumstance, as the laws
of nature are in matter So, for instance, ?

there is no human being who has not a ten-

dency to rise above others, as there is no mat-

ter without gravity. The
spirited feels this
tendency as ambition, the idle as vanity, the
weak as fashion, the affectionate mother as
love and foresight for her child, and only the
self-conceited carries his vanity so far as to
think that he is free from it. In a society

* Ibn
Kaldun, who started this idea four or five centuries
before Herder and Lessing, devotes a chapter of his Prolego-

mena to it, which is inscribed 3UxA>Jb

j\\ l$! J^jJJ /.^J ^
" that
(jolacvJi $ ruling nations go through natural periods
of life like individuals."
XIV PREFACE.

where all equal, every one will strive

are
to raise himself above the rest, and to|rule;
and if one man stands so high that he cannot
be outdone, it will appear a worthy prize of
exertion to approach him, and to gain his
favour by servility. The ambition of youth
consists in noble enthusiasm; but as soon as
man has been taught by disappointment to
be wise, and as soon as he is rooted and fet-
tered to life by wife and children, his objects
are morematerial. no great action,
There is

good or bad, to which youth cannot be led

by imagination, as there is no baseness and
dishonesty to which a married man is not
ready, provided it promises a safe profit for
himself and his race. We
find exactly the
same in nations. What high actions were per-
formed by the Arabs when they first came forth
from their deserts and to what baseness did
;

they sink when their state had become old

and rotten The Greek and Roman history
!

presents us with more known, but not more

decided, examples for the rest there is no
;

need of going so far; we find examples at

home. The history of modern Europe dates
since the Crusades, when the sceptre of the
 PREFACE. XV

world was wrested from the hands of the

Arabs, who had pushed their conquests over
Europe as far as they wished. Is not the
enthusiasm which then enlivened nations

compared with the tendency of our age, in

which wealth alone gives claim to the honours
and privileges of the Peerage, like the noble
impetuosity of youth in comparison with
senile avarice ? Ibn Khaldun believes, there-
fore, that the following are the periods of
life through which a nation that has arrived
at power will go:
" On
the phases of the dynasty and the

changes of its state and condition. The

nomadic manners of the members of the
dynasty (who have subjected the country
through their nomadic bravery^ in the va-

rious phases.
" Know
that the dynasty passes through
various phases and revolutions ; and the
members of the dynasty (the men in power)
XVI PREFACE.

show in every phase a different character

which is consistent with the circumstances
of the respective phase, and different from
that of every other phase, for we are crea-
tures of circumstances (literally, for the cha-
racter of man follows in its nature the crisis
of the circumstances under which he is

placed). The conditions and phases of a

dynasty may generally be reduced to five.

" The first the phase of conquest, by
is

invading the country, overcoming resistance

and any difficulties which may be opposed,
and by making one's self master of the sove-
reign power, and wresting it from the hand
of the preceding dynasty. In this phase the
man (or family) who stands at the head of
the dynasty (i. e. conquerors) will be on a
level with the rest of the conquering nation,

*AJ yfc g&l

^ilaJi ;> b$\ j\J
J30,\
 PREFACE. XVI

and be distinguished neither by majesty nor

by a greater share in the revenue, nor will
his person be particularly protected and
sacred. He will not
enjoy any privilege
before the rest, as a natural consequence of

patriotism, which alone gives conquest, and

which does not (immediately) cease after

victory.
"In the second phase the man who
stands at the head of
dynasty, ac- the

quires the sovereignty over his own nation :

he appropriates to himself exclusively the

royalty (over the conquered nation), and

*
By rendering the word XxXAaxJI, I change an Arabic idea
into an European notion. The Arab loves his family, his tribe,
and his nation:
they are his parents, his brothers, his children.
But the free Bedouin is not attached to the soil. We have a
similar predilection for our native soil.
Compare the note to

page 176, infra.

C
Xviii PREFACE.

keeps his tribe at a distance, instead of allow-

ing them an equal share (in the emoluments
of the conquest), and of associating with
them. The characteristics of this phase are,
that the sovereign will connect a great num-
ber of men with his personal interests, by
office and adoption, with whom he sur-

rounds himself to counteract the overbearing

character of his countrymen (relations) who
have assisted him in the conquest and who, ;

having equal claims by birth, demand an

equal share in power. He excludes them
from the administration, keeps them at a
distance from his person, and repels them
if they should intrude, to the end that the

power may remain in his hands, and that

his family may be distinguished by the ma-

jUii, 3U4UJ5

(UU-o) Uxx^j^UJ *k ^ XJ^xJt

 PREFACE. XIX

jesty of which he has laid the foundation.

He is now as anxious to keep them off,
and to subdue them, as the first conquerors
were in their contest for the kingdom and :

he goes still further than they did for they

;

had to do with foreigners, so that the differ-

ence between the two parties was distinctly
marked, for they were all connected by
patriotism in their wars, whereas he has to
contend with his relations; and his assistants
in his manoeuvres are the minority, consisting
of strangers : he must therefore brave diffi-

culties.
" In the third
stage he gives himself up to
comforts, for he has attained his object, and
is now enjoying the the supreme
fruits of

power, indulging in pleasure, for which the

XX PREFACE.

human mind has a natural inclination : as to

increase the revenue, to found lasting monu-
ments, to have great fame. The sovereign,
therefore, directs his intentions towards the
revenue department and increases it j he keeps
the balance between income and expend-
iture; he calculates the expenses and the
object which he gains by them he erects;

numerous buildings, great fabrics, extensive

cities, and lofty public monuments ;
he re-
ceives the nobles of the nation and the chiefs
of the tribes who come as envoys to his
court to do him homage ;
and he is kind to
those who are in his service. His favourites
and suite enjoy at the same time great wealth
and importance his standing army is kept
;

*.>
 PREFACE. XXI

in good order they have ample pay, which

;

is regularly received every new moon the

;

consequences of this regularity are to be

seen in their dress, uniform, and appearance,
on parade days. The allies of the sovereign
phase boast of his friendship, and his
in this
enemies are filled with fear. This is the
lastphase of the sovereignty of those who
stand at the head of the dynasty (i.e. the
conquerors), for, hitherto, the conquerors
have had absolute power to follow their
views they were distinguished by grandeur,
;

as luminaries to posterity.
"Thefourth phase is that of being
contented^ and of conservatism. The man
who stands at the head of the conquerors
XX11 PREFACE.

will content himself with keeping up what

his predecessors have done ; (he is no longer
the mere Emir of the conquering tribes,) but
he is equal to any other king, being an auto-
crat he confirms what his predecessors have
:

done and imitates them step by step (lite-

rally, he follows their slippers and shoes
with his shoes). He acts in all instances
after precedents, considering any deviation
from their institutions as destructive, for
he thinks they must have best understood
the principles upon which they built his

majesty.
"The fifth phase is that of prodigality
and extravagance (and reform). The sove-
reign will squander away in this phase what
his predecessors have gathered ; giving him-
self up to pleasure and lust, and by prodigality
 PREFACE. XX111

towards his intimates and courtiers, by pa-

tronising favourites of bad character, and a
numerous rabble without principles, whom
he appoints to the most important offices,
which they are unable to manage for they ;

know neither what they have to do, nor

what they have to avoid. Thus the great
men who guide the (ruling) nation (by moral
influence) and those who had come to impor-
tance through the favour of former sove-
reigns, are injured; hence, they take a
dislike to the sovereign, and refuse to lend
him their assistance : his army will thus be
ruined, for the luxurious court spends the
means in pleasures, instead of giving them
their pay; he excludes them from every
office in the administration, and does not
show them any attention. Thus he destroys
XXIV PREFACE.

what his predecessors have built. In this

phase the symptoms of the decline of the
dynasty manifest themselves,, and it suffers
under a chronic disease, of which it can-
not be cured: it hastens to dissolution.
"
The English reader will be surprised to
find in the last two phases the outlines of
the history of the present state of his own

country, the struggle between conservatism

and reform, written by an author who lived
more than four centuries ago, in Africa,
and hardly knew the name of England.
" That
Thus, his idea, ruling nations go
through natural periods of life, like indivi-
duals," is confirmed; and this is the indivi-
dual life, or historical career, of nations,
and the result and object of particular his-

tory.
By comparing a great number of biogra-
phies of such nations as succeeded each other

l$J &jt $3 MS. Of

Leyderi, No. 1350, i., fol. 66, verso. MS.

of the British Museum, No. 9574, fol. 100,
verso.
 PREFACE. XXV

on the stage of history in the rule of the

world, and in whom all the activity of man-
kind was concentrated and represented as at
present in Europe, it
might, perhaps, be
proved by what philosophers presume,
facts,
that there are even certain laws as to when
and how different nations enter on the stage
of history, and what part they are to per-
form for although certain qualities are
;

universal to all men, every nation has an

innate national character which constitutes
its
individuality, and predestines it to a cer-
tain career, just as a woman is destined to a
different vocation from that of a man.
This is by no means to be taken in a

mystical sense, for nothing can, for instance,

be more natural than that the sober and
simple Arab, who used thousands
of years

ago to make inroads upon Persia, should

be so successful as to plant the standard of
the doctrine of the unity of God upon the

graves of the Khosraws, at the period when

the Parthian rulers had outlived their time,
their minds being corrupted by the vices of
the most luxurious court, by the most artificial

religion, and the grossest superstition. The

XXVI PREFACE.

Arabs were the liberators of the subjects who

suffered under an artificial, over-refined state
of society, and under the arbitrary spoliations
of an insatiable and innumerable nobility. In
the same way, it is not less natural that the

stage of history should, in its origin, have

been in the south (in Asia), and that modern

European civilization should have begun in

the congenial climate of Italy and Spain,
than it is, that those countries have their
spring in advance of the more northern
regions.
If the general road which nations have
to go could be laid down and deduced from
incontrovertible facts, the results would be
more valuable than all other human know-
ledge. They would give us an insight into
the condition and object of mankind. " Be-
hold the tales of the time," says an Arabic
author, "and when thou knowest where
we come from, see where we are going to."
They would prove that the fate of nations
does not depend upon chance or the arbi-
trary actions of a few individuals. Men who
are the actors in a great crisis are the pro-
duct of time, and not time the product of
 PREFACE. XXV11

their talents they will not succeed if they

;

act against the spirit of the age. A

history
in this sense would also point out the

sphere of individual activity in public life ;

for if the periods of the life of nations are
laid down in certain laws, and if the attempts
of the privileged cannot change their course,
it would follow that the grievances of man-

kind arise from those desperate attempts of

men in power to interfere w ith the course of
T

things, and to retard their natural progress,

or from those men of a destructive character
who, misled by enthusiasm, mean to accele-
rate events beyond their natural course; and
if we could determine, by such a view of his-

tory, for a given period (for instance for the

present moment), what is the unalterable
course which a nation will pursue, the men who
do their best to smooth the way could be po-
sitively distinguished from those who, under
pretence of principle, attempt to interfere
with the course of the nation, turning it to
their own advantage ;
and history would
show the final triumph of the former over
the latter, pointing out, that talent counter-
balances wealth, that reason stands against
XXV111 PREFACE.

prejudice, energy against the power of public

opinion and inherited privileges, persuasion
and hypocrisy and ecclesiastical
faith against

tyranny, enthusiasm against fashion, and

freedom against the power of interest and
servility, and that the struggle between these
different tendencies decided by eternal
is

laws, by Providence, in favour of moral

power. Individual stands against individual,
and he is victorious who goes with the spirit
of the times : he may be
a prince or a beggar.
European history, however, will lead us
neither to a correct idea of the individual
lifeof nations, nor of their mutual succession
on the stage of history, without a knowledge
of the East. There is not one nation in
European history whom we can follow from
the moment it entered upon the stage of ac-
tion down to its fall. The period of existence
of modern nations is not yet elapsed. The
origin of the Greeks and Romans is fabulous;
and the documents which we possess respect-
ing them do not reach higher up than the
time of their power. There are only one or
two great revolutions related in European
history, in which the rule over the world
 PREFACE. XXIX

passed from one race to another under the

rise of new which exemplify the suc-
ideas,
cession of nations. The few accounts of
Greek authors, of the ancient dynasties of
Babylon and other countries of the East,
derive their value only if they are illustrated

by the history of later parallel facts from

more modern Eastern history, of which we
possess exact and numerous accounts in
Arabic authors. Lest it should be denied
that the history of the Greeks is very imper-

fect, and that their ideas and institutions are

secondary, and mere fragments of a more

ancient nation, it will be necessary to enter
into some details before it can be shown
that the study of the East furnishes us with
materials both for ascertaining the natural

periods of the individual life of a nation, and

the succession of nations on the stage of

history.
The Greeks had escaped from the tyranny
of a priest caste which kept their northern
and southern neighbours in ignorance, mo-
nopolizing knowledge. Freedom inspired
them with love for their native country and
fame and patriotism brought them to the
;
XXX PREFACE.

highest perfection that mankind has yet

attained. Worship of arts was their religion,
sublime poetry their code of laws, refined
taste their moral guide, and freedom their
tie But although their originality
of union.
of conception cannot be disputed, the mate-
rial of their science, as well as of their arts,
is not their own they derived it either from
:

imperfect recollections of their former home,

or imported it from the East, and gave to it
a more popular form. Creuzer has lately
collected some passages of Greek authors
in proof of this assertion. Facts are a
stronger proof than testimony ; and as scat-
tered fragments of a vessel, for instance, are

posterior to the whole, and the germ anterior

to the plant, so we may rest satisfied that a

country in which we find all ideas coherent,

understood and derived from one source,
although less developed, is anterior to ano-
ther in which we find them sacredly preserved,
but not understood, and numerous beyond
measure In order to show that this is the
.

relation of the East and Greece, it will be

necessary to anticipate a theory of the nine
spheres of the heaven, which may be consi-
 PREFACE. XXXI

dered as the creed of the esoteric in Babylon,

and in many other Eastern countries, and
the basis of the religious notions of the
Greeks, although they never understood
it.

The origin of existence is the great pro-

blem of all philosophy ; for the Lord of life
and death is the God whom the mortal feels
bound to worship. It is certainly the most
natural idea, that all life should be derived
from an ultimate male and female principle.
The male principle was the fifth and divine
element, the ether*, of which the stars are
only the concentrations the female principle
;

was the earth, which rests quiet and passive

in the centre of the circumvolving ether,
according to the ideas of the ancients. Hence
" The
Aristotlef says, principle of motion,
which gives the first impulse to generation,

* On the ether see the note to page 179 infra) and the Fih-
rist apud Hottinger, Historia Orientalis, edit. alt.
p. 283.

f De Generations Animalium, lib. L, cap. 2. The Chinese

have the same but apply it particularly to their emperor as
idea,

the representative of the creation, (see the note to page 326,

infra). Respecting the change which this idea underwent among

the Semites. See the note to page 58, infra.
XXX11 PREFACE.

is male (and father), and the (passive)

called

principle which yields the material, is called

mother . . . Hence the earth is considered
as female,and the mother (of all that exists),
and the heaven (ether) as the male, and the
father." If motion is the characteristical

quality of the planetary sphere

Divinity,
which is most remote from the earth has the
greatest claim to divinity, for its revolutions
are the most rapid. Saturn will, therefore,
be the highest and oldest god; he is the
Sator. Opposite him stands his wife and
sister the Earth, which is eternal and un-
created like him ;
and from them proceed
all other beings, Festus seems, therefore,
to be correct in deriving the name of this

planet a satu. He was, however, dethroned

as soon as this theory was further developed,
as the reader will soon perceive.
As soon two poles were once
as these
defined as the male and female principle, the

poets in their imagination, and philosophers

in their abstraction, knew no bounds in

commenting upon them. The principle of

motion, or the male pole, was conceived to
be active, possessed of the supreme intellect;
 PREFACE. XXX111

the female pole passive, but feeling, mild,

and affectionate, whilst the male principle
was thought be harsh and selfish. About
to

forty million miles above the female pole,

and nearly as many under the male pole,
in the middle between both, there must be
perfect equilibrium. This was, therefore,
the place of the sun, according to the ideas
of the ancients, although he is in reality
about nine times more distant from Saturn
than from the earth. Ptolemy's agreeing
with this
wrong computation shows us
whence he derived his information. The
sun is, therefore, the son and mediator be-
tween heaven and earth for, in him, the;

nature of both is combined; in him rests

the affection of his parents, which, in a phy-
sical sense, iswarmth, and, in mysticism,
the law of love and he is indeed the source
;

of heat. In all ancient religions, the sun

is the regenerator and redeemer, not the

creator but this has been frequently mis-

;

understood by the exoteric.

Having now developed the trinity of the
ancients, we may proceed to state whence
the qualities attributed to the planets, which

d
XXXIV PREFACE.

were the souls or individuals (J2>\*\ of the

ether, took their origin for the insignifi-
;

cant peculiarities which may be observed in

them, and some of which have been noticed
in the notes to page 222, infra, cannot sa-
tisfactorily account for the same attributes
being given to the planets throughout all

the world.
In Oriental psychology, of which the
reader will find farther details in another
part of this work, all the qualities of men are
said to be based either on sympathy sAil,-
which is female and passive, or on antipathy
and selfishness s^UxM, which is male and
active they are both neither good nor bad
:

in themselves. These two fundamental qua-

lities are manifested either with warmth and
violence *\xj|, or with system, and tempered

by justice XMX*H, or with coolness and re-

flexion &\. The female qualities, based on
sympathy, must be predominant under the
sun, according to what has been said, and
the male qualities, founded on antipathy,
above this luminary. Now, as the sun is at
the same time the source of warmth in a

mystical as well as physical sense, we may

form the following scale :
 PREFACE. XXXV

Antipathy with coolness = the ill-natured SATURN.

Antipathy tempered = the royal* JUPITER.

Antipathy with warmth = the pugnacious MARS.

The SUN.
Sympathy with warmth = the enamoured VENUS.
Sympathy tempered = the meek MERCURY.
Sympathy with cool reflection = the tender MOON.

The Arabic astrologers allude to this

theory, for they had been the initiated before
Mohammed; and when they found it more
expedient to serve as companions to the
khalifs, professing the Islam, than as priests
in their temples, they gave to their doctrines
a different shape. This theory is the soul of
allancient religions, and pervades their phi-

losophical sciences and those of the Arabs.

The testimony of
authors, in proof that
this has been the theory of the initiated
in the East, and the farther development
of the changes which new discoveries pro-
duced in it, and of the political revolutions
which were occasioned by such changes,
will be explained in another volume of this

* It must be observed that the is considered in the

sovereign
East as the moderator c. \\ and as prohibiting for the sake of
^Jl,

his own selfishness ; for he is the head of the soldier caste XLxH ,
so that Jupiter stands in his right place.

ds
XXXVI PREFACE,

work. Our purpose here is to show, that

the Greek history of mythology consists
of misunderstood fragments, of a more
ancient system and, therefore, that Greek
;

history has, without the knowledge of the

East, no beginning, and does not lead to
those results of the study of history which

gives it an infinite importance.

The Greeks, uninitiated in the myste-
ries of the priest class, and superior to the

lower classes, continued to attribute to the

planets these characters, without knowing
why. They personified, therefore, the idols,*
and invented fables, in explanation of the
worship, being ignorant of the reasons.
From these fables grew up their poetry;
from the personifications their fine arts and ;

this, as we have said, was the object of their

life. But even in their fables they remained
faithful to eastern notions, which tradition
had preserved, contenting themselves with
giving to them a more pleasing form.
In the same way, every theory of the
natural philosophy of the Greeks had been

* See note to
page 218, infra.
 PREFACE. XXXV11

previously known in the East. If Aristotle,

in whom allthe knowledge of antiquity
on this head is concentrated, who sub-
jected to the laws of reasoning what the
uninitiated believed on authority, and who

profaned the mysteries of the initiated as

far as he had a knowledge of them, quotes

mostly Greek authors, in speaking of sub-

jectsconnected with natural philosophy,
and alludes but seldom to the wisdom of
the Chaldeans and Egyptians, it must be
borne in mind, that most of their opinions
had been imported into Greece long before
the Stagirite, and had thus become Greek,
or they had been inherited from the first
Greek and thus always been in the
settlers,

nation; and that he has followed the dia-

lectic system of didactics, in which every-

thing is founded on reason, authority being

named only of well-known opinions which
are rejected, and form the subject of pole-
mics, in order to explain and exemplify
those which are defended as laws of reason,
not of authority, which is, therefore, not
named.
The doctrine of the ether, of the five
XXXV111 PREFACE.

elements, and other central theories of Aris-

totle's natural philosophy, are found in Ta-

tary, China*, Persia, Egypt, and all other

nations of the East. Nearly half of the
names of medicines in Dioscorides and
Galen may be derived from the Persian,
Arabic, and other Oriental languages, and
the use of those exported from India must

naturally have first been known in their

native country before they were exported.
When Alexander had opened the East,
not only Greek science but even Greek arts
took a more decided Eastern character.
Their poetry became more romantic; their
sculpture less grotesque in former times;

their gods had been represented as men, and

now they received the character of genii ;
their schools of astronomy and medicine

partook more and more of Eastern ideas, as

they proceeded, and they proceeded as they
were guided by these -new materials. Pto-
lemy adopts even the chronology of the
Babylonians. And the temperaments of

* See Bibl. Orient. Suplem.

Visdelou, apud D'Herbelot,
and the note to page 179, infra.
 PREFACE. XXXIX

Galen are as ancient as the world; they

are connected with star worship*, and

pervade the whole of Galen's or rather

Eastern ideas on anatomy, physiology, and
pathology f; even in materia medica the
same idea is followed, and every medicine
has its crasis (or temperament).
The Greeks hadthe merit of bringing
the materials which they collected in the
East (I doubt whether from books) into a
system, to compare them with experience,
and to found them upon reason; whereas,
they had existed as faith or mystery amongst
Eastern nations. When the East was re-
vived by the Arabs, the works of the Greeks
were so very welcome, because the Eastern
nations found in them their own ideas sys-

tematically arranged.
These few hints may be sufficient to show
that the ancient history of Europe is incohe-
rent and incomplete in itself. Even many

*
Compare page 206, infra.
f In the literary history of the Arabs, down to el-Mas'udi,some

curious eastern theories from Ibn Jauzi, of which the translator

possesses a beautiful manuscript, which is

probably the only one
in Europe, will be given, to confirm what is asserted here.
XL PREFACE.

forms of Greek grammar cannot be explained

without the assistance of the Sanscrit and
Zend languages. The Roman history is still
more in the dark. The fables with which it
is headed by Roman historians are a confes-
sion that their institutions want an historical

explanation ; but that they did not find any

either in their annals or in their popular
traditions. There is, therefore, no nation
in Europe, nor has there ever been any, of
which we have a complete account, from the
moment when entered upon the stage of
it

history to the end of its career, and from

the progress and fall of which we could
draw a picture of the life of nations and :

it can still less be

expected that the history
of Europe should give us an idea of the
succession of nations on the stage of history.
The periods of life are much slower in the
North.
TheEast, on the contrary, is rich in
experience the periods of life rapidly suc-
:

ceed each other, and are decided in their

character; the revolutions, so violent, that
they cannot remain unobserved one empire ;

was founded upon the ruins of another ;

 PREFACE. XL1

dynasties rose and faded with the rapidity and

splendor of meteors. Towns, like Bagdad,
el-Kufah, el-Kahirah, were built like camps ;
and on the Oxus, for instance, we see the
Tatars, Persians, Greeks, Parthians, Arabs,
and Uzbeks, as rulers, within the compara-
tively short period of three thousand years.
On account of these frequent, rapid and de-
cided changes, the idea of the mutual rela-
tion and succession of nations was, at least
with reference to Iran, known to the ancient
Persians,and forms one of the theories of
the Zend-Avesta; and a perfectly correct
division of the then known human races in
the Semitic, Negroes (Hamites), and Tatars,

including the Caucasian race (Japhetites), is

even found in Genesis. We cannot better
illustrate and confirm what has been said
above, than by following up the ideas of
the Zend-Avesta. Such an inquiry enters
the more into the plan of this preface as it
will enable the reader to form a correct
judgment respecting the place which the
history of the Arabs occupies, with reference
to other nations.

First, we must have a clear notion of

XL11 PREFACE.

Iran, or rather Khunnerets, as connected

with irrigation. "If the water/' says our
author*, whogives us some precious notices
on this subject, "retires four hundred cubits
from its original place, this place will be
waste." He exemplifies his statement by
the different state in which el-Hirah was in
his time, and that in which it had been a
few centuries previously. The country in
which Niniveh was situated is now a desert,
and the gardens of the khalifs are covered
with sand. As the sun produces the most
luxuriant vegetation, if his rays fall on wa-
tered ground (the female element), so are
they destructive if they meet no humidity.
It is for this reason that the sun is represented

in these two opposite characters in Siwa.

There is, therefore, no cultivation of the
ground possible without irrigation. To keep
up the irrigation is nothing less than to con-
trol enormous rivers, to dig new ones, and to
drain countries ;
it is a much more gigantic
work than all the railroads of Europe.
Hence, an almost infinite number of hands

*
Page 254, infra.
 PREFACE. XL111

must be employed and

for this
purpose ;

this, in the infancy of society, can only be

done by a powerful government which rules
extensive countries, and, as a great govern-
ment can never be free by a despot. This
is borne out by the
system of gathering the
taxes of these countries Abu Yusof says,
in a letter to Hariin er-Rashid which must
be considered as an official document,
66
Such land as was waste and is now cul-
tivated and irrigated by the water of the
heaven (rain), or from wells or brooks, or
large rivers, which are nobody's property,
(likethe Tigris, the Euphrates, the Oxus, or
Saihun) pays only the Tithes ; but if the land
is watered by the canals which were dug by
the ancient Persians, as the Nahr el-Melik,
or Nahr Yezdejerd, the Kheraj is to be paid
for it, although it
may be cultivated by a
Moslim." As
these regulations have been

copied from the Persians *, it is evident that

* Whenever the Arabs conquered a town or province of

Persia, they called the Dihkans, asked them what taxes had been
paid under the Khosraws, and confirmed generally the ancient
regulations. En-Nowa'iri (MS. of Leyden N. 2 D.) gives us, in

the History of the Sasanians, an account of their regulations of

 XL1V PREFACE.

the land tax was levied for the irrigation,

since those lands which did not require arti-
were exempt.
ficial irrigation

This formed the character of the popu-

lation of such countries (deltas), amongst
which Babylonia (Khunnerets) at
present
claims our attention. As the cultivation of
the soil was dependent upon a powerful
monarch, the very existence of the culti-
vators was connected with despotism. No
wonder, therefore, if servility is so deeply
impressed on the character of all nations
who live in deltas. The king
the god of is

fertility, who, by directing his attention to

irrigation, may double the number of inha-

bitants in less than twelve years, as they

perish by thousands neglected. It

if it is

has been asserted, that the climate forms

the character of a nation, and Oriental

the land tax, which agrees literally with what Abu Yusof con-
siders as law under the 'Abbaside khalifs. And as the Sasanians
had been the restorers of the ancient state of things, to what
they were before Alexander, we may trace the same institution to
the ancientPersians.

Lands, under artificial irrigations, are called

cU, which
has been rendered in this translation by estates.
 PREFACE. XLV

despotism has, for this reason, become pro-

verbial. History shows, however, that now
monks celebrate their processions in the
streets through which the triumphant Ro-
man citizens marched, and that the slavish

Babylonian lives between the Bedouin the

freest and happiest man on earth and the
independent Kurd. The national charac-
ter depends upon institutions and education.
A rich country will soon produce men of
talent and cunning, who earn their living by
teaching or deceiving; and they are the
priests, who will form a caste as soon as a
man amongst them who unites their
rises
doctrines into one system, which, in order
to be adopted by the nation, must of
course be in harmony with their institutions,
and will therefore be kept sacred as long as
those institutions last. Thus, we have the
three fundamental classes of society of the

population of deltas, fat and slavish cul-

tivators, cunning priests, and a luxurious
court and soldiery ; or, applying it to Baby-
lon, the Nabateans, Magi, and the Daulat
(dynasty).
X!_5*xM
The first of these three
classes are fixed to the soil ; the third is
 XLV1 PREFACE.

constantly changing, passing through the

phases and revolutions which Ibn Khaldun
describes in the passage quoted above ; and
the priest caste is intermediate between
both. The priests were the masters of the
king and kingdom, as long as the state was
founded upon their theories and they ;

formed an amusing society of savans round

the courts of the Khalifs when their doc-
trines no longer found faith.

When such a monarchy (daulat*) is in the

height of its activity, it will extend its grasp
after conquests, as it will be the aim of
conquerors when it is in decay. The nearest
object to excite the avarice of Babylonia are
the banks of the Oxus, as a Bac-
fertile

trian monarch can find no worthier object

of his ambition than Babylonia. These two
countries were, therefore, united under one
ruler at all periods when Western Asia was
in a flourishing state, and they form Iran,
in its greatest extent, the stage of history
of Western Asia, and the object of our
present observations.

* The primary meaning of the root of Daulat is, the vicissi-

tudes offortune.
 PREFACE. XLV11

South-west of Iran extend the deserts of

Arabia, which are bounded on the south by a
fertile mountainous country. This may be
considered as the native soil of the Semitic
race. History has recorded several success-
ful Arabic invaders who have subdued Iran.
Scripture names Nimrod ; from the third
volume of el-Mas'udi we shall learn the
names of Sheddad Ben 'Ad and many
others; and in Persian traditions Zohak is
mentioned as a Semitic conqueror, previous
to the Mohammedan conquests. In the
same manner it is reported by Herodotus,
by Mongolish traditions and Persian poets,
that the Tatars, who have their original seats
in the steppes north-east of Iran, conquered
this country in ancient times, previous to
the Seljuks, Jingiz-Khan, and Tai'mur.
These two nations stand like the two
magnetic poles, opposite each other, with
reference to Iran, in their national character
as well as in their
geographical position.
Both were originally nomades and the main :

body of the nation, continuing wandering

habits, remained at all times in the primitive

condition of man. But the Tatars are pas-

XLV111 PREFACE.

turing soldiers, whilst the Arabs are warlike

shepherds. The Tatars are used to blind
obedience and discipline. The basis of all
their social institutions is hereditary aristo-

cracy. A Tatar magnate has, amongst other

privileges, that of committing nine crimes.
To be a slave is the pride of a Tatar and ;

they have acted as such at all periods, at

Eastern courts. If they become masters,
they dig their own graves by imbecility,
idleness, and cruelty. An example of their
passive obedience are the Cossacks. Jingiz-
Khan may be considered as the repre-
sentative of the national character of the
Tatars. His strict discipline, order in the
camp, and simple regulations, render him
one of the greatest generals recorded in
history, and the extent of his conquests,
and the valorous opposition of some of
his enemies, fill the reader of his life with
astonishment ; but no man ever shed more
blood, laid waste more countries, and
committed greater cruelties, than Jingiz
Khan. The captive enemies had to serve
him as shields against their brothers, and
were forced to fight against them before
 PREFACE. XL1X

they were slaughtered. When he took a

town (Balkh, for instance), the lives of the
inhabitants were spared until their temples
were profaned, their wives and daughters
ravished, and their houses burnt and when ;

he had thus tortured their feelings, men and

women were promiscuously put to the sword.
The Tatars were called the nation of Mars
by the Iranians.
The Bedouin, who is the prototype of
the Semitic race, on the contrary, is per-
fectly free and independent *. He is capable
* Harith Ben Keldah described the character of the Arabs

before Khosraw Anusharwan, in the following terms: "Their

minds are liberal, their hearts cheerful ; their language is
expres-
tongues are eloquent, their pedigrees pure and genuine,
sive, their

their ancestors noble the words flow from their mouths like
;

arrows from the bow, but milder than the breezes of spring, and
sweeter than honey; (literally, the water of a certain spring of
Paradise ;) they feed the hungry in the time of need; they fight the
strong in war; they do not permit that their high feelings should be
hurt, that their neighbour should be injured, that their wives or

daughters should be profaned, or, that the noble should be hum-

bled."
 PREFACE.

of the noblest enthusiasm, but he has less

imagination than any other nation, hence

his poetry is lyric* the long- winding epos ;

and drama are unknown to him ;

his reason-

Ibn Abi Osaibiah, MS. of the Brit. Museum, No. 7340, fol.

44 verso. The variants are from a MS. of the Royal Library

at Paris.
* character of
Nothing can better illustrate the peculiar
Arabic poetry than the verses of the Koran, given in the follow-

ing page. (Sura, 91, translation of Sale.) God swears:

"
By the sun and its rising brightness ; by the moon, when
she followeth him ; by the day, when it showeth
splendour ; its

by the night, when it covereth him with darkness; by the heaven

and Him who built it ; by the earth and Him who spread it forth;
by the soul and Him who completely formed it, and inspired into
the same wickedness and piety ;
now is he who has purified the
same happy."
Heaven and earth are too narrow for the spirit of Mohammed,
whilst the hero of Homer swears by so trifling an object as a

stick,which he paints in several verses:

"
Yes, by this sceptre, which will no longer shoot either leaves
or rind, for it once left its stem on the mountains, nor will it ever
blossom again the sharp knife has pruned around both the leaves
;

and bark. Now this sceptre is intrusted into the hands of the
judging sons of Greece, Jove's delegates, from whom all wise
laws emanate, thus I utter a great and solemn oath to you."
As the rhyme of the Arabic original is as characteristic for
sublime, and romantic poetry as the grave Hexameter for the

apos, the original is here added:

 PREFACE. LI

ing is and logical

clear and thus the ;

Bedouins were the founders of the spirit of

the middle ages. The Arab is, therefore,
not the tool of dreams and hopes his object ;

is to enjoy the moment, and to be to be

good, to be wise, to be free, to be happy ;

whilst the endeavour of other nations is to

have, and to be possessed to have goods,

to be possessed of knowledge, to have

power, to have the means of rendering them-

selves happy and thus they are possessed,

U j,
Ul&b ttl JJJJ j

Nai /ia ToSc (ncrjirTpov, TO KCV ovirorf <^uXXa KOL oovf

firireidfj TrpStra ei/
TO/JLTJV opo-<rt
irepi
dvaOrjXrja-fi' yap pa ^aX/cot
'
<cai
<p\oioV vvv avre p,iv vies

Ej/ 7ra\dp,r)s (popeovcri diKa(rrr6\oi, otre

Upos Albs elpvarai' 6 Se rot peyas f(TO"erat opKos.

Iliad, L, 234-239,
LU PREFACE.

and fettered in their own golden chains.

The Arab is as anxious to obtain wealth as
other men, because he is active but it is
;

against his nature to store up wealth. If he

wishes to have great means, it is in order to
entertain his friends, tobe more liberal and
hospitable than others, and to give riches
away as fast as he obtains them. These
habits of prodigality became a law of reli-

gion (the alms), and continued even to the

time of the Khalifat, however adverse they
were to civilized society and ruinous to the
state. The Arab obeys no one he has ;

no wants a few dates suffice for his meal.

;

What he takes, he takes by force the

native right of the stronger; but he gives
out of charity. Thus he feels himself greater
than the rest of mankind, and despises
them. What can make a man a slave who
has no wants ? His only master is honour
and conviction :
hence, a sound religion
alone could unite the nation. His obe-
dience to the Sheikh is that of a son to his
father; it cannot be enforced; and the
orders, or rather advice, of a Sheikh is the
expression of the will of the tribe. The
only social tie which guarantees the life of
 PREFACE. Llll

the inhabitants of the desert is the blood

revenge founded on the love of relations.
If a man is slain, the family of the deceased
will not rest, if they should perish to the
lastman, before they have retaliated the
death of their relation on the tribe of the
murderer. Atrocities are therefore avoided
out of love to one's own relations.
As the character of the Semites and
Tatars opposed, so are their tongues;
is

for language, like a faithful wife, follows the

character of the mind, and gives birth to its

children. The Tatar forms compound ex-

pressions as he has received joint ideas for ;

the different modifications of one notion and

its appear to his shallow mind like
relation
several ideas ; thus he uses compound ex-

pressions like "lordship," (i.e. the shape of

a lord,) and, 1 have said, although he has
only one idea to express. In Tatar languages,
compounding words and heaping grammati-
cal terminations and suffixed syllables is
carried to such an extreme, that the words
which express the objects are buried under
them. The riches of the Semitic lan-

guages, on the contrary, do not consist in

compounding ideas which have no natural
L1V PREFACE.

relation to each other, but in organizing the

roots ;
Arab would say teeth, and not
so the
* tooth I saw^ and not I have seen.
many ;

The Arabic language has no compound

words, and hardly any grammatical termina-
tions. Words are formed and grammatically
construed by changing the vowels of the
root; by internal organisation, and not by
juxta-position. Such a language can only
be spoken by a nation which expresses more
the sentiments and ideas of its heart, and
which gives, even in describing objects, the
feeling which they produced in the mind,
than a narration of the surrounding world.
The Semitic languages are what the Germans
would term subjective tongues, whilst the
Tatar languages are objective. The reader
may now easily guess that the Arab will
apply the same root to quite different ob-
jects, ifthey produced a similar impression
on his mind thus the root jara, which has
;

primarily the signification of to flow, means

also, if pronounced with different vowels

* The which forms the plural in most Hindo-Germanic

s,

languages, as well as the lar, which forms the plural in Tatar

tongues, is to be considered as a corruption of some ancient
word meaning many, or a number.
 PREFACE. LV

and accents, a brave young man, a lively

girl, a ship, and the sun. As the Bedouin
calls the sun the Runner, if his attention is

exclusively directed to its motion, in the

same manner, he may call it the White
or the Luminary or if
(l>^A>J!), (j^jtH ^V^O*
the impression of colour or splendour is
its

prevalent in his mind, and so with other

notions. The reader will find, for the same

reason, numerous hysteron-proterons in Ara-

bic expression which have been preserved in
this translation ; for, as the Arab expresses
even facts as sentiments, he says^r^jf what
makes the greatest impression upon him.
Thus we read& first, that Zakariya was put
to death 3 and then it is described how he
was killed.
As long government of Iran was
as the
in the vigour of life, these two nomadic
nations assisted it
against other powers. We
find them account by Herodotus of
in the
the army of Xerxes; and under Khosraw
Anusharwan fifty thousand Tatar troops
came on the Persian frontier, demanding to
be taken into his service: "For," said
they, "we gain our living by the sword;
* See
page 122, infra.
LV1 PREFACE.

and, as our country cannot give us food, we

must be thy enemies, if thou wilt not re-
ceive us as friends, and provide for us and
our families." It appears from el-Wakedi's
genuine account of the Mohammedan con-
quests, as quoted by early authors, that the
inhabitants of Yemen were driven by a si-
milar motive to join the banners of the
Islam. The population was too dense, and so

they came, uncalled for, to Medinah, and

asked 'Omar to send them against some
enemies of the faith.

When the rulers ofIran had passed

through the periods of life described by Ibn
Khaldun, and sunk under their own weight,
the Arabs and Tatars made predatory incur-
sions upon the unprotected cultivators, as
they did under the successors of Anushar-
wan. For, dependent as nomades in
some measure are upon civilized nations,

they are always on the alert for making

plunder. The Arabs and Tatars are like
two reservoirs of water over Iran ;
if a
breach is opened, they will naturally come
down upon Iran, and make the breach
wider, to irrigate it if guided, and to inundate

it if not controlled. Success fills them with

 PREFACE. LV11

self-confidence the prospect of rich booty

;

attracts new invaders, and unites them. And

what can resist them if they are united ? A
tradition is related of Mohammed, that he

expressed sanguine hopes of the rise of the

Arabic power, on the occasion of a victory
of a predatory corps of the Temimites over
the Persians so that it is very likely, that
;

his religious enthusiasm was

heightened
by the prospect of victory and political
ascendancy; the more so as he exhorts the
Koraishites, in one of the last Surahs of
the Koran, to be united, for union would

give to them wealth and power.

The conquests of Iran by these nations
appear to have been alternate. Thus, under
'Omar, the Arabs poured over Iran, and
pushed their conquests to other countries,
until the surplus population* of Arabia was
exhausted. When
the storm had subsided,
they passed as Daulat XJ^j of the country
[that is to say, as the soldier caste and
nobility, as the Normans were in England],
through the periods of life described by Ibn

* Ibn Khaldun, who defends this idea, gives an estimate of

the number of conquering Arabic populations of that time. But
it does not seem very correct.
LV111 PREFACE.

Khaldun*. In the mean time, the Tatar

steppes were over populous and full of
vigour, whilst the Semitic rulers were
drowned in luxury. Thus it was their turn to
inundate Iran, after the Arabs had possessed
itfour centuries f.
We
find on the banks of the Tigris a

pure Semitic population ; and as Babylon

was the seat of Semitic learning and civili-

zation, so the name of Bokhara is derived

from a Mongolish word meaning, according
to Abulghazi-Khan, "wisdom," because it
was the centre of Tatar civilization:]:; and
the main population on the banks of the
Oxus seem at all times to have been Tatars.
From whence came the Persians, and other
Hindo-Germanic nations, who are of a race
distinct from the Tatars and Semites, and to
whom no delta is left in western Asia ? It
seems they are the product of the mixture
of those two opposite nations, as their lan-
guage combines the character of the tongues
of both, having compositions and internal
organization so that it must be posterior
;

*
Page xv., supra.
f The Seljuks came in 432 A.H.
% Page 46 of the Tatar edition.
 PREFACE. L1X

to the Tatar and Semitic languages, for a

more perfect development is naturally pos-
terior to a more simple structure. Although
I could not defend this theory of the origin
of the Hindo-Germanic nations, so much is
certain, that they are the nations of civiliza-
tion, and that civilization will no more rise
without the intercourse of opposite nations,
than one sex alone can give birth to a child.
These alternate conquests of the Arabs and
Tatars must be considered as having given
birth to civilization. They illustrate, there-
fore, the succession and mutual relation of
nations in history better than anything else.
Our author*, Hamza of Ispahan, and
the Zend-Avesta mention four other nations,
the Semites, Tatars, and Iranians included
which answer to the seven Kishwars or
climates f and which surround the passive
,

inhabitants of Iran, like six stamina the

pistillum, invading and reviving it in their
turn.
South of Iran live the Hindus. A suc-
cessful inroad of some Hindu conqueror is

* In his Tauluh ; and after him Haji Khalfa, in his Bibliog.

Diction.

f Compare page 1 98, infra.

LX PREFACE.

recorded in the eighteenth chapter of this

work and they were, even at the time of
;

Anushirwan, so strong, that he expresses

his fears of them in his last speech. As the
Germans, fortheirhighintellectual character,
their tendency to mysticism, their political
passiveness and insignificance, bear a resem-
blance to the character of the slavish culti-
vators of Iran, so India may be compared in
its geographical position and character with
Italy. The Italians, like the Hindus, are
buried under the ruins of their former gran-
deur, and vegetate, in unmanly occupation,
in the plundered temples of their Benares,
on the Tiber. The French bear a resem-
blance to the Arabs both have shown
;

themselves equally capable of fighting for

principles, and of being united by enthu-
siasm, and not by the fear of a master. The
Russians are the Tatars of Europe, and the
main body of the subjects of the Autocrat
are of Tatar origin. South-east of Iran
lie Thibetand China, which have been
compared with the Turks by Hager in a
learned article in the Fundgrubens des
Orients. Egypt is situated in the West,
from whence the Persians have experienced
 PREFACE. LX1

several invasions. Tyrus and the empire of

Croesus, whose attack upon the Persian
empire failed, were north-west of Iran, and
may be called the Great Britain* of the
ancient world. Subsequently, the Byzan-
tine empire succeeded, and was at constant
war with the rulers on the Tigris both the
Khosraws and struggles of
Khalifs. The
these six nations, but particularly of those
of the Arabs and Tatars, their mutual
relation, and their power over Iran, offer a
wide field for studying the succession of
nations in the stage of history whereas the ;

contests of India, China, Egypt, and Asia

Minor, against Iran, and among themselves,
are less important ; for here doulat fights

against doulat. Their conflicts do not give

us a view of the connexion of the first prin-
ciples from which states grow up, but only
of the opposition of the interest of states
and monarchs.
Thus far as to the relative position of
nations to each other, and their succession
on the stage of history. We may nowpro-
* This
comparison of the nations of Asia with those of Europe
could be carried much futher into detail for similar circumstances
;

have similar effects, and similar processes of life produce, in physi-

ology, similarly organized formations.
LX11 PREFACE.

ceed to show, that the history of the power

of the Arabs furnishes us with better mate -
rials for studying the individual life of nations

than that of any European country. Their

history is complete, and we have trustworthy
accounts from the moment when they
entered upon the stage of action, to the time
when they went back into their deserts

again.
Their own poetry and traditions, as well
show us the Arabs before
as foreign authors,
Mohammed exactly in the same condition as
they are now. They have no state, but sim-
ply families and they make, therefore, no
;

progress, nor are they subject to decay as a

nation. Their endeavour is, as we have said,
not to possess, but to be : existence ends
with the of the individual, whilst his
life

possession remains. The Bedouin history is

the genealogy only of those to whom they
owe their existence ; they cannot point to
changes in state, nor to progress in arts and
literature,nor to any beneficial influence in
society which their fathers have made, for
all these
things are connected with posses-
sion and revolutions in states are effected
;

because rights and property are transferred

 PREFACE. Lxiii

from one class to another by the change of

ideas. The ideas of nomades can make no
progress, for the natural feelings of man are
at all times the same ; and knowledge is a

possession which changes with new discove-

ries, and is useless, if not applied to life and
and property. When the Persians and
Byzantines were enervated by luxury, and
drowned in the forms of civilization, the
spirit of which was gone, the constant
inroads of the Arabs were more successful,
and a too dense population had made them
more reflective for necessity is the mother
;

of invention. Prophets arose in allparts of

Arabia ;
and the Mohammedan doctrine of
the unity of God was crowned with success
six centuries after the introduction of the
Christian religion, and about three after
Arius had first declared himself against the
trinity.
The Koraishite tribe stood first, as the
head of the Arabs, and they thought it
safer for their freedom to have the Oma'i-

yides as their Khalifs than the Alites, who

raised their claims by divine grace.The
Oma'iyides, who were merely Emirs, went
through the five phases of life, but in
XL1V PREFACE.

them the two were particularly de-

first

veloped. Hejjaj Ben Yusof drowned the

spirit of freedom in el-Kufah and el-Basrah
in their own blood. The baptism of mo-
narchy the mild and fatherly form of go-
vernment cost the lives of twenty-one thou-
sand men. Their death did not give so
much alarm; for they did not fall in the

open field, but under the hand of the exe-

cutioner, in prison, and the servile part of
the population was well fed. The victims
who fell in the open field were innumerable.
'

Hejjaj was the precursor of the Abbasides,

although he was their enemy. This new
dynasty went through the five phases. They
were 'Alites and Kings (no longer Emirs),
supported, in spite of the Kora'ishites and
their allies, by the Nizar tribes, who lived
near the Tigris, and who were more used
to a master by divine right, and by the
Khorasanians ;
want which they
for the first
felt after they had recovered from the shock

of the Arabic conquest, was that of having

a monarch, to counteract the rapacity of the
governors, and to promote irrigation. The
'Abbasides represent particularly the third
and fourth phases. At the beginning of the
 PREFACE. LXV

fourth century, the 'Abbaside power was at

an end; physical force and money* now

alone gave right to power, and every gover-
nor made himself independent in his pro-
vince. Each of these moluk et-Tawa'if went
through the above periods of life ;
but they
represented particularly the last phase that
of reform and dissolution. Till now the

power of the kings was owing to the Arabic

conquests, although some were Tatars ;

whereas the sovereignty of the Seljukians,

Jingiz-Khanians, and Ta'imurians, rested on
the success of the Tatar arms. The Arabs,
by degrees, turned back into the deserts,
or were humbled to the state of cultivators.
Their original character vanished, and they
became like the Nabatheansf,who had been
deposited there by the Bedouins thousands
of years ago, and so they remain at present.
Thus the periods of life are distinctly
marked in Arabic history, and nothing can
exceed the fidelity of their historians. They
believe till they are persuaded of the contrary,

* Thus the Ghaznewides and Khowarezmshahians owed their

power entirely to the treasures of India.

j-
The Nabatheans were looked on with such contempt by
the Bedouins, that their name had become a nickname, at the
time of the author of the " Nabathean Agriculture."
LXV1 PREFACE.

and adhere closely even to the terms of the

source whence they derive their information,
naming the whole series of persons through
whom they have received traditions. Orien-
talists should study the lives and characters of

the traditionists before they enter into his-

tory, for this alone can enable them to form an
estimate of the critical value of the accounts.
El-Mas'udi gives us only one instance of
such a way of treating history, in the first
volume*; but many in the last. An Arabic
historian will relate a fact without changing

it, although it may be against his views.

An instance is found in our author, where

he relates the ridiculous ideas of el-Jahit
respecting the unicornf . How much more
valuable such simplicity is, in history, than
modern may be shown in an ex-
criticism,

ample. Goethe, the German poet, speaks,

in his Westwstlichen Diwan, on the march
of the Israelites from Egypt to Syria, and
means to prove that they would not have
been longer in the desert than two years ;

the reasons which he alleges are too ridi-

culous to be recounted here. Ibn Khaldun,
adhering to the text of Scripture, thinks
*
Page 57, infra. f Page 392, infra.
 PREFACE. LXV11

that the Israelites, debased by the slavery

which they had endured Egypt, were
in
unable to oppose the Philistines, until the
old generation had died off, and a new one

grown up in thehardy life of the desert.

It has been our endeavour to show, that
the fruits of the study of history ought to
be, to obtain a view of the individual life of
nations; and to ascertain, by connecting
these particular histories, the laws of the
succession of nations in the rule of the
world. European history, it has been as-
serted, does not lead to these results ;
for
modern nations have not yet arrived at the
end of their career; and the Greeks and Ro-
mans, (as it has been shown at some length,
for fear of the prevailing Helenomania

among the learned of Europe,) borrowed

their institutions and the material of their
science and arts from the East hence the:

study of the East alone can lead us to the

above-mentioned results. We
attempted
to illustrate the succession of nations by a
few hints bearing on this subject as far as
Iran is concerned for ;
this is the stage of

the history related by our author; and,

finally, we meant to intimate, that the his-
 LXvifi PREFACE.

tory of the power of the Arabs is the only

complete biography of a nation which can
serve as the standard in judging others.
Now this would be the place to show how
far our author contributes towards these two
objects. It is, however, much better for the
reader to peruse The Meadows of Gold, and
judge for himself. It may suffice to say,
that he treats, besides history, on almost
all the branches of Arabic science, poetry,
and common It
seemed, therefore,
life.

well, occasionally, to supply, from other

authors, what wanting, to give to the
is

reader a perfect insight into the life of the

Arabs at the time of their power to show ;

whence el-Mas'udi derived his historical

information; to assist the reader in the

criticism of facts ; and to throw some light
on the time and manner which the Arabs
in
cultivated various sciences and arts. The
first will be done in additional notes, or

little memoirs, which were first intended to

be added at the end of each volume but ;

for want of time they must be postponed to

the end of the last volume of each of the
two sections of which the whole work con-
sists, and the latter will be done in a sepa-
 PREFACE. LX1X

rate volume, which will form the last part

of this work, and contain the literary his-

tory of the Arabs, down to the time of el-

Mas'udi, together with our author's own
life* and literary connections. I have
already collected for this purpose notices
on the lives and works of several thousand
authors, partly from their own writings, and

partly from extracts and notices found in later

authors, where the original works are lost.
have seen, and partly perused, nearly
I

twenty copies of the whole or part of The

Meadows of Gold, preserved in public or

private collections, at Paris, Leyden, Oxford,

* The reader
may find an excellent Memoire on the life and
writings of el-Mas'udi, written by M. Quatremere de Quincy, in
the Journal Asiatique, (Ille serie, tome vii., No. 37, Janvier,
1839, p. 5 to 31,) with which he may compare D'Herbelot, article

Massoudi; Abulfeda, Ann. Mosl. vol. adnot. 208, p. 118, adn.

ii.,

Deguignes, not. et extr., vol. i.;

hist.; Silvestre de Sacy, ibid., tome
viii., 132; idem, Chrestom. Arabe; Langles, Voyage en Egypte
p.
et Nubie de Norden, tome iii., p. 292, note 1; Hamaker, Spec.

Catalogs pp. 46, 48 d'Ohson, Des Peuples du Caucase, pref.

;

Fraehn, Ibn Fozlan; Charmoy, Sur les Slaves, in

iii., viii.;

the Memoirs of the Academy of St. Petersburgh, t. vii., Nov.

1832 and 5 July 1833; Nicolls, catal. Bibl Bodleyana-, Gilde-
meister, de Indis,Bonn, 1836. Mr. Gildemeister has translated
into Latin, and published the whole of the seventh chapter of
el-Mas'udi. I have to regret that I could not take advantage of
his excellent work, having been in the country when my translation
of that chapter went through the press. The difference of the
MSS. will account for the difference of the translation of some
passages.
LXX PREFACE.

Cambridge, and London. Including the ex-

tracts found in other authors, the number of

copies of which I possess some knowledge

may be calculated to be above fifty. They
allagree in certain faults ; the variants are
material and innumerable. It seems that the

autograph was written in a bad hand :

per-
haps itwas the bad state of the MSS. of the
first edition of The Meadows
of Gold which
induced the author to publish a second
edition, of which he speaks in the Tanbih ;
but as this edition is nowhere to be found,
criticism on the work is rendered difficult, if
not impossible. The reader will do better to
consider what has been done in this trans-
lation, than what remains to be done.
The translation of this volume has been
made from a manuscript of Ley den (No.
537, a), which ends with the thirty-second
It is very ancient, made
chapter. by a
man of great learning, and therefore very
correct. Sometimes, however, when he
found a corrupt passage, he gave a wrong
sense to it in his corrections. But it is, at
all events, the best copy in existence. On
the margin one sometimes finds valuable
written by a later hand. I am
^ariants,
 PREFACE. LXX1

indebted for the perusal of this copy to the

kindness of Professor Weijers, D.D., and
the liberal institutions of the library of the

University of Leyden hence it has resulted

:

that nowhere in Europe has so much been

done for Oriental literature as in Holland ;

and yet not one MS. of the rich collection

of that university has been lost or damaged.
How many useful works would be saved
from the worms, and how much credit
would it throw on the literary character of
the University of Oxford, if they would
follow this example! Before I sent the
translation to press, I compared it with
several other copies as, :

A manuscript of my esteemed friend, M.

de Gayangos, who, although he is enriching
Oriental historiography with his own labours,
throws open his valuable collection of Orien-
tal manuscripts to his friends with as much

liberality as ifhe had collected them solely

for their use. This copy is modern and
carelessly written, but complete.
A manuscript of the Asiatic Society of
Paris, which contains only the first chapters,
and those not complete.
The manuscript of Leyden marked No.
LXX11 PREFACE.

282, A, which contains the whole of the first

part, that is to say, the first sixty-nine chap-

ters. It is better than most other copies of
el-Mas'udi, however numerous its faults are.
A manuscript of Cambridge, which had
been imperfect ;
but Mr. Burckhardt, its for-
mer owner, took care to have it completed.
Besides, I had several extracts from the MSS.
of the Royal Library at Paris, and others.
Lord Munster had the kindness to go
over the whole translation, to correct faults
against the English idiom. But as it is im-
possible to reconcile the Arabic style with
the genius of the English language, without
working over sentence after sentence afresh,
the mistakes which may still be found in
this translation in English diction, must not
be ascribed to his Lordship, whereas the
translator has to avow, that he had, in many
difficultexpressions of the original, recourse
to his Lordship, and derived a great deal of
information from him for the notes, and a
lucid understanding of the text. In many
instances, aliteral translation has been prefer-
red to an idiomatical English expression, for
reasons which the reader will easily discover.
Brighton, April, 1841.
EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD, AND
MINES OF GEMS.

IN the name of God, the Merciful, the Clement !

Praise be to God, to him is due all praise and

glory! Blessed be Mohammed, the highest

of the Prophets, and his pure family.

FIRST CHAPTER.

The Object of this Work.

El-Mas'udi says: We have described, in the in-

1
troduction to our work, called Aklibdr ez-zemdn

(on the history of time), the figure

of the earth, its

towns, wonders, and seas, heights and depths,

its

mountains and rivers, the produce of the mines;

the various waters, marshes, and the islands of the
sea and of lakes. We
have also given descrip-
tions and historical sketches of large edifices and

lofty temples, an account of the beginning and last

origin of things, and notices of inhabited districts,

and of such tracts as had been land and became
sea, or which had been sea and became land ;

together with the causes of those changes, both

proceeding from sidereal and natural influences.
We proceeded then, in that work, to divide the
2 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

climates according to the stars which preside over

them, and the lines on the globe, and the extent

of the districts. We also entered into details on
the discussions on history, and on the different

opinions of its beginning, and on the priority of

the Hindus and other pagans. have men- We
tioned the accounts of sacred and other books, and
2
the traditions of the Rabbis . After this intro-
duction 5;
we have related in that history work the
of ancient kings, former nations, and distinguished

men, and of tribes of past times, according to their

different origin, classes, and religion. We have
given an account of all their wise institutions,
the sayings of philosophers, and of the history of
their kingsand emperors (Csesars 3 ) who have passed
on the wings of time. In another chapter we have
followed up the history of the prophets, holy men
and devotees, until God completed his bounty by
sending MOHAMMED his prophet. continued We
our history in relating his birth, youth, and pro-

phetic mission, his flight, his military expeditions,

both thosecommanded by himself, and those com-
manded by his leaders 4 down to his death.
,

Thus we have followed up the history of the

Khalifs and of their empire, which grew up attended
with constant disputes and wars with the Talebites

*M plural of
 AND MINES OF GEMS. O

who descended from Fdtimah down to 5

,
the time
when we write this book, which is during the reign
of el-Mottaki Lilian, in the year 332, A. H.
After the Akhbar ez-zeman, we wrote our book
the Kitdb el-ausat', which is also a historical work,

chronologically arranged from the creation down to

the time when we concluded our great work, and

the Kitab el-ausat which follows it. Subse-

quently we thought it useful to reduce into a

smaller compass what is said in detail in the larger

work, and to shorten what we have related in

the Kitab el-ausat, so that we may give the essence
of the contents of those two works in a less
voluminous book, in which we shall mention,
besides, different sciences which are not noticed
in those two works. We
have to excuse ourselves,
if it should be found too short, and to apologize,
as our mind got disturbed and our strength reduced
by the privations of travelling, and by crossing
seas and deserts. The object of these journeys
has been to satisfy our thirst for knowledge, and to
learn the peculiarities of the various nations and

parts of the world, by witnessing them, and the

state of foreign countries, by seeing them ; in this
7
way we travelled to INDIA , Ez-ZiNj 8 ,
ES-

UiH
^AAxJlkJl. LUM^I V UT The middling work.
7
A. & B. Jsi^Ji; C. Js^JI.
8

go^JU
9
A. c^u^ll; B. cJuaM; C. jJuflJl; C. adds f
j

and China." B 2
4 EL-MAS*Ul>i'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

EZ-ZANIJ*. We have also traversed the East

and the West. Sometimes we were in the ex-

tremity ofKHORASAN, other times in the centre of

ARMENIA and ADHERBUAN ER-RiN 13 and EL-
11 IS!
,

BAILKAX U, then again in EL-'!RAK and in ESH-SHAM

(Syria). We went
from one quarter of the earth to
the other as the sun makes his revolutions. As
" We
some poet says: rambled through the dif-
ferent parts of the country,, sometimes we were in
the extreme east and other times in the west, like
the sun, the ardour of the mind which remains
unimpaired, is unsatisfied until it reaches the region
(the other world,) which cannot be approached by

travelling."
Then we had intercourse with kings of different

10
A. & c.
^Jj; B.
13
A. & B.
^yi; C.
14
A. & B. ^

* Arabic Geographers seem not to have been

very well
acquainted with this name from the various ways of spelling it.

Jaubert's translation of Edrisi

(vol. I.
page 59, et seq.) alone
presents us with four varieties; er-Rdnij, ez-Zdlij, ez-Zdnij, and

er-Rabij. The MSS. of Mas'udi add to this list er-Rdbih,

^\A\
and ez-Zdbih. The reading adopted by most authors is
er-Ranij
"
g\j\\
I preferred ez-Zanij" on the authority of a most ancient
and carefully written MS. of the British Museum,
(N. 7496,
add. MSS.) which seems to be an extract from Beladori's Kitdb

el-bolddn and the autograph of the abbreviator.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 5

usages and politics, and by comparing them we

have come to the result, that illustrious actions
have faded in this world, and its luminaries are

extinguished. There is a great deal of wealth but

little intellect. You will find the self-sufficient

and ignorant, illiterate and defective, contented

with opinions, and blind to what is near them.

Subsequently, this sort of knowledge did not appear

to us a worthy task,, nor did we consider it worth our
while to devote ourselves to these pursuits, so we
wrote rather our works on the different opinions
and various book on the " Exposition
beliefs, as the
of the Principles of the Religion /' and the " Tracts
15

16
on the Principles of the Religion ," the work on
" The Secret of Life 17 and another on the "
," Argu-
ments of the Principles of Dogmatics (philoso-
phically) arranged/'
The last-mentioned book contains the principles
of jurisdiction and the rules of passing decisions :

as defence against argumentation, and deciding on

one's own
authority; rejecting opinion and grace;
the knowledge of what is abrogated (in law), and
what is
put instead of it, and of how far and in
what points there is only one opinion the distinc- ;

tion between particular and general, between positive

15

1C

7
 6 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

and negative commands, and between disapproved

and permitted, then the traditions which are generally
acknowledged as true, and those originally reported
only by one man, the example of the prophet, and
the juristical decisions founded thereon. We
added our own opinions on the subject, both those
which are controversial, and those which are in
18
accordance with others .

" Reflections on the

Imamship, and statement of
the opinions of those who maintain the rights of
the Imam to be hereditary, and of those who
make him with the passages (of
elective, together
the Koran, &c.,) which both parties bring forward
in proof of their opinions ," and
19
"The Book

18
As every word of this sentence is a technical expression, I

add the original. \^,\ Lo ft\\ 1^1 w *M

*** ^or an explanation of these terms I

refer the reader to the additional notes at the end of this volume.
 AND MINES OF GEMS.

of Sincerity (the impartial book) on the Imam-

20
ship ."

We have, besides, inserted occasional remarks on

these works on various sciences,
subjects in our
empirical and mystical, evident and occult, passed
or still
existing.
We have called attention to those subjects
which the vigilant observe, and upon which the
intelligent reflect, and to what they mention of the

splendour which enlightens the world and is diffused

over its barrenness, and to the results of researches
in the ruins, which ever have been famous and
glorious in their origin, and which may lead to
further explanations. We
entered into the art
of government, as the government of cities, and
its natural laws, and the division of the parts of

these laws.
Weentered into speculations on the first origin
and the composition of the world and the heavenly
bodies, and of what is tangible and not tangible,
and what is dense, and what is the reverse.
We have been prevailed upon to write these
books on history, and the explanation of the events
unanimous example of the wise
of the world, by the
men and philosophers who have done their best,
that there may be kept up in the world the recollec-
8 EL-MAS'lJOl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

tion of what there is praiseworthy and digested

in science. We found that authors have observed
two ways one to explain the
in writing hooks, the

matters in full length, the other to shorten them ;

and, again, the one elucidates whilst the other
abridges. But we found that the accounts are in-

creasing in number with the progress of time. The

learned stands frequently higher than the intelligent
and clever. But each of them has a part assigned
to his faculties.Every climate has some wonders
which the inhabitants do not understand, and no
man who has zeal for science can rest satisfied and
content, with what natives may report of their coun-

tries ;
but he can trust to a man who has spent his
life in travelling, and passed his days in researches,

and who has minutely explored the mines (of

knowledge), and carefully collected all that can

interest.

Men
have written books on history at all times,
some are of more, some of less, value. Every one
has exerted himself according to his powers, and
has deposited therein the stores of his wit and
talent, as

1 Wahb Ben Monabbih <Ux* ^>\ c*^.

2 Abu Mikhnaf * Lut Ben Yahya el-'Ameri #\
\ f*&*

* The most copies of Mas'udi bear Mohnifand. this is the

reading adopted by Kosegarten in his edition of Tabari. The

 AND MINES OF GEMS.

3 Mohammed Ben Ishak

4 El-Wakedi
5 Ibn el-Kelbi
6 Abu 'Obaidah Ma'mer Ben el-Mothanni

7 Ibn 'Ayyash* jiU* ^1.

8 El-Haithem Ibn 'Adi et-Tayf

9 Esh-Sharki Ibn el-Ketami

10 Hemmad er-Rawiyah *

11 El-Asma'i
juo^{

12 Sahl Ben Harun

13 Ibn el-Mokaffa'
14 El-Yezidi <s

15 El-'Otbi el-Omawiy
16 Abu Zeid Sa'id Ben Aus el-Ansari

reading which I have adopted rests on the authority of the Kamus,

(edit. Calcutt. p. 1160) and the Fihrist (874. anc. fond. MS.
Arab. Royal Library at Paris.)
* One copy bears The addition of the
J^J^JJ (j*lxxJJ *jj
"
patronymic el-Hamadani," in this wrong reading makes it
pro-
bable that it is the same person mentioned in Tiedemann's ibn
Khallikan under N. 364.
"
t Haji Khalfa (N. 2140) makes el-Hayi" of el-Tay but this
is
wrong
 J
10 EL-MAS'UDI S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

17 En-Nadhr Ben Shomail

18 'Obaid-ullah Ben 'Ayeshah X^Lc ^^
1 9 Abu' Obaid el-Kasim Ben Sallam * I

20 'All Ben Mohammed el-Medaini

^cAxU.
21 Demad Ben Rafi^ Ben Selmah

J*-^.
22 Mohammed Ben Sallam el-Jomhi

^^
23 Abu 'Othman 'Amr
f
iU.
Ben Bahr el-Jahith

&*^ >sr ^ JJ+&

24 AbuZeid'Omar Ben Shabbehen-Nomairi Joj >J
^Zs. ^\.

25 El-Azraki el-Ansari
26 Abu Saib el-Makhzumi
27 'All Ben Mohammed Ben Sole'j'man en-Naufeli

28 Ez-Zobair Ben Bekkar J6*

29 El-Injili
^ j*>^-

30 Er-Riyashi
31 Ibn 'Abid <k>U or

* Other are X
readings

- *u* The reading which I have

^j
*
^jU
of Ibn Khallikan.
adopted in the text rests on the authority

f The readings differ \ or Jt or

^\ or JI.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 11

32 'Arnrnar Ibn Wathimah * X

33 Abu Hassan ez-Ziyadi (

34 'Isa Ibn Lahi'ah el-Misri (&ux$J) ***jJ

35 'Abd-ur-Rahman Ben 'Abd-ullah Ben Abdul

Hokm el-Misri

36 Abu Keisan el-Hadi

37 Mohammed Ben Musa el-Khowarezmi

38 Abu Ja'fer Mohammed Ben Abi-s-Sari

39 Mohammed Ben el-Haithem Ben Shebamah

(Shebabah) el-Khorasani ^^^ fj^tt J^sx ^>
^Ujil (S^UJK) SUUA the author of the Book
ed-daulat (%j*M the dynasty.)
40 Ishak Ibn Ibrahim el-Mausili, the author of the

Song-book, and of other works *J^j1 .jj

vJu

* There is a great difference in the readings of this name.

The MS. in M. Schultz's collection in the Royal Library at
Paris gives the reading which I have adopted in the text. The
MS. of Leyden bears
^Xc and another copy
cf^oU XAJJ ^\
has
c5?jAaU ^jl*c
I believe it is the same man whom Haji
Khalfa (N. 2120) calls 'Omdrah Ben Wathimah.
12 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

41 El-Khalil Ibn el-Haithem el-Harthemi JJlil

the author of the book on
^j*$r$\ fAAgH ^jJ
Stratagems and Manoeuvres in War ^A\ ^UT
Vj^i J NJ&|j aad f other works.
42 Mohammed Ben Yezid el-Mobarred el-Azdi

43 Mohammed Ben Soleiman el-Minkari el-

Jauheri

44 Mohammed Ben Zakariya el-Ghallabi^ el-Basri

(el-Misri) (^^0 cfj^ui^ 3-^x)^ ^0
(^j^*^^,
the author oif the
j^^i i^UT and other works.
45 Ibn Abi-d-Dunya (er-Raini) the preceptor of
el-Moktefi Billah (^0 USjJl
^^ ^j^^
46 Ahmed Ben Omar (Mohammed) el-Khoza'i,
known under the name of el-Khakani of
Antiochia o

47 'Abdullah Ben Mohammed Ben Mahfiith el

Beladi el-Ansari l^yL^v^
^j *x^ ^.^ ^J^ iXxc
^Uaj^\ (tf>^0 tf*xX>Ji the companion of
Ibn Yezid 'Imarah Ben Zaid of Medina (Ibn

* All the
copies of Mas'udi bear &xJJ instead of
I prefer the latter on the authority of the Fihrist. His work
is called in some copies
jl^^SH v^ an(^ ^ n ^e Fihrist

2>f^.y\. Haji Khalfa contains none of these titles.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 13

Othman Ben Zaid of Medina) *,Ux Ju

48 Mohammed Ben el-Barki Ben Khalid el-Waki

el-Katib* -oKN ^\ *\!U.
^xiJ Cj_^ <x+2X
(^
author of the c_UT "
^U^M Exposition."
49 Ahmed Ben Mohammed Ben Khalid el-Barki,
the son of the preceding

50 Abii Sa'id es-Sokkari f

^.Cj^ *x/jt-j ^>\
51 Ahmed Ben Abi Tdher^lfc
^? ^.j J^! the

* This name is found only in M.

de Gayangoz's copy. It is

evidently very incorrect. Comparing it with the next following

name, which is also only met
Gayangoz's MS., I consider "el-
in
"
Waki as a corruption of "el-Barki ", which is to be left out the first
time. The name runs therefore Mohammed Ben Khalid el-Barki
:

el-Kdtib. Haji Khalfa (N. 2405 edit. Fliigel) ascribes a work

called "Exposition of the History of Bagdad" to Ahmed Ben

Mohammed Ben Khalid el-Barki el Kdtib. This name agrees

exactly with the name of the next following author. As in M.

de Gayangoz's copy frequently a sentence is written twice, I
almost think the father must abdicate as an author in favour of his
son.

f This author is mentioned only in a copy of the Royal

Library at Paris, of M. Schultz) and in M. de

(collection

Gayangoz's MS. The later MS. adds, He is the author of the

work
i-^xl^ *^W^ "P ems of the Arabs (Bedouins^)" in the

Fihrist and in Haji Khalfa (edit. Fliigel, N. 38.) This book bears
"
the title UJJ C>UjSN Popular Poems."
14 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

author of the
"
History of Bagdad" j+\ v^
Jjjob and other works.
52 Ibn el-Wesha U^J ^\
53 'All Ben Mojahid
of the ''History of the
X4>Ls=s.<>
(JJ
j
^ the author
O may y ides "^,U=U V UT
(^.jju^oSM
and other works.
54 Mohammed Ben Saleh Ben el-Betah (en-

Nettah*.) ( C U*N) ^U^l

the author of the "

^\# ^
*+=s^
History of the Abbaside
^
Dynasty'^ X/^UxJ^ XJ3 *xJ^ t_lxT and other works.
55 Yusuf Ben Ibrahim the
^&>jA (j_^ <-**-^.
author of the " History of Ibrahim Ben el-
Mahdi " and other works.
56 Mohammed Ben el-Hareth et-Taghlebi (eth-

Tha'lebi) (c^xn) gteX\ cL^^ ^^ <x*^

the author of the " Manners of the Kings" v_A^
(XUQ t_-^U^ o^U.^ which he composed for el-
Fath Ben Khakan
other works.
^UU ^ g&\
and of

57 'Obaid-ullah Ben 'Abdulla Ben Khordadbeh

He is the best writer ;

his style is an example
which has been imitated by other authors. They

* The el-Betah "is confirmed by the authority of the

reading
Fihrist (874 MS. Arabe ancien fonds of the Royal Library at

Paris;) and en-Nettah" by Haji Khalfa (edit. Fliigel, N. 2151.)

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 15

have followed his traces and

copied from his works.
Whoever wishes to convince himself of the truth
of our assertion, read his large work on history,
may
gjUM & j^&\ u.UT. He compiled the materials
for this work with great care ; arranged them in a
new order, and comprised in it a vast deal of infor-
mation. history of the Persians,
It contains the

and other nations, their kings, and the biographies

of those kings.
Another excellent book of his treats on the
roads and kingdoms, jOlit ^ JCJUJL!
fyc., Uyx 3 j.
Whenever I was
want of information, I found it
in

there, and whenever I consulted it, I had reason to

praise it.

58 History (of Mohammed ) from his birth to his

death, and of the Khalifs and Kings after him,
down to the Khalifat of el-Mo'tadhed Billah,
with an account of all that happened or existed
in their days, and their traditions, by Mohammed
Ben 'AH el Hosaini el-'Alawi ed-Dinaweri t_UT

^tfj* ^ SlJ>Jl J

59 History of Ahmed Ben Yahya el-Belddori v^"

cfji^xJ^ ^^
(Jjj
js,*^^
&j^ an^ the work of
the same author which has the following title,
16 EL-MAS'lJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,
" The countries and their subjection to the

Mohammedans, by treaty or force, after the

Hijrah of the prophet, and the conquests of
all

Mohammed, and of the Khalifs after him, also

the traditions illustrative of this subject;" <-A^

The author describes in this

book,, all the countries east and west, south and

north. We do not know of any better work
on the conquest of the countries than this.
60 The history of Ddwud Ben el-Jerrdh, A^J <->^
gJJCM <5* ^4>\ (.jj.
This is the great reposi-

tory of the history of the Persians, and of

other nations. The author is the grandfather
of the vizier 'All Ben 'Isa Ben Dawud Ben el-
Jerrah.
61-4 history containing the events, state, and times
before the Islam and after, by Abu 'Abdullah
Mohammed Ben el-Hasan Ben Siwdr, known
under the name of Ibn Okht 'Isa Ben Ferklidn-
shdh, ^k

^.^j.
His history goes
down to the year 320.
62 History of Abu 'Isa Ben el-Monajjim
(the
astrologer) principally based on the Pentateuch,
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 17

It treats also on other prophets and kings.

63 History of Omayyides, their virtues, the
the

qualities by which they distinguished themselves

from other great families, and the new line

of conduct which they adopted when in power ;

by Abu 'Abd-ur-Rahmdn Khaled Ben Heshdm

!

el-Omawiy ^AjljU

64 T%e history of Abu Bishr ed-Dauldbi ^

65 And book of Abu Bekr Mo-

the excellent
hammed Ben Khalaf Ben Waki\ the Kadi, on
history, with notices on other subjects ;

66 Biography and History by Mohammed Ben

Khaled el-Hdshemi

67 History and Biography by Ishak Ben Sola'iman

el-Hdshemi; j

68 Biography of the Khalifs by Abu Bekr Mo-

hammed Ben Zakariyd er-Rdzi, liXi^^x** JxT
;
the author of
 18 EL-MAS' i DI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,
"
the Kitab el-Mansuri"^^;uJJ V UT and other
medical works.
69 The works of 'Abdullah Ben Moslim Ben Ko-
taibah ed-Dinaweri XAAA? (.+-> fiwo /.jj aM! *XAC
tf^jJJ, which are numerous and extensive,
as his Encyclopedia (_5,1*^ t
v^UT and other
works.
70 The history of Abu Ja'fer Mohammed Ben Jarir

et-Tabari ^jvUl^j^ tX^yLx^ ^\ jsjlj- ^

No other book can be compared with this,
which forms a supplement to all other works.
He has collected different historical traditions
and documents, so that his book contains a
variety of information, which renders it very
useful. And how could it be otherwise? the
author having been the most learned Divine*
of his age, and the most religious person of
his time. He united the knowledge of the

* " means a person well versed in law and

Divine," <Ui'J

divinity, i. e. 1. The Koran and its explanation. This compre-

hends the sacred ancient history of the creation and prophets,
the outline of which the reader finds in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and
6th chapters of this work. 2. The traditions which are inti-

mately connected with the early history of the Mohammedans,

for history derives all its information from traditions. 3. Some
auxiliary sciences, such as logic, grammar, Arabic, archaeology*
&c. Hence it was required to be a good Divine, in order to be
a good historian.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 19

Divines of all the leading cities*, and was ac-

quainted with all traditions and documents.

* When the Mohammedans had conquered part of Persia, 'Omar

founded on the frontier between the conquering and subjected
countries(Arabia and Persia), two military cantonments, (el-
Basrah and el-Kufah) to ensure the conquests. These two cities

were called /.*-> v^^JJ sing* Hence means "to

jj*a+$\ j+j&+j
form such a cantonment." Similar cantonments were founded by
the same Khalif, and for the same purpose, in Syria, Mesopotamia,
and Egypt. Although they were in their origin little more than
camps, they rose soon to importance, being the site of the govern-
ment of the conquered countries, and the rich booty collected
there from all quarters of the world, changed them into splendid
cities. In these cantonments the veterans who had fought with Mo-
hammed were stationed. When peace was restored, their minds
were turned to religious speculations, and their imagination was
with the recollections of the prophet ; the absence from the
filled

original spot may have contributed to exalt and embellish these

recollections. They related the sayings and history of the prophet
to their children, who were anxious to gather as many of these
sacred traditions as they possibly could, and to compare the
accounts of the same fact, as related by different persons. So in
"
every one of those stations of the veterans, or leading cities,"
to which Mekka and Medina may be reckoned, a corpus of tra-
ditions was formed which was first orally taught, but soon committed
to writing, studied and commented upon by the divines
These cantonments may be compared, in an ecclesiastical point
of view, witli the primitive Christian churches, (Jerusalem, Alex-
andria Antiochia, &c.), with this difference, that they were at the
same time the sites of learning, and that their chivalrous feelings

were so strong, that the blood of more than a hundred thousand

C 2
 20 KL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

71 Of the same description is the history of Abu

'Abdullah Ibrahim Ben Mohammed Ben 'Orfah
el-Wdsiti, the grammarian, known by his nick-

name, Niftawaih

His history is full of elegant extracts from the

best works, and of useful matter. He was
the best writer of his time.
72 Mohammed Ben Yahya es-Suli
^$& ^j tX+2x
JyH followed his example in his book called
The papers on the history of the Abbasides and
their poetries uJu?&\ ^ UX^UrU ^J o^^J t->\tf

work on
^,U-2^ and in his the history of the

Viziers of the Beni 'Abbas ^JvS-

^1^ ^A^t?
He relates anecdotes which are not to be
found in any other author, for he had the
opportunity of witnessing them personally ;
he was besides very learned and well-
informed, and a good writer.
73 Of the same kind is the work on the Viziers,

men who fell in el-Kufah under the executioner of Hejjaj Ben

Yusuf could not quench their thirst for independency.

This is the original acceptation of the word VAO^O which was

lost when the cities to which it had been applied, lost their import-
ance and character. Modern writers use sometimes the plural

,Uo*J in order to make a sentence more pompous, and in this case

it means "provinces" in a vague acceptation of the word.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 21

by Abul- Hasan Ben el-Hasan, who is

'All

known under the name of Ibn el-Mdshitah*,

This work goes down to

the end of the reign of er-Radhi Billah.
74 Equal merit has Abul-Faraj Koddmah Ben

Ja'fer el-Kdtib c-^j'KH yL*^ ^ 3UJA*

^^\ ^\.
He was and elegant writer, who chose
a good
such words which expressed best the meaning,
as one may see from his historical work,
which has the title, flowers of the spring, ^-ktf

t>j$\r*j
but his best work is the book on the

tribute, ^*\ <-ur. In these two works he

justifies fully the praise which is given to him.
75 Abul-Kdsim JcCfer Ben Mohammed Ben Ham-
dan el-Mausili el-Fakih

wrote his histo-

rical work called el-Bdhir
j&kjA\ ^\jS (the
admi-
rable) in opposition to the Kitab er-Raudhat

'tejjti c^UT (the garden) of el-Mobarred

76 Ibrahim Ben Mdhawaih el-Far esi ^>
xy>Lo. He imitates a work of el-

* edit. Fliigel) writes the name of

Haji Khalfa (No. 242
this author Abul-Hosam 'AU Ben Mohammed el-Meshshdtah
XlsUUJI but this is wrong. Compare the Tenbih (337 MSS. of
St. Germain, fol. 195 vers.)
22 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Mobarred called "el-Kamil" _UKU V UT (the

perfect book.)
77 The work of Ibrahim Ben Musa el-Wdsiti on

the history of the Viziers, &}* &> ^^ v^~

\j-j\ J^\ ^ is\s^\^\.
He wrote this book
in opposition to Mohammed Ben Ddwud Ben
book on the same subject.
el-Jerrah's

78 The work of 'AH Ben el-Fath* el-Katib known

under the name of el-Motawwak, on the history

of several Viziers of el-Moktader, ^^ _AxT

79 El-Misri's work named Flowers of the eyes

and brightness of the heart,
(jj>**M

80 TAe history of 'Abdur-Rahim Ben Mohammed

el-Warrak, generally called el-Jorjdni es-Sa'di-f,

81 History of el-Mausil and other places, by Abu

Zokra

*
Haji Khalfa (No. 242) is wrong in writing the name of
this author 'AltBen Abil-Fatah.
t Haji Khalfa (No. 2193) calls this author 'Aid er-Rah-
mdn Ben 'Aid er-Rezzdh es-Sadi el-Jorjdnt. One of my
copies bears Ben el- Warrdk
I The name of this author in Haji Khalfa (No. 2320) is

Zakariya el-Mausili.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 23

82 The chronicle of Ahmed Ben AU Ya'kub el-

Misri* embracing the history of the Abbasides
and other families,

83 The history of the Khalifs, from the house of

Abbas, and others, by 'Abdullah Ben el-Hosdin
Ben Sa'd el-Kdtib, f ^U^i

84 Mohammed Ben Abil-Azhar's J

^
work on history, and other subjects.

* name Ahmed Ben

Haji Khalfa (No. 2151) writes this

Yakub el-Misri.

f Haji Khalfa writes 'Abdullah Ben Hosa'in Ben Maad

I Haji Khalfa calls this author Abul-Azhar Mohammed

Ben Mozid) a grammarian, who died 325. This is wrong, as
we see from es-Soyutl (lives of grammarians and lexicographers y

an Arabic MS. of Dr. J. Lee). This author says, " Mohammed

Ben Mozid Ben Mahmud Ben Mansur Abu Bekr el-Khoza'i,
known under the name of"Ibn Abll-Azhar" the grammarian, is
called by some writers Mohammed Ben Ahmed Ben Mozid.... He is

the author of the work el-harj wal-marj, &c." With this account
agrees the author of the Fihrist (Vol. I., No. 874, MS. Arab.
anc. fonds., in the Royal Library at Paris, fol. 200 verso.), who
gives to the author of the el-harj wal-marj the name of Ibn
Abil-Azhar Abu Bekr Mohammed Ben Ahmed of Bushanj
24 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

This book has the title of rebellion and revo-

dLA<tey\ j j\ v^"
lutions)

85 Sendn Ibn Thdbet Ben Korrah el-Harrdni,

* has written a
Jt/il 2jS (jjJ u^olj (^jt\ j,U^,
work, the contents of which are not in his
line and profession ;
it is in the form of an
epistle to a friend of his, who holds office under
Government; and contains dissertations on
moral philosophy, and the division of the soul,
into the intellectual soul (AJ&UM), animal soul

(or function) (^UA*axM), and vegetative soul

(or function) (x^W^O* ^e

a^ so gi yes the

leading ideas on the government of cities,

from Plato's Republic, which is in two books.
He speaks also on the duties of the Sovereign,
and of the Viziers. Then he proceeds to

history, which he believes to have from good

authority, for he does not relate as an eye-

witness, except the history of Mo'tadhed
Billah, in whose court he lived. He gives an
account of the days which he passed with hi in.

*
Haji Khalfa (No. 2191) makes a gross anachronism, in
ascribing to Thabet Ben Korrah a history from the year 190 to

363, whereas the supposed author died 288 A.H. He means

probably the history of the grandson of Thabet Ben Korrah,
whose name was Thdbet Ben Sendn and who is much praised as
a historian, by Abul-Faraj (Hist. Dynast, p. 208., and also Ase-
mani Bibl. Orientalis, Vol. II., p. 317.) He died 363 A.H.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 25

Then he goes back from one Khalif to

another, but contrary to all history, and de-
viating from the accounts of all other his-
torians. And even were better,
if his history
and if he had not gone beyond what he had
seen himself, he ought to be blamed for a
work which is not in his profession, and for
a labour which is out of his
ought line. He
to have written on those branches of science
in which he is unique, as on the Science of
Euclid (j^jvxXiM,, the linea secantes v^UkJuc, on

the Almegest, and on Circles c>]^jsU; or he

ought to have entered into an explanation of the
systems of Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle, treat-
ing on the system of the heavens* X>UJJ UA5M,
on meteorological phenomena xj^XxH jl^t, or
on natural temperaments. On causes, their
connexion and conclusions ^yU^J- On proposi-
tions cijUJoiU, and compound syllogisms U>^

djlxTj.*!!. On the distinction between natural

and supernatural oU$lsn. Also on the science

of the matter, dimensions, figures, and the
mensuration of forms (stereometry), and other
problems of philosophy. If he had written

on these subjects, no blame could be cast upon

* This is the Arabic title for Aristotle's work, De Ccelo,

and the following one for his Meteorologica.
26 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

him for his labour, for he would have produced

a work which is consistent with his professional
science. But the learned are defective in their

abilities, and the wise have some weak points.

Hence, 'Abdullah Ben el-Mokaffa' says:

"Whosoever writes a book exposes himself: if
it is good he will earn fame, and if it is bad he
will reap shame."
We mentioned only those chronicles, histories,

biographies, and documents, the authors of which

are known, and omitted the historical works of the

persons who have written on the traditions, con-

taining the names, lives, and classes, of men ; for

this volume is too limited to contain all that.

Besides, in our work entitled Kitdb Akkbdr ez-zemdn

and Kitdb el-ausat, we have named the persons
who have made themselves in any way remarkable,
with their biographies, and anecdotes of their lives,
and we have given an account of the persons of
science, and their classes; beginning from the time
of the companions of the
prophet and the fol-
lowers* after them, we have followed up the great
men of every age, in chronological order, till the

year 332, according to the difference of their

* Those who lived at the time of Mohammed, and knew him,

are called "
companions," c-A^t and those who knew the compa-
nions, but not the prophet himself, are called "followers,"
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 27

pursuits and opinions, whether they were divines of

the leading cities, or other persons who espoused
the cause of some opinion, sect, system, or contro-

versy.
We
have given to the present work the title,

MEADOWS OF GOLD, AND MINES OF GEMS, <_A>^

jjiyll ^yiljco ^ 4-*jfr<xM &?*> m

order to excite a
desire and curiosity after its contents, and to make
the mind eager to become acquainted with history,
the prominent and leading facts of which are com-

prised in this book, whilst they are related in full

detail inour former works on the same subject, and
with the interesting accounts selected for these pages
from our other writings. We have dedicated this
book as a present to kings and men of learning,
having treated in on every subject which may be
it

useful or curious to learn, and on any knowledge

which arose in the lapse of time.
We have pointed to the subjects of our former
works, repeating here everything that a clever and
well-informed man ought to know. There is no
branch of science, nor any object of interest, of
which we do not speak nor is there any important
;

fact which we do not distinctly mention in this

book. We have compressed it into the form of

a summary, interspersed with various hints, and
illustrated with occasional observations.

Whosoever changes in any way its meaning,

removes one of its foundations, corrupts the lustre
28 EL-MAs'ui)i's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

of its information, covers the splendour of one

paragraph-, makes any change or alteration,

or
selection or extract; and whoever ascribes it to
another author, may he feel the wrath of God!
Quick may come the vengeance, and may the blows
of misfortune fall upon him with such violence that
he unable to bear his fate in patience, and that he
is

loses his intellect over it. May God make him an

example to the reflecting, and may He take from him
what he had given to him. May He who is the
Creator of heaven and earth bereave him of the

strength and other graces which he had bestowed

upon him, to whatever sect or opinion he may
belong.
We have put this intimidation at the beginning
of this book, and at the end, that it may deter any
one who might have an inclination, and be bad
enough, to do such a thing. God will see him, and
watch his doings. The space (of life) is short, and
the distance (to the other world) is small, and to
God we shall all return*.

Here we subjoin alist of the chapters of this

book, showing the contents of every one of them

* This God
expression of reliance on is borrowed from the
Koran, and is
constantly in the mouth of the Moslims if they see
themselves wronged.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 29

SECOND CHAPTER.

A List of the Chapters contained in this Book.

WE have explained in the preceding chapter the

object of this work ;
in this chapter we will give a
listof the contents of the chapters, in the same

systematical order which we have observed in the

body of the book, to the end that the reader can
easier refer to them.
3. The first origin. The process of the creation,
and the first generations from Adam to Ibrahim.
4. The history of Ibrahim, and the prophets
after him. The kings of the children of Israel.
5. The reign of Rakhobo'am Ben Solaiman Ben
Dawud and the Israelite kings after him. Concise
account of the prophets.
6. Those who lived in the Fatrah, that is to
say, in the time between Christ and Mohammed.
7. An
abridged account of the Hindus, their
opinions, the origin of their kings, and their lives,
also their usages in holy service.
8. On
the globe, the seas, the beginning of

rivers, the mountains, and seven climates, and the

stars which preside over them, and other subjects.
9. A concise account of seas that have changed

their places, and of great rivers.

30 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

10. Account of the Abyssinian sea, its extent,

gulfs and straits.

11. The different opinions on ebband flow, and

all that has been said on this subject.

12. The Greek (Mediterranean) sea, its length

and breadth, and its beginning and end.
13. The Sea of Nitus* and Manitus, and the

of Constantinople.
strait

14. The sea of Bab el-Abwab and Jorjan (the

Caspian Sea), and a view of the connexion of all the
seas.

15. The Chinese Empire, its kings ; their lives,

government, &c.
16. A comprehensive view of the accounts of
the seas, and their wonders, and of the nations who
live in the islands of the sea, or on the coast, the
succession of their kings, &c.
17. On the Caucasus, and accounts of el-Lan

(Alans), es-Serir, el-Khazar, and various races of

Turks f, and el-Bulghar, also of Derbend and the
nations and kings of those regions.

.*J is a corruption of Pontus, which is so

Q^Lju
universally found in Arabic authors, that it seems to be sanctioned
by use.

t The word "Turk" throughout this work is not to be taken

in the
meaning it generally has in the English language. For the
nation which we call "Turks" are named in the east "Othmanlis,"
whilst the name "Turk" has with good Arabic writers about the
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 31

18. The Assyrian kings.

19. The kings of Mausil and Ninive, who are
the same as those called el-Aturyiin*, ^.j$f.j3W
20 The kings of Babel of Nabatsean, and other
origin. They are called the "Chaldseans."
21. The first Persian kings; their lives, with
historical sketches.

22. The kings of the Satrapies, and the Ash-

ghanians. These were between the first and second

Persian dynasties.
23. The origin of the Persians, and what the
historians say on this subject.

24. The Sassanian kings, who are the second

series of Persian sovereigns, and collections from
their history.

25 The Greeks t> their history, and opinions

on their history.

same meaning as with us, " Tatars." I refer the reader for a more
scientific explanation of this word to the 17th chapter and the
additional notes to it.

* He means probably the kings of "Aturia," which is the

name of the country belonging to Niniveh, in Strabo, (edit. Basil.

1549, page 669.)

f The Greeks, before they were subjected by the Romans, are
" or lonians
called by oriental writers Yunaniyun, , . .
^.xj U^/J
\
.

The term is originally Syriac UJQ-i, for the Arabs derived their

knowledge of the ancient Greeks originally from the Syrians, and

these were, of course, best acquainted with those Greeks who
32 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

The history of Alexander in India.

26.
27. The Greek kings, after Alexander.
28. The Roman Empire, and what historians

say on the origin of the Romans, the number of

their kings, and their chronology. Also sketches
from the lives of those kings.
29. The Christian sovereigns of the Byzantines,
we mean the emperors of Constantinople, with
some notices of what has happened during their

reigns.
The emperors after the beginning
30. of the
Islam down to the emperor Romanus, who is now
reigning in 332 A. H.
31. Accounts of Egypt, and the Nile, wonders
of Egypt, and its sovereigns.
32. Alexandria, the edifices of this town, and
the kings who resided there.
33. The Sudan (Negroes), their origin and
different races.

34. The Slavonians, the countries where they

lived nearest to them, who were the "lonians." After the

conquest ^of the Romans, the eastern empire was called Rum
I translate by "Greeks," and for
p^JJ ^/JU^AH +^\
"
by Byzantines." Whosoever wishes for further
distinction's sake,

explanation on this subject may consult Hamaker's note to the

" Liber de
expugnatione Memphidis et Alexandria ", Leyden 1 825,
p. 60.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 33

live, their kings, and the divisions of the Slavonian

nations.
35. The Franks and Galicians, XxJ&lJ their

kings, sketches from their history and biography,

and their wars with the inhabitants of Andalus,
(Moors in Spain.)
36. The Longobards, and
their kings, together
with an account of the country which they inhabit*.
37. The 'Adites, and their kings; a view of
and the opinions respecting the length
their history,
of the time which they flourished.
The Themudites and their kings; Salih
38.
their prophet, and some sketches from their history.

39. Mekka, an historical account of this city,

and of the holy house, (the Ka'bah,) also of the

supremacy which the Jorhomites, and other tribes,
held there ; and what besides enters under this head.
40. On
the description of the earth, and the
various countries. Love to the native soil.
"
41 The dispute on the reason why el- Yemen,"
.

* M. De Guignes, (Notices et Extraits des MSS. de la

Bibliotheque du Roi, Vol. i. p. 4.) and Hamaker, (Specimen

Catal.) read the word

Aj^TyJJ Nogorod.
We have no doubt but

that is a corruption of "el-Liingobard,''

$jjS^&\ Jj.x&jJJ
although all MSS. agree in this corrupt reading.
We are con-
firmed in our opinion by Nowai'ri, (MS. of Leyden, Nro. 273, page
"
50,) who spells it Jj^&^J Alangobard."
D
34 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

" and
el-Irak," 6^*n "esh-Sham," ^l&l
"el-Hejaz," jl^J have received these names.
42. Yemen, the origin of the inhabitants of this

country, and the various opinions thereon.

ct
43. Yemen, and the kings called Tobba's,"
and others, together with their lives, and the years
which they reigned.
44. The kings of el-Hfrah, who came from
Yemen, and others, together with their history.
45. Kings of Syria who came from Yemen, and
others, together with their history.
46. Wandering people of the Arabs, and of
other nations ;
the reasons why they inhabit the
deserts,and the Kurds the mountains; their origin
and history, and all that is connected with this
subject,
47. The different beliefs and opinions of the
Arabs, before the Islam; their dispersion. The
history of the elephant, and the invasion of the
Abyssinians, Abdul Motallib, &c.
48. Opinions of the Arabs on the soul, intellect,
and animal life.

49. Whatthe Arabs say on ghosts and witch-

craft, and what other nations say on this and other

subjects of the same nature.

50. On
ominous sounds, demons and the like,
according to the opinions of the Arabs and others,
both those who believe it and who deny it.
51. The ideas of the Arabs on augury, divina-
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 35

tion, physiognomies, and lucky or unlucky omens,

taken from the circumstance whether game turns from
the the right, or from the right to the left.
left to

52. Soothsaying, how it is done, and various

accounts thereof; the distinction between a rational
and irrational soul, and opinions on visions, dreams,
and other subjects connected with them.
53. The history of Seil el-'Arem in the country
of Saba and Marib. The dispersion of the Azd,
and their settling in other countries.
54. The
years and months of the Arabs com-
pared with those of other nations, how far they
agree, and how far they differ.

55. The monthsof the Kopts and Syrians, the

difference of their names. A
view of chronology,
and what is connected with these matters.
The months of the Syrians; how they
56.

agree with the months of the Greeks; how many

days in a year.
57.Months of the Persians.
58.The years and months of the Arabs, and
the names of their days and nights.
59. What the Arabs say on the nights of the
lunar months, and what is connected with this
subject.
60. The revolutions of the sun and moon*.

* Mas'iidl states at the end of this index that the

number of
chapters is 132. All MS. copies fall short of this number,
D 2
36 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

61 . The influence on this world ascribed to the

sun and moon, and the various opinions on this
subject.
The quarters of the world, and what is
62.

peculiar to every part of them in the east and west,

south and north, and other influence of the stars.
63. Sacred edifices and lofty temples ; on the
houses sacred to the worship of fire and idols.

The idolatry of the Hindus, on the stars and other

strange things in this world.
64. Sacred houses of the Greeks, and their
description.
65. Sacred houses of the ancient Romans.
66. The sacred houses of the Slavonians, toge-
ther with their description.
67. The high temple of the Sabeans of Harran,
and of other Sabean sects. The various things

preserved in these temples, and the like.

68. Account of the houses of fire worship,

their construction, and the account of the Magi
respecting those houses, and their construction.

omitting frequently the chapter heads. Taking the chapter heads

of all the
copies at my disposal, I brought the number of chapters
to 131. De Guignes, who gives this list, although very incomplete,
in the first volume of the Notices et Extraits des MSS., after the
MSS. of Paris, mentions the above
chapter head, which I the
readier adopt to make complete the number of 132, as Mas'udi
speaks also on the course of the sun and moon in the chapter
inscribed in my copies "The influence on this World, &c."
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 37

69. Conspectus of the chronology of the world,

from the beginning down to the birth of Mo-
hammed.
70. The birth of Mohammed, his pedigree, and
what enters besides under this head.

71. The prophetic mission of Mohammed,, and

his history till his flight.
72. The flight of Mohammed, and the heads of
his history, till his death.
73. Account of his history, and circumstances
connected with it, from his birth to his death.

74. New dogmas which commenced with the

prophet, and which had never existed before him.
75. The Khalifat of Abu Bekr es-Sadik: his

pedigree, and sketches from his life and history.

76. The Khalifat of 'Omar Ben el-Khattab: his

pedigree, and sketches from his life and history.

77. Khalifat of 'Othman Ben el-'Affan.
78. Khalifat of 'Ali Ben Abi Taleb: his pedi-
gree, and sketches from his life and history: his
brothers and sisters.
79. Account of the battle of the camel, how it

began, and what there happened.

80. The occurrences between the Arabs of el-

Trak, and esh-Sham (Syria), at Siffin.

81. The two arbitrators, and the beginning of

the arbitration.
82. 'All's wars with the people of Nahrwan,
who were called " esh-Shorrat," (SchismaticksJ ;
and the result of this war.
38 EL-MASU'DI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

83. 'All's assassination.

84. Sayings of 'Ali, examples of his abstemious-

ness, and some anecdotes of this nature.

85. The Khalifat of el-Hasan Ben 'All Ben Abi
Taleb.
86. Reign of Mo'awiyah Ben Abi Sofyan.
87. History of Mo'awiyah, his government, and
anecdotes from his life.

88. The companions of the Prophet, their

praise. 'Ali and el-' Abbas.

89. The reign of Yezid Ben Mo'awiyah Ben

Abi Sofyan.
90. El-Hosain, the son of 'Ali, is killed, and
many of his family and followers share his fate.
91. The names of the children of 'Ali Ben Abi
Taleb.
92. Sketches from the
and history of Yezid;
life

some extraordinary actions of his. His wars, &c.

93.Reign of Mo'awiyah Ben Yezid, Merwan
Ibn el-Hakam, el-Mokhtar Ben Abi 'Obaid and
'Abdullah Ben ez-Zobair, and sketches from their
lives and history, and some occurrences which
happened at this period.

94. Reign of 'Abdul-Melik Ben Merwan:

sketches from his life and history.
95. El-Hejjaj Ben Yusof ;
his speech, and part
of his history.
96. Reign of el-Walid Ben 'Abdul-Melik:
sketches from his history, and the history of el-

Hejjaj during his reign.

 AND MINKS OF GEMS. 39

97. Reign of Soleiman Ben 'Abdul-Melik :

sketches from his life and history.

98. Khalifat of 'Amr Ben 'Abdul-' Aziz Ben
Merwan Ben el-Hakam: sketches from his life

and history.
Reign of Yezid Ben 'Abdul-Melik: sketches
99.
from his life and history.
100. Reign of Hesham Ben 'Abdul-Melik, and
sketches from his life and history.
101. Reign of el-Walid Ben Yezid Ben 'Abdul-
Melik, and sketches from his life and history.
102. Reigns of Yezid Ben el-Walid Ben 'Abdul-

Melik, and Ibrahim Ben el-Walid Ben 'Abdul-

Melik, and anecdotes from the history of their

reigns.
The party
103. spirit between the descendants
of Yemen, and the Nizarians. And the rebellion

against the Omayyides which was the result.

104. The reign of Merwan Ben Mohammed
Ben Merwan Ben el-Hakam.
105. The number of years which the Omay-
yide dynasty has been in power.
106. The 'Abbasside dynasty : further history of
Merwan ; his murder, his wars, and life.

107. The Khalifat of es-Seffah, his life and

history, and the history of his time.
108. The Khalifat of el-Mansur; his life and
history, and sketches from the history of his time.
109. The Khalifat of el-Mehdi: his life and
history, and sketches from the history of his time.
40 EL-MAS'UDi's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

110. The Khalifat of el-Hadi : his life and

history, and sketches from the history of his time.
111. The Khalifat of er-Rashid; his life and

history, and sketches from the history of his time.

112. The Barmekides, their history, and their

influence upon their time.
113. The Khalifat of el-Amin: his life and
history, and sketches from the history of his time.
114. The Khalifat of el-Mamun: his life and

history, and sketches from the history of his time.

115. The Khalifat of el-Mo'tasem: his life and

history, and sketches from the history of his time.

116. The Khalifat of el-Wathik: his life and
history, and sketches from the history of his time.
1 1 7. The Khalifat of el-Motawakkel his life and
:

history, and sketches from the history of his time.

118. The Khalifat of el-Montaser; his life and

history, and sketches from the history of his time.
119. The Khalifat of el-Mosta'in: his life and

history, and sketches from the history of his time.

120. The Khalifat of el-Mo'tazz: his life and
history, and sketches from the history of his time.
121. The Khalifat of el-Mohtadi: his life and

history, and sketches from the history of his time.

122. The Khalifat of el-Mo'tamed his life and
:

history, and sketches from the history of his time.

123. The Khalifat of el-Mo'tadhed his life and
:

history, and sketches from the history of his time.

124. The Khalifat of el-Moktafi: his life and

history, and sketches from the history of his time.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 41

125. The Khalifat of el-Moktader: his life and

history, and sketches from the history of his time.
126. The Khalifat of el-Kahir: his life and
history, and sketches from the history of his time.
127. The Khalifat of er-Radhi: his life and
history, and sketches from the history of his time.
128. The Khalifat of el-Mottaki: his life and
history,and sketches from the history of his time.
129. The Khalifat of el-Mostakfi: his life and

history,and sketches from the history of his time.

130. The Khalifat of el-Moti': his life and

history, and sketches from the history of his time.

131. The second conspectus of the chronology,

containing the period from the Hijrah, down to the

present time, i. e., Jomadal-ewwel of the year
336. Thi sis the date when I finished this book.
132. Names of the leaders of the pilgrimage.

El-Mas'udi says, these are all the chapters

contained in this book. We
shall give, in every

chapter, the contents pointed to in the preceding

list,, and besides, various other histories and accounts

not mentioned in this list, but they form only sepa-

rate paragraphs of the mentioned chapters. So we
give in our chronicles of the Khalifs, and the length
of their lives, in a separate paragraph their bio-

graphy and history; and then we add another

paragraph containing an account of the occurrences
during their reigns, the history of the Viziers, and
the sciences which were the object of their literary
42 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

circles. We have put into a different shape what

we have said in our former works on the same
subject.
The number of chapters contained in this book
is one hundred and thirty two. The
first chapter

contains the object of our work, and the second the

listof chapters contained in it, and the last chapter
contains the names of the leaders of the pilgrimage

from the beginning of the Isldm down to 335, A.H.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 43

IN the name of the Merciful and Clement God !

THIRD CHAPTER.

On the beginning of all things, process of the

creation, and the progress of generation.

ABUL-HASAN (el-Mas'udi) says the learned Mos-

:

lims, of all sects, agree that God, the Almighty,

created the universe without model, and from
nothing. The first thing created, acccording to a
tradition based on the authority of Ibn el-'Abbas
and others, was water upon it was the throne of
;

God, and when God intended to accomplish the

work of creation, he produced smoke * from the
water, which rose over it, and he called it *WlJ
heaven. He made
the water dry, and changed it
into one earth, then he divided it into seven earths t.
This was done in two days, on Sunday and Monday.

* i. e. The exhalation of the waters, as he says soon after.

f The Arabs received the theory of seven earths without

knowing what they were. Some believe that there are six earths
under the one which we inhabit; in the sixth is the throne of

Iblisy whilst others divide the globe known to the Arabs into seven
earths. (Kitab el-Bold&i, add. MS. of the Brit. Museum, 7496).
44 EL-MAS'fJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

He created the earth upon a fish CL>^* which is

" "
mentioned in the Koran, in the Surah, Nun f "by
the reed (pen) and what they write, and by the
FISH." This water again rests upon alarge smooth
stone,and the stone upon the back of an angel, who
stands upon a rockt, and this rock is supported by
the wind. The rock is also mentioned in the
Koran : in the words of Lokman to his son, "O
my Son, if the weight of one mustard-seed pushes
on the rock, or on the heavens, or on the earth, or

wherever it may be, God is aware of it, for God is

clear-sighted and omniscient." When the fish

shakes, an earthquake God, however,

is produced.
placed firmly the mountains upon it, and the earth
remains firm. To this alludes the passage of the

Koran ^[, "He has thrown upon the earth mountains

firmly rooted, lest it should move with you." He
created the mountains, the nourishment of the inha-
bitants of the earth, and the trees, in two days, on
Tuesday and Wednesday. Therefore we read in

*
This fish is named >_
^A._I
Bahmut or Hamut, (Ibn Shohna,
MS. of the Asiatic Society at Paris.) L
^jj is
hardly ever
used but as the name of the pisces of the zodiac. This fable
seems to have been originally an astronomical allegory.
t Surah Lxviii, verse 48.

% Ibn Shohna and others say this rock rests upon a bull (the
sacred animal of the Hindus), which is called
^ISjxT Kayuthdn.
Koran edit. Fliigel, Surah xxxi, verse 15.
IT Surah xvi, verse 15.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 45

the Koran, "Say (O Mohammed) how can you

disbelieve on him who has created the earth in two

days? and how can they associate a companion

with him who is the Lord of the worlds, and who
has put firmly-rooted mountains, and spread his
blessing in it. He provides equally for those who
pray to him for it.
Then God ascended to the heavens,, which were
smoke. He said to the heavens and to the earth,
"come whether you like or not;
"
they answered,
"We come by good will." This smoke was the breath
of the water. God made first one heaven, then he
divided it into seven heavens. This was done in
two days, on Thursday and on Friday. Friday was
called the day of assembling (*xirt ^) for God
has assembled (completed) on that day,
(+^)
the creation of the heavens and earth. Then he
said I will reveal in every heaven what belongs to it,

that is to say, he created what there is in it, as

angels, seas and the mountains of el-Bord ^ jJt JU^.

The heaven of the world is green, and consists of
emerald ;
the second heaven is white, and of silver ;
the third heaven is red, and of ruby; the fourth
heaven white, and of pearls; the fifth heaven is
is

(j+z\) of gold the sixth heaven is of a yellow gem,

;

(Topaz) ; the seventh heaven is of light, and it is

all covered with angels who stand on one foot, and

praise God, because they are so near him. Their

legs go through the seventh earth, and a space of

46 EL-MASUDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

five hundred years' journey below the seventh earth,

and their heads are under the throne of God, which
they do not reach. They say, THERE is NO GOD,
BUT GOD*; HE SITS ON THE THRONE OF GLORY;
so they say, from the moment of creation, to the
hour of the judgment.
Under the throne is a sea, from which comes the
food for all living beings. God commands, and
there flows, what he likes, from heaven to heaven,
<c
till it comes to the place called el-Abrem," *^t
then God gives his command to the wind, and it

carries it to the clouds, through which passes as

it

through a sieve. Under the heaven of the world is

a sea filled with animals, which are kept together

by the eternal decree, like the water of the seas of

the earth.
When God had completed the creation of the
world, he peopled it with genii ^.szOJ before he created
Adam. He made them of fire, among them was
"Iblis" (jMAU God forbade them to shed the blood
of animals,, nor should they show a rebellious spirit

among themselves but they shed blood, and one

;

became the enemy of the other. When Iblis saw

that they would not forbear from these bad actions,
he asked God that he might raise him to the heaven,
and there he worshipped God with the angels, with
the greatest devotion. God sent a corps of angels,

* A verse of the Koran.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 47

under the command

of Iblis, against the genii, and

they drove them into the islands of the seas, and

killed as many of them as God pleased.

Godplaced Iblis as a guardian over the heaven

of the world,, but his heart was filled with pride.
When it was the will of God to create Adam,
he said to the angels " I shall put a lieutenant on
earth;" they answered,, "Who will be this lieu-
tenant*?" God " He will have children
answered,
who will degenerate in earth, and envy and kill

each other." They said, "O our Lord, thou placest

a being there who will spread corruption, and shed

blood, and we sing thy praise, and glorify thee !"

He answered "I know what you do not know."
Then he sent the angel Gabriel to the earth to
fetch clay for him from the earth. But the earth
said "I fly to God from thee*f, if thou darest take
it!" and he returned and took none from it. God
sent then Michael, and the earth said the same
words to him as to Gabriel, and he took no clay
from it. Then he sent the angel of death, and the
earth took flight to God (said the same words), but

* This is taken from the second Surah of the

story literally
Koran.
" God from thee,'' ^JL
f The expression I fly to aHb ^\
is borrowed from the Koran, and is of very frequent use amongst
the Arabs, being equivalent to the commonest English imprecation
" I refer to God, who will curse thee."
implying
48 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

he said "and God, if I return without

I fly to

having accomplished what I am to do." And he

took black, red, and white earth; for this reason
the sons of Adam are of different colours. The
first man was called ADAM -M for he was taken
from the surface (adim) *oM of the earth. Some
have a different opinion. God commissioned the
angel of death over death.
When God had kneaded together the dust, he left

it for forty years, till it had become tenacious

clay ;
then he left it other forty years, till it got foetid
and altered. This is meant by the words of the
Koran " modelled from foetid dirt." Then he gave
to the clay the form of man, but left it without a
soul; it made a jingling noise, like an earthenware
vessel, remained a hundred and twenty, or,
so it

according to other authorities, forty years. This is

" There
meant, in the words of the Koran; passed
a time over man when he was not worth notice."
The angels passed on this body, and were afraid of
it, more particularly Iblis. Once he passed it and
struck with his foot against it ; there came from it
a sound like the jingling noise of an earthenware
vessel. To this allude the words of the Koran,
" From the
jingling noise like an earthenware
vessel," but some give to the word 5LoJU
(jingling
sounds) a different interpretation.
Iblis entered by its mouth, and came out
by its
"
back, and God said to him do not go through
what I have created."
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 49

When God intended to breathe the soul into

Adam, he ordered them to worship him: they did
so, except Iblis. He refused, in his pride, to do it,

and said ll
O Lord, I am him; thou
better than
hast created me of fire, and him of clay and fire :

is nobler than clay; further, thou hast made me

the lieutenant in the heaven of the earth, and I am
clad in feathers, ornamented with a scarf of light,
and crowned with grace. I have worshipped thee in
heaven and earth." God said to him, " Go forth

from here, thou wretch, upon thee is

my curse, till
''
the day of judgment. He asked God for a fixed
term to the day when they would be resuscitated,
and he made him look forward to a definite time.
So the name of Iblis (Devil) received the meaning
which it has.
There are different opinions as to the reason why
God ordered the angels to worship Adam. Some
persons believe he was to be considered by them as
" Mihrab
*," whilst the object of worship was God.
The servants of God ought to have followed his
orders, and obeyed him in this trial which he had
chosen. There are yet other opinions. God
breathed into Adam, and as soon as a part of the

" "
* The Mihrab -jU^S is that place in the mosque which
looks towards the temple of Mekka, where the Mohammedans
turn their faces to, when they say their prayers.

E
50 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

body was pervaded by it, itbegan to feel*, and God

said, the creation of man went on fastt.
When his breath came into Adam, he sneezed,
and God said to him "Pronounce the words, Praise
be to God, and thy Lord will be merciful with thee,
O Adam."
El-Mas'udi says: what we have said on the
creation, is the account of the revelation, and
traditions, which have been handed down from
ancient periods to a more recent age, and narratives
of the passed which have been preserved. We have
related these traditions as we have received them
1

from oral accounts ,

and as they are found in

writing.
There are evident authorities that the world

* I read
y**.x\J although all copies bear y*Jls:0 to sit or to

pray.
tf

I was doubtful about

the meaning of this sentence.

$f could be read
^^ as a

ca^, which might mean man has been created in the vigour o/*
life.
But as the whole account of the creation consists of passages
of the Koran, patched together with the view of explaining them,
these words probably allude to the 38th verse of the twenty -first
j
Surah J^S
^ ^UwJ^J iJiX^. which Sale translates on the

authority of el-Bei'dhawi , man is created ofprecipitation, i. e., he

is
hasty and inconsiderate. El-LVTas'udi, as we see, differs in his

interpretation from el-Bei'dhawi.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 51

has been created (and does not exist from eternity),

and it is illustrated by the nature of the world.
But we do not quote our account what those say
in

who accept the revealed religion,, and agree with

our account, following also the
(and traditions
not speculations); nor do we comment on the
opinions which are different from, and opposed to,

ours. We have given such details in our former

works. We gave however, also, in many passages of
this work, a summary view of those sciences which
rest on speculation, arguments, and disputes, and
we have alluded to different opinions and sects,, but
that was done by the way of history.
A tradition, which is traced to the Commander
Ben Abi Taleb, tells us that
of the Faithful, 'All

God, when he intended to establish the laws of the

universe, to lay the seed of generation, and to

produce the creation, gave to it first the form of
fine dust before he formed the earth, and raised the

heavens. Hedwelt in his unapproachable glory,

and in the unity of his power. Then he put down
a particle of his light, and made lighten a sparkle of
his splendour. The dust rose, and the light was
concentrated in the centre of this floating dust.
This represented the figure of our prophet MO-
HAMMED, on whom may rest the blessing of God !

and Godsaid, "Thou art the chosen and the elected.

In thee rest my light and the abundant gifts of my
bounty (or my guidance) ;
for thy sake I have
E 2
52 EL-MAS'uDl'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

spread the soil, and made the waters flow ; for thy
sake I have raised the heavens, and fixed reward
and punishment; for thy sake I have created
Paradise, and hell- fire. I raise the people of the

holy-house (at Mekka)* to the divine revelation,

and reveal to them, from the mysteries of my

knowledge, the sub til ties of reason, and I do not
leave thee in ignorance of what is not known to

them. They are to be the proof on earth (of my

existence) and the apostles of my omnipotence and
,

unity."
God pronounced the Creed f, and
After this
assumed the supreme power, and the unity, in
distinction (from his creation)^.

* One copy bears " of thy family," L^AAJ ^&>\ instead of

This reading is
very probable, for the tradition seems
ulLvAjJj).
to be a fabrication of the Shiites in order to prove that the

supreme power, in state and religion, is not elective, but pre-

destined from the moment of the creation, for the family of

Mohammed, and his descendants, the 'Alites.

f This well-known formula which constitutes the whole

essential part of the Islam runs: " There is no God but
God,
and Mohammed is the prophet of God."

} The words are X/ *j

^ The meaning of this sentence is meta-

physical and dark, so that I am not quite sure of the correctness

of my translation. In M. de Gayangoz's copy, the words and

meaning are quite disfigured. I conceive the sense to be this.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 53

When God had assumed these qualities, he

proclaimed to the creation, the election of Mo-

hammed as his lieutenant on earth, and he showed
to the creation that the Divine guidance was with
him, and that the light was his, and the spiritual

All the qualities which we assign to God are only expressions of

his essence with respect to the creation as, supreme power,
&c., so that it was the first act of creation to
X-Jjj* bounty,
" assume" these relative
qualities. It is for the rest
only by the
qualities relative to the creation, that we have any knowledge of
God, so much so, that Aristotle, Spinoza, and the Buddhists and
Pythagoraeans before them, believed the world to be eternal, like
God; for,
they say, God cannot exist without the world, as high
not without deep. The difference of Aristotle's and Mas'udi's

philosophy is, that

Aristotle acknowledges only the relative
qualities of God, and not the absolute ones the essence of
(i. e.

God), which, as they are not relative to the creation, are incom-
prehensible to man. The only way of coming to some words
which may express the absolute qualities of God are negations of

the qualities of the creation for instance, " he is not

(^^.1)
finite, he is not composed of parts," &c., so that there remains

nothing else but that he is " one," and consequently " eternal,'
" but he
and this is the meaning of /Jt
^^ yo^^] is dis-

tinct from his creation, and uninfluenced by it: for he is one;" or as

Hegel expresses it (as the creation is for created beings every-

thing that we can conceive), "he is the eternal nihilum (Nichts.)"
The reader will find such passages from Arabic authors which
may prove that the above ideas are Mohammedan, together
truly
with a further developement of this system of metaphysics, in our
introduction to this work.
54 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

empire (Xx>UJ) in his family, previous to the promul-

gation of the law of justice (the Mohammedan
religion), for its glorious success was predestined.
Then God hid the act of creation amongst the
mysteries of his knowledge. After that God
extended the earth, he expanded the time, he made
the waters ebb and flow, he raised up the foam and

smoke; he established his throne over the waters,

he raised the earth over the level of the seas, and
he called the creation to obey him, and it acknow-
ledged him as its Lord.
God made now the angels partly from the lights
which he created on purpose, partly from lights
derived from those already created, and he joined
the profession of the prophetic mission of Moham-
med with the creed of his own usity. So it was
known in heaven before it became known on earth *.
When God had created Adam he acquainted
the angels with his high dignity, and that he had

distinguished him with superior knowledge, in proof

of which he made him give the names to every
object.

* This is one of the grandest fables in explanation of a reli-

gions belief (My thus) ever framed; it tends to make the Mo-
hammedan religion eternal truth, and to justify the sublime words
of the Koran : the Islam is the religion of the heavens and
earth.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 55

God made the angels consider Adam as a

Mihrab, Ka'bah and Kiblah*, to which the lights
and the righteous spirits were to pray.
God informed now Adam of what rested in him f .

But he concealed from him the high dignity which

* Kiblah is that quarter of the world to which the

XXxi*

believers turn their faces in their prayers. This was, with the
Moslims, first the temple of Jerusalem, but Mohammed changed
it, and chose the Kabah, or the temple of Mekka. The part of
a mosque which is turned towards Mekka is, therefore, the same
as the high altar in Christian churches, and is called Mihrab.
There stands the chief person present and per-
at the prayers,

forms the ceremonies, his face turned towards Mekka, and the

rest of the assembly follow his example.

t That is to say that he was one of the ancestors of Moham-
med. This and the next three following chapters contain the bibli-
cal history in the light in which Mohammed and his followers con-

ceived it. The highest object of mankind is truth, which is

eternal and immutable, hence the religion which is all truth and,

according to some, even the Koran, or the expression of truth is

eternal. God sent, from time to time, prophets to all nations, so
that the number of all the prophets amounts to not less than
1 24,000 ! in order to keep up the profession of this religion on
earth. The last and greatest of all the prophets was Mohammed,
he was for all nations, and for all subsequent times. The reader
has become acquainted with the creation of the corporeal essence
of the prophetship or light which became fully incarnated in Mo-
hammed, by the perusal of the preceding pages. This essence of
the prophetship rested in more or less latent life in his ancestors.

They were distinguished by a light which shone from their fore-

heads, till
they had begot a sou to whom it was transmitted. The
 56 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

he had conferred upon him, for he had called him

Imam before the angels. He was the bearer of our
beatitude and of our light which God had kept
concealed under the veil of time until MOHAMMED
made his appearance*.

ancestors of Mohammed were therefore all, more or less, prophets.

They were at the same time the guardians of the sanctuary of the
Arabs (the Ka'bah) which did not lose its sacredness by the new
law. This pages of el-Mas'udi.
will explain the following-

This idea appears to us not to be in contradiction with the

notions of the Jews, if we pay attention to their genealogies, right
of primogeniture, &c. The more striking it is that modern
theologists see in the Old Testament only a preparation and
propaedeutic to the doctrine of our Saviour, although they ac-
knowledge that the natural progress of mankind is so unsafe that

since Christ, serious corruptions of that doctrine had taken place ,

For the rest their idea is

certainly more philosophical than the.

Mohammedan one.
* here one
Copies disagree materially; bearing /
. ^ JJ

^\ LcJo CM^A&H %..d>U3 <j (Xt^JkAaJ literally until Mohammed

broke forth from the channels (i. e., appeared), and another, JJ

\ UX3 djty&M^Uo J
ordered Mohammed to
U*:si >*j
detail the laws or dogmas.
^ until (God)
However, the
second reading is
very improbable, for cMJCJ would be an unusual

the sense of this sentence would logically

plural of cyC3 and
cohere with the preceding only in the case if we explain light as

truth, whilst it is evident from what preceded (page 51) that the

light ivhich was transmitted through the channels, (ancestors,)

is the essence of the prophetship. But I must add that the par-
ticle <J consequently, with which the next sentence begins, speaks
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 57

He called mankind
publicly and privately (to
the true religion), and he preached to them openly
and secretly. And Mohammed appointed to keep
up the true religion in coming ages, and in genera-

tionswhich were not yet born, those who received

a ray of the light* which had preceded, for they
are initiated in his mysteries, and understand
clearly his glorious tendency, and he consoled
those who are the victims of an ungodly time.
Then the light was transferred to the distin-
guished men amongst us (the 'Alites), and became
resplendent in our Imams. We
are the lights of the

heaven, and the lights of the earth. In us is salva-

tion, from us go forth the treasures of knowledge.
We are the centre of all that is going on, by our

guidance the proofs become conclusive ; we are the

seal of the Imams, and the liberators of the nation;

we are the noblest of the creation, the most chosen

of all things, the proof of the Lord of the worlds ;

hence, the benefits are best which flow from our

throne. This tradition is from Abu 'Abdullah

for the second reading, for the sense would run: having been
commanded to detail the dogmas or laws, he called mankind, fyc.
*
He means the 'Alites. They inherited as much of the
essence of the prophetship as was required to keep up the true

religion. They endeavoured to attain, through these theories and

numerous rebellions, the same infallibility in religion, and power
ingovernment, which the Popes had in the middle ages, but they
were not so successful.
58 EL-MAS'lJDi'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Ja'fer Ben Mohammed, who received it from

his father, Mohammed Ben 'All,, who had it from
his father, 'Ali Ben el-Hosain, to him it was related
by parent el-Hosain Ben 'Ali, and he had
his
received it from the Commander of the Faithful,
'All Ben Abi Taleb. We do not feel inclined to

through which this tradition

allege all the channels
has been preserved, nor the different versions in
which it has come down to us, as we have given a
fullaccount of these circumstances, in our former
works, where we have traced every version to the
authority whence we have derived it. In this book
we are afraid to be too long and prolix.
What I have found in the Pentateuch respecting
the history of the creation is this God began the;

creation on Monday, and had accomplished it on

Saturday, hence the Jews have chosen Saturday as

their sacred day. The believers on the Gospel say
the Messiah rose on Sunday from the grave; hence
they celebrate Sunday as their holyday. But per-
sons distinguished by their knowledge of divine

law, and the sources upon which it is founded, state

that the creation was begun on Sunday and accom-
plished on Friday. On Friday the soul was
breathed into Adam. This was on the sixth of
Nfsan (April). Then Eve (^ Hawwa)*, was
created from Adam.

Ibn Shohna (Universal History, MS. of the Asiatic Society

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 59

They began to inhabit the Paradise when three

hours of that day had elapsed, and they remained
there for three hours, which is one fourth of a day,
and this is equal to 250 years of the world. God
now discarded Adam from the Paradise, and he

placed him on Serendib (Ceylon) <_o.>o^ Eve

at Jiddah "Je=* Iblis at Baisan (^U*AJ) and the
serpent at Isfahan.
Adam
was placed on mount ez-Zahun ((V^*jJ1

orj^$iJO in Ceylon; there were leaves with which

he covered his body, and as they were dry, the wind
carried them off, and dispersed them throughout
India. It is said that the frequency of perfumes in

India arises from these leaves, but some have a dif-

ferent opinion: God knows best. They say, hence

are, aloes wood aydl the clove JjLyM madder (?)

x^U^J musk JC*U and other perfumes particular to

India. In this mountain sparkle diamonds and other

at Paris), believes the name Hawwd L^ to be derived from

"living," for, he says, she was created from something living.

But it is evident that the name of Eve ought to be written ^Lifc

ffawdj which means air. Gaia and Uranos have changed their
sexes amongst the Semites; if we enter into the spirit of the

mythus, and consider that spontaneous generation must go forth

from the earth, under the influence of the air, temperature, &c.,
this changing of the sexes leads us to the important historical fact
that the Semites have not understood the mythus, and can there-
fore not be the inventors of it, but that they have borrowed it

from elsewhere.
60 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

precious stones. In the islands of India is the smyris

u>l>JUJ! and in the bottom of the sea are pearls.

When Adam descended from the Paradise he took
a grain of wheat, and thirty cuttings of the fruit-trees
of the Paradise, ten of them have shells; viz., the
nut (Juglans regia) j^il the common almond, (Amyg-
dalus communis) j^AJ! the filbert-nut, (Nux avellana)

^M^i the pistachio nut cJix^iJi the poppy

the chestnut JsjJUAliJJ the pomegranate

the banana,, or plaintain (Musa paradisiaca)

^U the Syrian oak (Quercus Ballota) kjJuM*

Ten of them have kernels : the peach y^ the

apricot (jk*U the Damascene plum, (Pruna nigra seu

Damascena) y^U^l the i_Jbyi Ruellia
date-tree

guttata J^AAxM the lote-tree (Rhamnus nabeca Forsk.

Flora Egypt., p. Lxiii), vJuJJJ the medlar-tree

* Ibn el- Ward! this of Masudi adding

quotes passage
the pine-tree, and the orange; but he leaves out
*=^UJ\
ver y probable that ,bJl>J) and
5sj\^>\*A\ are
It is

synonymous in some
countries, as such they are considered by

Banquiero (Libro de agricultura su autor Abu Sacaria, Madrid

1802.) But Avicenna (Lib. II. p. 14S,) and Kazwini make a

distinction between these two fruits, so that there is no reason

why Mas'udl should not have mentioned them both. Tlie latter
author says (MS. of the East India House, Nro. 1377, fol.

164, verso) "Shdhballut is a tree of Syria which is also found in

Arran, The fruits of this tree are neither so dry nor so styptic
as those of the Ballut tree, &c."
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 61

the jujube-tree (Zizipha rubra)

(Mespillum) j^^\
vLUJt the fruit of the Lontaris domestica* JJiU the

cherry U-JjXJJ (U*>|jBJ) Some of them have neither

shell nor any other
covering besides the part to
be eaten, nor a kernel; viz., the apple
the quince Jc^JuJI the grapes *-U*Jt the pears
the fig
^^\ the mulberry d^XM the orange
^^\
the cucumber (Cucumis pepo) lixH another sort
of cucumber (Cassia fistula) ^U^O! the melon
<g^-^
It is related that Adam and Eve were separated

when they came down from the Paradise. They

had agreed to meet at an appointed place called
'
Arafat f ciA^c whence this place has its name;}:.

Adam longing for Eve, came to see her,

* Mokl comes
JjLo
is a gum very like frankincense, but it

from the tree called

*^ J (Medical Dictionary
of Mohammed Bin

Yoosoof, Calcutta, 1830, Sprengel (Hist, rei herbar.

p. 275.)
Tom. I., p. 272,) believes +* to be the Lontaris domestica or

Borasusflalelliformis.
t (jLc 'araf means to know.

I On and on the ceremonies which the Pilgrims

this holy spot,

have to perform there (on the 9th of Dul-Hijjah), see Burck-

London, 1829, p. 266.
hardt's Travels in Arabia,

Ibn Shohna says that Adam met Eve when he made the

pilgrimage by the command of God. This sounds much better,

for all these details have a tendency to show the antiquity and
sacredness of some institutions and beliefs.
62 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

and she conceived a boy and a girl ; they called

the boy Cain ^A* and the girl Lubed jo^J and
after that she bore him another boy whom they
named Habil ^A& and a girl whose name was

Iklimiyd U^X*!. There is some dispute about the

name of the eldest son of Adam; the most people,
and amongst them those who acknowledge the Old
Testament, believe his name was Cain ^.^.l* but
J
some state he was called Kabil J^U. Ali Ben
el-Jahm
^^\\\ ^^" ^ says in his poem on the
creation (verses), We had* a son and called him
Cain ; after we had given him birth, we did our best,
and Habil grew up as another fruit of our affections,
Cain grew up as well, and they did not separate
from each other."
Those who believe on the Old Testament say>
Adam married the twin -sister of Habil to Cain, and
the twin-sister of Cain to Habil, so that the twins
should be separated in marriage. The law of

marriage adopted by Adam, was, therefore, to

separate, as much as possible, persons allied by

relationship, in order to prevent, by separating them,
the bad consequences, and the weakening influence

upon the offspring; The Magians are of opinion

* The word which in this case means had in Arabic is

from Cana. so that it is a jeu de mots with the name C'am.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 63

that Adam did not object to the marriage of rela-

tions ; hence, they are not against it. They have
some mystery respecting this, according to which
they think it good that a man should marry his
sister, and the mother her son. We have given the
details thereof in the 14th Fenn ^iM of our book
Akhbdr ez-Zemdn.
Habil and Cain brought a sacrifice. Habil
selected the best of his flocks, and of his provision,
and brought it as a sacrifice. Cain took the worst
that he possessed for this purpose*. What oc-
curred after this is related by God in the Koran f;
viz., that Cain murdered Habil in the desert of Ka'

^Ij'
which is inthe country belonging to Damascus,
in Syria. There he struck him with a stone on his
forehead. Hence it is said the beasts learnt from
man to be atrocious; for he began to do evil and to

* En-Nowairi of Leyden) informs us that the Bedouins

(MS.
used to sacrifice animals, whilst the inhabitants of towns in Arabia

brought unbloody sacrifices. Hence it

may be that this tale was
invented by the Bedouins, in order to throw the odium of the first
crime on the people of towns amongst whom the ties of relation-

ship are so much looser than amongst Bedouins.

f Surah v. verse 31, et seq.
64 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

murder. When he had murdered him, he was

anxious to conceal his
body, carried it (on his
shoulders) and wandered about with it (not knowing
what to do). God sent two ravens, one of which
killed and buried the other. When Cain saw this

he was struck with horror, and exclaimed the words

related in the Koran* Wo is me! I had not sense

enough to do like this raven, to hide my brother's

shame. Then he buried him. When Adam heard

of the murder, he was downcast, and mourned.
El-Mas'udi says: There is a poem popular
amongst the people which they put into the mouth
of Adam when he mourned, it runs :

" The
country is altered, and all that is in it.
The whole earth has changed for the worse.
All that has life and colour is different ;
and
the sea has lost its
lovely appearance.
The inhabitants have turned the produce of the
fields into poison and bitterness, and an enemy
infests us.

The cursed has not overlooked man, as we per-

ceive ;
Cain has cruelly slain Habil, and that
for

amiable countenance is withered.

My lot is to shed tears ; for Habil rests in the

grave.
I see a life before me full of sorrow, and all

that I may meet in it will be gloomy."

* Surah v. verse 34, edit. Flugel.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 65

Ihave found in many books on history, biogra-

phy, and genealogy, that when Adam said these
words, Iblis replied from a place where he could
hear but not see him
" Thou
now complainest about the country and
its inhabitants, and thou dost feel the earth narrow.
" Thou and
thy wife Hawwa were merry, not-
withstanding the badness of the world ; but my
intrigues and machinations were at work until their
abundant fruits were matured.
" And if I was not
prevented by the pity of the
Almighty, I should destroy the everlasting beatitude
of heaven."
In another book I found a distich standing by
itself, which Adam heard from a voice, without

seeing who uttered it:

"
O, Adam! both are killed ; for the living falls

a sacrifice to the dead*/'

When Adam had heard this, his pains and sor-
rows were increased, both for him who was no
more, and for him who was still alive for he knew ;

that the murderer was to be killed.

God Adam: "
revealed to 1 will produce from
thee my light, which shall flow through splendid
channels and noble roots (ancestors). I will exalt

* This means, that Cain would be killed after the

general idea
;

that " He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the

sword." (Apocal. xiii.

10.)

F
66 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

this light ahove all other lights, and make it the

seal of the prophets (Mohammed). He shall be
succeeded by the best of Imams in a continual
series to the end of time. I will make the world

answer to their call, and I will enlighten it through

their followers. Purify and sanctify thyself, and

praise God
then approach to thy wife, after she
:

has been purified, and my promise will descend from

thee through the child which thou wilt beget."
Adam did what he was ordered ; and when Hawwa
was with child, her forehead was covered with a
lustre, and light shone in her eyes and eyebrows
till her confinement. Then she gave birth to Shith

C!AA (Seth.) He was the most beautiful child,

strong and perfect in hisform and in the symmetry

of his body. He was imbued with a light which
sparkled from the marks and protuberances of his
forehead. Adam gave him the name of Shith.
The gift of God was slumbering in him till he grew
up and when he came to riper age, Adam acquainted
;

him with his mission and the promises of God, and

told him that he would be the agent of God*, and
his own successor after his death,
support to

truth on earth. This mission was to be inherited

*
&\ SLsS This expression is
wanting in Arabic diction-

aries, although it is not unusual: ^5CX^o &5r A* means a

3y*i
representative of the king.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 67

by his descendants, who were to be distinguished

and glorious. When Adam told this to Shith,
he kept it secret, and guarded it for the moment as
a mystery, as it was only to be revealed publicly at
another time. Adam died soon after, on Friday,
the 6th of Nisan, at the same hour when he had
been created; he had lived nine hundred and thirty
years. Shith was the guardian of the children of
Adam. It is said that he left forty thousand children
and grandchildren.
There is some dispute about Adam's grave.
Some pretend that it is in Mina*, cfU in the mosque

* Mina a valley near Mekka, and, together with the

is

mosque el-Khai'f, one of the sacred spots where the Moslem pil-
grims resort. Mohammed kept up the Pagan ceremony of throw-
ing there pebbles on a pillar of stone. It has probably the same

origin as the usage of the Romans and Greeks, of casting stories on

the statue of Mercury.
The seven idols which were in the valley of Mina, before Mo-
hammed, according to el-Azraki, (apud Burckhardt, Travels in
Arabia, p. 275,) prove at once that the place was sacred to the
seven planets. We see that the sacredness of the place dates
from a very remote period, from its being connected with the
father of mankind and we conclude that it has been celebrated
;

from the circumstance that its name (although it is so far from

the coast) reached the ears of Ptolemy, who mentions the Manitae.
The ceremony of casting stones on the pillar is
probably as ancient
as the place, having ever formed the main object of the pilgrimage
there. Ibn Ishak, an Arabic writer of the second century of the

Hijrah, states thus the origin of this ceremony: When Ibrahim

returned from his pilgrimage to 'Arafat, and came to the valley
F 2
68 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

of el-Khaif i^Lt. Others believe it to be in

a cavern of the Mount Abu Koba'is u**>J* ^*-
Shith exercised the judge amongst his co-
office of

temporaries, and taught them the sacred books

(revealed to the prophets before him), and other
books which God revealed to him.

Shith begot Anush

(Enos). ^
When his
wife was pregnant with him,, the light was trans-
ferred to her till she was delivered, then the child
was imbued with the light. When Anush was
grown up, Shith informed him of what was latent
in him, and of his pre-eminence; and he ordered

him an education adequate

to give to his children
to their distinction and high position, and to tell
them to give to their children the same instruction,

of Mina, Satan (Iblis) contrived to obstruct his passage; but the

Angel Gabriel advised him to throw stones on the foe, which he

did, and, after pelting him seven times, Iblis retired. Ibrahim did
thesame with equal success in the middle and end of the valley
when Iblis had again made his appearance. It is difficult to say

whether this tradition is a mystification, to justify the

Pagan cere-
mony, or whether it was current before Mohammed, and his
motive for keeping it
up. If it was more ancient than Mohammed,
further researches about Ibrahim, son of Azer (i. e. fire), res-

pecting whom the Arabs have preserved many traditions, inde-

pendent of the biblical account of Abraham, son of Terah, may

point out an intimate connexion between Mercury, the god of
knowledge, and Ibrahim, who rebuilt the Ka'bah and imported
civilization from the Sabeans of Harran to the Semites.
* Abu Koba'is is the name of a mountain of Mekka.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 69

when they would be able to understand it. This

legacy went from generation to generation, until

the light came to 'Abdul-Motalleb (the grandfather
of Mohammed), his son 'Abdullah, and the PROPHET.
This is a topic of controversy between the fol-

lowers of different sects, particularly between those

who adhere evidence ^jXAxJl
to the doctrine of

oaiJL and the followers of the doctrine of election

jUxiOM i^ls^t. The defenders of the doctrine

of evidence are Imamists 3UU2J JjM, and form
a fraction of the sectarians (Shi'ites) Xx/w&l of
'Ali Ben Abi Taleb and by Fatimah*. his children

They believe that God does not leave mankind at

any time without a man who keeps up the religion
of God (and stands at the head of the believers).
Such men are either prophets or guardians f, who
bear the evidence of their rights in their names and

* The words of the original sJvL mean

/.%.- ,.v iv^UaJJ
" the
literally pure ones amongst his ('All's) children." -.MJo
is the usual epithet for the family of Mohammed. See page 3.

t Guardians means the executor of a will,

IAAC^! sing, .y^
or a guardian of an orphan, and hence, in opposition to pro-
phet, as in the above sentence, it means him in whose hands is the
executive power of the laws (civil and religious) which God
has revealed through the prophets, and which must not be changed.

The first seven Imams are called

^^MO^\ (De Sacy Chrest.,
Tom. I.
p. 158.) The origin of the Shi'ite sect, and of the
technical meaning of the word ^ is attributed to a sentence of
70 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

pedigree from God and his prophet. The doctrine

of election is defended by the divines of the leading

cities, the Mo'tazilites a section of the

X^XxU,
Khawarij ^k\JJ, the Morjiites Xv^U, and by
many of those who admit the traditions and the

generally received opinions (the orthodox;, and by

a section of the Zeidians They believe
j^Ju^-H.
that it is the will of God and his prophet that the
nation should choose a man amongst themselves,
and make him their Imam, for there are times when
God does not send a legate. The Shi'ites consider
such Imams as usurpers of the dignity.
We shall have an opportunity in the course of
this work to throw some light on the differences of
opinions and religious controversies.
Anush cultivated the earth. Some consider
Shith as the father of mankind, after Adam, and
do not allow that the other children of Adam had a
share in the propagation of our race; but some
differfrom this opinion : God knows best. In the
time of Anush, Cain, the murderer of his brother
Habil, was killed. His murder is variously
related. We refer the reader to our works, the
Akhbar ez-zeman, and the Kitab el-ausat.

'Abdullah Ben Saba es-Sauda, who lived under 'Othman:

This sentence became
go J! ^X ^j!.

the watch-word of the Shi'ites

(En-Nowa'iri, MS. of Leyden,
No. 2 13, p. 1056).
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 71

Anush died the 3rd of Teshrfn, 960 years of

age. He had a son of the name of Raman ^Uxi'.

The prophetic light sparkled from his forehead.
His father took from him the oath of his office, and
he cultivated the earth till he died. He reached the

age of 910 years, and died in the month of Tamuz.

The son of Ka'inan was Mahalayil J^^-o
(Mahalaleel) He begot Lud (^j) who was the
.

heir of the prophetic light, and gave the oath of

keeping up truth. It is said that many musical

instruments were invented in his time by the chil-

dren of Cain. The wars of Lud and other stories
have been related in our Akhbar ez-Zeman. The
children of Shith had wars with the descendants of
Cain. A race of Hindus, who descend from Adam,
derive their origin from the children of Cain.

They inhabit that part of India which is called

Komdr ^Ui* from : this country the Komdri Aloe

t^U&tayi has its name.
Lud lived 962 years,, and died in Adar (March).
He was succeeded by his son Akhnukh

(Enoch), who is the same person as Edris

(instructor) the prophet. The Sabeans* believe

that he is identical with Hermes ^^jb which

name means 'Utarid sjlas. (the planet Mercury).

* One copy bears XjLsAjei!J the companions (of the prophet),

instead of
72 EL-MASUDPs MEADOWS OF GOLD,

God says of him in his book *, " that he exalted him

to a high place." He lived on earth 300 years or
more. He was the first man who taught the com-
forts of life and sewed with a needle. To him
thirtybooks were revealed, and to Shith twenty-
which there are the two formulas, ''There is
nine, in
no God but God," and " Praise be to Godf." He
was followed by his son Matushalekh ^JL&yU
who bore the prophetic light on his forehead, and
cultivated the land. Matushalekh had many chil-
dren. Some persons say that the Bulgars
the Russians (j^ 9 and Slavonians
are his descendants. He lived 960 years, and died
in the month of Ilul. He was
succeeded by his
son Lamek jCL. In his time was a great con-
fusion amongst mankind. He died 999 years of
age. His son was Nuh ^5 (Noah). In his age

corruption and injustice were great on earth. Nuh

rose to be a preacher of God, but the people were
too rebellious and ungodly, so that they would not
listen to him. God ordered him to construct a

ship; and when he had finished it, the angel Gabriel

* Koran, Surah xix., vers. edit. Fliigel.

58,
"I"
*\A**J * \/Jl4J Perhaps these two words are to be taken
in themore extensive meaning they contain the profession of the
:

unity of God, and hymns to his praise.

J Another copy \jLx!t.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 73

brought him the coffin of Adam, in which there

was his
corpse*. They went into the ship on
Tuesday, the ninth of Adar. Whilst Nun and his
family were in the ship, God kept the earth five
months under water. Then he ordered the earth to
swallow up its waters, and the heaven to withhold
its rains f, and the ark stood on the mount el-Jiidi

tfJ^iL El-Judi is a mountain in the country of

MasurJ ^U
Cc_5J>**^)> an(^ ex tends to Jezirah

Ibn 'Omar j+& ^Y^y^ which belongs to the ter-

ritory of el-Mausil. This mountain is eight farsangs

from the Tigris. The place where the ship stopped,
which is on the top of this mountain, is still to
be seen.
say some tracts of the earth did not im-
They
mediately swallow up the water, whilst others

* &+* I was tempted to read

,x>Lci f\ dj^-jlj
" his covenant" as one copist writes. I shall state the reasons

for which it must run

*A*OJ.
t Koran, Surah xi., verse 46.

J Masur seems to be the same word as Masius, which is the

Greek name of the mount el-Judl. (Strab. pp. 501 and 506.)
The word e\-Judi has been compared by Bochart with the
Gordycei montes.
El-Kazwini (MS. of the East India House, N. 1377.)
informs us that there was still, to the time of the 'Abbasides, a

temple on the mount Judi which was said to have been con-
structed by Noah, and covered with the planks of the ark. Epi-
phanius (Haeres. 18) reports nearly the same tradition for his
74 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

absorbed it rapidly when they were commanded to

do so. The
lands which obeyed give good water
on digging; but those lands which were less sub-
missive were punished by God, the water on digging

being and the country sandy. The water

salt,

which could not be absorbed went into the depths of

the earth, and in particular places. This is the

origin of the seas: they are the remains of the

waters by which God has destroyed the nations.
The account and description of the seas will call
our attention hereafter in this book.
Nuh went forth from the ark, and with him his
three sons, Sam -U, Ham *b>, and Jafeth c^L,
together with his three daughters-in-law, and forty
men and forty women. They went upon the plat-
form of this mountain, and built there a town,
which they called Themanin ^^^ (eighty).
It bears this name till our time [332 A.H.] The
children of these eighty persons became extinct,
and God peopled his creation with the descendants
of Nuh. To words of the Koran,
this allude the

"We have preserved his progeny, and they are

those who still exist." God knows best the mean-

time. The vicinity of Harran, which was the seat of learning

since Abraham, and the centre of Sabean worship, makes it more
than probable that this temple was connected with the Sabean

religion, and the history of the ark owes perhaps its origin to the

priests of those places.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 75

ing of these words. The name of the person who

refused the offer of Nun, when he said to him
" Embark with Yam -b.
us, my son*," is

Nuh divided the earth amongst his sons, and

gave to every one of them a part as property. He

cursed his son Ham on account of his well-known
behaviour towards his father. He " Cursed be
said,
Ham and his children may he be the slaves of his
brethren ; but Sam be blessed ;
and God shall en-

large Yafeth, and he shall dwell in theplaces

allotted to Samf." Nuh lived, according to the
Pentateuch |, after the flood 325 years. Some
historians differ in this point.
Sam went away, followed by his children ;
and
they took possession of the places allotted to them
in the land and sea. We
shall describe them in
this book.
Now we shall speak on the separation of man-
kind, and the division of the earth amongst the
three sons of Nuh, Yafeth, Sam, and Ham.

*
Koran, Surah ix., verse 44.

f These words are literally transcribed from the holy Bible,

(Genesis ix., 25, 26, 27,) except that they run there, cursed be
Canaan, instead of Ham. And not without reason, for the
Canaanites were the victims of those cruelties which might be

justified by this story as being the fulfilment of the curse of their

father, and, consequently, according to their ideas, a divine
decree.
Genesis ix. 28.
76 EL-MASU'Di's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Sam inhabited the middle of the earth, from the

sacred land
pJ>J ^^ (i. e. the country of Mekka
and Medina) to Hadhramaut >^*a^, 'Oman
^Uc, and 'Alij U. Amongst his children we
name Arem ^\ and Arfakhshad iX^^J,!.
One of the descendants of Arem Ben Sam is
'Ad Ben 'Us (Uz) Ben Arem*; he settled in the
Ahkaf er-Raml *\ God sent the
oUb*lt ^^
prophet Hud ^_jfc to the 'Adites, Another of his
descendants is Themud Ben 'Ad Ben Arem *j*5

fj m* *l*
cu^ They settled in
el-Hijr^! (Arabia
Petrea), between Syria and the Hejaz. God sent
to them their brother Saleh -LU> His history is
well known, and we shall insert a summary account
of it, as well as of the histories of other prophets,
in the progress of this work.

Tasm f.*Jb and Jadis (j*o*x^ sons of Laud '^

(Lud) Ben Arem, took possession of el-Yemamah
and el -Bahrein, and the descendants of their brother

'Amalik vJiJL^ Ben Laud Ben Arem settled in

subsequent times, partly in the sacred land, and

partly in Syria. To them belong the 'Amalikites

* One MS. bears * \ / .

^ io *.c / . *j M^ls an d another
instead
"
f This means the sand-hills," i. e. the desert of southern
Arabia.
 AND MINKS OF GEMS. 77

who were scattered all over the country.

Another brother of theirs, named Ommaim ^\
Ben Laud, settled in Faris.
We shall speak on this subject in the (twenty-third)
"
chapter of this book, which is inscribed The Origin
of the Persians, and what the historians say on this

subject;" for some authors connect Kayumerth with

Ommaim. Others believe that Ommaim settled in

the land of Webar J^^ ; that is, the country inha-

bited by the Genii, according to the opinion of some
Arabic historians.
'
The descendants of Abil Ben 'Us ^^s. ^s ^.^9
the brother of 'Ad Ben 'Us, settled in Medina.
Another grandson of Sam is Mash ^U Ben Arem
Ben Sam. He went to Babel ;
his son is Nimrud
Ben Mash yiU ^^ ^j** (Nimrod), who built the
Tower of Babel, and a bridge over the Shat-el-Forat.
He reigned five hundred years, and was the king

of the Nabataeans k*JM jX, In his time God divided

the languages ;
so that the descendants of Sam
spoke nineteen different tongues, the descendants
of Ham seventeen, and the children of Yafeth

thirty-six. We will speak further on in this work

as to the dispersion of the nations over the earth,
and the poems which they composed at their

separation in el-'Irak.
Some was Falegh iJU who divided the
believe it

earth amongst the nations, and hence he was named

78 EL-MAs'uni's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

"Falegh;" for this name means "Divider:"

Shalekh li is the son of Arfakhshad Ben Sam

Ben Nub, and the father of Falegh, who divided
the earth; and Falegh is one of the ancestors x^.

of Ibrahim el-Khalil X/IiOi (the friend of God).

'Aber ^U another son of Shalekh, is the father of

Kahtan ^UajS.. Kahtan 's
son, Ya'rob <_^ju was
the first man who was greeted with the title of KING
JJlU by his children. This is the most glorious
and most cursed name. Some say this title had
been in use before him, with the kings of el-Hirah.
Kahtan the father of all the Yemenites,
is

as we mention in the (forty-second) chapter

shall

of this work, which is inscribed " Yemen, the

Origin of the Inhabitants of this Country, and the

various opinions thereon." He was the first man
who spoke Arabic; at least, he first made the

meaning clear by terminations vlr^l*

Yoktan ^IkSu Ben 'Aber Ben Shalekh was the
father of Jorhom +&}*- who was the cousin of Ya'rob.
The Jorhomites dwelt originally in Yemen, and

spoke Arabic ;
in subsequent times they emigrated
to Mekka, according to the traditions respecting
them, which we shall give. The children of Katura
\jJaS are their cousins. In subsequent time,
God made amongst them, and he
Isma'il settle

married into them, so that they were the uncles of

his children.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 79

The believers of the Old Testament maintain

that Lamek JC*J is still alive; for God said to Sam,
" I will preserve him for ever, whom I make the

guardian of the body of Adam." Sam buried the

coffin &jj\3 of Adam in the middle of the earth, and
appointed Lamek as guardian. Sam died on Friday,
in the month of Ilul, six hundred years of age he :

was succeeded by Arfakhshad J^^L,?

in his mission
who attained an age of four hundred and sixty-five
years: he died in the month of Nisan. After him
followed his son Shalekh he died four hundred and
:

thirty years old, and was succeeded by his son

'Aber, who the country.
cultivated In his days
quarrels arose in different places of the earth: he
died in an age of three hundred and forty years.
His son Falegh succeeded him he was two hundred
:

and thirty-seven years old when he died. We have

spoken of him and of the confusion of languages
Ulxj which took place during his life at Babel.
His successor was his son Ar'au ^s.j\ (Reu), and
during his life Nimrud the giant was born, according
tosome accounts. Ar'au died in the month of Nisan,
two hundred years of age. His son Sharukh ^l^
took his place: during his days the worship of
idols and of images is said to have been introduced,

owing to several causes. He attained an age of

two hundred and thirty years. He was replaced by
his son Nahur.j^U who followed the good exam-
80 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

pie of his fathers: during his were earthquakes: life

there had never been any before him. He is

the inventor of the arts of life
(^^j^Jl,
and of different
instruments. In his lifetime the Hindus and other
nations formed themselves into bodies. He
livedone hundred and forty-six years, and was suc-
ceeded by his son Tarah ^^3 ; this is the name for
Azar* yj\ the father of Ibrahim. In his days Nim-
rud Ben Kan 'an rose. Under en-Nimrud the prac-
tice of worshipping fire and light f came first in

use, and he introduced certain (holy) orders in their

cultus. There were great troubles and wars in this
age in the world. New empires and provinces were
formed in the east and west. It was at this time

when the stars and their predictions began to be an

object of study. The heavens were divided into

regions, and astronomical instruments were invented.
Man began to understand the meaning of all these

things. The astrologers observed the aspect of the

* Azar name of Abraham

is the the father of in the Koran
(Surah vi. v. 74) ; Terah is his name in the Bible (Genesis xi.

26). The name Azar, which means "fire," and the "planet
Mars," is
by no means of Arabic invention for Abraham's father
;

is called Athar by Eusebius. It is a favourite name amongst the

star-and-fi re-worshippers. (HYDE, de Relig. vet. Pers. p. 64).
t The Moon was considered as the concentration of light,
whilst the Sun is the centre of fire.
(Tradition of Wahb Ben
*
Monabbih.)
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 81

heaven for the coming year*, and its prediction,

and told en-Nimrud that a child would be horn,
who would expose the folly of their dreams, and
do away with their worship. En-Nimrud ordered
the child to be killed ; but Ibrahim was concealed.

Tarah, who is the same person as Azer, died at the

age of two hundred and sixty years.

* The words of the original are

xJlk Jt- Tali' means originally the point of the

horizon where it is cut by the parallel of the observer in the east,

or the section of the horizon of which that point is the middle. It

is therefore one of the four cardinal points of Arabic astrology

XX-M^ (literally
the four tent-poles) ; viz., the Zenith,
s\.'jj\

# U**M
ti16 Nadir the Tali', and the same point
\amy ^aji\ JO^,
of the horizon in the west <_j.lxSJ. The planet which is in the

moment when the sun enters into the sign of the Aries, in the Tali',

or in the ]0th, 7th, 4th, llth, 9th, 5th, or 3rd degree of ascen-

sion, or comes soonest to one of these points, is the Regent of the

HJ

year l$J SUUJt ^^(^. And as the Regent exercises

^jj^ ^
the greatest influence upon the destiny of the world during the

year, the whole constellation of the beginning of the vernal

instead
equinox is called &UJJ xJUs by the way of ellipsis,

Ab * Ma sher >
'

of 1 JlkH UJ ^ (

G
82 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

FOURTH CHAPTER.

The history of Ibrahim (Abraham) (**&>jj\,

the prophets

after him, and the kings of the Children of Israel.

WHEN Ibrahim was grown up, he went out from

the cavern where he had been concealed, contem-

plated the phenomena of nature, and reflected on

their meaning. Looking at the planet Venus, and
" This is
observing how it rose, he said: my Lord !"
When the moon rose, and he saw that it was much
brighter, he exclaimed: " This is
my Lord!" But
when the sun displayed its splendour, he cried out
full of astonishment, " This is my Lord*!" The
commentators do not agree in the meaning of
the words of Ibrahim " This is my Lord." Some
believe this to be related
by the way of induction
and parable; whilst others are of opinion that it
happened before he had come to the knowledge of
truth, when he was still
striving. Gabriel came
now and taught him his religion, and God
to him,

chose him as his prophet and friend JJl^. (I have

to observe against this explanation that) Ibrahim had

*
El-Koran, Surah vi. verses 76 78.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 83

received strength* of God; and he who is

the

strengthened by God will be kept pure from sin

and fall, and from any worship besides the One the
Eternal.
Ibrahim blamed his people for their idolatry.

When they were annoyed by the disdain with which

Ibrahim scorned their gods, and which had attracted
public notice, en-Nimrud threw him into the fire :

but God converted the fire into coolness, and he

was preserved t. The fire did not flame any-
where on earth on that day.

* or h as nearly the same meaning as

*W xj f*X$M
" divine Education, or
grace," only pushed a little further.
interest and the spirit of the time, is with most persons the sole

foundation of their religious and political principles ; and, as their

selfishness, or want of intelligence and experience, does not allow

them to appreciate the opinions of others, or to defend their own,

they take refuge to divine authority, maintaining that their own
infatuation is the effect of divine inspiration or predestination, and

the principles of their adversaries a diabolical artifice. El-

Mas'udi shows himself here, and in his opinion on the Imamship,

much more in favour of the doctrine of predestination, than was

general in his time amongst the Sonnites.

t El-Koran xxi. verse 20 (edit. Fliigel).
In order to increase
the number of an opportunity for an edifying
miracles, and to find

comment, the Rabbins rendered DHttO TIN " Ur of the Chal-

dees" (Gen. xi. 31) by fire of the Chaldees;" for T)N, ur, means
" fire
;" and added the above story, which Mohammed inserted in

the Koran.

G 2
84 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

After Ibrahim had passed the eighty-sixth or

ninetieth year of his age, Isma'il was born to him

by Hajir ^=.U> who was a slave-woman to Sarah 'ij^.

Sarah was the first person who believed on Ibrahim.
She was the daughter of Batuwil, the son of Nahur,
and uncle of Ibrahim. This, however, is contro-
verted, as we shall mention hereafter.

Lut^J, the son of Haran Ben Tarikh Ben

Nahur, was Ibrahim' s nephew, and one of those
who believed on him. God sent Lut to the five
towns; viz., Sodum px*w,
Ghomura ]^r, Adruma
U^J, Saghura \jj&e, and Safura ]^JU>. The
f

people of Lut were Mutafikah* X&j^U. Some com-

mentators derive this word from ^31, afak, " a lie."

God alludes to this in the Koran in the words

tSj&\ X&j^Xf ) These five cities were situated be-

tween esh-Sham and the Hejaz, near the two Syrian
provinces Jordan and Palestine. The spot of these
towns barren up to our time (332 A.H.), and the
is

stones are marked with shining black lines. Lut

lived about twenty years amongst these people, and
preached to them; but they would not believe:

*
El-Koran, Surah xi. verse 91 (edit. Fliigel) comp. M. L.;

Dubeux' note to his translation of Tabari, vol. i. p. 144 I suspect;

Mutaftkah is a corruption of some Hebrew word.

 AND MIXES OF GEMS. 85

therefore this punishment of God came down upon

them, as it is Koran*.
related in the
When
Hajir had borne Isma'il to Ibrahim,
Sarah became jealous of her; Ibrahim took, there-
fore, Isma'iland Hajir to Mekka, and settled them
there. This is related in the Koranf , in the words
"
of Ibrahim: O, my Lord, I made some of my
children dwell in a barren valley, at thy sacred
house !" God, hearing their prayers, gave them
the Jorhomites and 'Amalikites joJUxM ^ as
p&j*>
companions in their solitude, and made men love
them.
The
people of Lut were destroyed in the time
of Ibrahim, on account of their corruption, as it is
related in the Koranf
God ordered Ibrahim to sacrifice his son: he
showed himself ready to obey; but when he had
laidhim down on his face, God ransomed him with
a noble victim $.
Then Ibrahim and Isma'il laid the foundation
of the house (the temple of Mekka) . When Ibrahim
was more than one hundred and twenty years old,
Sarah bore him Ishak. There is some dispute
about the sacrifice of Ibrahim; some think that

* Surah vii. vers. 78 82 ; xi. xv. and xxvii.

f Surah ii.

| Surah xi.

El-Koran xxxvii. verse 107 (edit. Fliigel).

86 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Ishak was to be the victim, whilst others maintain

it was Isma'il. If it was to take place in Mina (a

valley near Mekka), it was Isma'il, for Ishak never

came into the Hejaz; and if it was to take place
in Syria, it was Ishak; for Isma'il had never been
in Syria again, after he had been carried away from
that country.

Sarah died, and Ibrahim married Kitura \)^**3 9

who bore him seven sons ; Zimran ^5rj? Yokshan
tjtlxij Medan ^Ix*, Madyan ^.jjJcc,
Nishan ^J^
(Ishbak), Shukh ^K, and Kir jj*. Ibrahim
died in Syria, one hundred and seventy years of

age God revealed to him ten sacred books.

:

Ishak married Rabeka, a daughter of Batuwll , 1

after the death of his father, and she gave birth to

2
el-'A'isu and Ya'kub , who were twins, but el-'Aisu

was first born. Ishak was sixty years of age, and

nearly blind, when they were
born. He made
Ya'kub the chief over his brothers, and the succes-
sor in the prophetic mission. To el-'Aisu he gave
the sovereignty over his children. Ishak was one
hundred and eighty -five years of age when he died,
and he was buried with his father, the " Friend of

* See 1 Chron. i. 32.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 87

God." The place where they were buried is well

known; it is eighteen miles from Jerusalem, in a
mosque which is called the mosque of Ibrahim, and
the fields of Ibrahim.
Ishak ordered his son Ya'kub to go to Syria,
and commissioned him and his twelve children with
the prophetic office. Their names are Rubil,
Shima'un, Lawi, Yehuda, Yessajir, Zebalun, Yusof,
3
Benyamin .

Ya'kub was in great fear of his brother el-'Aisu,

but God protected him: Ya'kub possessed five
thousand five hundred sheep, and gave to his bro-
ther el-'Aisu the tenth part of these, in order that
he might not do him any harm, and for fear of his
impetuosity. After God had protected him, he
had no longer to be in fear; (hence he refused to
deliver the tithes;) but he was punished in his

children, for having broken his promise. God said

to him: " Thou hast not obeyed my command;
hence the children of el-'Aisu shall dominate five

hundred and fifty years over thy children." This

was the space of time from the destruction of Jeru-
salem by the Romans to the conquest of that city
by 'Omar Ben el-Khattab, during which period the
Children of Israel were in slavery.
 88 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Yiisof was the favourite of Ya'kub. His bro-

thers envied him, and their jealousy gave origin to
the story between Yusof and his brothers, which
God relates through the tongue of his prophet in
the Koran *.
Ya'kub died in Egypt, at the age of one hundred
and forty years Yusof carried him to Palestine, and
:

buried him at the tomb of Ibrahim and Ishak.

Yusof died also in Egypt, one hundred and ten
years old.
They laid his body into a coffin of stone, closed
it with lead,, and covered it with a varnish which
keeps out air and water, and threw it into the Nile,

at thetown of Memphis v^iJU, where there is the

mosque of Yusof. Some say Yusof ordered that
he should be buried in the grave of his father
Ya'kub, at the mosque of Ibrahim. In his time
lived Ayyub (Job) ; his full name is Ayyub Ben
Amus Ben Dezaj (Zeerah?) Ben Da'wayil (Reul?)
Ben el-Aisu Ben Ishak Ben Ibrahim

He was in Syria, in the district of Hauran

in the highland of Damascus, from whence

* In the twelfth
chapter, which is therefore inscribed " The
Surah of Joseph."
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 89

the plain is watered, and in el-Jabiyah*. He had

a great fortune, and was blessed with many chil-
dren. God proved him, bereaving him of his pro-
perty and children.
He bore this trial with patience, and God
restored to him what he had possessed. His story
is related in the Koranf The mosque . of Ayyub,
and the spring in which he washed his body, are
famous to this day (332 A.H.): they are not far
from Nawa ^
and el-Jaulant
(^j^it in the pro-
vince of the Jordan, between Damascus and Tiberias.
The distance of this mosque and spring from the
town of Nawa is about three miles. The stone on
which Ayyub rested at the time of his affliction,
when his wife died of puerperal fever, is still in that

mosque.
Those who believe in the Pentateuch and other
ancient books^ maintain that Musa Ben Misha Ben
Yusof Ben Ya'kub cJL*^ (^ <^jv ^grr ^^
was a prophet before Musa Ben Amran
^j
^f (Moses), and that it was he who
sought el-Khidhr Ben Melkan Ben Falegh Ben

* the name of a hill and

El-Jabiyah XxjliJ is village belong-

ing to Damascus (Athar el-Bilad).

f Surah xxi. verse 83, and Surah xxxviii. verse 40.

J This is
probably the valley of Ajalon : the author of the
Jihannuma (p. 559) gives this name to a mount near Damascus.
90 EL-MAs'fJDl'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

'Aber Ben Shaleh Ben Arfakhshad Ben Sam Ben

Nuh*

Some of those who

Old Testa-
believe in the
ment say el-Khidhr was the same person as Hidh-
run Ben 'Imayil Ben Elifaz Ben el-'Aisu Ben
4
Ishak Ben Ibrahim ; he was sent as prophet to his
nation, who were converted by him.
Musa Ben 'Amran Ben Fahit Ben Lawi Ben
5
Ya'kiib was in Egypt at the time of Fir 'aim

(Pharaoh) the giant.Fir'aun's name was el-Walid

Ben Mos'ab Ben Moawiyah Ben Abi Nomair Ben
Abil-Holus Ben Leith Ben Haran Ben 'Amr Ben
'Amalik
6
. He was the fourth of the Pharaohs of
Egypt, and a man of great stature, who enjoyed a

long life. The Children of Israel had fallen into

* Khidhr is meant under the " Servant of God,"

said to be

mentioned in the Koran (Surah xviii. 64), as having been met by

Moses.

(
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 91

slavery after the death of Yusof, and lived under

great afflictions. The soothsayers, astrologers, and
conjurors informed Fir'aun that a child would be
born,, which would make an end to his power, and
perform great things in Egypt. Fir'aun was

frightened by this prediction, and gave orders to

kill the children. The mother of Musa exposed
her child on the Nile
as it is related in the
^
Koran
by the command of God,
*.

At the same time lived the prophet Sho'aib.

His full name is Sho'aib Ben Thoriel Ben Da'wayel
Ben Marik Ben 'Anka Ben Madyan Ben Ibrahimf,

He spoke Arabic and was sent to the inhabitants

of Madyan (as a preacher). When Musa had
taken from Fira'un, he went to the prophet
flight
Sho'aib, and married his daughter, as it is related
in the Koran f. God ordered Musa to lead the

* Surah xx. 39.

t The names of the forefathers of Sho'aib are variously

spelt in different MSS., and by different authors; but all agree
that one of them was Madyan, i. e., that he was a Madyanite.
He is identified with Jethro, but I think without sufficient reason,

probably the destruction of Madyan by an earthquake gave an

opportunity for inventing the story of a preacher to whom the
inhabitants did not listen, and to assign the fatal catastrophe to

this sin. Compare the note at the bottom of the next page.

1 Surah vii. verse 83.

 92 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

children of Israel into et-Tih AAX!| *; their number

amounted to six hundred thousand adults, besides
those who had not attained ripe age.
The tables which God gave to Musa on the
mount Sina UA** j^s were of emerald, and the
writing was in gold. When Musa descended from
the mount, and saw that the children of Israel were

worshipping the calf, he was so much shocked at it

that the tables from his hands, and broke.

fell He
gathered the pieces and put them, with other things,
into the Tabut es-Sakinah &*!! ^1? which was

placed in the tabernacle J$A$M. The tabernacle

was intrusted to Harun, for he was the bearer of
the prophetic office of this age,
^UjJl ^*S.
The
revelation of the Pentateuch to Musa Ben 'Amran
was completed when he was in the desert. Harun
died, and was buried in the mount Mowab,
v^ (or w ^-<) which is not far from the mountains
of esh-Sharah 'i\jtA\
and from the mount Sinaf.
His grave is well known; it is in a frightful
cavern, in which, sometimes at night, a great
murmur is heard which frightens every living
being J. Some say he is not buried, but only laid

* The desert near mount Sinai.

f Another copy bears from et-Tohur,^^IiJ|

I The volcanic action which manifests itself in some places
near the mount Sinai, by a great noise which proceeds from the
bowels of the earth, raising sometimes the sound to which this pas-
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 93

into that cavern. This cavern very curious, as

is

we have said. Seven months after, Musa died at

the age of one hundred and twenty years. Some
authors state that Musa died three years after

Harun,, and that he entered esh-Sham (Syria), and

fought there with the 'Amalikites (Jut UxJI, Korba-
nites
(^j^oLj-XM Madyanites,
and other tribes., as is
mentioned in the Pentateuch. God gave to Musa
ten books, which completed the number of one
hundred sacred codes. Subsequently God revealed
tohim the Pentateuch in Hebrew, which contains
commands and prohibitions, permissions and inter-
dictions, regulations and decrees. It is in five sifr

jju,*, which means "books/' Musa had made the

ark in which the covenant, SUxCj! was preserved,
of six thousand seven hundred and fifty mithkals of

gold.
The high-priest after Harun was Yusha' Ben
Ni'm, ^ Musa ^.j-t y. who was of the
died one hundred and twenty years
tribe of Ephraim.

Although
old, he bore not a trace of an advanced age; nor

sage alludes, has been observed in ancient times, and mentioned by

Procopius, and by modern travellers, (M. Gray, Dr. Seetzen, &c.,)
and it is
very probable that Madyan, and the other places which are

said not to have listened to the exhortation of Sho'ai'b, have been

destroyed by a volcanic eruption and earthquakes, as Abul-Feda,

(Hist. Anteislamitica, ed. Fleischer, page 31,) relates.
* The word Hebrew and
is *)P)p is
hardly ever used by the
Arabs but in speaking of the Bible.
94 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

appeared Harun old both retained the appearance

:

3
of youth. After Musa's death Yusha led the
Israelites into Syria. This country was then in

possession of giant kings of the 'Amali kites iJi/JUc

and others. Yusha' sent expeditions against them,
and had many engagements. He conquered Ariha
ls?jJ (Jericho) and Za'r*, in the Ghaur^yyj, or low

country on the Dead Sea, which repels divers, and

in which no fish or living creature can exist, as it
has been observed by the author of the logic (Aris-
totle) f, and other authors of ancient and modern
time. The Dead Sea receives the waters of the
lake of Tiberias through the river Jordan. The

* I take this for the Arabic name of Kirjath-Jearim, which

was one of the conquered by the Israelites (Josh, xi,
first cities

1
7); there
is, besides, some analogy of sound between Jearim or
Ye'arim, which is the plural of JT'UP Ya'rah, and *.. Za'r;

the meaning, however, is opposite to the Hebrew word, which means

a forest, or a place rendered impenetrable by shrubs, whilst
*CjSJJ
is
explained in the Kamus as a place without herbs. But Yearim
is
perhaps the name of the tribe who had their quarters in this

JTHp means generally

town; for Kirjah a city. El-Firuzabadi
j-j
mentions a town of the name of so called after a daughter of
j\
Lot, and Abul-Feda (edit. Reinaud, p. 48.) gives this name to the

Dead Sea, so that it is

very likely we ought to read Zoghar
instead of Za'r. This, however, would not alter the affinity of
this name with Jear, for as there is no A in Hebrew, c. must be
used instead of it.

t Ei 8' eoTiv a><77Tfp pvOoXoyovai rives fv HaXaKTTiinj roiavrr) Xi/ii/)?,

fls TJV eat Tts" e'/^aXAfl a-vvftr)<ras

avfipomov rj V7rovyiov eVrtTrXetv KOI ov
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 95

water of the lake of Tiberias comes from the lake

Kafra el-Kera'un ^y^SM >*f *> which is in the dis-
trict of Damascus. The Jordan
runs a great dis-
tance through the Dead Sea without mixing with
its water; but in the middle the water of the Jordan

sinks. Nobody knows how it comes that the

water of the lake is not increased by the accession
of this river, which very considerable. There
is

are long stories and accounts related respecting the

Dead Sea, which we have inserted in our 'Akhbar
ez-Zeman and Kitab el-Ausat, together with an
account of the stones found there, which have the

shape of a melon, and are of two varieties. They

are called the Jews'-stone, and have been described

by philosophers, and used by physicians against

the stone of the bladder f ; this stone is either male

Kara TOV vSaros. (Meteor., lib. ii.

cap. 3, p. 432, a ;

Genevae, 1605.)
* The name of this lake is variously spelt in various MSS.,
and I have not been able to determine which is the correct

reading; for other Arabic authors (Abul-Feda, edit. Reinaud,

p.48; Jehannuma, p. 555, &c.) call it the lake of Banias, from a

neighbouring town which had anciently the name Paneas, or

Caesarea Philippi, and on coins VTTO Ilcu/ao, as if Paneas had been the
name of the snow mountain on which the town is situated. With
ancient authors the lake has the name Samochonitis, which has
also no reference to the name which el-Mas'udi gives to it. Per-

haps it is connected with Kaferla, which is the name of a town

twelve miles from Paneas, in Shultens' Index Geographicus.

t Ibn en-Nafis (p. 43, edit. Calcut.) and other Arabic phy-
96 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

or female: the male stone is useful for men, the

female for women. Another production of this
lake is bitumen, which is called There is
^-*,=>.

only one lake on earth in which no living being is

to be found, and this is a lake in Aderbijan, on which
I have sailed. It is situated between the city of
Ormiah* and el-Maraghah, and is known there by
the name of Kabiidanf. Some ancient writers
enter into the causes why no living being can exist
in the Dead Sea. Now, although they do not
reflect upon the lake Kabudan, one must naturally
conclude that the same causes must be active there.

sicians praise this stone against lithiasis, and it

may be that this
volcanic production is of an alcalish nature. Avicenna (lib. ii.

p. 180), however, denies its

litholytic properties. Mr. Maundrel
found a kind of bituminous stone, which answers to the descrip-
tion given by Arabic authors of the Jews'-stone, excepting the

size ; for he says that he saw stones of this sort two feet square.

Dr. Daubeny found it be similar to that of Ragusa, in Sicily.

to
*
Although all copies bear Armenia, I thought it quite safe
to change it into Ormiah ; for this is a celebrated city in the
XA^,!
vicinity of this lake, from which it has its name in other writers,

being called the lake of Ormiah, and which claims the honour of
being Zoroaster's birth-place.
f The copy of Cambridge comes nearest to the true reading
of this name of which the copyists
(jjta^AT), bearing j^J^jJ",
made generally or After the researches of
^l^xiT ^J^-xT.
Saint Martin (Memoires sur 1'Armenie, Paris, 1818, torn. i.
p. 17), there can be no doubt but that all these corruptions are
intended to express the Armenian name of this lake, which is

K'habodan.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 97

The king of Syria, es-Soma'ida' Ben Hauber

Ben Malik, marched against Yiisha', and they came
engagements; the result of which was, that
to several
the king was killed, and Yusha' took possession of
his whole kingdom. Yusha' came in contact with
other kings of the Giants and Amalekites, and sent

corps towards Damascus. Yusha' lived one hun-

dred and twenty years. His full name was Yusha'
Ben Nun Ben Ephraim Ben Yusof Ben Ya'kub
Ben Ishak Ben Ibrahim. Some say Yusha' opened
his military operations with the war against the
Amalekite king Samaida' Ben Hauber x-**w

^^CU'. whose dominions were in the country of

Ailah, towards Madyan. 'Auf Ben Sa'id el-Jor-

homi 0$j^\ (jou*) XAJU
(jjo c5j.fi says, in allusion
to this:
" Doest thou
not see Ibn Hauber the 'Amalekite
at Ailah: he is heated and thin on account of the
agitation which he is in, being invaded by an army
of eighty thousand Israelites, partly without, partly
with armour.
"
The forces of the 'Amalekites, who march after
him on foot, climbing and running, offer the same
appearance : as if they had never been amongst the

cavalry of Mekka.
" Soma'ida' has never been in
calamity before*."

* The two distichs are only in the

last
copy of Cambridge.
H
98 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

In some village of the Belka, in Syria, there

was a man of the name of Bala'am Ben Ba'ur
(Beor) Ben Samum Ben Ferstam Ben Math Ben
Lut Ben Haran, who had answered the call*: his
people urged him to curse Yusha' Ben Nun ; but
he was unable to do it. He advised, therefore,
some 'Amalekite king to send handsome women
towards the army of the Israelites. They ap-
proached to the women, and were punished with
the plague, which killed seventy thousand of their
men. Bala'am is the person of whom it is said
in the Koran f, that he had received the signs of
God, and that he apostatized.
Yusha' Ben Nun died when he was one hundred
and ten years of age. After him Kaleb Ben
Yiifenna Ben Baridh Ben Yehuda stood at the head
of the children of Israel. Yusha' and Kaleb en-
joyed the particular grace of God.
El-Mas'udi says, I found in another copy (of
the Pentateuch) that Kushan el-Kofri^: was eight

* To answer the call of somebody, means generally to join

one's party; here means that he professed the religion of God,
it

to which everybody is called. The Arabs give to the history of

Balaam a somewhat different version from that which it has in the
Bible. (Numb, xxii.; xxiv. 14 5
Mic. vi. 5; 2 Pet. ii. 15; Judeii.;
Rev. ii.
14.) See D'Herbelot, voce Balaam.
f Surah vii.

J He means Cushan-rishataim. El-Kofri means the unbe-

liever.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 99

years the ruler of the Israelites after Yusha', until

he 'Othnayil Ben Amayayil Ben Kazin
died.

(Othniel, the son of Kenaz), of the tribe of Juda,

ruled forty years, and killed Kush J^^ (Cushan-
rishataim), one of the giants, who resided at Marib
v-^U of the Belka. After him the children of
Israel fell into idolatry, and God permitted that the
Kana'anites should subject them ten years. After
this period they were ruled by 'Amlal el-Ahbari*

cSjlpOM J& (the high-priest) forty years. His suc-

cessor was Shamwil (Samuel), who reigned until
Talut ujj.!lk (Saul) came to the throne. During his

reign the invasion of Jalut >^U- (Goliath), the

king of the Berbers of Palestine, took place.
El-Mas'udi says, according to the version after
which we began to relate this history, the head and
administrator of the affairs of the children of Israel,

Yusha', was Kaleb

after Ben Yvifenna, and after him
Finehas Ben el-'Oziz Ben Harun (Aaron) Ben
'Amranf, who was twenty years the judge of the

* meant name ought to be

Probably Heli is : in this case his

written ^JUr 'Ilan. Compare p. 102, infra. El-Ahbari means

generally a Jewish doctor, and not high- priest as here.

t The copy of Leyden bears el-'Ozir.
jydl QJJ (j\s&
Phinehas the high-priest was the son of Eleazer, and not of Oziz.
We learn from the Chronicon of the Samaritans, which has been

translated by Hottinger, that Oziz, the fifth high-priest from

H 2
 100 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Israelites. He
put the books of Moses into a cop-
per vessel, shut its opening with lead, and took
it to the rock of the
temple of Jerusalem. This
was before the temple was built. The rock split,
and in the cavity so formed another projecting rock
presented itself. When Finehas had placed the
vessel upon this rock, the cavity closed, and was as
before*. After Finehas Ben el-'Oziz, the Israelites

Aaron, has concealed some sacred vessels. It is very likely that

el-Mas' udi, and the author of the said Chronicon, who is Abul-
Fath Ben Abul-Hasan, have used the same sources.
* This
rock, which rises about man's height from the level of
the ground, is covered with a cupola, and on the side of the rock
stands a chapel, and it
enjoys still the veneration of the Moslims.
(Jihannuma, Constant. 1732, p. 565.) El-Kazwlni gives in his
work, Athar el-bilad, several other instances of veneration for
stones in Syria, as the stone sacred to Sho'a'ib at Kafermendah

k'iXxxjviT, the stone sacred to Job in the Jaulan, &c. Taking into
consideration the various stones which were almost worshipped in

Arabia, besides the black stone of Mekka, one might almost

suppose this fetishism formed one time a part of the

gross
national religion of the Semitic nations, owing, no doubt, to

aerolithes, which may be very frequent in those volcanic coun-

tries ; hence, Sanchoniathon ascribes the origin of this practice to
the god Coelus, saying they are living and animated stones.
As further instances of the practice of consecrating or wor-

shipping stones, may be brought forward, the example of Jacob

(Gen. xviii. 18), the testimony of Clemens of Alexandria

(Strom., lib. vii.), and the practice of Arnobius (Cont. Gen., lib. i.) :

" Si
quando conspexeram lubricatum lapidem, et ex olivsB unguine
lubricatum,tanquam inesset vis praesens, adulabar, affabar."

(Compare Calmet, voce Stone, ")

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 101

were ruled by Kushan el-Atim (Cushan-rishataim),

the king of Mesopotamia, for they were fallen into

idolatry, for which they had to endure night years'

hardship. Then was 'Othnayil (Othniei) Ben
Yufenna, the brother of Kaleb, of the tribe of Juda,
judge, forty years. After him they were subjected

by Aglum (Eglon), the king of Mowab, who kept

them under great oppression eighteen years. Then
was Ahud, of the tribe of Ephraim, their judge
fifty-five years. When he had been thirty-five
years judge, the age of the world was four thousand
years: this, however, is controverted by
chronolo-

gers. He was succeeded by his son Sha'an (Sham-

gar, the son of Anath). Then they were conquered

by Bills (Jabin), the Kanaanite, king of Syria,
twenty years. Then ruled a woman, of the name
of Dabura (Deborah), who was, according to some
authors, the daughter of her predecessor. She
joined with herself a man of the name of Barak,
forty years. After her they were conquered by the
chiefs of the Madyanites, viz., 'Urib (Oreb), Zerneb
(Zeeb), Buria, Dara' (Zebah), Salana (Zalmunna),
seven years and three months. Then Jida'un
(Gideon), of the family of Menasha, forty years.
He killed the kings of the Madyanites, and was
succeeded by his son Abu Malikh (Abimelech).
Then Thula' (Tola), of the tribe of Ephraim,
twenty-three years. Then Nas (Jair), of the family
of Menasha, twenty-two years. Then the kings of
102 EL-MAS'lJOl'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Amman (Ammon), eighteen years and three months.

Then Yehtim (Jephthah), of Beit Lehm, seven years*.
Then Samsun, twenty years. Then they were sub-
jected by the kings of Palestine forty years. Then
Tlan (Heli), the high-priest, forty years. In his
time the Babylonians conquered the children of
Israel, took the ark, through which the Israelites
had expected to gain the victory over them, and

they carried it to Babel. They made the Israelites

and their children captives, and carried them off

from their homes.

At
the same time happened what is related of
the people of Hizkil (Ezekiel), who went out from
theirhomes for fear of death (of the enemy), although
they were thousands in number. God said to them
"Die;" and when they were dead, he restored
them to life again. Then they were visited with
the plague, and only three tribes of them escaped
death f. One tribe took refuge on the sea-shore,
the other to some island of the sea, and the third to

U^AJ Bethlehem, the city of flesh, or incarnation. The

form more frequently used to express incarnation and naturali-

sation, is *l^\J^J (Ibn Khaldun, Proleg., lib. i.)

f Koran, Surah ii. verse 244, edit. Fliigel. The tendency of

this story of the Koran is to show that it is of no avail to fly
from an enemy ; for God can restore the dead to life, and destroy
men in thousands by the plague as well as by war. The fable

owes its origin probably to Rabbinical traditions invented as a

comment upon the thirty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel.
 AND MINKS OF GEMS. 103

the summits of the mountains: after many adven-

tures they came back to their homes, and said to
" Hast thou ever heard of a
Hizkil, people that had
to experience what we have encountered?" Hizkil

answered,
' '

No, I have never heard of a people who

have taken flight from God as you have done." God
sent after seven days again the plague amongst
them, and they died all to the last man.
After 'Ilan, the high-priest, ruled Ashmawil Ben
Baruha Ben Nahur (Samuel). He was a prophet,
and administered the state of the Israelites twenty
years. God gave them peace, and blessed them.
But subsequently, when they were in new troubles,
" Send us a
they said to Ashmawil, king, and we
will fight in the way of God." He was ordered to
make Talut, who is Saul Ben Kish Ben Abiyal Ben
Sarur Ben Bakhurat Ben Asmida' (Aphiah) Ben
Benyamin Ben Ya'kub Ben Ishak Ben Ibrahim,
their king: he gave him power, and the Israelites
had never before been united as they were under
all

Talut. From the emigration of the Israelites from

Egypt, under Musa, to the accession of Talut,

elapsed five hundred and seventy- two years and
three months. Talut was originally a tanner, and
made leather. Their prophet Ashmawil announced
to them,
4<
God has set Talut king over you."
They answered, according to what God says*,

*
Koran, Surah ii. \erse 248.
104 EL-MAS'uDi's MEADOWS OF GOLD
" How he reign over us ? We are more
shall

worthy of the sovereignty than he; and he is not in

"
possession of a great fortune." The proof of his
sovereignty," said Samuel, "shall be the ark, in
which there is tranquillity * from your Lord, and

*
The word which I render by tranquillity is sekinah

->
j /.T-O xu-j. This is not considered as an Arabic
word by lexicographers, and I have found it
only in one instance,
besides in the above sentence from the Koran, in a passage of
Ibn Khaldun (Prolegomena, MS. of Ley den, folio 112, verso),
which runs thus, if the MS. is correct: jjf *L*>JJ

SL ''The rulers will have obtained

an arbitrary and absolute power over the subjects; hence they

will encroach upon all their money by introducing customs, or

monopolies, or confiscations of private property on or without

suspicion. The soldiers will become daring in this phasis towards
the rulers ; for they have lost their vigour, and the enthusiasm for
their own cause and caste is declining: they have, therefore,

nothing better to expect. The attempt to remedy the evil by

settling the gratuities (and changing
them into regular pay), and

by making enormous expenses for them, will fail, and they will

find no friend/'

Maracci and Sale, in their commentaries to the Koran, and

after them De Sacy, in his Chrestom. Arabe (torn, ii., p. 77),
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 105

the relics of the signs

(which God had
given to
former prophets)." The ark remained ten years

follow the opinion of some Arabic interpreters of that book,

and consider the word as the Hebrew pWQttf shekinah, which is

derived from to rest, to be quiet) to be present, and means

/.jX*j>
the divine presence in the temple of Jerusalem, which drove from

thence the princes of the air (genii of the Arabs), and made it

quiet: then it means also inspiration, and in the Targums or the

Chaldee paraphrases it used for Holy Ghost (Calmet, Diet,
is

of the Bible) This

.
signification, however, would be quite con-

trary to the ideas of Mohammed, who probably took up the term

without connecting a clear idea with it : for things of which we
do not understand the meaning, or which have none at all, are
most edifying. Some commentators of the Koran say, therefore,
the tabut es-sakmah was an ark given to Adam, which contained
the portraits of all the prophets up to Mohammed. For as there
are many false prophets who have wrought miracles, whilst the
Arabic legate of God professed that he did not perform any other
but moral wonders, it would indeed have been the best to have a

portrait to verify the man who is to be believed. This fabrica-

tion seems to have been forged in opposition to the Jenahians,

Xx^UiJ, who considered descent as the evidence of the pro-

phetic mission of a man ; and as our author seems to have been

very much in favour of the latter doctrine, as it appears from

what he says above, p. 54, (compare the second note to p. 55,
supra,) he must have rejected this explanation of sakinah, and
have taken the word in its first meaning as tranquillity. This

justifies
also the suggestion contained in the first note to p. 73,

supra, which is besides confirmed by the first six lines in p. 79,

that the
supra, from which it appears that el-Mas'udi believed
tabut (ark, coffin) of Adam contained his body, and not the

portraits of the prophets.

106 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

at Babel. They heard at dawn the noise of

the angels flying round the ark, and it was carried

away.
Jalut iS^U. (Goliath) was very powerful, and
his troops and leaders were numerous. When
Jalut (Goliath), name is Jalut Ben
whose full

Balud Ben Diyal Ben Hattan Ben Faris Ben Nasud

Ben Sam Ben Nuh ^U^ JUS S^L ^ ^ & ^U
gy ^ *L ^.jj Jj>*sU ^.j^ u^jL5 (^j-it
heard that the
had put Talut (Saul) on the throne, he
Israelites

marched with several races of Berbers j*jA\ from

Palestine, towards the Israelites. Samuel ordered
Talut to go out with the children of Israel to fight

against Jalut. God sent them the trial at a river

between the Jordan and Palestine,
districts of the

which he has related in his book*. When they

were very thirsty, they were ordered
they how
should drink: those who
doubted, lapped like dogs,
and they were killed by Jalut to the last man.
Saul selected from his best troops three hundred
and thirteen men, amongst whom were the brothers
ofDawud (David), and Dawud himself. The two
armies met, but the battle was undecided. Talut

encouraged his men, and promised to any one who

would go out against Jalut one-third of his king-

* Mohammed
Koran, Surah ii. verse 250. has confounded
Saul and Gideon. (Judg. vii.)
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 107

dom, and his daughter in marriage. Dawud went

out against him, and killed him with a stone which
he had in his forage-bag. He threw it with a
sling, and Jalut fell on the ground. This is related
in the Koran *, where God says, " Dawud slew
Jalut These are the signs of God."
. . .

Some say, Dawud had three stones in his

forage-bag, which united, and became one stone;
and this they say was the stone with which he killed
Jalut. There exist several comments on this

stone, which we have related in our former works.

Some pretend that it was Talut (Saul) who slew
those who lapped from the river, and acted con-

trary to the command of God, and not Jalut

(Goliath). We have related the story of the coat
of mail, of which their prophet had predicted that

nobody could conquer Jalut except whom it fitted;

and which fitted Dawud: we have given details

respecting these wars, and the river which dried up :

and we have related the history of the kingdom of

Talut (Saul)f, and the Berbers, and their origin, in
our book called the Akhbar ez-zeman, and we shall
speak on it in the following pages of this work, in
a more adapted place, where we give a brief account
of the history of the Berbers, and their dispersion
over the earth.

*
Koran, Surah ii. verse 250.

f It should probably run, the kingdom of Jalut, or Goliath.

108 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

God made the name of Dawud glorious, and that

of Talut obscure; for Talut refused to keep his
promise to him. But when he saw that Dawud
became popular, he married his daughter to him,
and gave him the third part of his possessions, the
third part of the revenue, the third part of his
jurisdiction, and the part third of his subjects.
After he had done so, he envied him, and intended
to deprive him of them. But God did not permit
it, and Dawud declared himself against his inten-
tions. All what Dawud did prospered. Saul
died in the night, under great depression of spirits,
whilst he was sitting on his throne. After his
death the whole empire came under Dawud.
Talut reigned twenty years. The spot where
Dawud killed Jalut is said to be Baisan, in the
Ghaur, which is a district of the Jordan.
God rendered the iron soft for Dawud,, and he
made coats of mail. God made the mountains
and birds subservient* to him, and they praised
God with him. David had wars with the people
of Mowab, in the country of el-Belka. God re-

vealed to him the Book of Psalms, in Hebrew,

consisting of one hundred and fifty Surahs. He
divided them into thirds: one third fortells the

history of Bokhta Nassar ^a5 tlXir (Nebuchadnez-

*
Koran, Surah xxxviii. verses 17 and 18.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 109

zar) another third predicts what

with the Israelites ;

would happen to them from the people of Athur

j>\; and one third contains admonitions,

exhor-
tations, and hymns. There are neither laws nor
interdicts, nor permissions nor prohibitions, in the
Psalms. Dawud was successful in all that he did;
and even those unbelievers who had a rebellious
spirit, were filled with respect for him, in all parts
of the earth. He built a house for holy service at
Kurat el-islam*,, that is to say, in Beit el-Makdis.
This temple is standing in our time [332 A.H.], and
it is known under the name of Mihrab of Dawud.
There is at present no building in Jerusalem which
ishigher than this temple. You can see from its
top as far as the Dead Sea and the River Jordan.
To Dawud happened the story of the two adver-

saries, to which an allusion is made in the Book of

Godf. Dawud, before he had heard the other,

"
He has wronged thee in
passed the sentence:
asking from thee (thy ewe), &c." The commen-

*. jj Kurat el-isldm, means the district of the

islam, and is a play of words with the name of Jerusalem,

with which it has some similarity of sound, it
being pro-
nounced by the Arabs, Uraslam, or Aurashlim or
j^^JLiUJ,

simply Shallam
^& (el-Kamus, p. 1647). Compare the twenty-

eighth chapter, infra.

t Koran, Surah xxxviii. verse 21, et seq.
110 EL-MAS'lIDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

tators to the Koran do not agree respecting the

fault of Dawud (for which he is blamed in the

Koran). Some give the same explanation which

we have just given, and which by the
is justified

words " We have made thee our lieutenant on

*,

earth, &c." But some say that the story of the

two adversaries was a parable in allusion to Uria
Ben Kenan, and his being killed, as it is mentioned

in the " boohs of the beginning" *JXAA)U u*xT, and

in oilier works. Dawud underwent a repentance
of forty days' fasting and weeping. He had no less
than one hundred wives. Solaiman was his son:
he showed great talents, and used to be present
when his father exercised the duties of a judge;
and God gave him \visdom in speech and judgment,
as it is said in the Koran " We to all of them
f, gave
wisdom and knowledge, &c." When he was dying,
he made Solaiman his Dawud reigned forty
heir.

years over Palestine and the Jordan. He had an army

of sixty thousand soldiers, with swords, shields, and

good horses; they were men in the prime of life,

full of courage and vigour.

* xxxviii. verse 25. After the words quoted stands,

Koran,
in this, and in several other instances, which I render by
3Lj5N>

"&c.;'' for it cannot mean anything else but "and the rest of
this verse."

Surah xxi. verse 79.

 AND MINKS OF GEMS. Ill

In his age flourished Lokman the Wise, in the

country of Ailah and Madyan: his full name is

Lokman Ben 'Anka Ben Madyan Ben Merwan

He was a Nubian, and a freed slave of

Lokain Ben Jesr *& ^JU. Lokman was born
in the tenth year of the reign of Dawud. He was
a slave, full of virtue, and God gave him wisdom.
He lived distinguished by his wisdom and abste-
miousness until Yunos Ben Matt a csU ^ u*A*H
(Jonas) was sent to Ninive, in the country of
el-Mausil.
After the death of Dawud his son Solaiman was
the bearer of the prophetic office, and the judge.
He extended his justice over all his subjects, his
government was firm, and he held the armies in
due submission. Sola'iman began to build the Beit
el-Makdis (the temple of the sacred city), which is
called the most remote temple ^taSW <X:sx*wo, round
which God pours out his blessing. When he had
finished the construction of the temple, he built a
house for himself. This is called in our days the
Church of the Resurrection*, and the greatest
is

church at Jerusalem; but there are other large

XJl 3U*AxT. See Golius' notes to Alfergani, p. 158,

and Castelli's Diet. Heptagl.

 112 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

churches besides, as the Church of Sahytin (Sion),

which has been mentioned by Dawud, and the
Church of el- Jesmaniyah * X>oU*iJ, in which
Dawud is said to be buried. God gave to Solaiman
greater favours than to anybody before him, and
he made subservient to him men, genii, birds, and
winds, as it is related in the Book of Godf. Solai-
man ruled forty years over the Beni Israel. He
died in an age of fifty-two years.

* This
probably the church which Haji Khalfa (p. 565)
is

calls the Church of the Virgin Mary ; for the place where it is
situated has with him the name el- Jesmaniyah. I suppose Jes-
maniyah means corporis Christi; for the Christian Arabs have
formed a number of words after the genius of the Syriac and
3 >

Greek languages, as *J&'^, plur. *jotS'i person (of the Trinity);

iII^AwUM
the human nature (of Christ) ;
uj^&JJ Godhead
implying a somewhat different idea from 5U6 Jil| ; *>lcr?"Mj

the union (of the three persons of the Trinity), and hence quite
different from the pure Mohammedan idea expressed by the word

] ! (Mefatih el-'olum.)
f Koran, Surah xxi. and xxxviii.
 AND MINKS OF GEMS. 1J3

FIFTH CHAPTER.

The reign of Rakhobb'am Ben Solaiman Ben Ddwud,

and the Israelite kings who succeeded him. Concise

account of their Prophets.

AFTER the death of Solaiman, his son Rakhobo'am

*ju^!j came to the throne. He ruled at first over
all the tribes; but subsequently they separated
themselves from him, except the tribes of Judah
and Benjamin. He reigned seventeen years.
The king of the ten tribes was Yeruboham
(Jeroboam), who had several wars, and worshipped
a calf of gold and jewels. God destroyed him after

a reign of twenty years.

Then reigned Abya (Abijah), the son of Rakho-
bo'am Ben Solaiman, three years. Then reigned
Ahar (Asa) forty years. Then reigned Yuram
(Jehoram), who introduced the worship of idols

(stars), statues, and images: he reigned one

year. Then reigned a woman, of the name of
'Athalan (Athaliah), who
destroyed the descendants
of Dawud, and only one boy of this family was

spared. The children of Israel, indignant at her

cruelty, killed her, after a reign of seven years, and
made this boy their king. He was seven years of
age when he came to the throne, and reigned forty
 114 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

years, or less. Then reigned Amasyd (Amaziab)

fifty- two years.During his reign lived the prophet
Sha'ya U*~ (Isaiah), with whom he came in frequent
contact. He had some wars,, which we have re-
lated in our book Akhbar ez-zeman. Then reigned
Yutham (Jotham) ten years ; according to others,
sixteen years. After him reigned Ahaz : he intro-
duced idolatry, and was an unjust king. One of the

greatest kings of Babel, named Baghin* ^L,,

marched against him. After long wars between Ahaz
and the king of Babel, the latter made Ahaz prisoner,
and destroyed the towns of the (Israelite) tribes,
and their dwellings.
During his reign religious quarrels took place
between the Jews and the
Samaritans *^U-^J.
The Samaritans deny the prophetic mission of
Dawud, maintaining that there was no prophet after
Musa. They chose their chiefs from the descend-
ants of Harun (Aaron) Ben 'Amran, and live in
our time [A.H. 332], in separate towns, in the
Jordan and Palestine, as, for instance, in the town
called 'Ara r,U, which is between er-Ramlah and
Tiberias, and other towns as far as Nabolos

* This is a corruption for Tiglathpileser, instead of which

one copy bears so that it

may be inferred, from the
y^aX* ',

great difference which exists between the two copies, that el-
Mas'udi wrote the name correctly, but that it was corrupted by
the copyists, as it happened with other names.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 115

(Naplous). In this last-mentioned city they are

most numerous. They have a (sacred) mount which

they call Tur* j^Jb, and they offer there prayers at

certain times. They sound bells of silver at prayer
" Do me !"
time, and it is
they who say, not touch

They believe that Nabolos is the sacred town (Beit

el-makdis)t, and the town of Ya'kub, and that

there the place where his flock grazed.
is The
Samaritans are of two sects, which are separate

-3. These are the words of the original in the copy of

Leyden. De Sacy quotes this passage thus, in his Chrestomathie

Arabe (torn. ii.

pp. 342 and 343):
jo &\ jUu Ja>- *^
Igj'U^f ^i C>JjXo axXc s^oLj&J JojJ,
and translates ac-

cordingly: Us ont la une montagne nominee Tor-berik. Les

Samaritains font la priere sur cette montagne dans les temps
destines a ce pieux exercice. The MS. of Cambridge bears

t Isstachri (edit. Moeller, p. 31) says nearly the same thing:

here are his words :

El-Edrisi transcribed this passage in his work, and

syc l^!

corrupted it thus: - - -
'[^\ XAJX

Lc
. Nabolos is the town of the Samaritans, and the people of
*yc
Jerusalem believe that nowhere Samaritans are found but in this

I 2
116 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

from each other, as they are separate from the

other Jews. One of the two sects is called Kushan *

^Uj.r, and the other Dushan (or Rushan) e t*^

(jiZjj).
One of these two sects believes that the
world has no beginning f, and other dogmas of this
nature, which I forbear to mention, for fear of being
too tedious in a work which professes to treat on
history, and not on opinions and doctrines of sects.
Ahaz had reigned seventeen years before he
was made a prisoner by the king of Babylon. In
his captivity a son was born to him, who received

the name Hizkiya U*^

kept up (Hezekiah). He
the religion of the true God, and gave orders to

destroy images and idols. During his reign Senna-

harib <-o^L^\Mo the king of Babel, marched against
Jerusalem. He had several wars with the Israel-

town, &c. ( Rosenmiiller, Analecta Arabica, pars iii.

p. 3.

Compare Jaubert's Translation, torn. i.

p. 335.)
This may serve as an example how Oriental writers are some-
times misled by corrupt readings, and may illustrate the note to

page 1 1 7 of this volume ; for there can be no doubt that this

fault is to be attributed to el-Edrisi himself, and not to the copyists,

since found in the copies of Oxford and Paris.
it is

* If the Cuthaeans derive their name from

Cush, or Scythia,
the spelling is here more correct than in the Bible (2 Kings xvii.

24, 30; Ezra iv. 1, 2) ; for there it is /TO Kuth, Xov0.

f Arabic scholastics make a distinction between rjj, which

is the term used here, and the former meaning what has
JjJ:
no beginning, and the latter what has neither beginning nor end.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 117

ites, and suffered great loss; but finally he took

many tribes prisoners. Hizkiya reigned till he

died, twenty-nine years.
After Hizkiya his son Manasha (Manasseh)
reigned. He killed the prophet Sha'ya, and gave a
bad example, which was followed by his subjects.
God sent Constantine, the king of er-Rum*, against

* "The Lord them the of the

brought upon captains
host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the

thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

And when he was in affliction he besought the Lord his God

. . And [God] brought him again to
. . Jerusalem, into his

kingdom." (2 Chron. xxxiii. 11, 12, 13.) Petavius believes that

this Assyrian king was the Berodach-baladan of the Scriptures

(2 Kings xx. 12), and Map8oKfp,7ra8os of the Chronological Tables

of Ptolemy. As the copyists put frequently a known word instead
of a name of less frequent occurrence, we may suppose that el-

Mas'udi wrote Mardokempad, king of Atur, (see our note to

page 31 of this volume,) of which the copyist made Constantine,

king of er-Rum; for el-Mas'udl was well acquainted with

Ptolemy's Chronological Tables, and quotes them in the

Tanbih.
But in comparing this passage with the words of et-Tabari

(who was one of the sources whence el-Mas'udi derived his infor-
mation), preserved by Ibn Khaldun (MS. of Leyden, No. 1250,
vol. ii. fol. 44, verso), we feel inclined to ascribe this gross anachro-

nism to our author's want of attention: XxjU

"In the fifty-second (year of the reign of Manasseh) Byzan-

tium was built the founder of this city was King Yuros.
: It is

the same town which has been renewed by Constantine, and

118 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

him, who invaded his country with several armies,

put his troops to flight, made him a prisoner, and

kept him twenty years in er-Rum, in captivity but ;

changing his former conduct, he was restored to

his kingdom. He reigned till he died, twenty-five,
or, as others say, thirty, years.
His successor was 'Amun (Amon), who neither
believed nor obeyed God, but worshipped images
and idols. When his ungodliness had reached the
utmost, Fir'aun the Lame gjs-W u**j* marched
from Egypt, with a large army, against him, and
after he had made a great slaughter amongst the

Israelites, he took him as prisoner to Egypt, where

he perished. He
reigned five years. Some authors
differ in their account. After him reigned his
brother Tufil J^yT, who is the father of the prophet

Danial jUib. During his reign el-Bokhta Nassar

(Nebuchadnezzar), the governor of el- 'Irak, and the
Arabs * ^xJ^oV^xJi, under the king of Persia, who

called after his name." (Compare Eusebius, Chronicorum Canonii

ad Olympiadem 30, A. H.) Now seeing the account of the cap-

tivity of the Israelites on the same page with the name of Con-

stantine, he, probably overlooking a line, took him for the king

who made them prisoners. For a similar mistake of el-Edrisi,

owing to the perusal of a corrupt copy of the author whence he

was compiling, see the note to page 115 of this volume.
*
Perhapsit
ought to read 'Irak el-' Arab, which is the name
for Babylonia, and I should not have hesitated to change the read-
ing, if Herodotus did not give nearly the same title to Sennaherib,
'

calling him BcwiAe'a *Apa/3tW re *cai

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 119

was then residing in Balkh, the capital of his em-

pire, marched against the Israelites; and after he
had slain many of them,, he took them to el-'Irak,

into captivity. He carried also the Pentateuch and

the books of the prophets and the histories of the

king away, which were in the temple at Jerusalem,

and threw them into a well. The ark of the cove-
nant fell also into his hands, and he preserved it in
some place of his country. The number of the
Israelites who were in captivity is said to have been
eighteen thousand. In his time lived Jeremiah the

prophet. Nassar made a campaign

El-Bokhta
against Egypt, and killed Pharao the Lame., who
was at that time the king of Egypt. Thence he
proceeded towards the West, took the kings pri-
soners, and conquered many towns.
The king of Persia had married a woman of the
Israelite captives, who bore him a child, and he
sent the children of Israel back into their homes
after two years' captivity. When they had re-

turned into their native country, reigned Zorobabil

Ben Salsal (Zorobabel, the son of Selathiel). The
town of Jerusalem was rebuilt, and what had been
destroyed was re-established. They got the Penta-
teuch out of the well, and their state became flourish-

ing. This king devoted forty-six years to the culti-

vation of the country ; and he ordered them to keep
the prayers and other obligations prescribed by the

Law, which had been neglected during the captivity.

 120 EL-MAS'UDl's -MEADOWS OF GOLD,

The Samaritans believe that the Pentateuch

which was recovered from the well, was not the
same which Musa had given to them,, but that it is

full of fictions, changes, and alterations. The

author of the new Pentateuch which the Jews have
is Zorobabil, who collected it from the accounts of

those who knew it by heart, whilst the genuine

Pentateuch is in the hands of the Samaritans. This
king reigned forty-six years. Another version of
this history says, that the person who married a
Jewish lady was el-Bokhta Nassar himself, and that
he released the Jews from the captivity.
After Ibrahim his son Isma'il took charge of the
house (Ka'bah, at Mekka). God made him a pro-
phet, and sent him to the 'Amalikites, and to some
tribes of Yemen, to forbid to them idolatry. Some
of them became believers ;
the most part, however,
remained faithful to the false religion. Ismael was
blessed with twelve sons, viz., Nabet (Nebaioth),
Kidar, Abdil, Mibsam, Maisa' (Mishma), Duma,
Dowam*, Mita (Massa), Heddad, Taim (Tema),
Yetura, and Nan's, **AXI; p**^ J^l; ^\& ^L*
\* U. Ibrahim

* Dowam is not mentioned in the Bible (Chronicon i. 29, 30):

it
crept in probably by writing Duma twice, once wrongly spelt ;
and then, in order not to have thirteen names, the copyists left out

Kedemah, which is the name last mentioned in the Bible.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 121

declared Isma'il as his successor, and Isma'il in-

stalled Nabet, or according to others, Kidar, to

succeed him. When Isma'il died, he was one

hundred and thirty- seven years of age, and was
buried in the mesjid el-Haram (the temple of
Mekka), on the spot where the black stone is.
After him the charge of the temple was intrusted
to his son Nabet, who followed the good example
and religion of his father.
There were several prophets and men distin-

guished by godliness between Solaiman, son of

Dawud, and the Masih (Messiah), as Aramaya
Uc^l (Jeremiah), Daniyal (Daniel), 'Ozair ^y.
(Ezra) [whose prophetic dignity is controverted],
Sha'ya (Isaiah), Hizkial (Ezekiel), llyds (Elias), el-
Yasa' (Elisha), Yunos* (Jonas), Dul-Kifl

* I
preserve here, and in other Scriptural names, the Arabic
sound; for some changes are as much sanctioned by use with
them, as in English to say John instead of Joannes. Besides,
these corruptions may yet point out whence the Arabs have

originally derived their Biblical knowledge. Some Hebrew names

seem even to have been originally Arabic, and to have been pre-
served in the language of this nation, as well as in the Scriptures.

Only, in putting the vowels, I follow in preference the Scriptures,

when Arabic authors do not agree: some authors write the Kamus
Nomrud, whilst others write Namrud and Nimrud. I prefer
the latter.
t The name of Dul-Kifl is twice mentioned in the Koran;
the first time (xxi. 85) with Isma'il and Idris, and the second
122 EL-MAs'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

and el-Khidhr* j*a.\. A tradition reported by

'
Ibn Ishak (or Ibn Abbas) makes Aramaya a pious
and godly man (but not a prophet). Another pro-
phet of this period was Zakariya (Zacharias), who
was the son of Adan, of the children of Dawud and
the tribe He was married to Lishya'
of Juda.

(Elizabeth), the daughter of 'Imran, and sister of

Maryam (Mary), the mother of Christ. 'Imran,
who was the son of Maran Ben Yo'akim, was also
a descendant of Dawud. The name of the mother
of Lishya' (Elizabeth), and of Maryam,, was Han-
nah. Elizabeth gave birth to Yahya (John), who
was the cousin of Christ. His father Zakariya was
a carpenter. The Jews spread the rumour that he
had ravaged Maryam, and put him to death. When

time (xxxviii.) with Isma'iland el-Yasa' (Elisha), so that one may

infer that he is a Hebrew prophet who received this name from

some action or event, as Jonas was called Dul-Nun, from the

fish which swallowed him. Sale adds the following note to the
second passage of the Koran: " Al-Beidawi here takes notice

of another tradition concerning this prophet viz., that he enter-

;

tained and took care of a hundred Israelites, who fled to him

from a certain slaughter; from which action he probably had
the name Dul-Kifl given him; the primary signification of the
word cafala being to maintain, or take care of another. If a

conjecture might be founded on this tradition, I should fancy the

person intended was Obadiah, the governor of Ahab's house."
* About el-Khidhr see
page 90 of this volume.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 123

he was aware of their intention, he took refuge in

a tree, and hid himself in its cavity but Satan, the
;

enemy of God, pointed him out to them. They

split the tree in which he was, and cut him to

pieces in so doing. When Elizabeth, the sister of

Maryam, the mother of Christ, had given birth to
Yahya Ben Zakariya, she took flight with her child
from some king to Egypt.
When he had grown up God sent him to the
children of Israel. He preached to them what God
has commanded and forbidden, and they put him
to death. There were many rebellions* amongst
the Israelites. God sent, therefore,, a king, of the
name Hardush (Herodes), from the East. Under
of
him the righteous men had the same fate as Yahya,
the son of Zakariya; and it was only after long
troubles, that he put a stop to shedding blood.
When Maryam was seventeen years of age God
sent the angel Gabriel to her, and he breathed the

spirit into her. She was with child of the Masih,

Jesus the son of Maryam, and she gave him birth
in a country town,, called Beit Lehm, which is some
miles from Jerusalem. This was in the twenty-
fourth of the first Kanun. His history is related

The copy of Leyden bears ^

There were many traditions among the Israelites."
124 EL MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

by God in the Koran*, and the Christians believe

that Jesus observed the old religion of his nation.
He read (lectured on) the Pentateuch and other
ancient books for twenty-nine or thirty years, at
Tiberias, in the province of the Jordan, in a syna-

gogue called el-Madras u^JsJU. A

day hecertain
was reading the Book of the prophet Esaias, and
he saw in it the passage, "Thou art my prophet and
my elect: I have chosen thee for me:" he closed the

book, gave it to the minister of the synagogue,

and went out saying, " The word of God is now
fulfilled in the Son of Manf." Some say Christ
lived in a town called Nasarah (Nazareth), in the

district of el-Lajjun ^^.J^, in the province of the

Jordan. Hence the Christians have (in Arabic)
the name Nasraniyah lo^A^U I have visited that
church: it is in high veneration with the Christians.

There are some coffins of stone, with dead bodies

in them, from which oil comes out, of the consis-
~j

tency of the inspissated juice of fruits (Roob v^0>

in which the Christians find their blessing.
The Masih came to the lake of Tiberias, where
he found some fishermen, who were the sons of
Zabada, and some fullers. Matta (Matthew), Yo-
hanna (John), Markush (Mark), and Luka (Luke),

* In the third Surah, and

passim.
t Lukeiv. 1621.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 125

are the four apostles who wrote the Gospel, and

preserved the history of the Masih: they have

related in it his birth and his baptism by Yahya
Ben Zakariya, who is called John Baptist ^.^
tXfrxJJ, in the lake of Tiberias, from which the water
runs into the Jordan ;
the wonders wrought through
him, the miracles with which God honoured him,
and how the Jews treated him, till he ascended into
heaven, when he was thirty-three years of age.
There are long accounts of the Masih, Mary am,
and Yusof the carpenter, in the Gospel, which we
forbear inserting; for God does not mention them

(in the Koran), nor has his prophet Mohammed

related them.
126 EL-MA$'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

SIXTH CHAPTER.

Those who lived in the Fatrah ; that is to

say, in the
time between Christ and Mohammed.

EL-MAS'UDI many persons who lived between

says,
Christ and Mohammed, in the Fatrah, professed
the unity of God, and believed that he sends (pro-

phets). But whether there has been a prophet

amongst them or not is controverted. Some allege
that Hantalah Ben Safwan ^yu*
^^ XXk;^, who
was a descendant of Isma'il Ben Ibrahim, has been
a prophet, and was sent to the Ashab er-Rass*,

The Ashab er-Rass are brought forward

as an example in the Koran (xxv. 40), together with the 'Adites

and Themudites, as a nation, who have been punished for not

having listened to their prophet. The commentators of the

Koran conceive ashab to mean inhabitants^ and believe, therefore,
er-Rass to be a town. They have, however, been so much at a

loss to find the site of this town, that they thought it

might be on
the river er-Rass, or the Araxes of the ancients I Now sahib

hardly ever means inhabitants. El-Fairuzabadi (p. 763) gives

the following opinion " Er-Rass is the name of a well of rem-
:

nants of the Themudites, in which they smothered their

\y^
prophet, not believing on him." This leads me to think that

rass is to be taken as an infinitive, and ashab er-rass to be

rendered by smotherers.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 127

who were equally descended from Isma'il, and

divided into two tribes, one of which was called
o *
Kodman ^LctXS, and the other Yamin (^-j-<^>
or

Ra'wil J^y^j? both of which were in Yemen. When

Hantalah Ben Safwan rose amongst them, by the
command of God, they killed him. A prophet of
the children of Israel, of the tribe of Juda, received
therefore the revelation of God, that Bohkta Nassar
would march, by divine command, against them :

and he vanquished them. To this allude the words

of God: " When they felt our strength, they were

agitated .... dying and perishing." It is

said that they were Himyarites, and this is

sup-
ported by one of their (Himyarite) poets in an
elegy:
" Ashab er-Rass,
My eyes flow in tears for the
the Ra'wil, and Kodman: the punishment which
the tribe of the Kahtanites suffered caused those to
submit to God who had refused to do so."
It ison the authority of Wahb Ben
stated
Monabbih that Dul-Karnein, who is the same per-
son with Alexander*, lived after Christ, in the

* Other passages of this work evince an intimate acquaintance

of el-Mas'udi with the history of Alexander the Great, and the
Alexandrian era. But it is the habit of Arabic historians, and

particularly with our author, to give the different traditions which

they have received literally as they heard them, even if they

128 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Fatrah. He
had a vision, in which he saw himself
so near the sun that he seized its two extremities

^/JjjtM,
the eastern and western. He related this
dream to his people, and they called him " One who
has both horns" (or sides of the sun) ^jjtt^i.
Many different opinions respecting him have been
advanced, which are to be found in our works, the
Akhbar ez-zeman and the Kitab el-ausat, and we
shall give a view of his history in those chapters
of this book which treat on the Greek and Byzan-

tine sovereigns.

In the same way the historians do not agree on

the men of the grotto (the Seven Sleepers): some

say they lived in the Fatrah ; others think other-

wise. We
shall insert a concise account of their

history in the (twenty-eighth) chapter on the Roman

emperors in this book. Forwe have
the rest

their adventures related in the Kitab el-ausat, and in

the work which preceded it, the Akhbar ez-zeman.
One of the persons who lived after Christ, in

the Fatrah, was George UMA^S*. His birth fell

should be convinced they are not true. Here he states, more-

over, his authority. This anachronism had its origin probably in
a king of Yemen, who had the name Dul-Karnein from two curls
of hair, and who was confounded with Alexander, as he had the
same epithet. name
I shall again speak of this in the chapter

on the kings of Yemen. The name Dul-Karnem is mentioned in

the eighteenth chapter of the Koran.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 129

within the lifetime of some of the apostles. God

sent him to the King of el-Mausil, to call him to

the true religion, and though the king killed him,

God restored him to life, and sent him a second
time to him : him again but God
the king killed ;

resuscitated him once more, and sent him a third

time: now the king burnt him, and threw the ashes
into the Tigris. God destroyed the king, and all
his subjects who had So the story is
followed him.
related by believers of the Scriptures, and in the
books on the beginning and on the biography (of
Mohammed), by Wahb Ben Monabbih and other
authors.
Another man of the Fatrah was Habib en-Nejjar

^Ls\M s^*^ wn lived at Antioch, in Syria, where

there reigned a tyrant, who worshipped idols and
images. Two disciples of the Masih went to him,

to call him to God. He imprisoned and ill-treated

them, they were aided by God, who sent a third

till

man. Who he was is controverted; but most

authors say that he was Peter, which is the Greek
name of the apostle who is called Sim'an w lx~> in
Arabic, and Sham'iin in Syriac. This is Sham'un
the brasser.
But many historians and the Christians of all

sects are of opinion, that the third apostle, through

whom they were aided, was Paul, and the two
others who had been committed to prison, were
Thomas and Peter. They had a long interview
K
 130 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

with the king, showing him miracles and proofs:

they healed those born blind, and the lepers, and

restored the dead to life. Paul succeeded in ob-
taining an audience: he gained his favour, and the
king set free his two colleagues from prison. Habib
en-Nejjar* came, and he believed on them when
he had seen their signs. God relates this in the
Koran t, in the words, " When we sent two men to
them; but they charged them with imposture.
Wherefore we strengthened them with a third one,"
" a
&c., down to the words man came in haste."
Peter and Paul were killed in Rome. Many
persons relate that they were crucified with their
heads downwards, after they had been a long time
in contact with the emperor and Saiman ^^ 0$*)
the sorcerer^. After the Christian religion had
become victorious, they were laid in a coffin of

crystal, and deposited in a church of that city.

We have related this in oar Kitab el-ausat
where we speak of the curiosities of Rome, and
where we trace the history of the disciples of
Christ, and their dispersion over the earth. We

* A mosque in the middle of the market of Antioch, sacred

to this Habib, was much visited by pilgrims at the time of el-

Kazwini ( Athar el-bilad).

f Surah xxxvi., from verse 13 to 19.

t Simon Magus, to whose aeronautics the prayers of St.

Peter made a fatal end.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 131

shall exhibit a summary of their history in this

book.
The contrivers of the pit* ^J^i ^->\^\ lived

* An allusion to this story being found in the Koran, it is

related in the commentaries to that book, and almost in every

Arabic work on geography. But modern authors enrich it with

edifying additions and pious alterations.

The fact, as it is related by our author, is historical, and
happened in 522 A.D. The heroism of a Najranite matron, and
of a boy who threw himself into the flames, gave rise naturally
to the popular tradition of the miracle which el-Mas'udi relates,
and to which Mohammed alluded three hundred years before
him.
Baronius (Annal. Eccl. Lucas 1741, Tom. ix., pp. 309 et
;

seq. ad annum 522 et 523) reproduces the acta St. Aretha*

martyris, who was the chief of the Najranites. These acta are

exceedingly curious; and to judge from the which they spirit in

are written, I feel confident they come from the pen of an Arab,
and were possibly originally composed in that language. This
would be an important addition to the history of the civilization
of the Arabs. The frequent allusions to the Scriptures evince
an intimate acquaintance of the author with the Bible. Lam-
beccius speaks for the rest of another work which exists in the

emperor's library at Vienna, and which was written in Tifar

.lili at this period, and may serve as a proof of the literary
Mohammed " Abrahii
activity of the Arabs before : it has the title

regis Homeritarum leges a St. Gregentio Tapharensi Episcopo

compositae."
The persecution of the Najranite Christians, and the conquest
of the Abyssinians, are also mentioned by Procopius (De bello

Persico i., 20), Cedrenus (ad annum 522), Zonaras, Nicephorus,

K 2
132 EL-MAS'UDl'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

also in the time of the Fatrah, in the capital of

Najran, in Yemen, during the reign of Du

&c. Comparing the Arabic accounts with the Greek authors, it

is possible the fact was this.

Najran was favoured by nature, and so famous since ancient

times, that it seems to have formed one of the
objects of the
invasion of JElius Gallus. The inhabitants, ever anxious, as it

seems, to lead the Bedouins to their interests, raised a temple in

opposition to the Ka'bah of Mekka, which was called the Ka'bah

of Najran, in order to attract pilgrims. But seems that they
it

did not fully succeed, since the town is not mentioned amongst
the markets of the Arabs. This failure is to be accounted for by
their situation between Mekka and San'a, both of which were
sacred by age and many popular traditions, acknowledged by
habit,and the one protected by the league of the Modhar tribes,
whose centre it was, whilst the other was the capital of all the

Himyarite tribes: hence the tenets of the Arians, which were

preached to them by a monk in the fourth century of the
Christian era, were welcome to them, as they condemned the
black stone and the idols of the Ka'bah, to which the Korai'shites
owed their power, and gave them hope to come to the possession

of the Ghomdan at San'a. The sacred well of this Capitolium

reminds one of the Zemzem and ; the four sides, painted in white,

red, yellow, and green, seem to have the same origin as the
Ka'bah (i.e., square building), of which there were several in
Arabia, besides that of Mekka; and, although the Ghomdan was
chiefly sacred to the planet Venus, the seven stories, or roofs,

imply a clear allusion to the seven planets.

The mystifications of Arianism, however, made no impression
upon the sound minds of the Bedouins. The Najranites sought,
therefore, in treason what they had in vain contended for through

enslaving their minds; and it is allowed by Christian authors that

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 133

Nowas*, who killed Du Shenatirf yU-fc ^. He

was a Jew: and having heard that there were fol-
lowers of the religion of the Messiah in Najran, he
came himself there, sank pits in the ground, filled
them with glowing fire, and called the inhabitants
to the Jewish religion: those who followed him
were free; but those who refused to obey were
thrown into the fire. There came a woman, with a
child of seven months, who refused to abjure her

they had betrayed their country to the King of Abyssinia,

" Dunaanus
(Du Nowas) rex, genus Christianorum
tarn, ut

vexaret, quam, ut Eleslaano regi ^Ethiopum molestiam crearet,

graviter afflixit cives urbis Nagran in Homeritide sitse, cui pra3-

fectus erat St. Arethas."

Dii Nowas, was Lord of Phare, which is

spelt Taphar in an
ancient Greek Menologium, quoted by Pagius ; so that there can

be no doubt but that Tifar

JJ& is meant. He professed the
Jewish religion; for the law of Moses had found many prose-

lytes in Arabia by its sublime simplicity; and being the protector

of Yemen, he was of course obliged to check the conduct of the

Najranites, and decided to eradicate the evil which was owing

to their religion. But the /Ethiopians revenged the blood of
their brethren, and took possession of Arabia, until a reaction
took place, in which the Persians were called in.
* Du Nowas means the man with the curl, for he had a black
curl hanging over his back.

t Du Shenatir means the man with ear-rings, shenatir being

the Himyarite word for ear-ring El-Fairuzabadi says,

3&j.i'.
Du Shenatir had this surname, because he had one finger too many.

His proper name was Lakhti'ah XxxAiL .

 134 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

religion. She was taken to the fire, and when she

was frightened God
gave speech to the child, and
it said, "Go on, mother, in
thy faith; thou wilt
not meet a fire after this." They were both thrown
into thefire. They were true believers, professing
the unity of God, and did not belong to the
Christian creed of this age (who profess the trinity).
Shocked at these cruelties, a man of the name of

Du Tha'leban* j,UX*S' ^ ( 6 Ubm) went to

Caesar to ask him for his aid. The emperor wrote

to the Nejashi (the king of Abyssinia) about the case,
as he was nearer. This gave origin to the invasion
of the Abyssinians in Yemen, who kept this country
in subjection till (Yusoff ) Du Yasan
^y*j* solicited
the assistance of several kings, which was at last

granted to him by Anushirwan, as we have de-

scribed in our books, the Akhbar ez-zeman and the
Kitab el-ausat; and we shall give a summary of
these events in the (forty-third) chapter, where we

speak on the Adwa^ and kings of Yemen. The story

of the contrivers of the pit is mentioned in the

*
Procopius gives him the name Kais.
f The name Yusof is only in the Cambridge copy. Yazan
is a Wadi (in Yemen), and Du Yazan a Himyarite king who was
in possession of this Wadi. (Kamus, p. 1 81 6.)

I Adwa \j&\
is the plural of Du, and means literally pos-

implies the chiefs whose surnames began

sessed of: here it with
Du.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 135

Koran*, from the words, "Killed are the con-

trivers of the pit/' to the words, "They had

nothing to revenge on them but their belief on the

almighty and glorious God."
Khaled Ben Sinan el-Absi lived also in the
Fatrah: his full name was Khaled Ben Sinan
Ben'Ayyath (Ghaith?) Ben Abs
J

^U- ^^
y^xc ^ dvx
the Prophetf, who
^>. He
says,
""
has been mentioned by
There was a prophet
who has been destroyed by his nation." The story
is this : a fire rose in Arabia, and caused a great
commotion and disturbances amongst the Arabs;
so that fire-worship was making its way amongst
them. Khaled took a club, and struck on the fire,

exclaiming, "Begin! begin! every grace from God

alone we win I enter the flames, and they blaze
:

high; I come out from them, and my reward is

nigh^:" and he extinguished the fire. When he

was dying, he said to his brothers, " When I am

* Surah
Ixxxv., from the fourth to the eighth verse.

t When the Beni 'Abs sent delegates to Mohammed he

seems jiot yet to have been aware of Khaled's death so that it
;

appears this religious commotion was contemporaneous with Mo-

hammed. (Siyar el-Halebi, Cairo, 1248, A.H. p. 378.)
J The copies differ materially; I followed this reading:

JJ (read
136 EL-MAS'UDi's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

buried, a herd of wild asses, of the Himyarites, will

come, and an ass without a tail, who goes in front
of them, will kick with his hoof on
my grave.
When you see that, open the grave, for I shall

come forth from it, and give you information about

everything." When
they had buried him, they
saw what he had foretold; and they intended to
take him out. Some of them, however, objected to
and " We
it, said, fear the Arabs will blame us if

we disturb the rest of the dead." daugh- When his

ter came and heard him reciting
to the Prophet,
cc
(the words of the Koran): Say! he is the only
God the she
" The same words
Eternal," said,
have been used by my father." We shall further

speak of this man in another part of this book.

El-Mas'udi says, Riat esh-Shanni &A\ v^L^,

(tfUJJ v^) ve d also in the Fatrah: he belonged

li

first to the tribe of 'Abd el-Kais*, and then to the

Shann tribe. He was a believer in the religion of

the Messiah (?), previous to the mission of Moham-
med. " Three
[They heard a voice from heaven :

persons on earth are good: Riat esh-Shanni,,

* 'Abd el-Kais Ben Aksa *aS\ was

iS /.jj (j*A*H >^ft
the father of a tribe which belonged to the Asad family, and had
its
quarters in el-Bahrain. (Add. MS. of the Brit. Museum,
7596.) The Abucei of Ptolemy seem to imply this tribe, which
was very powerful. Shann was also a son of Aksa.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 137

Bohairah the monk, and another man who is to

come." By the last the Prophet was meant*.] It
was observed that the grave of every child of Riat
was bedewed by a slight rain.
Another man who lived in the Fatrah was
As'ad Karib el-Himyarit. He was a believer
Abu
in the Prophet seven hundred years before his
mission. He said,
cf
I declare that Ahmed
a prophet of God, the
is

Creator of life ; and if I was to live to his time I

should be his Vizier and his nephew."
He was the first who clad the Ka'ba with
leather, saying,
" I clothe the house which is to be sacred by
the command of God, surrounding it with a rich
cover of various colours."
Koss Ben Sa'idah, of the tribe of lyad Ben
Nizar Ben Ma'add j\y /.^ <iL>J sJtcLa
^.j u*o ^
x**
*
CU^ 0>0 was philosopher
a of the Arabs, and
believed that God sends prophets. It is him who
" Who lives dies, and who dies flies; and all
said,
what is
growing devours what is going." His
wisdom and intelligence became proverbial. El-

* This sentence is
only in the copy of Leyden.

f His full name is /.w ^\ Xx*t I he

L*jXT <-^J"
was the middle Tobba'.
 138 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

A'sha " Wiser * than and

,<&fi5M says, Koss,
braver than the inmate of the cavern, in the thick
wood at Khaffan" (i.e. the lion).
There came delegates from lyad to the Pro-
phet, and he asked them about Koss. They
replied that he was dead; and Mohammed said,
'"
It is as if I saw him in the fair of 'Okatf l&Ke:
he was sitting on a red camel,, and said, O people! '

assemble, hear, and cry, Who lives dies, and who

dies flies; and what
growing devours what is
is

going. But then, the heaven gives us information,

* El-Mas'udf writes the saying seems to

y^Jj A, +.s\ ; but
have been Jf
(Jf ^ t^k^J. See el-Mai'dani, vol. i.
p. 467, and

p. 189; and D'Herbelot.

t 'Okat is the fair in the open country between Nakhlah
XX=? and et-Tayif. It began in the new moon of Dul-Ki'dah
and lasted twenty days. The Arabic tribes used to assemble
there to recite their poetries, each tribe boasting of their glory

^^TlxAj. From this fair the 'Okati leather has its name.
The Arabs used also to ransom their prisoners at 'Okat, to pay
the price of blood, and to settle their quarrels before an arbitrator

*J*Ls., that the pilgrimage to which they proceeded from 'Okat

might be a ceremony of national unanimity and peace. (MS. of

the Brit. Museum, 7353.) The words j^' ^ *-! seem to

refer to arbitration ; for en-Nowairi informs us that he used to say,

the prosecutor .^cjJ

^ is to bring evidence, and the defendant,
if he denies the charge, is to swear. Hence itwould appear that
he acted as arbitrator.
Perhaps ought I to have translated the
above words, " a better arbitrator than Koss.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 139

and the earth calls us to contemplation the seas :

raise waves, and the stars set: the roof (of the

heavens) is raised, and the ground (of the earth) is

firmly placed*.' Koss swore by God: There is a '

faith which is more acceptable to the Lord than

your religion. What may be the reason that men
pass away, and do not return ? Do they like to be
there? or have they ended, and do they sleep?
They all go the same way, although their actions
are different/ He said (continued the Prophet)
some verses, which I have forgotten."
Abu Bekr es-Sadik rose, and said, " I recollect

those verses, O Prophet of God ;" and he recited

them thus :

" We
have an example in the famous men who
passed before us, since I observe they went towards
death without resistance. I observed the same in

my contemporaries: they fade, great and little.

En-Nowairl

(p. 137 MS. of Leyden, N. 273) quotes these words of Koss,

adding, ^\ &\* ^l^^ ^^ j^'j

The solemn protestation which follows begins in en-Nowa'iri,
^ 'if^'f

"If there was pleasure on earth, we should have to expect

sorrow after this life. There is a faith, &c." These words

explain the meaning of the sentences

which follow.
140 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

He who is gone will never return ;

and those who
are still alive will not remain behind. I am sure
no exception will be made where they all go to*.
The Prophet said, God may be merciful to Koss,
' l

and hope he will honour him with his bounty."

I

El-Mas'udi says, Koss made himself known by

many poems, sentences of wisdom, and distin-
guished actions, for an account of which we refer
our readers to our book., the Akhbar ez-zeman and
Kitab el-ausat, where we have also spoken of his
researches in medicine and soothsaying from birds
and other omens, and his knowledge in other
branches of natural philosophy .

Another famous man of the Fatrah was Zeid

Ben 'Amr Ben Nofai'l ,>/ju
^j ^^^ ^j Abu
Za'id, the son of Zeid Joj ^...j
*XA***
^.j!,
was one of
the Tenf (whom Mohammed had promised that

they would enter the Paradise) and the nephew of

,

'Omar Ben el-Khattab. Being against idolatry, he

expressed freely his opinion. El-Khattab informed
the ignorant of Mekka about it, and gave him into

* Death is the phenomenon which calls man to reflexion,

although he may still live in that happy social state in which his

healthy enough to enjoy the present, regardless of

vital spirits are

the past and future : hence elegies of this character are frequent

amongst the Bedouins, and their tunes are melancholy. A beau-

tiful specimen is in the Hamasa, p. 44.

f He must mean Sa'd. See Reiske's note to Abulfeda,

Annales Muslemici, vol. i. to p. 245.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 141

their power. They persecuted him, and he took

up his abode in a cavern, in Hera *Jj*. He came
secretly to Mekka, whence he took flight to Syria ;

and there he continued his speculations on religion,

till he was
poisoned by the Christians. He died
in Syria. There passed several things between
him, the king, and the interpreter, and between
him and some Ghasanite king, at Damascus, which
we have related in our former works.
Omaiyah Ben
c/j&Jt <rJUfili j.\ f is
Abi-s-Salt eth-Thakefi

also a man who made

^ himself
**\

known in the he was a poet, and a very

Fatrah :

sound man. Being in commercial connexions with

Syria, he met there with the believers in revelation,
both Jews and Christians: he read himself their
(sacred) books, and knew that a prophet would
rise amongst the Arabs. In several poems he treats
on the ideas of the followers of
religion, describing
the heavens and earth, sun and moon, angels and

prophets. He celebrates also the prophetic mis-

sion, the resurrection of the dead, the Paradise, and
hell. He
sang hymns to God, acknowledging his

unity, as in the words :

* This is a mount three miles from Mekka, which was a

favourite summer residence of Mohammed.
&^j s *.*.

t X<w\ is the diminutive form of JLoJ (a female slave), and

tl^JuaH is the man famous in single combat. (Hamasa, p. 776 ;

compare p. 354.)
142 EL-MAs'uni's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

"Praise be to God. None is like him; and

who does not profess this truth is unjust against
himself."
The following terms express his idea of the
Paradise :

" There is no idle talk, no sinful action, nor do

they contend for fame. This is their eternal home."
When he had heard of the mission of the
Prophet he was full of anger and indignation, he
came however to Medina, in order to become a
Moslem, but envy made him alter his resolution and
he returned to et-Tayif. One day when he was
with a girl at a drinking party, a raven came, uttered
three sounds, and flew a way again. Omaiyah asked,
" Do you know what the raven said?" they replied,
" No." He announced that Omaiyah would not
drink a third cup before he would die. The party
expressed that it was not true, but he continued,
" Take
your cups;" and when the third cup came
to Omaiyah he fainted away, and gave a long time
Then he said, I am at your
tl
no signs of life.

service at your service

! You call me to you. I
!

am of those who have experienced grace and not

returned the praise of thanksgiving. If thou par-
donest, O God, thou wilt forgive all; for where hast
"
thou a servant who has not done wrong? Then he
said the following verses:
" The
day of judgment is a serious day; and to
think on this day must make the young grey.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 143

(i
Would to heaven I had been a shepherd of
wild goats, on the summits of mountains, before it

comes to me.
" even should it last an age
Every life is short,
before it ends."
After he had said these verses he sighed, and in
this sigh departed his soul.

El-Mas'udi says, antiquarians well versed in the

battle days of the Arabs, and in the history of past
f

times, like Ben Dab (^1 (v^ W0 al"Haithern

^te

Ben 'Adi, Abu Mikhnaf Lut Ben Yahya and Mo-

hammed Ben es-Sayib el-Kelbi c^vKM -vA***M <^j^ **^
state that the following story was the origin of the
habit of the Koraishites to put "In thy name, O
my God," on the head of their writings. Omaiyah
Ben Abi-s-Salt, the Thakefite, went with a num-
ber of persons of his tribe and others to Syria.
On the return of the caravan they halted in
some station, and as they were assembled at their
supper, a little serpent made its appearance and
approached to them. One amongst them threw
sand on its face,, and the serpent went back again.

They made themselves ready for the journey, packed

the camels, and set out from the station. A short
distance from it an old woman came from a sand-
"
hillleaning on a stick, and said, have you Why
not been kind enough to feed an orphan girl who
came to you at supper?" They asked her, "Who
144 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

art thou?" She answered, " I am the mother of

the creeper. You shall either perish in some years,
or by the Lord, you shall err, dispersed through
the country." Then she struck with her stick on
the ground and said, stirring up the sand, " Long
be to their homes the way, and their animals shall
"
run away The camels became shy as if every one
!

of them had a Satan on its back; nothing could

keep them and they dispersed in the wadi. We were
occupied in gathering them from the end of the day
to the next morning, and we hardly succeeded in

bringing them together. When we made them

kneel down to receive their burthens to continue
our journey, the woman made again her appearance,,
did with her stick as on the first time, repeating the
same words; the camels became shy, and we were
by no means able to keep them. The next day we
attempted again to collect them and to pack them,
but the woman came once more, and having done
as on the and second times, the camels ran again
first

away. The next night at moonlight, we were in

despair for our animals of burthen JQ&\, and we said
to Omai'yah Ben Abi-s-Salt,
" What hast thou to
say
on our situation?" He went up the sand hill from
which the woman came, and having gone down on
the other side of the hill he climbed up another, and
after he had descended from that hill, he saw a
Christian chapel in which candles were burning, and
a man with white hair and beard was laying on his
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 145

side across the entrance. "When I stood before

" he raised
him," continues Omaiyah in his tale,
'
his head, saying, Hast thou a follower?' I
answered,
'
Yes/ He asked further, 'From whence
does thy companion speak to thee?' I replied,
'
From my left ear.' He enquired about the colour
of his dress, and I answered, 'He is in black.'
1
This is the habit of the Genii, thou dost better not
do so. In this affair one speaks to the right ear
and the most desirable dress is white. But what
do you want?' I told him the story of the old
woman, and he said in answer, Thou speakest
*

truth. But she is not true. She is a Jewish

woman, whose husband perished many years ago,

she will go on playing the same trick to you,
and she will destroy you if she can.' Omaiyah said,
*
How can we get out of it?' He answered,
'
Assemble your camels, and if she comes and does
what she has done, say seven times in a high voice,
and seven times in a low voice, " In thy name,, O
God!" and she will not be able to do you any
'
harm. '-

Omaiyah returned to the caravan, and related

there what he had heard. The old woman came
and did as she had done on former occasions, and
he pronounced seven times in a high voice, and
seven times in a low voice, " In thy name, O God."
After that the camels did not move. The woman
" I know your man, he
said, is white at the top and
L
146 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

black at the bottom." They continued their journey ;

and the next morning they saw that Omai'yah was

attacked with leprosy on his face, neck,, and chest,
whilst the lower part of his body was black. When
they came to Mekka they related this event, and
the inhabitants of that city began to put at the
head of their writings, " In thy name,, our God
jC***lj" This formula was in use till the
l*$Xn
Islam was introduced ;
then it was replaced by the
formula, "In the name of the merciful, clement
God!"
Omai'yah had several adventures besides this,
which we have related in our Akhbar ez-zeman and
other works.
Warakah (Warikah) Ben Naufel Ben Asad
Ben Abdul-' Ozza Ben Kosai'y ^.^ JJ^j (Jjrj XS^
^A^i* ^j <fy*JJ
*XAC
^j *x^, the uncle of Khadijah,
the daughter of Khowai'lid, the wife of the Prophet,
lived also in the Fatrah. The perusal of the Scrip-
tures led him to enter into discussions, for he was
anxious to pick up knowledge, and to shake off

idolatry. He informed Khadijah that Mohammed

would be the Prophet of the Arabic nation, but that
he would be ill-treated and disclaimed as a story-
teller. He met the and said to " O
Prophet, him,
my cousin (dear friend), be firm in thy career, and
by him, in whose hand is the soul of Warakah,
thou art the Prophet of this nation. Thou wilt be
ill-treated, and called a liar. They will drive thee
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 147

out from thy house, and fight against thee. My only

wish is to be still alive then, that I could lend my
aid to the cause of God."
It is controverted whether he died as a Christian
or as a Moslim ;
for some authors say that he was no
more alive when Mohammed entered his prophetic

office, whilst others

bring forward the following

words, which he said in praise of Mohammed:

" He is
mild, forgiving, and never revengeful,

refraining anger and bitter feelings when he receives

injury."
Another man who lived in the Fatrah was
'Odasah, a freed slave of 'Otbah Ben Ilabi'ah

SyujjCj^ *^
c ** *~^*xc *, who was a native of
Ninive and;
he met the Prophet at et-Tayif, when
he was come there to preach the Islam to that
town. He had, on this occasion, long discussions
with the inhabitants, in the palm-grove. Although
he had acknowledged the Prophet, he fell as a
Christian in the battle of Bedr.
o ^
Abu Kais Sarmah Ben Abi Anas &*j& y^/Jf ^\
was one f the Ansar belonging to

* 'Otbah was the father of

Hind, Mo'awiyah's mother.
t The author of the Kamus (p. 1650) seems not to be very
J O
sure about this name; he says, /.wl 3! iy*t? ( ?i *-y^
Hence preferred the
2Loj40 ji\ j\ (jMJt J-t i*yi\ ^ (J*^^
I

pronunciation marked in the copy of Leyden.

L 2
148 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

the Beni en-Nejjar ^ls\M- He devoted himself to

an abstemious life, dressed in rough clothes, and
disapproved of idolatry, consecrating the house in
which he lived to a chapel, from which menstruat-
ing women and polluted persons were excluded ;
and he professed to worship the God of Ibrahim.
When the Prophet came to Medinah, he embraced
the Islam, and proved a good Moslim. For him
the verse of the Koran * was revealed which is

called^snJJ xt (the verse of the day-break J, which

u Eat and
runs, drink, until you can plainly dis-

tinguish a white thread from a black thread by the

day-break." The following words on Mohammed
have been said by him :
' '
There lives a number of
ten persons amongst the Koraishites who are visit-

ing Mekka, to see whether they find a man who

loves truth."
Abu 'Amir el-Ausi, whose name was 'Abd
'Amr Ben Saifi Ben en-No'man, of the Beni 'Amr
Ben 'Auf, who belong to the el-Aus tribe ^-U ^>\

ujW c> **** (jj-^ *)* <&t wno ^s the same person
as Abu Hantalahj and has the surname Ghasil el-

Malayikah xL^I J^^, was a chief, and had lived

abstemious, in rough clothes, at the time of igno-

* In the second Surah.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 149

ranee. When Prophet came to Medina, he

the
had a long conversation with him: subsequently he
fifty slave boys, and
left that city, with died in

Syria, as a Christian.
Another man of the Fatrah is 'Abdullah Ben
Jahsh el-Asadi tf*x*^ (jksi /^j <*MI &*.&. : he was
Ben Khozai'mah X^iy^, and the
of the tribe of Asad
husband of Omm
Habibah, who was the daughter
of Abi Sofyan Ben Harb, before she was married
to the Prophet. He had read the Scriptures, and
inclined to Christianity. When Mohammed had
entered his prophetic office, he emigrated, with
other Moslims, to Abyssinia, and with him his wife,
Omm Habibah. There he apostatized from the
Islam, and died as a Christian.
S-

He used to say
^'A^^ USSVAJ t>! that is to
" We
say,, see, and you attempt to open your eyes."
The expressions of this saying are taken from
young dogs; for it is said of a dog, when he opens
the eyes after birth, &3 (he opens his eyes) ;
^Jij
but if he
attempts to open his eyes, and is unable
*
to do it, it is said U>U>. After his deatlv, the

Nijashi (the king of Abyssinia) married Omm

Habibah, daughter of Abi Sofyan to the
the

Prophet, and gave her a dowry of four hundred

dinars.
O-j
Bohaira l^os?
the monk, lived also in the Fatrah;
he was a believer on Christ, and his name in
150 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Christian books is Serjis (Sergius) u*^.**. Bohaira

was of the Abdulkais tribe. When Mohammed
went to Syria with Abu Taleb, Abu Bekr, and
Belal, at an age of thirteen years, on mercantile
business, they passed by Bohaira, who was sitting
in his cell, and he recognized the Prophet, com-
paring his appearance and the signs which he
bore on him with what he had found in his books,
and observing the cloud which shaded him whenever
he sat down. Bohaira received them as guests,
paid them great respects, and gave them refresh-
ments. He went forth from his cell to see the seal
of the prophetship, between the shoulders of the

Prophet, he placed his hand upon it and believed on

him. Bohaira informed Abu Bekr and Belal of his
destination, and he asked him to come back with
him thesame way. He guarded them to be
watchful for him against the believers on the

Scriptures. His uncle, Abu Taleb, having received

this information, returned with him. When he was
come back from his journey to Mekka, he began his

acquaintance with Khadijah, and the signs were

wrought which, together with the account which she
received of his journey, made her believe that he
was a prophet.
El-Mas'iidi says, This is a review of the history
from the Creation as far as we have followed it up.
We attended only to those facts which are stated in
the revelation and related in the books (Scriptures,
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 151

particularly the Koran,) and which have been

explained by the prophets. Now we shall trace the
beginning of the kingdoms of the Hindus and
review briefly their religious speculations, then we
will follow up the history of other empires, having

given an account of the history of the Kings of the

Israelites, as we have found it in the sacred books.
152 EL-MAS'IIDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

SEVENTH CHAPTER.

An abridged account of the Hindus, their religious

opinions, and the origin of their kingdoms.

EL-MAS'UDI says, all historians who unite maturity

of reflexion with depth of research, and who have a
clear insight into the history of mankind and its

origin, are unanimous opinion, that the

in their
Hindus have been in the most ancient times that
portion of the human race which enjoyed the bene-
fits of peace and wisdom. When men formed
themselves into bodies, and assembled into commu-
nities,the Hindus exerted themselves to join them
with their empire, and to subject their countries, to
the end that they might be the rulers. The great
men amongst them said, " We
are the beginning
and end; we are possessed of perfection, pre-emi-
nence, and completion. All that is valuable and

important in the life of this world owes its origin to

us. Let us not permit that anybody shall resist
or oppose us; let us attack any one who dares to
draw his sword against us, and his fate will be flight
or subjection."

They were prevailed upon by these consider-

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 153

ations to elect a king. He was the highest

Barahman, greatest king, and the foremost
the
Imam. In his days flourished philosophy, and the
wise men stood at the head of the nation. They
extracted iron from the mines, and forged swords,
daggers, and several sorts of warlike instruments :

they raised temples, adorned them with precious

stones of the finest lustre, represented in these tem-

ples the spheres of the heavens, the twelve zodiacal

signs, and the stars.
They gave by representation
an idea of the system of the worlds, and went even
so far as to show by these means the influence of
the stars on this world, and the way in which they
produce the different animals, both rational and
irrational. There was the position of the greatest
ruler to be seen, that is to say, the SUN.
The Barahman wrote a book, which contained
the proofs of these subjects, and conveyed a
all

clear idea of them to the minds of the Exoteric

J^xJt, whilst he implanted into the minds of the
Esoteric <_j^iLl the knowledge of what is above all

that, pointing to him who is the first cause, and

called all beings to existence, embracing them with
his bounty. The Hindus obeyed this king. Their

country was well cultivated, and he made them

enjoy the utmost of worldly prosperity.
He assembled the wise men, and they composed
154 EL MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

during his reign the book es-Sind-hind, which

means ''The last end of the ends*." Upon this
i_AxT
Ja*sls\j j^^y\ <_*XjJ
C^ejJ xLejjj&M +&*
* M.
Colebooke( Dissertation on the Algebra of the Hindus,)
identifies the Sind-hind with the Siddhanta of Brahmegupta, who

lived about twelve hundred years ago. The meaning of Sind-

hind, as explained by our author, confirms the identity of the

two words, for Siddhanta means the perfect end. But the
Sind-hind in question must be another astronomical work of the
name of Siddhanta, than that of Brahmegupta; for the Arkand
and Arjabhar are more ancient than Brahmegupta, whereas they
are here stated to be derived from the Sind-hind
besides, it seems ;

that the theories here alluded to by el-Mas 'udi are of an earlier

date than those of Brahmegupta. This is of importance for the

history of astronomy, and particularly for the history of the dis-

covery of the precession of the equinox, and the connexion of
this theory with some ancient chronologies for it would appear;

that the Arabs had no original translation of the Siddhanta but ;

that only the system had been known to them ; and if later authors

allude to the Sind-hind, the system of the Siddhanta, as laid

down in the work el-Khowarezmi, which bears the title es-Sind-

hind, is meant.
This is
clearly stated by the author of the Fihrist, who must
be considered as the highest authority in these points, on account
of his exactness in bibliography and proximity in time, having
written 377 A.H. :

^^Jyu *<**^ **>j& J**' O"^J <j_>^

J04 JuuSL b$\ *&j "The astrono-
^iJj*^ Jlx!^ ^c
mers trusted before and after the observation on his two tables,

which together were known under the name of Sind-hind." He

means the tables of Mohammed Ben Musa el-Khowarezmi, who
was one of the astronomers of el-Mamun. Would they not have
taken the Siddhanta itself as they had had
a standard work, if

another translation than a paraphrase of a Persian work on this

system. Compare chapter 126 infra, note.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 155

book other works are founded, as the Arjab-

The statement of the Fihrist is further explained and con-

firmed by el-Kefti (Bibl. Philosoph. MS.

of Leyden, No. 159),
who states, that el-Khowarezmi was a follower of the Sind-hind,

which was one of the three Hindu systems of astronomy. I

insert his own words, without correcting the faults, and without

translation; for I have at this moment no means of verifying the

proper names which occur in the passage :

(3"*** (^ * X*:SS

But if the Arabs have not been in possession of a translation

of the Siddhanta, how could they be acquainted with the system ?
Various reasons make us believe that they received it from the

Persians, whose literary connexion with the Hindus is

historically

proved. First, the theory, as it is exhibited here, seems to be a

combination of that of Persia and India, as further notes tend to
show. Second, almost all Arabic astrology comes from the Per-
sians, and their astronomy was derived from the same source
previous to the translation of the ^eyia-rr] trvvral-is. For this rea-
son most terms are borrowed from the Persians, although some
of them may ultimately be Sanscrit and the most early Arabic
;

astronomers were natives of such parts of Persia, which had ever

been famous schools of science, as Balkh, &c., or of Harran.
Third, Hamzah, of Isfahan, a contemporary of el-Mas'iidi, (apud
Anquetil Du Perron, torn, ii., p. 352,) refers to a book based upon
156 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

bar* and the Almagest: from the Arjabharthe Ark-

the Avesta of Zoroaster, which contains a similar theory. " Le

dieu supreme a fixe a 12,000 ans la vie (la duree) du monde, du
commencement a la fin. Le monde resta sans mal pendant 3000
ans, dans sa partie superieure," &c.
Es-Sind-hind was. therefore, as the above passages unequivo-

cally prove, at the same

time the name of the Siddhanta system of

astronomy, the only astronomical system of the Hindus known to

the Arabs; and of an original Arabic work on this system.
Admitting that it was considered in the first sense as a Sanscrit

word, meaning the perfect end, I should suppose, in order to

account for the seemingly arbitrary alteration of the sound, that
it is in the second sense an imitation of the Sanscrit term in two
Arabic words, (as the Arabs are very fond of plays on words,) and
that one ought to read
<X*gH <XAJ. J<Ju*Ji means that a tradition

is mosnad,orthat one can

point out the persons through whom it has
been handed down, up to Mohammed. But the word is also used
in a similar meaning in other instances, and not only in speaking

of traditions as, JsJJ jfo U, ^ Vj yJJ

iU cAAixJJ U^

oV*^ U^1
*^ ^4& ft^xM <^*~
^UajuN).
"There is nota
trace to be found of the philosophical sciences (in the Maghrib,)
and still less a system, because the continuance of instruction has
been interrupted by the destruction of civilization."
&^\ jj^
might therefore mean continuance of (the system) of the Hindus
or introduction of the Hindu system amongst the Mohammedans.
Ya'kub Ben Tarik wrote a work, in two
o^Ub /.jj vy^V.
books, the first of which contains the science of the spheres of
the heaven ; and the second shows how they exercised their influ-
ence upon the fate of dynasties. He professed to follow the doc-
trine of the Siddhanta, and calls his work Zij es-Sind-hind. Of a
more scientific character seems to be the Zij es-Sind-hind of Ibn

whose full name is Abul-Kasim 'Abdullah Ben

Amahurji^.LcJ,
Amahur. These two authors lived both before the middle of
the fourth
century.
* This is the name for The Sanscrit to be
aryabhatta. t, it is
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 157

and* derives its origin, and from the Almagest the

book of Ptolemy t, and subsequently the Astrono-
mical Tables;}: have been based upon them.

They invented the nine figures which form the

read) Xx

remembered, is the character of a peculiar sound often mistaken

for r, and which the Arabs were likely so to write, rather than
with a te or a tau. The Hindi t is
generally written by the
English in India with an r ; example, Ber (vatd,*) the Indian fig,

vulg. Banian tree (Colebrooke ibidem}.

* Arkand a corruption of Area, which
is is still
prevalent in
the vulgar Hindi (Idem^ ibidem).
"
f The words, The Book of Ptolemy," are probably an appo-
sition to Almagest instead, " which is a book of Ptolemy." In
this case, the names of the numerous works which owe their

origin to the Almagest, are left out by the copyist. Not only all

MSS. of el-Mas'udi, but also the transcript of this passage in

en-Nowairi (MS. of Leyden, N. 273, p. 956) has this mistake.
If the words, " The books of Ptolemy," are not an apposition,

el-Mas'udi must mean the liber quadripartitus of Ptolemy ;

for he knew perfectly well that the Almagest is the work of

"
Ptolemy, and calls him occasionally the author of the Almagest."
t Cl>Ls \JJ, sing. f~\'fi\.
This word is derived from the

Persian *\ (a corde), and means the Astronomical Tables upon

which the Astronomical Kalendar

is made. From this word

&s:!yj
is to be distin-

guished, which is derived from the Persian (birth), and

J-,\
158 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

numeric system of the Hindus*. Barahman was

the first who explained the apogseon of the sun;
and stated that the apogseont is three thousand
years]; in every sign of the Zodiac: at present,

i_#I S5ULS
z^$ J ^ W j*> u"*^J ^4 (Jtf

means the square or circle drawn round the stars in a certain

region of the heavens by astrologers in casting nativity. (MS.

of Leyden, N. 514.)
* The Zero, which is
expressed by a dot by the Arabs, is

not considered as a figure.

-j- Auj, apogeum, is a term borrowed from the Persian, in this

it is written, or jfo the orbit

language x.^ S$\ ug. g>}$\
of the apogeum is the name for the ecliptic, which is also called

the excentric orbit %TJMjr JULj <j5jM ? because its centre does
not coincide with the centre of the earth. The period of a revo-
lution of this orbit is called yuga of the solstice in Sanscrit, hence

it isvery likely that the Persian word ug, is derived from yuga.
These two words have a great affinity with the Greek mwj/, which
is to be written with a
digamma. It seems that this term
migrated and changed its
meaning with the idea.

f Siirya Siddhanta, and the herd of Hindu astronomers,

reckon the motion of trepidation to a degree and a-half in a cen-

tury; whereas here one degree is reckoned. It is therefore

very
likely that the researches of these astronomers had not been known
to el-Mas'udi, else hewould have taken them up the readier as
el-Battani had come nearly to the same result about thirty years
before the Meadows of Gold was written
computing the motion ;

of the stars at a degree in

sixty-six years. The period of three
thousand years is mentioned in the
Zend-Avesta, (Boun-Dehesch,
Paris 1771, torn, ii., pp. 345 and 347). The circumstance
that el-Mas'udi takes no notice of the corrections of the
trepidation
which had been discovered, is a corroboration of what is said in
the note, p. 154,
supra.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 159

that is to say, in 332 A.H., it is in the Gemini,

according to his opinion. When it comes into the
signs of the southern hemisphere, the face of the
earth will be changed, and what is now inhabitable
*
will turn uninhabitable, and vice-versa for the ;

south will be north, and the north south *. He

deposited the dates of the formation (of the

planetary system) in a golden house: they form the

most ancient (astronomical) chronology, and the

xj 9
^

* The Arabs believed the south -pole to be the extreme of

heat, as the north -pole is the extreme of cold, and they thought
that it is for this reason that the southern hemisphere is uninhabi-
table ;
and that this would be changed when the apogaeon of the
sun would be in the southern, and the perigseon in the northern

hemisphere. Compare the next chapter.

| These words are only in the copy of Cambridge, and in the

extract which en-Nowa'iri gives of this passage.

J One copy bears and, instead of ^ on, which alters

somewhat the meaning. Other variants of some importance are

inserted in the text between crotchets.
160 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

basis upon which the Hindus make the kalendars

(of the changes) of the moon, and calculate the

rising of the full moon for India; but not for other
countries. They comment much on the moon;
but we cannot insert wliat they say on it in this

book, it being a work on history, and not on philo-

sophical inquiries and speculations; besides, we
have given a summary of these subjects in our
Kitab el-ausat.
Some Hindus believe that the world is regene-
rated every thousand Hazarwan*, and that as often as

U^k } (read

read) i^\
UAxT 6 &\

u*

"
f The MS. of Cambridge and two other copies bear every
seventy thousand years of the Hazarwan." As copies do not
agree, the following correction may be admissible, considering the
the word thousand put in by the "
way of exaggeration :
every
seventy-two Hazarwan." A Hazarwan would mean in this case

a maha yuga; and the period in question would be a Menu yuga,

which consists of seventy-two maha yugas, or three hundred
and eleven million, forty thousand years. (Aryabhatta, apud
Colebrooke.)
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 161

this period expires, existence is renewed*, the pro-

pagative power returns, quadrupeds again pasture,

By reading ]&* M#, instead of *JU* year, before Hazar-

wan as XJu* can have no meaning, and is left out in some copies ;

the number of years would agree with the time generally assigned
to the four yugas together, viz., seven millions, six hundred thou-
sand years, save the number of zeros.
* This
theory was not only familiar to the Hindus and Per-
sians, but the ages of the world of Greek and Latin poets owe to
it
According to Plato, in his Timaeus, the Greeks
their origin.

had received from the Egyptians the doctrine of the earth's

undergoing certain dissolutions, effected by the alternate violence
of water and fire, which were succeeded by regenerations, and
followed one another periodically. They were called apocatastasis,
and J. Firmicus computes that there is a period of three hundred
thousand years, from one mundane apocatastasis to another. In
an Egyptian narration relative to Osiris and Typhos, preserved

by Synesius, we find also an allusion to the greater mundane

apocatastasis. And it is curious that this doctrine was not yet

lost in Egypt after the conquest of the Arabs. The reader will
find some extracts from el-Makrizi in the notes to the thirty-first
chapter, where they are mentioned in the most fabulous shape ;

but such confirmations teach us to appreciate and explain fables, if

sacred by antiquity, and the belief of a whole nation.
It would appear from a tradition of Wahb Ben Monabbih,
that the ancient Arabs had equally some notions of a periodical
destruction of the earth, which was effected by water,
according to
their opinions. They supposed, namely, that the fish and the
bull, who support our planet (see p. 44, supra), swallow up the

M
162 EL-MAS'fjDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

the waters flow, animals creep, herbage grows, and

breezes breathe through the air. Most of the
Hindus are of opinion that certain cycles return

periodically,, beginning through powers* whose cor-

(read eXxxj

water till they are full, and then a universal flood would take

place.
Respecting similar doctrines with the Chinese, the reader may
consult Bailly, Hist, de 1' Astronomic.
* These Our author adheres
powers are the IDEAS of Plato.
closely tothe spirit of the Hindus for the Arabs, who followed the
;

dialetic philosophy, as it is more congenial with the Arabian nation

and religion, considered the principle of life in matter as a mere form

of its existence, and used therefore the word 2,*.^ form, in the

above meaning. In this sense, says Ibn Khaldun,

" the natural, and sole reason that the

dynasty and royalty
first is,

is for civilized society what the form is for matter: it is the

shape which preserves its existence through its own peculiarity."

As it appears to be of some importance to have a clear notion
of the signification of the word ^- <J>, it
may not be amiss to
add examples where it has very nearly the same
meaning as in the
text. XXfeUJt Jult \
(read Sulx&t) V U&1 ^ LJ/i <

l
(Ibn Khaldun's Proleg. in

the last chapter of the fifth book).

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 163

poreal existence sleeps in latent life; but their

nature mighty, and their essence is immutable.
is

They define the limits, and fix the time required for
the process (of the re-incarnation of these powers),
which forms the great cycle and developement.
They place it into the abyss of ages, and calculate
the time from its beginning to the end to thirty-six
thousand years, repeated in twelve thousand years
(periods)*. This forms with them the Hazerwan,

" We have already stated with respect to penmanship, that

it exists in the rational soul of man as faculty (power), which
will not be developed from possibility (power) to reality except

by the introduction of sciences."

The same author uses this word exactly in the same meaning

in several other instances as, s

JjuW JJ

^UU
"
^ vw.UxH wyu, JJ ^
One must know the relation of these quantities in order to be
able to bring plans into execution,
(literally to draw plans out from

power to reality,) according to certain rules."

* This
gives four hundred and thirty-two millions of years
If we take two zeros away, we have the number of years
assigned
by Aryabhatta to the maha yuga, and if we add one, we have that

of the calpa of Brahmegupta. But all MSS. agree, and the

expression is such, that each of these changes would be arbitrary,
The one factor, thirty- six thousand, is the anciently supposed time
M 2
164 EL-MAS'uDi's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

which developes and influences the powers. The

(lesser) cycles render
everything that exists in
them longer or shorter (according to the age of the
world). The life of things is longest at the begin-
ning of the renovation (or great cycle); for as it is

just opened, the powers are more free in their

action; whereas the lives are shortest at the end of
the renovation, for the cycle is more narrow ; they
are confined: and the frequent repetitions (of the

of one re volution of the equinox through the zodiac, and the other

factor, twelve thousand, expresses the number of an age of the Gods

according to Menu (Institutes, i.
71), and corresponds with the
great cycle of the Persians, after which Ormuzd would be
victorious over Ahriman:perhaps, every one of these years
has been considered by the Persians, at a later period, as a revo-
lution of the equinox or thirty- six thousand years; in order to

make agree the chronology of their sacred books with that of

Hindu astronomers, just as our geologists make the seven days
of the creation longer periods of time. This explains the some-
what singular expression of the "
original repeated in twelve
thousand years ;" for only one copy bears the more natural
"
expression, multiplied."
There is, therefore, not one date in this theory which is not
found in the Persian cosmogony, as well as in that of the Hindus.
 AND MINES OF GEMS 165

incarnation life of the powers)

or becoming are

injurious to the lives; because the powers of the

bodies and the purity of matter are predominant at
the beginning of the cycle, and free in their mani-
festation: for purity is anterior to impurity, and

limpidity is above the dregs, and the length of life is

in proportion with the purity of the crasis ;
and the
powers which animate the elements (or matter).,
extend the influence of their perfection to the mix-
tures (bodies) which, as they form the wordly
existence, are the source of deterioration, alteration,
and decay. But at the latter part of the great
cycle, and the end of the great developement, the

appearance of things will be deformed, the souls

weak, and the crasis impure; the powers are im-
paired, what is perishable goes to decay, and every-
thing goes in inverted narrow cycles ; wherefore the

U *

(read
166 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

space of life is no longer computed by a period of

ages (but only by years).
The Hindus assign the reasons upon which the
theories which we have just given are based. They
allege proofs on the first origin (of all things), and
on the distinctions of the cycles of the Hazarwans,
as we have explained them and they teach various
;

mysteries and subtilties respecting the soul; its

connexion with supernatural things, and its origin
which proceeds in the direction from above down-
wards and other doctrines which have been laid
;

down by el-Barahman in the beginning of the time.

El-Barahman reigned until he died, three hun-
dred and sixty-six years. His descendants have the
name Brahmins x$\j^\ up to our time. They
are in high respect with the Hindus, and form their
highest caste and their nobility. They abstain from
allanimal food, and men and women wear a yellow
thread on their necks, which is put on like the belt
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 167

of a sword, as a mark of distinction between them

and other castes of their nation.
In ancient time and during the reign of el-
Barahman, there assembled seven sages (Rishis?)
of the Hindus, to whom the nation looked up, in
the golden house; and they said to one another,
(f
Let us unite our speculations to decypher what is
the state and mystery of this world ; where we come
from, and where we are going to ;
and whether we
are created from nothing to proceed to the essence of
wisdom or the reverse ? and whether the Creator who
is the cause of our existence and who gives growth

any benefit from having made

to our bodies, derives
us? or whether he averts any disadvantage from
himself in making us fade from this world? Whe-
ther he is susceptible of want and diminution as we

are, or whether nothing influences him? but if so,

why does he destroy and annihilate us, after he has
called us to existence, and after we have enjoyed
ourselves?"
The first of 'the sages, to whom all others
looked up, said,, "Do you find one man who has a
correct notion of things, present or distant, and
who is certain and positive (in his knowledge)."
The second wise man said, " If the wisdom of
the Almighty had come into any one's mind, it
would be a diminution of his wisdom. The object
is incomprehensible, and human reason is too short

to understand matters."
The " We
third sage said, must begin our study
168 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

with the knowledge of ourselves, for this is the

thing nearest to us, before we enter into investiga-

tions of what is distant from ourselves*."
The fourth sage said, " The experience of every
man, whatever field he may have chosen, proves
that he requires in it
"
self-knowledge.
The " Hence it is
fifth
sage said, required to be
in connexion with wise men, in order to be assisted

by their wisdom."
The "
sixth wise man said, It is necessary for
any man who loves his own happiness, not to
neglect it, particularly since the stay in this world
is limited, and since it is certain that we must
leave it."
The seventh sage said,
c<
I do not understand
what you say, but I know that I came into this
world without my will ; that I lived in it astounded
with what I see; and that I am sorry to leave it."
The Hindus agreed at all times respecting the

opinions of these seven sages. Everybody followed

* This sentence is not to be understood in the moral meaning,

that one ought to know one's own frailties, but that man is the

microcosmos, which, if well understood, leads to the knowledge of

everything else, or rather, that the human mind is the mirror

of the universe.
Quid mirum noscere mundum
Si possent homines, quibus est et mundus in ipsis ;

Exemplumque Dei quisquis est in imagine parva?

(Manilius.)
F. Hegel believes that the yva>6i atavrov of Solon, is to be

taken nearly in the same meaning.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 169

(originally)their doctrines and professed their

system; but in subsequent times, they no longer

agreed respecting their systems and doctrines, and

they split into seventy distinct sects.
El-Mas'udi says, in the book of Abul-Kasim
" The Fountains of
el-Balkhi, called questions and
answers," tSUl^i^ JoUJll ^#& and in the work of
el-Hasan Ben Musa en-Nubakhti * jju^.!, ^^ ^j (

which has the title, " On the philosophical and

religious doctrines and the sects of the Hindus;
which gave rise to them,
their opinions, the causes
and the reasons why they burn themselves and
inflict various torments upon themselves ;" v^*

not a word is said of all we have just

explained, nor do they allude to the subject on
which we have spoken.
Authors do not agree concerning the Barahman:
some believe him to be Adam and a prophet for
the Hindus; others think that he was a king, as we
have stated ; and this is the opinion most universally
received.

* This
patronymic is
variously spelt, o&c'JJJt (MS. of
Cambridge,) CfjvaCyJJ (MS. of Leyden;) <sCa=?yiJl (Fihrist el-

Kotob, p. 120,) <a$'j%\ (et-Tanbih, fol. 221, verso). Compare

Chapter 126, infra.
170 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

The Hindus lamented in the deepest mourning,

the death of the Barahman. They made his eldest

son king, who had been designed by his father to be

his successor, and to whom he had given his

instructions. His name was el-Bahbud ^xfcUU

(:>y&UJj). He
followed the example of his father in
his government; he had the best views, built new

temples, invested the wise men with power,

increased their dignity, encouraged them to teach

wisdom, and sent them out to acquire it (by

travelling). He reigned till he died one hundred
years. In his reign the game of tables or backgam-
mon* JjxM was invented. This game shows how
one obtains gain, for it is neither the result of

sagacity and contrivance, nor is subsistence earned

by cleverness in this world. Some say Azdeshirf

Ben Babek invented the game of the tables and

played it first. He expressed in this game the acti-

vity of the world and its inhabitants, and the differ-
ence of their conditions. The twelve points of the
tablesanswer to the twelve months of the year, and
the thirty tablemen <->*& are expressive of the thirty

days of the month. The dice are meant as symbols

* T.
Hyde wrote a prodigiously learned Historia Nerdiludii,
which forms the second book of his Historia Shahiludii.

t r>-JjU The MS. of Leyden which is

very correct, writes
this name constantly with instead of ..
Compare the observa-
tion of Fleischer on this subject, (Abulfeda, p. 206.)
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 171

of fate and the way in which it deals with mankind;

for the player who is favoured by luck, will attain in
this game what he wishes, whilst the clever and

provident is less lucky than another, if the other is

favoured by fortune for gain and good fortune are
;

a mere chance in this world.

After el-Bahbud reigned Ramah st^, ( W U^ or

^LoJj), about one hundred and fifty years. There
are different histories and accounts extant of this

king. He had several wars with the kings of Persia

and China,, the leading points of which are related in

our former works.

After him came Fur ^ (Porus) to the throne.
Alexander gave him a battle, and killed him in a
single combat, after a reign of one hundred and

forty years. Then succeeded Daisalem jJu*oJ

(fa f
UMJ,) who is the author of Kalilah wa Dimnah,
which has been translated by Ibn el-Mokaffa'.
Sehl Ben Harun composed a book for el-Mamun,
" The
entitled fox and the boar" a^ic ^ sxXxS ^->\3S,

in which he imitates the Kalilah wa Dimnah,

writing on the same heads, and narrating the same

parables; but his book is superior in beauty of
style. He reigned one hundred and twenty years.
Some give a different number of years.
Then succeeded Balhit dv^Xj (clv^Xj). In his

game of chess g^ax* was invented, and

reign the
he recommended the play in preference to back-
172 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

gammon, pointing out that the clever is the

winner, and not the idiot. He studied the numbers

(of the product of the squares) of this game^ and
wrote a work* on the subject for the Hindus^
which is known under the title Tor ok Hankd ta'idd

By these means chess became their favourite

game,
and he used to play it with the wise men (of his
court), and gave to the pieces the figure of men
and animals, distinguishing them by certain degrees
and ranks, as the king *1&J, the administrator

jo*xU (the queen), the officer yMjjJI (the bishop) ;

similar offices are represented in other pieces.

He laid also an allegory of the higher bodies in
the chess, that is to say, of the stars of the heavens,

observing the number seven and twelve. Every

piece was consecrated to a star. This game served
also to preserve the empire ;
for whenever they had
to do with an enemy and the stratagems of war,
they represented on the chess-board the movements
of the troops, both light and heavy J^-U. ^^
The Hindus have a method in the multiplica-

* A similar work has been written by the Arabic mathema-

tician, Abu Yusof el-Missisi] ^aAXOtJij
whose full name was
Ya'kiib Ben Mohammed, under the title O
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 173

tion of the squares of the chess-board, which they

keep secret. The result of this multiplication is

a number which exceeds the astronomical dates,

and those of the first cause, amounting to

18,446,744,073,709,551,615. The series of the

thousands is this: the first number is to be pro-

nounced with six thousand*, then comes

times
thousand five times, then four times,, then three

times, then twice, then thousand is to be pronoun-

ced once.
The Hindus attribute to itf a meaning by
which one may explain what is to happen in future
ages and centuries, and the influence which the
heavenly bodies have on this world ; and by it may
be predicted how long the human soul is to dwell in
this world.

The Greeks, Romans, and other nations, con-

nect equally various theories with chess t. It is

* The Arabs, like the Teutonic languages, have no words

which comprises a higher number than a thousand. They express
therefore a million by thousand times thousand, and so on with any

higher number. In order to avoid mistakes, they add at the end

how often thousand is to be taken or multiplied with itself, as is
here the case.

f The author leaves it uncertain whether he means the game

of chess, or the above number.

J It seems, indeed, that the game of chess attracted even

in Europe, a much greater attention in the middle ages than
at present; as may be exemplified by the existence of some
174 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

played in different ways, as is explained in the

books written by the Shatrenjees* on this subject,

by early writers, as well as by es-Suli and el-'Adeli

J*xx!^ d**A\> wno are the best players in our days.

Belhith reigned till he died, eighty years,

ci^^L
or, according to other copies (of the work from
which we derive our account), one hundred and
thirty years.

German manuscript, which contains a poem on this subject, in the

Library of the Arsenal at Paris, (MS. Allem. No. 6). It is a

thick quarto written in the year 1418, but the author, whose name

is MICHAEL SCHERER of Strasburg, says himself, that he com-

posed it in 1337, after a Latin work on the same subject. The

allegorical meaning of the pieces, moral precepts, and even

theological disquisitions, form the greater portion of its contents,

but there are also some curious historical facts related in it.
The Dutch are in possession of a similar poem of ancient date.
* As the luxurious Mamun
happened to be fond of the chess-
board, a number of men studied the game and wrote on the

subject, collecting and inventing traditions to prove that this game

was permitted, enquiring into the history and fixing the rules to be

observed in playing. These men were called

*^J[a.A\. An
Arabic work of this nature, by el-Hasan el-Basri, is in Mr. Rich's
collection in the British Museum inLondon, (No. 75 15,) but it
contains no historical facts not found in Hyde's Historia Shahi-
ludii and Sir W. Jones' works, (vol. i.
p. 521.) More curious
are the details which en-Nowa'iri furnishes on this subject, in his

Encyclopaedia. On the literary history previous to el-Mas'iidi,

concerning this subject, as well as any other of which our author

speaks, the reader may consult the additional notes.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 1/5

succeeded by Kurush*, who introduced

He was
new religious ideas amongst the Hindus, as he
thought them suited to the spirit of the time ; and

adapted to the tendency of his contemporaries,

relinquishing former systems.
In his reign lived es-Sondbad ^L^x^, who is the
author of the book The seven Vezirs, the teacher and

boy, and the wife of the king jkx+Wj &***\\ \jj\ <-A^*
JJJIJ s!j*t* *&*J\j. This is the book which bears the
name Kitdb es-Sondbdd ^UXJUJ1 v lxf. In the
work " On
library of this king the large pathology
and therapeutics" CLjW^xU^ * \^\ j J^M AJ^JUJ ^
was compiled J^, with drawings and pictures of
the plants.
This king reigned till he died, one hundred
and twenty years. After his death the Hindus
disagreed in point of religion :
they divided them-
selves into parties, and formed distinct states; and
made himself independent in his district.
every chief
Es-Sind was ruled by its own king; another king
reigned in el-Kinnauj; another over Kashmir

jx^3 yoj\ ; and another resided in the city of el-

Mankir (Monghir?) j+&&\> which is the great
metropolis. He was the first who had the name

*
LTJU^*
This is the way in which Abulfaragius (Hist-

dynast, p. 82.) writes the name of Cyrus. En-Nowairi writes

the name of this Hindu king ni*J" Kush.

176 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

el-Ballahra c^XxM (^JuJ\),

which became subse-

quently the title of every sovereign of that great

capital, down to our time, which is the year

332 A.H.
India * is a vast country, having many seas and

the country of the Hindus, which, it

0j\ Literally,
must be remembered, comprizes only the south and east of the

peninsula : whereas the north-eastern part is called by the Arabs,

the country of the Sind nation.
As in the translation the name of the country in most cases
is substituted for expressions like bilad es-Sin, (the dominions of
the Chinese,) ardh er-Rum, (the country of the Byzantines,)
memlekat kingdom of the Galicians,) &c.: it is
el-Jelalikah, (the
well to notice the peculiarity of the Arabs in this respect, which

is characteristic, and which may also be observed in Genesis.

As we
adapt our notions of others to our own ideas as pro-
duced by circumstances and education, just as the hump-backed
will paint every body with a hunch; the wandering- Arabs
who have no country, being solely connected by the feelings and

pride of their tribes Xxxxax!!, cannot conceive how any nation

can be so degraded as to be dependent upon a country or any

other possession they estimate the honesty and value of a man
:

after what he is, and not (as it is the case in modern legislation,)
after what he possesses. Hence they consider the name of every

country as that of a tribe, and are most anxious to find out or

to invent the genealogy of the patriarch (father) of such a tribe,

as they know the ancestors of their own tribes ; so, for instance,

they received from the Persians the name of Chin

^>~, which
means China (the country), but the Arabs consider it as the
name of the father of the nation (tribe), and consequently of the
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 177

mountains, and borders on the empire of ez-Zanij,

which the
kingdom of the Maharaj g|j$U the
is

king of the islands, whose dominions form the

frontier between India and China, and are con-
sidered as part of India.
The Hindu nation extends from the mountains
of Khorasan and of es-Sind as far as et-Tubbet.
But there prevails a great difference of feelings,

nation itself;and they called the country the territory of the

Fin or Sin (Chinese).
In subsequent times, however, when the victorious Arabs had
settled in cities, the tribe feelinggave way to the habits of settled
life, and the names of countries are in later authors again con-
sidered as such.

This will explain the form of the word XxJ&Jj (Galicia,)

and some other proper names which else must appear arbitrary ;

it is the plural of cJiXiJ or Gallic (Gallicus), just as X*a^clJJ

is the plural of (jaJl or comes, (count).

In the history of Europe, we find that proper names have
changed same way their meaning by the change of facts,
in the

as with the Arabs

by the change of notions so were the Parisii,
;

Lugduni, &c., originally tribes, and now they are cities.

Here an addition to the note, p. 19 supra, may find place.
It is stated there that the
military cantonments were called Misrs,
which means Egypts. The Western Arabs being in constant

contact with the Egyptians, became necessarily aware of their

settled condition ; and Misr means, therefore, the country of Egypt

(and not the nation,) at all

periods of the Arabic language. It

was therefore very natural that they should say, we Egyptianize

yj&+j,
when they settled in those cantonments. Hence y^oaJJ
means with Ibn Khaldun constantly a country where the inha-
bitants are settled and civilized.
N
178 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

language, and religion, in these empires; and they

are frequently at war with each other. The most
of them believe on the metempsychosis, or the
transmigration of the soul. The Hindus are dis-

from other black nations, as the Zanj gjtt>

tinct

ed-Demadem (-aUyj), and others, in point

^UxJl
of intellect, government,, philosophy, colour, appear-

ance, good constitution, talent, and intelligence.

Galen says that the Negroes have ten qualities
which are peculiar to them, and not found in any
other nation :
crisp hair, scanty eye-brows, expanded
nostrils, thick lips, sharp teeth, stinking skin, black

complexion, fissures in the skin of their hands and

feet, long am mentulam, and great levity. The same
author states further, their levity is owing to the

bad quality (organisation) of their brains ;

for this

renders their intellectual faculties weak. What

other authors say on the levity of the Negroes, and
their gay temper, and on the still higher degree of

levity, which is peculiar to the Zanj, and which

distinguishes them from other Negroes, is to be

found in our former works.

Ya'kub Ben Ishak el-Kindi ui*\ ^j vy^
c^jJ^M asserts, in a memoir on the influence of the

higher individuals (i.e. stars) and heavenly bodies

upon this world -U*.=^ *tjkd\ ^sUsSM JUit ^ *^

fUxil
*k Xj^UvJ!, that God has arranged
^
it so that everything that he has created acts at
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 179

the same time as cause upon others, and the cause

produces an effect in the object upon which it acts,

which corresponds with the cause; but the object,

which is passive, does not create any impression
upon the cause, which is active. Spirit is the cause

of heaven jfaJJ*, and not its effect: hence it does

* Arabian astronomers of the

express thus their notions

heaven or sphere.
Lnw^JJ ^c Jf^s=U> tf^

" The heaven is a simple body (not compounded,) which has

the shape of a ball (ii. 4), and turns round its own centre, which
it
fully surrounds (i. 2). has neither levity nor gravity
It

(i. 3), and it

possesses not heat, cold, moisture, nor dryness, nor
is it susceptible of separation or coalition."
With this may be compared the words in the Ayeen Akberi,
'

(vol. iii. 2,) where it is said that this is the opinion of the er-

sians, Egyptians, and Greeks, and that the heaven is eternal, and
endowed with reason.
The references which I added in the translation, refer to
Aristotle's Ccelo, where the same ideas are expressed.
book de
Here another passage of Aristotle, relative to the same subject,
may be quoted, which sets the belief, that the heaven exercises an
influenceupon the earth and its inhabitants, in its proper light, and
connects the notions of the Hindus, Persians, and Greeks, on
this subject.

Qvpavov 8e KOI aorpow ova-Lav p.ev alOepa ffaXov/MP, ovx coy nvcs,
8ta ro TTvpos &r) ov(rav, cu&cr&u, Tr\r)p,p.\ovvTcs Trepl rr\v ir\f1crTov Trvpos

aTnjAXa-yfiei/?;!/ Swap-iV aXXa 8m TO deWc'iv KVK\o<popovp,vr)v oroi^eToj/

ovvav crepov ra>v recro-apwj/, a^parov re KOI Selov. Arist. de Mundo,
cap. 2, vol. i.
p. 465.
<;
We call the matter, of which the heaven and the stars con-
N 2
 180 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

not receive impressions from it. It is, however, a

sist, ETHER ;
not because it is a fire as some believed, who had
exceedingly wrong notions respecting that power (matter), which
is
very far from being a fire; but because it is an ELEMENT
which observes the circular form in its motion, and it is different

from the four other elements, being everlasting and divine."

It is strange that this fifth element of Aristotle has never been

noticed, although the four elements have found advocates in the
German Metaphysico-physiologists, (see Carus, Lehrbuch der
Physiologic, vol. i.,) in whose system it would suit admirably well.
But the doctrine of a fifth element is much more ancient than

Aristotle, even amongst the Greeks. Ocellus, (translation of

Taylor, p. 10,) who lived about five centuries before Christ, at

the time of Pythagoras, seems to have had the same notions of it
" But the Fates themselves
as Aristotle. distinguish and separate
the impassive part of the world from that which is
perpetually
moved (mutable). For the course of the moon is the isthmus
of immortality and generation. The region indeed above the
moon, and also that which the moon occupies, contain the genus
of the gods; but the place beneath the moon, is the place of
strife and nature."

The idea of Jive elements is

general amongst the Hindus.
They call the ether, Akas; and, although its natural place is,
as with the Greeks, above the other elements, it
pervades every-
thing and is the vehicle of sound. Amongst the ancient Persians
it seems to have been considered even as the principle of vege-
tative life, hence the Zend-Avesta calls it " un feu qui ne brule

pas et qui anime tous les etres." It was probably after the Per-

sian idea that some Greek philosophers believed the ether was a
fire. The Arabs have probably found this theory of the heaven
in the schools of Persia, before have been acquainted with
they
the writings of the Greeks, after which they have put it in a
scientific shape.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 181

law in nature that the spirit* follows the organisa-

tion of the body, if there is nothing in the way.
So with the Zanji.
it is His country being very
hot, the heavenly bodies exercise their influence

upon it, and predispose in the humours a tendency

to go to the upper parts of the body: hence their

eyes are large, the lips thick, the nose flat and big,
and the head high. The crasis of the brain is,
therefore, out of proportion, and the mind cannot

perfectly manifest the nicety of dis-

its action ;

tinctions and the action of the understanding are

confused. Ancient and modern authors have

The heavens, or spheres, which preside, according

to the

astrologers, over the destiny of this world are, therefore, not

differentfrom the ether of the philosophers, which is the divine
element of life nor from the Zeus of the Greeks, and the Hawa
;

( air )> which was worshipped by the Arabs, before the

<gj\
Islam, as we learn from the Koran, where it is said, ^ CoLsl
x\*> <XA!\ <Xi.J, and from a tradition of Ibn 'Abbas. See also

Maimonides, p. 157 of the Engl. Transl.

* In the
Cambridge copy the quotation from el-Kindi is left

out altogether. From an allusion of Ibn Khaldun to this passage

of our author, on the Negroes, it would appear that he did not

find it in his copy again.
The MS. of Leyden bears
^*\A!^
instead of
yjijjl,
which

is only found in the (for the rest very incorrect,) copy of the

Asiatic Society of Paris. However, if this reading was not con-

firmed by the context, it
might safely be adopted on the authority
of Aristotle, from whom the whole of el- Kindt's reasoning is

borrowed. At Sidvoiai eTrovrai. TOIS O-W/LUWI, Physiogn. cap. 1.

 182 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

spoken on the causes under the influence of which

the Negroes are placed; and they entered upon
their position relative to heaven, the seven planets,
and particularly the five planets, which preside
over their developement, and have alone influence

upon the formation of their bodies. But this hook

is not solely devoted to this subject. state We
here only the facts as they have been advanced by
various authors, referring for further details and the

exposition of their arguments in proof of those

facts, to our book the Akhbar ez-zeman. We have
also explained in that book the theory of those
astrologers and astronomers who ascribe the cha-
racter of the Negroes to Saturn, as this is expressed
in the verses of some modern Mohammedan writer:
" One of them (the planets) is Saturn, who is

an old man and powerful king. His complexion is

black *, and this is the colour of his dress, and of
his sulky mind. He exercises his influence upon
the Zanj and the slaves, and to him leadf and iron
are sacred."

* This
description of Saturn answers exactly the picture which
el-Kazwmi gives of this planet, which is to be found beautifully

illuminated, in a MS. of the East India House, No. 1 377, and in its

outlines in the Fundgruben des Orients, vol. i., but there it looks
the contrary way by a mistake of the artist.

f A slight alteration would change the sense into " and he

is the enemy of iron." This is more probable because iron was
sacred to Mars, and has still the name of this planet in medicine;
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 183

Tawus el-Yemani, the companion of 'Abdullah

Ben el- 'Abbas ^j\ aHJ *x>^ t-^U?
jl^l u^lk
u^U*!! would not eat any meat slain (or sacrificed)

by a Zanji. He used to say, a Zanji was a hideous

slave. We have heard that Abul-'Abbas er-Raddhi
Ben el-Moktader would never take anything from
the hand of a black man, saying he was a hideous
slave. I do not know whether he has initiated
Tawus in his system, or in a sort of philosophical
and religious sect.
'Amr Ben Bahr el-Jahit k^ lit
j^s? ^j ^
wrote a book " On the national pride of the

Negroes, and their disputes with the white men."

No
king can succeed to the throne, according
to Hindu laws, before he is forty years of age, nor

for physicians acknowledge that their art originated from astro-

logy to this day, in this as well as in some other names, as

lunar caustic (Nitrate of silver). Mercury, crystals of Venus
(neutral sulphate of copper), &c. Not only metals, but everything
on earth had a patron in one of the planets with the astrologers,
and almost everybody was as far an astrologer as his scientific
education went. And it appears that in the dark ages a medicine

was considered as the mediator between its

respective star and
the patient; and hence it had frequently no efficacy if not
prepared
under a certain constellation. These follies seem to have origi-
nated in the ancient religion of the Sawad of the Tigris and

Euphrates. Compare Maimonides, English Translation of Dr.

Townley, p. 158; and Zend-Avesta, i. 2, p. 28.
184 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

appears their sovereign ever before the public,

except at certain times, which are fixed at long
intervals, and then it is
only for the inspection of
state affairs; for, in their opinion, the kings lose

their respect and give away their privileges if the

public gazes at them*. The measures of govern-
ment must be carried by mildness in India, and by
degradation from a higher rank.
El-Mas'udi says., I have seen in the country of
Serendib (Ceylon), which is an island of the sea,
that when a king dies, he is laid upon a car, with
small wheels, and made for the purpose. His hair
touches the ground, and a woman with a broom in
her hand sweeps dust on his head, crying out, " O
people, this was yesterday your king, and you were
bound to listen to his orders. See what now has
become of him! He has left this world, and the
King of the kings has taken his soul
(life) f He .

alone is living, and dies not. Do

not be given to
life after this example." These words have the ten-
dency to exhort to a pious and abstemious life in
this world. After a procession with the body

* Institutes of " Nor can any human creature

Menu, vii. 6,

on earth gaze on him (the king)."

" The
f king of death has taken his soul into eternal *oX
life. Thus bears the copy of Cambridge, but *jX5 has not
the signification which the context would give to the word, if the

passage was correct.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 185

through the streets of the town, they divide it into

four parts, and burn it with sandal- wood, camphor,
and other perfumes which they have prepared: the
ashes are thrown to the winds. This is the funeral

ceremony for kings and their courtiers of the most

nations of India *. They state the reason for so

doing, and the object which they have in view.

The royalty is limited upon the descendants of
one family, and never goes to another f. The
same is the case with the families of the vizier,

kadhi, and other high officers. They are all (here-

ditary and) never changed nor altered J.
The Hindus abstain from (spirituous) liquors

i_>^.!\$,
not in obedience to some religious precept,
but because they do not choose to take a thing
which overwhelms their reason, and makes cease the
dominion which this faculty is to exercise over men.
If it can be proved of one of their kings, that he
has drunk (wine) he forfeits the crown for he is
, ;

(not considered to be) able to rule and govern (the

empire) if he is given to such habits ||.

They hear frequently songs and musical per-

formances <|&U^ ^UvJi, and they have various sorts

*
Compare ancient accounts of India and China, p. 31.

f Ibidem, p. 32.

J The king must appoint seven or eight ministers whose

lineage is noble. Menu, vii. 84.
Ancient accounts of India and China, p. 33.

|| Compare Institutes of Menu, v,ii. 47, 50.

 186 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

of musical instruments which produce on man all

shades of impressions between laughing and crying.
Sometimes they make girls drink (wine), to excite
them to show their mirth in their presence, and in
order to be inspired with gaiety by their merriment.
The Hindus have various interesting institu-
tions, and are rich in curious facts. We have
given sketches from their history and biogra-
many
phy (manners) in our book, the Kitab Akhbar ez-
zeman, and Kitab el-ausat. A specimen, however,
shall be inserted here.
One of the most curious stories of the kings of
the Hindus, and a strange (yet characteristic) ex-

ample of the line of conduct of the most ancient

Hindu kings, and their institutions., is (exhibited in
the following narration) of a king of el-Komar*

j($l\ (Comorin). From this kingdom and tract of

India the Komdri aloes J^c has its name.

c?^l$Jl
This country is not an island of the sea, but it

belongs to the continent, and is very mountainous.

Few parts of India are more populous than this,
and the inhabitants distinguish themselves before
the other Hindus by their agreeable breath, which

they acquire by rubbing their teeth with aloes- wood,

as it is the habit amongst the Mohammedans.

They consider, like the Mohammedans, fornication

*
Compare ancient accounts of India and China, p. 65, et

seqq.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 187

to be unlawful, and they avoid (like them) unclean-

liness, and the use of wine.
In this practice the
Hindus of the higher ranks are like those of the
lower classes.

They (the inhabitants of el-Komar) are for

the most part infantry, on account of the mountain-

ous character of the country, which is broken by
and has few plains, or high table-lands ^Lcr'J.
rivers,
The country of el-Komar is the point of communi-
cation with the dominions of the Maharaj ^\^^\ 9
the king of the islands, as the Isle of ez-Zanij,
Kolah XXT, Serendib i-vA>j~ (Ceylon), and other
islands.

It is related that an inconsiderate man ruled in

ancient times over el-Komar. One day he sat on
the royal throne in his palace, which stood on a

large river of sweet water, like the Tigris or Eu-

phrates, and was one day's journey from the sea.
The vizier was with the king, who said to him,
"The splendour and high civilization of the empire
and islands of the Maharaj are celebrated. This
excites a desire in my mind which I wish to
realize." The vizier, a prudent man, who knew
the levity of his master, asked him "What is thy
O " I " to
desire, king?" wish," replied the king,
see thehead of the Maharaj, the king of ez-Zanij,
laying (in a dish) at my feet." The vizier saw
that envy had inspired him with these thoughts,
188 EL-MAs'uni's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

and he after some " I do not

said, consideration,
think the king will permit this idea to rest in his
mind, as there has never existed any difference
between us and that nation, neither of yore, nor of
late; nor have they ever done us any harm. Be-
sides they are far from us, in islands, and by no
means neighbours nor have they any design
;

against our possessions. The distance between the

dominions of the Maharaj and those of el-Komar,
is from ten to twenty days across the sea. It is

O " not
therefore better, continued the
king," vizier,
to persist in this scheme." The king made no reply,
he was enraged with anger, and shut his ear to
advice. He acquainted his officers and the chiefs
of his men, who were present, with his project ; and
so was divulged, and went from tongue to tongue
it

till reached the Maharaj, who was a prince of

it

great prudence, and a middle-aged man.

The Maharaj called his vizier, related to him
the account which he had received, and said, " Con-

sidering the project of this madman, which has

come to publicity, and the intentions which he has
formed, with his inexperienced and overbearing
spirit, after his words have become generally
and
known, we can no longer preserve peace with him,
he has forfeited the crown, and deserves to be

deposed." The king ordered his vizier to observe

secrecy of what had passed between them, and to

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 189

prepare a thousand of the best ships

V^XJ ksjt, with full equipment, to provide them

with the arms necessary, and to man them with a
sufficient number of the best soldiers.
pre- He
tended that these preparations were meant for an
excursion into his islands, and he wrote to the

kings (governors) of these islands, who were under

his sway, and his subjects, that he had the intention
to pay them a visit, and to make an excursion to
their islands. This rumour spread, and the king
of every island made all possible preparation for the

reception of the Maharaj. When everything was

ready and in order, he went on board and sailed
with the army to the kingdom of el-Komar. The
king of el-Komar was not aware of the expedition
before he came up the wadi (river,) which washes
the walls of the royal palace. The Maharaj ordered
his men to make an assaultupon (the palace,) and
they surrounded it unaware, and took possession of
it. The inhabitants appeared before the Maharaj,
he ordered to proclaim "quarter," and sat on the
throne on which the king of el-Komar used to sit,
who was now a prisoner, and commanded to bring the
" What
king and his vizier in his presence, and said,
gave rise to those intentions which are beyond
thy power? And if thou hadst attained thy object
thou wouldst not have been the happier." The
of the execution of the project did not afford
facility

any excuse (to the captive king), and so he remained

190 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

silent. "If thy desires/' continued the Maharaj,

"to see my head before thee in a dish had been
joined with the intention to make thyself master of
my dominions, and the throne, and to spread
destruction in any part of the country, I should
do the same thing to thee. But thou hast dis-
tinctly expressed thy object, and I will now visit

it on thee; and I will return to my country

without touching anything in thy empire either
small or great. Thou shalt be an example for

posterity, that none may dare to transgress the

portion which Providence has given to him*."
After these words he beheaded him and turning ;

to the vizier, "Thou hast tried all," said he, " that
a good vizier can do: I know thou gavest good
advice to thy master, which he ought to have

accepted : consult who may be most fit to succeed

this madman, and put him on the throne." The
Maharaj returned immediately to his country, and
neither he nor anybody of his army touched anything
in the kingdom of el-Komar.

LAJK CyJ*
1
JJJ jCx3 *XT Jji ^
M. Renaudot had evidently the same

words which are transcribed here ; but he differs from the above
translation.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 191

When the Maharaj was come back into his

dominions, he sat on his throne, from whence he

enjoyed the view over a hay which was called the

Bay of the Ingot of ^xJ* ^^5 and
Gold -^jJJ
before him was placed the dish with the head of the

king of el-Komar. He assembled the great men of

his kingdom, narrated to them his exploits, and
exposed the reason which had brought him under
the necessity of undertaking them. He was
received with the marks of admiration, and prayers
for his welfare. Then he gave orders to wash
the head of the king of el-Komar, to embalm it, and
to send it in a vase to the king who had succeeded
him el-Komar; and he wrote to him:
in ll
Our
motive in acting as we have done with thy prede-
cessor having been his hostile intentions towards
us and to offer an example to his equals, it appears to
us well to send back his head to thee, since we have
obtained our object, as there is no use in keeping it,
for this trophy would not add to the glory of our

victory." The news of this action reached the

ears of the kings of India and China, and the
Maharaj rose greatly in their estimation ; and since
this time, the kings of el-Komar turn their faces

every morning towards ez-Zanij, and prostrate them-

selves to express their veneration for the
Maharaj.

* Seems to be the technical term for ingot, in Arabic

..^A!

coinage; at least it is used as such by en-Nowairl.

192 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

El-Mas'udi says, the meaning of the words

v-^> &\ ^J ^j^Xc (the bay of the ingot of gold) is

this, the palace of the Maharaj stands on a little

bay ^Jvr, which is in connexion with the greatest

strait of ez-Zanij. At high tide this strait is filled

with sea water, and at low tide sweet water flows in

it. The treasurer
^Lc^j of the king goes every

morning into this bay, carrying an ingot of gold

with him of several pounds UuJ, but we do not know
its exact weight. He throws it before the king
into the bay. When the tide comes in, the water
covers this and other ingots which may be there;
and when the water retires, it appears again, and it
shines in the sun. The king sits in the room of
reception from which he delights to see it .The habit
of throwing every day a golden ingot into this bay, is
continued during the whole reign of the same king,
and they are never touched. When the king dies,
his successor has them all taken out, and none of

them are put into the bay again; but they are
counted, melted, and distributed among the royal

household; amongst the men,, women, children,

leaders, and servants ;
to every one according to his
station, and the class to which he belongs; and
what remains is given to the poor and indigent.
The number of golden ingots and their weight
is registered, and it is said such and such a king

reigned so many years, and left such and such

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 193

a number of ingots, of such a weight in the royal bay,

for distribution after his death. Kings who had

a long reign, set their glory on leaving many
ingots.
The greatest king of India in our times is the
Ballahra, the lord of El-Mankir. The most kings
of India turn, in their prayers, their face towards

him; and they pray (adore?) his messengers yiT^

when they receive them. The dominions of the

Ballahra border on many other kingdoms of India.
Some kings have their territory in the mountains,
and are not in possession of a sea, as the er-Ray

<$VjJJ (Raja), who the king of el-Kashmir J*C&A!I

is

and the king of et-Tafi or

>
^UUt (^UJl
and other Hindu sovereigns. Others
are in possession of land and sea. The country of
the king el- Ballahra is eighty Sindi farsangs ^w ^
x>jJLo,from the sea; every such farsang has eight
miles. His troops and elephants are innumerable,
and his army consists mostly of infantry, for his
dominions are mountainous. At some distance

from him is the territory of Barudah 22^ (*#^

or *f> or *jjj}) 9 who is one of those kings of
India who have no sea, and resides in the town of
el-Kinnauj*. This is the name for every sove-

* In other work the of this king

passages of this title is

O
194 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

reign who rules over this country. He has large

armies garrisoned in the north and south, and in
the east and west; for he issurrounded by warlike
neighbours. We shall insert a general account of

the kings of es-Sind and India, and of other places

of the world, farther on in this book, where we

speak of the seas,, their wonders, and of the

nations, kings, &c., in them, and round them. We

have treated on these subjects in our former works.
There is no strength nor power except in God.

clearly written Budah k'^j. The name or title of the king of

el-Kinnauj, at the time of the conquest of Mahmud of Ghizna,

was Rajbal
 AND MINES OP GEMS. ] 95

EIGHTH CHAPTER.

On the globe, the seas, the beginning of rivers, the

mountains, the seven climates, the stars which

preside over them, the order of the spheres, and

other subjects.

EL-MAS'UDI says, the mathematicians have divided

the earth into four quarters, the east, west, north,
and south. Another division is into the inhabited
and uninhabited, cultivated and uncultivated world.
They say the earth is round, its centre falls in the
midst of the heaven, and the air surrounds it from
all sides. It is the dot (centre) in reference to the
zodiac.
The cultivated land is considered to begin from
the Eternal Islands (Fortunate Islands) jo^il
okxJlii, in the Western Ocean, which isa group of
six flourishing islands, and to extend as far as the

extremity of China ^xaJJ. They found that this is

a space of twelve hours (of the daily revolution of
the sun) for they know that
; when the sun sets in
the extremity of China, it rises again in the
cultivated islands of the Western Ocean ; and when
it sets in these islands, it rises in the extremity of

China. This is half the circumference of the earth,

o 2
196 EL-MAS'UDl'.S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

and the length of the cultivated parts of the globe,

which, if reduced into miles, amounts to thirteen
thousand five hundred geographical miles *.
The researches into the breadth of the culti-
vated land have shown that it extends from the

equator as far north as the isle of Thule Jp, which

belongs to Britannia XAJU^J, and where the longest

day has twenty hours.
They state that there is a point of the equator
and west, which falls in
of the earth between east
an island between India and Habesh (Abyssinia),
somewhat south of these two countries; and as
it is in the middle, between north and south, so

it is in the middle between the Fortunate Islands

and the utmost cultivated districts of China; and
this is known by the name of the Dome of the earth

u*j $\ Xxi', and defined by the description which we

have just givenf.

* "of those miles which are

Literally in use in measuring the
circumference of the earth."

f Messrs. Reinaud and Baron Slane, (Aboulfeda, p. 376,)

collected the most important passages from Arabic authors,

bearing on this dome of the earth, and traced the origin of

the idea to India. But it
appears it also existed amongst the
ancient Greeks.
6s ('OSuo'evs) 8) drjdd <f)i\a)v OTTO TrfjfMaTa nd^fi,

Nqo-os fv dfjiffripvTr),
061 T OM$AAO2 eori 6a\d(T(Tr)5.

Homer, Odyss. i. 51.

The navel of the earth is also mentioned in the Scriptures;

but as the Greeks have neglected this idea in subsequent time, it

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 197

The breadth from the Isle of Thule to the

equator makes nearly sixty degrees: this is one-

sixth of the circumference of the earth. This
sixth,which represents the breadth of the cultivated
parts of the earth, multiplied with one-half, which
expresses the length, gives as product the extent of
the cultivated world of the northern hemi-
(jji/*JJ
sphere. This product is half one-sixth (or one-

twelfth) of the surface of the globe.

THE SEVEN CLIMATES*. The first climate is the

seems that it had arisen from considering the earth as a round

plain, convex in the centre, which is this dome. It belongs there-

fore to the doctrine of the Jummoodeep of the Hindus, about

which, the reader may compare Ayeen Akberi, vol. iii., p. 25.

Bazih
s^Lj
is a town near the dome of the earth, on the same

meridian as Khojandah, in Transoxania; and this meridian was

considered as the absolute division between east and west (Meta-
tih el-'olum).
* The basis of all researches in ancient
history must unques-
tionably be to trace when and where ideas have risen ? how they
have been propagated? what changes they underwent? and
what was their influence upon the life, freedom, and happiness of
man in their different phases. It is in this point of view that this
notice of our author on the seven climates is important, for it

shows us that it is neither an invention of the Greeks, as Pliny

observes (lib. vii., cap. 39), nor originally founded upon the
observations of the gnomon having reference to the northern
latitude, as the same author, and everybody else after him,
believed.

The seven climates, as we see here, are independent of the

latitude of places ; and owe their origin to the circumstance that,
198 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

country of Babil, which includes Khorasan, Faris,

in the star worship, every part of the earth was sacred to one of
the seven planets.
This was not only the habit amongst the Persians, but we find
that they have been imitated by Ptolemy, who assigns equally
to every country a planet as a patron, in his Tetrabiblos. I have

no means of referring to this book at present, and do not remem-

ber whether he makes the same divisions, but nothing is more
natural than that the city of Baal or Babylon, [for even Arabic

writers (et-Tanbih, fol. 25. verso,) confess, that the Persians and
Nabathaeans derive Babel from Bil
J^,, which means the planet

Jupiter c5^p.^JL\ J should be sacred to Jupiter ; and the countries

of the black nations to the dark and gloomy Saturn ; whilst the

lively Arabs worshipped particularly the bright star of Venus in

San'a Thaut was the god of the grave Egyptians, and it is very
;

likely that the Sabeans of Harran, worshipped the moon in

found
preference to other planets ; the warlike Turks, or Tartars,
in Mars their patron whilst the most eastern
; country, the Shave
of the Zend books, was naturally sacred to the sun.
As we map in which the first meridian goes
conclude that a

through Greenwich, has been made in England, so we can have

no doubt that a division of the globe, in which Babel stands on the
head, has beenmade in Babylonia; for the rest we have a direct
proof in the Tenblh, where the author says distinctly that the
Persians divide the earth into seven climates, consecrating them
to the seven planets. Maimonides, Nev., p. iii., cap. 27, assigns
the division of the earth after the seven planets to the Sabeans

(Chaldeans).
The Zendavesta mentions these seven climates in several places,
but the fire worshippers leave out the planets who presided over
them. The Zend word for climate is Keshvar.
It is
very curious that Pliny includes all the countries in the
first climate, which we find in el-Mas'iidi as being subordinate to
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 199

el-Ahwas, el-Mausil, and the Jebal*. The Aries

and Sagittarius are the zodiacal signs of this climate,

and Jupiter is its planet.

The second climate includes es-Sind, India,
and es-Sudan (Nigritia): their sign is Capricorn,
and their planet Saturn.
The third climate is Mekka, Medina, Yemen,
et-Tayif, the Hejaz, and the intermediate countries:
their sign Scorpio, and their star is Venus.
is

The fourth climate is Egypt t, Afrikiyah (Africa

it. He names (lib. vi. cap. 39,) Parthyene (Khorasan) Persae ;

(Faris) ; Susiane (el- Ahwaz) ; and Mesopotamia (el-Mausil) :

although these countries belong, according to Pliny's principle of

division, to the third climate. Nobody will therefore say the

division of the earth into seven climates was a Greek invention, or

was originally made according to the latitude of the places,

although the honour of having reduced it to this more scientific

principle is
owing to the Greeks.
* These countries formed the Iran or
holy land of the Per-
sians, which is called KHOUNNERETS in the Zend books. This
name would be an additional proof to confirm what has been stated
in the preceding note, if such was required. The Keschvar or

climate of Khounnerets, means the climate of Babel, (exactly the

same as our author calls it),
for el-Mas'udi informs us in the

Tanblh (MS. 337, de St. Germain, Royal Library of Paris, fol.

25, recto)) that Kha'inereth C,J.AAS*. is the Assyrian or Chaldean

name of Babylon. This throws a great deal of light on the

Zendavesta; for Khounnerets is mentioned as the most sacred
place. It may lead to important conjectures, why this climate has

its name from Babel and not the pure Persian name Iran.
T This climate has the name of Arze in the Zend books, and
200 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

provincia), el-Berber, Spain, and the interjacent

countries: their sign is the Gemini, and their
planet is Mercury.
The fifth climate is Syria and el-Jezirah (Meso-
potamia)*: their sign is the Aquarius, and their
planet the Moon.
The sixth climate is et-Turk (Turkestan), el-

Khazar j^\ 9 ed-Dailom jju<x!l,

and es-Sakalibah
XxJUuoJJ (Slavonians) f: their sign is the Cancer, and
their star is Mars.
The seventh climate is ed-DabilJ
or J^JJl, and China: their zodiacal sign is the
Libra, and their planet the Sun.
Hosain the astronomer, who is the author of
the Astronomical Tables
p.^Jl J g$\\ v^> relates

from Khaled Ben 'Abdul-Melik el-Marwazi tfj^Xt

G^jJtAO' and the others who have observed the sun

in the plains of Sinjar
^l^uw, in Diyar Rabi'ah, by
order of el-Mamun, that the length of one degree

the chief of this climate is there (Boun-Dehesch, cap. xxx, p.

408), said to be Schaschega, which is clearly the name of the Sesak

of the Scriptures. It would not be difficult to find out the name
g
of the chiefs of the other climates, if it was worth while.
* One adds " and
copy er-Rum," the Byzantine empire.

f These nations and countries were all on the coasts of the

Caspian.
f Perhaps Daibol, which is the last seaport in es-Sind, is to be
read.

The llabi'ah tribe held the South of Mesopotamia.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 201

of the earth equal to fifty-six miles : they mul-

is

tiplied this number with three hundred and sixty,

and found the circumference of the globe, which is
covered with land and seas, to be twenty thousand
one hundred and sixty miles. The circumference
of the earth, multiplied with seven, gives as pro-
duct one hundred and forty-one thousand one hun-
dred and twenty; and this, divided with twenty-
two, gives the length of the diameter ^3 of the
earth as the result, viz., six thousand four hundred
and fourteen miles, and nearly half a tenth of a
mile. The length of the radius of the earth is

three thousand two hundred and seven miles, six-

teen minutes, and two-thirds of a second, which is

equal to one-fourth and the fourth part of one-tenth

of a mile (eleven-fortieths). A
mile has four thou-
sand black cubits : these are the cubits which have
been introduced by the Khalif el-Mamun for mea-
suring cloths, buildings, and grounds: one cubit
has twenty-four inches *j&\.
The philosopher o^X/jUt (Ptolemy) gives an
account in his book entitled "Gighrafia" loiyL*.

(yecoypa^ia) of the world, its towns, mountains,

seas, islands, rivers,, and wells. He describes the
inhabited towns and cultivated tracts. There were,
according to him, four thousand five hundred and
thirty towns in his time. He names these towns,

adding to every one of them in what climate it is

situated. He says in his book what colour the
202 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

mountains of the world have, red, yellow, green,

or any other colour. There are about two hundred
mountains (named by Ptolemy). He gives their
dimensions, mentions the mines which are in them,
and the mass of which they consist (or the gems
found in them). The philosopher says that the
seas which surround the globe are five seas. He
names the islands which are in them, stating whe-
ther they are cultivated or not; but only the more
celebrated islands are mentioned, and not those
which are less known. So, for instance*, there is

an Archipelago in the Abyssinian Sea, consisting

of nearly one thousand islands, called ed-Dinjat
L*u&Jl (^LsryjjOi), all of which are cultivated.
The distance from one island to another is two or
three miles, more or less.
He states in his
geography that the sea of the
Byzantine empire and of Egypt (the Mediterranean)
begins from the sea of the idols of copper (Columrus
Herculis) ; that the number of allthe great springs
on earth is two hundred and thirty, not counting
the lesser ones; that there are two hundred and

ninety great and perennial rivers; and that the

extent of every one of the seven climates, which
we have just mentioned, is nine hundred farsangs

The Cambridge copy

bears Aj
^ j$*j an(^ ^le mentions that there is an Archipelago.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 203

square. Some seas have cultivation (in islands);

others have none. Into the number of the latter

enters the ocean, or the sea, which surrounds the

world kxsi?J
^i. The reader will find in the fol-

lowing pages a description of the division of the

seas. They are
represented in the geography
all

(of Ptolemy) in drawings of different colours, di-

mensions, and forms. Some have the form of a
cloak ^U^Xxk, some of an armour, and others of
intestines*,and are round, or triangular; but the
names in that book are in Greek hence they are :

unintelligible.
The diameter of the earth is two thousand one
hundred farsangs [but the correct number is one
thousand six hundred farsangs f] a farsang is equal :

to one thousand six hundred cubits.

The orbit of the lowest star is the sphere (or

heaven) of the moon, and has one hundred and

twenty-five thousand six hundred and sixty far-
sangs in circumference. The diameter of the

heaven, from the limit of the head of the Aries to

the limit of the head of the Libra, measures forty
thousand farsangs.

* This word I believe, not found in

L*ax>, intestine, is,

any dictionary. It
is, however, used in vulgar Arabic, and fre-
quently found in books.
f This correction is only in one copy.
204 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

There are nine spheres (or heavens) cftUi. The

first; which is the smallest, and nearest to the earth,

is the sphere of the Moon^W*; the second is the

sphere of Mercury JjlkxJ!; the third, of Venus

*jj*>j$\;
the fourth, of the Sun y^^t; the fifth, of

Mars jtt ;
the sixth of Jupiter <gJrJ&\ ; the

seventh, of Saturn J^JJ; the eighth, of the fixed

stars; the ninth, of the Zodiac ^$j&. The form

of these spheres is like one ball in another. The
sphere of the Zodiac is called the universal sphere

^XSftjfo.
The revolution of this sphere is the

cause of day and night ;

for it carries the sun,

* The word Kamar

(moon), says en-Nowairi, means white Zoh- ;

rah (Venus) resplendent, Zonal (Saturn) is explained as meaning

ill-natured and wandering; Mirrikh (Mars), say some authors, means
originally an arrow without feathers, and this name was applied to
Mars on account of its irregular course ; others seek for a more
natural meaning of this word, and derive it from the name of a
tree called markh ^ ^ 9
the branches of which are rubbed against

each other and produce fire; 'Utarid (Mercury), says the same

author, means a penman : and, indeed, this planet is

represented
as such ; but whether this word is ever used for penman in Arabic
is more than doubtful. Ibn Bai'tar mentions a plant which is

called Sonbal er-Rumi by the Arabs, and 'Utarid by the Naba-

theans. This might lead to the opinion that this strange-sounding
word derives its origin in its astronomical meaning, as well from
that language, to which several other terms and notions of Arabic

astronomy seem to owe their origin.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 205

moon, and allthe stars, once in a day and night,

with itself, in the direction from east to west, round
the two poles, which are fixed the one in the north,
and this is the pole of the Bear ;
and the other in
the south, which is Canopus. The
the pole of

signs of the zodiac have no other sphere than this ;

for they are certain places in heaven which have

received this name*, in order to fix after them

the position of the stars, in reference to the uni-
versal sphere. The sphere of the zodiac must there-
fore be narrow towards the two poles, and become
wide in the middle,
The line which cuts the sphere in two halves
running from the east to the west is called the
equinoctial line J^tt\ Jjo^ *jjte- Both poles are at
the same distance from this line. It has the
name equinoctial line, because when the sun is upon
it,day and night are equal in all countries of the
world. The direction from north to south in the
sphere is called latitude
o^ c >
an d the direction
from east to west longitude J^. The spheres are
round; they include the world (earth), and turn
round the centre of the earth, which stands like the
centre of a circle in the middle of them. The

* This
explains why the Signs of the Zodiac were called boruj,
sing, borj, which means stronghold, or fortress, and answers to the

Persian word Alborj, and the German Burg, Berg.

206 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

spheres of the heaven are nine; the nearest is the

sphere of the moon, above it is the sphere of Mer-
cury, then that of Venus, then the sphere of the sun,
which is between the seven spheres (of
in the middle

the planets); above the sphere of the sun is that of

Mars, then the sphere of Jupiter, then the sphere of

Saturn. In every one of these seven spheres there is

only one star. Above Saturn is the eighth sphere, in

which are the signs of the zodiac, and all other
stars. The ninth sphere is the largest and widest,
it is called the greatest sphere, and includes all
others which we have just enumerated, with the four
temperaments and all qualities*. There is no star
in it. It turns from east to west, making one com-

plete revolution every day. And in its revolution

it carries with itself all the spheres which are below
(within) it. But the seven spheres (of the planets)
turn from west to eastt. The ancients prove what

* XJuXiU
A^ ZxjjM >ULM, literally "the four
natures, and every quality." The four natures imply warmth
and cold, dryness and wet. Two of these qualities were consi-
dered as necessary for the existence of a body as the three geo-
metrical dimensions. Arabic pharmacologists begin, therefore,
the description of drugs by stating which two of these qualities, or

temperaments, they possess.

Quality XJuXiJ is the characteristic property which distin-

guishes one individual from another. (Bahr el-Jewahir.)

f This astronomical theory is
copied from Ptolemy, and is of
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 207

we have said with many arguments, but it would be

too long to repeat them here.
The stars visible to the eye and all others are in
the eighth sphere, which does not make its revolu-
tions round the pole of the general sphere (being

excentric). They bring as proof for the difference

of the motion of the sphere of the zodiac from that
of the other spheres, that the twelve zodiacal signs
follow each other in their course, without change in
their relative position and alteration in their motion
in rising and setting. Every one of the planets has
a different motion, for there is a discrepancy in their
course ;
sometimes the motion is quicker, sometimes

little interest. I give the explanation of the idea of the seven

spheres in the precise words of La Place (Exposition du Systeme

du Monde, " Ptolemee
Paris, 1808, p. 343): 1'adopta (the theory
of the circular and uniform motion), et pla^ant la terre au centre
des mouvements celestes, il essaya de representer leur inegalite
dans cette hypothese. Que Ton imagine un mouvement sur une

premiere circonference, dont la terre occupe le centre, celui d'une

seconde circonference sur laquelle se meut le centre d'une troisieme

circonference, et ainsi de suite jusqu'a la derniere, que 1'astre

decrit uniformement. Si le rayon d'une de ces circonference s

surpasse la somme des autres rayons, le mouvement apparent de

1'astre autour de la terre sera compose d'un moyen mouvement
uniforme, et de plusieurs inegalites dependantes des rapports

qu'ont entre eux les rayons des diverses circonferences et le

mouvement de leur centre et de 1'astre on peut done, en multi-
;

pliant, et en determinant convenablement ces quantites, repre-

senter toutes les inegalites de ce mouvement apparent."
208 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

it goes towards the south, other times to the

north.

They (the astronomers), define the SPHERE

JjjU! as the end Sul^iM (universe), for it embraces
the higher and lower nature*. The definition in
reference toits natural quality is, that it is a round

form, and the largest (concrete) form which includes

all others f.

The rapidity of the motion of these stars is

different, so the moon stays in every sign (of the

zodiac) two days and half a day, and she goes

through all the heaven in one month the sun ; stays

in every sign one month; Mercury stays fifteen
days; Venus twenty-five days; Mars stays in every

sign of the zodiac forty-five days; Jupiter stays in

every sign of the zodiac one year, and Saturn
remains thirty months in every sign of the zodiac.

Ptolemy, the author of the Almagest ^-

* The ether and the four elements of the

earthly bodies : the
former has its natural place above the lunar region, and is the

essence of life ; whilst the latter form the dead mass of bodies.

Compare the note to p. 179, supra.

f El-Khalil, the great grammarian, defines the word better:

*UwJJ *& jfollj "felek (sphere) is the round of the

i*fijj*

heaven:" the word has, therefore, originally only reference to

the form, and not to the matter; and this is borne out by the

original signification of the word, for it means anything round :

hence would appear that all these ideas have not been in the
it

nation, but have been imported, for else they would have a word.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 209

states, the circumference of the earth, with all its

mountains and seas, is twenty-four thousand miles;

and its diameter, that is to say, its width and depth,
seven thousand six hundred and thirty-six miles.
These data were found by taking the northern alti-
tude in two towns which are under the same meri-
dian, namely, at Tadmor, which is in the desert
between Syria and el-Trak, and at er-Rakkah.
They found the town of er-Rakkah to be under the
thirty-fifth and one-third degree of northern alti-

tude, whilst the elevation of the north pole in

Tadmor is thirty-four degrees. The difference

between both one and one-third degree. Then

is

they measured the distance between Tadmor and

er-Rakkah and they found it to be sixty-seven miles.
;

Sixty- seven miles of the earth is therefore the

known quantity yfclliM of the circle jfoW. They
divided the whole circle into three hundred and

sixty degrees, for a reason which they state ;

but it

would be against our object to demonstrate it here.

This division is correct in their opinion; for they
found that the heaven is divided into twelve parts

by and the sun, remaining in

the zodiacal signs,

every sign one month, goes through the whole

heaven in three hundred and sixty -five days.
The sphere which makes the daily revolution
turns round an axle and two poles, just like the
wheel of the carpenter or turner, who makes balls,
boxes, and other articles of wood. Those who live
p
210 EL MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

in the middle of the earth, that is to say, on the

equator, have the year round day and night of
all

equal length; and they see both poles, the north

and south poles whilst those who inhabit the
;

northern hemisphere, see only the north pole and the

Bear, but not the south pole, nor the stars near it.
For this reason they never see the Canopus in
Khorasan, whilst it may be observed in el-'Irak
some days in the year. If a camel looks at this

star it will die, according to the common belief

which we have together with the reason

related,
which is assigned that it should be fatal only to
this species of quadrupeds. In the northern coun-
triesthey never see the Canopus all the year round.
The different schools of the sciences of the spheres
and stars do not agree about the axles upon which
the heaven rests, whether they are immoveable, or
whether they have a rotatory motion. Most of
them are, however, of opinion that they do not
move. The reader may find a further develope-
ment of the opinions, whether these axles are
immoveable, or whether
they form part of the

sphere (and turn)*, in our former works.

* There seems,
notwithstanding the gross notions alluded
have prevailed a dark idea of the mutual
to in this passage, to

attraction of the heavenly bodies, amongst the Arabs, at least el-

Makrizi informs us that some astronomers suppose that the earth

is attracted from all sides
by the heaven, as by a magnet.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 211

The philosophers are at variance about the

form of the seas. Most of the ancients, such as the
mathematicians of the Hindus and Greeks, believe
that they are convex ^\A**O (round). This hypo-
thesis, however, is rejected by those who follow

strictly the revelation*. The former

bring for-
ward many arguments in proof of their statement.
If you sail on the sea, land and mountains disap-
pear gradually, until you lose even the sight of
highest summits of the mountains, and, on the
contrary, if you approach the coast, you gra-
dually perceive, first, the mountains, and, when
you come nearer, you see the trees and plains.
This is the case with the mountain of Doma-
wand jJ^Ufc> between er-Rai and Taberistan. It is

to be seen at a distance of one hundred farsangs, on

account of its height: from the summit rises a

smoke ;
and covered with eternal snow, owing
it is

to its elevation. From the foot of the mountain

gushes forth a copious river, the water of which is
impregnated with sulphur, and of a yellow hue
like the colour of gold. The mountain is so high

They probably oppose passages of the Koran, like these,

or

01 UJ

P 2
212 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

that about three days and nights are required to

ascend it. When on the top, a platform is dis-
covered, of about a thousand cubits square ; but
as seen from below, it appears as if terminating
in a cone. This platform is covered with red
sand (scoriae?), into feet sink. No
which the
animal can reach the summit, not even a bird, on
account of the height, the wind, and the cold. On
the top are about thirty holes, from whence issues
clouds of sulphurous smoke, which is seen from
the sea. From the same wind-holes <
AJJ^ pro-
ceeds, sometimes, a noise to be compared with
the loudest thunder, which is accompanied with
flames. It frequently happens that a man who

exposes himself to danger, by climbing up to

the highest mouths of these holes, brings a yellow

sulphur back like gold, which is used in different

arts, in alchemy, and for other purposes*. From

* 'Ali Ben Zorairah a man well versed in

g^, ^^ ^^ ^c,
(

natural philosophy, who made himself known through many

works, says, that he has ascended this mountain, with several
persons of Khorasan, and gives almost literally the same descrip-
tion as el-Mas'udi so that it is probable our author has derived
;

his account from him if he is earlier.

El-Kazwini, in whose 'Ajaib el-Makhlukat the above author

is
quoted, gives, under the head jebal en-nar (volcanoes), the
following account:
" Volcanoes are
numerous. There is one in Turkestan with
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 213

the top the mountains around appear like hillocks,

all

however high they may be. This mountain is

about twenty farsangs from the Caspian. If ships
sail in this sea, and are very distant, they will not
see it ;
but when they go towards the mountains of
Taberistan, and are within a distance of one hun-
dred farsangs, they perceive the north side of this
mountain of Domawand and the nearer they come ;

to the shore the more is seen of it. This is an

evident proof of the spherical form of the water of
the sea, which has the shape of a segment of a
ball.

In the same way if a man sails on the sea of

er-Rum, which is the same as that of Egypt and of
Syria, he loses sight of the mount el-Akra* ^*^
which has a height beyond measure, and is near

Antakiyah (Antioch) X/J1W, and of the mountains of

el-Ladikiyah 3ui'i&H (Laodicea), Atrabolos
(Tripolis), and those of the Isle of Kobros

(Cyprus), and other places in the Byzantine empire ;

a grotto, which may be compared to a large house and every ;

animal that goes into it dies instantly another is in Kolistan (?)

:

/. ^

There is a place in this mountain which causes instant death

to every bird that approaches it it is therefore surrounded with
:

dead animals. In the neighbourhood of Domawand is another

mountain, like the mountain of Domawand: at night fire is seen

burning on the summit, and smoke issues during the day.]

214 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

and he does not see these places although nothing is

between him and them. We shall give a more
complete account of the mountain of Domawand in
this book, what the Persians say of it.
relating
Edh-Dhahhak, with many mouths*, is bound with
iron on the summit of this mountain. The holes
on its top are some of the great chimnies (craters) f
of the earth.
There are many disputes respecting the size of
the globe. Most mathematicians believe that the
distance from the centre of the earth to the limit of
airand fire (atmosphere) amounts to one hundred
and sixty-eight thousand miles. The earth is
somewhat more than thirty-seven times greater
than the moon, thirty-two thousand times greater
than Mercury, and twenty-four thousand times

greater than Venus; but the sun is one hundred

and sixty times and one-fourth and one-eighth
times greater than the earth, and two thousand six
hundred and forty times larger than the moon; so
that the whole earth is equal only to half a tenth
(one-twentieth) of one degree of the sun. The

J'lxv/oJi "the Laugher," is one of the Arabic

names for Zohak, the Semitic invader, in the Persian empire.
Some identify him with Nimrod. The popular tradition, that he
is tied on mount Domawand, is confirmed by Ferdusi and the
Zend books.
t Ubl sing.
 AND MINES OF GEMS, 215

diameter of the sun forty-two thousand miles.

is

Mars is sixty-three times larger than the earth ; its

diameter is eight thousand seven hundred miles.

Jupiter is eighty-two times and one-half and one-

fourth (three-quarters) larger than the earth ; its
diameter is thirty-three thousand two hundred and
sixteen miles. Saturn ninety-nine and a half
is

times as large as the earth; its diameter being

thirty-two thousand seven hundred and eighty-six

miles. The bodies of the fixed stars of the first

magnitude, of which there are fifteen, are every one

of them ninety-four and a half times greater than
the earth.
DISTANCES OF THE STARS FROM THE EARTH.
When the moon is nearest to the earth the distance
isone hundred and twenty-eight thousand miles,
and when it is remotest from our globe, it amounts
to four million one hundred and nineteen thousand
six hundred miles. The greatest distance of the
sun from the earth is four million eight hundred
and twenty thousand miles and a half the greatest :

distance of Mars is somewhat more than three hun-

dred and thirty million six thousand miles. The
greatest distance of Jupiter from the earth is some-
what more than fifty-four million one hundred and
sixty thousand miles: the greatest distance of
Saturn is more than seventy-seven million miles.
The greatest distances of the fixed stars are in the
same proportions. Upon the divisions, degrees,
216 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

and distances, which we have mentioned, the calcu-

lations of time and eclipses are founded. The
principal instruments for astronomical observation
are the astrolabes
CL>lj^k-^I (armillary spheres).
Books have been written entirely on this subject.
We have devoted this chapter to the explanation of
some of those matters which are the subject of so
many discussions. Our observations may serve as a

guide to enter deeper into this subject, on which we

have treated more fully in our former writings.
Those inhabitants of Harran* who profess the

* Harran was
Abulfaragius states, that built by Kainan, and
so called after his son. This town is mentioned in Genesis, and

by several Latin and Greek authors. The passages of the

classics respecting Harran, have been collected by Vadianus.

It is probably owing to its

advantageous situation, that Mer-
wan the last Oma'iyide Khalif in the East, chose it as his residence,

and built there a palace at the expense of several millions of Dir-

hems. The Abbasides may have felt repugnance to take their resi-
dence in this town, in which Ibrahim the predecessor of es-Seffah
the founder of their dynasty, suffered death after long imprison-
ment. But under the Seljuks, Atabeks, and as late as the crusades,

Harran was a place of importance and frequently the site of one

of the feudal sovereigns; it flourished particularly under the
Beni Hamdan, who ruled over Mesopotamia, at the beginning of
the fourth century of the Hijrah.
It seems that Harran has always been one of the principal
sites of learning. Near this town was a sacred place of the
Sabeans ,
and the Harranians continued faithful to their religion,

which was that of the ancient Chaldeans, after the rise of the
Abasside dynasty, although the population round them had twice
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 217

religion of the Sabeans*, and who aspire by trum-

changed their faith: first they embraced Christianity, and then

they professed the tenets of Mohammed.

Their yearly pilgrimage to the pyramids in Egypt, brought
them into contact with the Alexandrians this led to an exchange
;

of ideas which is
very perceptible in the writings of the latter,
and which encouraged the literary activity amongst the Sabeans
of Harran, so much, that the greatest share in the regeneration
of the philosophical sciences amongst the Arabs is owing to them.
All armillary spheres and other astronomical instruments were

originally made by them and a number of Harranians distinguished

;

themselves as translators or original authors, at the earliest period

of Arabic literature, as Thabet Ben Korrah, his master in astro-

nomy BenKamita UiA+5, el-Battam ^IxxJJ, Ibn er-Ruh _. ^\ 9

the Sabean, and

many others, which will be mentioned in another
place of this book.
*
Hottinger devotes the eighth chapter of the first book of his
Historia Orientalis to the exposition of the Sabean religion. He
follows up his subject with much learning, and had a most excel-
lent guide, having made use of the Fihirst of Mohammed Ben
Ishak en-Nadim, (not el-Kadim or prisons as he writes,) known
under the name of Abul-Faraj Ben Abi Ya'kub, who wrote in
377, A,H., and died in 385.

Hottinger knew neither the title of the book nor the age when
the author lived. Both are of importance, for the date shows
that he was contemporary with men who professed this religion;
and to be the author of the Fihirst gives him the character of an
exceedingly learned and exact writer.
He lived most likely in Babylonia, and was thus in constant
contact with Sabeans. We may therefore perfectly rely on what he
says. His treatise on Sabeanism and other religions, forms the last

chapter of the Fihrist; this is the third of the last volume, of

which there is an ancient and perfectly correct MS. at Leyden.
218 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

pery pretensions*, to the knowledge of ancient

philosophy,, although they are uninstructed in the

With more caution the extracts which Hottinger gives from

Maimonides must be used.
It has been advanced by Spencer (De Leg. Hebr.) that the

Sabeans are very modern and not more ancient than Mohammed,
for they are the first time mentioned in the Koran. Now Sabi is an
Arabic word, applied to almost all Gentiles therefore, no wonder ;

ifthe word is found only in the writings of Arabic or Rabbinical

authors, and the Koran is the most ancient book in Arabic litera-

ture, excepting some poems collected afterwards. Hamzah, of

Ispahan, (MS. of Leyden,) informs us that the name of Sabeans
meant originally a sect of Christians, and has not been applied to
the Harranians before the time of el-Mamun, when they adopted
this name in order to escape a prosecution. Still more pre-

posterous is the opinion expressed in Calmet's Fragments,

DC XIII., where Sabeism is derived from St. John the Baptist.
Arabic authors who have lived with the Sabeans, state unani-

mously that they worshipped principally the seven planets. Sup-

posing this worship had been recently introduced in Harran, it was
certainly ancient amongst their brethren the Canaanites, (both the
Harranians and Canaanites spoke the Aramean language) ;
for

Manassah received from them the same religion (2 Kings, xxxiii.),

we may therefore safely suppose that the Sabeans were not

materially different from the Chaldeans, who are called astrologers

on account of their star worship. Perhaps the Sabeans of Harran

are the Orcheni of Strabo (Lib. xvi., p. 701), who were a sect
of Chaldeans in Mesopotamia.
Strabo and other Greek authors agree with the Arabs in

making the Chaldeans astrologers and star worshippers ; but we

have to account for the allusions made to them in the Scriptures,

from which it might appear that they worshipped almost merely

* " And are the rabble of ancient philosophers."
Literally,
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 219

wisdom of the Greeks (Chaldeans?), have

idols. On examining the names of those idols, we find that they

are the Semitic names of the planets. Aserah JTV10N <> r Astarte,

is az-Zohrah the Arabic name for the planet Venus which ;

syfc-JN
was also called Balthi ^XxJ\ (Beltis in Greek authors).

Thamus may be taken for shomus

u*j.$JJ, plural
of shams, the

sun, for Adonis, with whom this deity is identified by Jerom, is

the sun as well; Merodach is Merrikh, the name of the planet

Mars in Arabic, the word is derived from mar ad ^w, which
means to be rebellious both in Arabic and Hebrew; and as the

original meaning of marad is the same as that of maras

^wo
and marakh it seems that only mar is the primitive syllable,
}<*,
it is therefore not surprising to find the name of this planet
written Merodach, Merrikh, and Mars. Nebo means a prophet,
which is the name of Mercury or 'Utarid amongst the Sabeans;
for this planet is the patron of the priestclass ;
as has already
it

been noticed by Norberg, who establishes the fact by the testimony

of the Syro-Chaldeans.
Baal means lord, and is the name for
Jupiter, but frequently

applied to the sun ; perhaps some of the sects of Chaldeans con-

sidered the sun as lord, and called it
consequently Baal : the
identity of Baal with Jupiter confirmed by the testimony of
is

Herodotus, which is worth more than that of all later authors,

who transcribed one another as far as it suited their purpose, and
referred in their learned ignorance to books and never to what

they could have witnessed themselves. See also p. 1 99 supra note.

More examples could be added and errors of mythologists cor-
rected, but these will do for our purpose. The representations of
the stars as idols, seem therefore to have been intended for the

exoteric; for we must distinguish here more than with any other
nation between the notions of the exoteric and those of the un-
initiated. The reader will find a developement of the former
in the additional notes to this chapter.
220 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

adopted a gradation of the priests in their temples,

which is an imitation of the system of the
nine spheres*. The highest priest is called rds

* El-Makrizi of the Earl of Munster, vol. Korrah

(MS. iii.,

40) says nearly the same thing of the priests of ancient Egypt ;

" A priest who has served the seven planets seven years, has the

title Bahir
jJ&L,
and a priest who has served them forty-nine

years, seven years each, has the title Katir k|y '>
he enjoys such

high honours that the king rises before him, allows him to sit
down on his side, and consults him in every action which he does.
Then the other priests come in, and with them the artisans, and
stand opposite the Katir. Every one of their priests is
exclusively
destined for the service of one planet, and he must not pass to

another. He is called a servant of such a planet, so one says

the servant of the moon, the servant of Mercury, the servant

of Venus, the servant of the sun, the servant of Mars, the servant
of Jupiter, and the servant of Saturn. When they are all mar-
shalled, the Katir says to one of them, Where is
thy Lord
day ? to

and he answers, such a sign of the zodiac, and in such a degree

in

and minute. Then he asks the next, and so he goes through all
of them ; and when he knows their position in reference to the

sphere of the zodiac, he says to the king, you ought to do such

and such a thing to-day: he tells him what he is to eat, when he
may go into his harem, when he
is to go on horseback, and so

on, to themost minute thing. A secretary writes down every

word that he says. Then the Katir turns to the artisans, and
orders them what they are to do/' &c.

f The word Stt^T

is not in the copy of Cambridge. The
variants between crotchets are all from the Cambridge copy.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 221

Komorr*. The Christians, who came after them,

arranged the orders of priests in their hierarchy
after the system which had been laid down by the

Sabeans. The Christians call this gradation ordina-

(read

* This word is met with in the Scriptures (2 Kings, xxiii. 5,

&c.), where it is
exactly spelt as here "1D3. The Hebrew language
does not afford an explanation of its
meaning for those which
;

have been advanced, as that it means black, or priest of the

moon ^5 (o and not with a J), are not founded. In Arabic it

means penis, or longum penem habens vir, and it is

exceedingly
likely that this word was taken in this meaning, for the office

of the Komorr answered to that of Batrick, which represents, as

we may observe, something higher than the ninth sphere. Arabic
astrology, which is the daughter of the Pagan religions of Asia,

places there the procreative power, which the Arabs sometimes

call God, and sometimes the throne of God for an incorporeal ;

being not so well adapted to the system.

is In the first mean-
" God commands, and there
ing, says our author, page 46, supra,
flows what he likes from heaven to heaven (or sphere to sphere),"
And "
&c. in the second meaning, we read, in el-Kazwini, Some
Moslims make agree the revelation of God and the opinion of
the philosophers, and think that this sphere
is the stool, and the

tenth sphere, which is the greatest of all, is the throne of God."

222 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

tion (el-'Atab). The first (lowest) order is es-Salt*,

*
The Salt answers to the Ostiarius in the Roman degrees
of ordination, and to the sphere of the moon, in ancient astrology.
As it may lead to interesting comparisons between the exoteric
notions and the various forms under which they were made
available to the uninitiated, the characteristics of the seven

spheres and planets are detailed in this and the following notes
after Abu Ma'sher, Balinos, and el-Kazwmi, and occasionally
their views have been compared with those of the Greeks, and of
the Zend-Avesta, to show the identity of ancient religions, philo-

sophy, and astrology.

The moon is a female planet (Zendavesta, vol. ii., 382;
Arist. Hist. Anim., vii., 2; Pliny, lib. ii., 104), and has an affi-

nity with the female element the water which she attracts ; and
hence she causes the tide (Zendav., tome ii., 370, 385 ; Pliny,
ibidem). She is the concentration of light, and was, before the
introduction of Greek astronomy amongst the Arabs, believed to
shine with her own light (Zendavesta, vol. ii., 18, and p. 80,

supra). She is the planet which gives fertility, increases the

seed, animal warmth, and affection (Zendavesta, i. 26, p. 426 ;

Aristotle, de Generat. Animalium, ii.

4). To the moon silver is

sacred amongst the metals, and white amongst the seven colours,

every one of which, it seems, was considered to be fixed in a

metal, and sacred, together with the respective metal, to one of
the seven planets. All white or grey animals, of a meek tem-

per, are equally consecrated to her, particularly such birds, also

mules, fruit-trees, &c. The sphere of the moon is the isthmus of

immortality under it is the fire and air (atmosphere) of the earth,

;

which is mutable but above the moon everything is pure and

;

divine (supra lunam pura omnia ac diuturnae lucis plena: Pliny,

lib. ii., cap. 7) : hence she is called the gate of the heaven, and
 s AND MINES OF GEMS. 223

the second Aghsat *, the third Nudakirf, the

the order of priests sacred to her sphere must naturally be the

Ostiarius, or Porter.
The moon, considered as a goddess, is
frequently not distin-
guished from Venus.
* To this order answers the
atmosphere, or sphere of Mer-
cury, which is three hundred and eighty-eight thousand four
hundred and eighty-miles thick. The planet itself is described as
radians by Pliny (ii., 29), an epithet which is equally given to
the sun by the same author. It is probably this quality of diffus-

ing its
rays which has also been noticed by astrologers, that this

planet is considered to diffuse the light of wisdom and knowledge.

He is the god of penmanship XjlxXf \, and a child born under the

influence of this planet will be meek and clever. It was, at all

events, a correct notion, that the next step after the gate of the
heaven should be the pons asinorum, and that wisdom should be
the first degree in heaven, and in the hierarchy within the gate :

hence this order in the Catholic Church is called Lectorship, and

the Lector receives a book at the Ordination. The astrologers
are probably equally right in calling the patron of the Savans

and priests cJi^UU (the unprincipled, or hypocrite). They say

that he adds energy both to lucky and unlucky constellations, as
he happens to meet them.

)
This order answers to the sphere of Venus, which is three
million seven hundred and ninety-five thousand and ninety- two

miles thick. The lovely star which animates this sphere, and

keeps always near the sun like a lover, and approaches to him, or
recedes for a short time like a coquette, was represented as the
224 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

fourth Shemasheryam *, the fifth Kissis f, the sixth

beauty of the heavens at all times and by all nations. Arabic

astrologers call her the lesser luck JU^M <>sx*JJ, and ascribe to

her influence mirth and love. Pliny and the Zend-books agree
with them in assigning to her the procreative (not generative)

power. To this star brass was sacred, and the green colour
(verdigris); also fish, serpents, bees, grapes, sparrows. The
ancient Christian Church seems to have found no higher ideas

respecting the lucky influence of this star amongst the Sabeans,

than that it averts evil; hence this order has the power of

destroying the bad effects of evil spirits, and the priests of this
order are called Exorcistes in Greek and Latin. If there was no
other evidence of the mixed nature of the Ritual of the Romish
Church, the gross superstition of having an order of exorcists
would be proof enough.
* The Greek name of the order is Acoluthos (follower) he :

has the same office as the clerk in the Anglican Church. The
order answers to the sphere of the sun, which is ten million one
hundred and seventy-six thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight
miles thick, and was considered as the mediator, as will be shown
in the additional notes. The Acoluthos is the highest of the four

minor orders, and is also the mediator between the people and
higher orders, as the sun between the lower and higher planets.

f The sphere which corresponds with this order is that of

Mars, which is ten million one hundred and seventy-six thousand
nine hundred and ninety-eight miles thick. The blood-red colour
of this planet has brought it into discredit with astrologers, who
call it the lesser misfortune JU^J y**^\J!,
besides its course

appeared to the ancients (Pliny, ii., cap. 15) so irregular, that

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 225

Barduth *, the seventh Huzabiskatos f : he is after

they are justified in calling him the Marikh, rebellious. He is

the god of iron, and the red colour

(peroxyde of iron), of war,
lions, tigers, hyaenas, of the Turks, and everything terrible.
Under his protection are birds of a red colour, and the lapwing
which is one of the best known ill omens in Oriental
\^>J^J!,

superstition.
* This order was the
representation of the sphere of Jupiter,
and is called Diaconate in Greek and Latin. I am not suffi-

ciently acquainted with its office and ceremonies to know its

relation to this sphere. Jupiter is the greatest of all the planets,

and if the ether was the essence of the heavens, and the stars
like the souls of the ether, this star had a natural claim to be the

lord of all other planets. The astrologers call him the great
luck rS$\ JuuJl* and ascribe to him all the good. To Jupiter,
blue (the colour of the sky), and copper (vitriol, or sulphate of

copper), is sacred ;
also emerald, onyx, jasper, ruby, and all sorts

of precious stones ; farther musk, wheat, and every thing that is

esteemed.

f This order represents the highest of the planetary

all

spheres ; that of Saturn, which is

twenty-one million six hundred

and six miles thick. Saturn is

represented as an old man, and
this is the name of this order in the ancient Christian Church;

for Presbyter has the same signification. Arabic astrologers call

Saturn the great misfortune and Pliny seems to
jS$\ ^r^xM,
think that this planet must be cold and dreary, on account of its

great distance from the sun.

To Saturn the heavy and ignoble metal lead, and black is

sacred, and all unclean animals, as pigs, dogs, &c.

[The Reader
Q
 226 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

the Bishop. The eighth is the Akkaf *; the ninth

is the Mitran (Metropolitan), which means the
head of the town. And above all these ranks is

the Batric (Patriarch), which means father of the

fathers, or of the mentioned orders, and the laymen.

The reader will find in the additional notes to this chapter at

the end of this volume, more philosophically accounted for, the
qualities attributed to the spheres of the heaven and the planets.
* This is a corruption of Bishop, or literally who
eVto-KOTroy,

inspects from above. This appellation is very well chosen ; for

the order represents the signs of the zodiac which do look down
from above on the planets.
f I transcribed the
copy of Mr. Gayangos, with all its faults
in order to give to the reader the variants which it presents in the
names of the orders:

Lf*

Lo
^C l^Jol^ ^ Xi^Xfj XA-J^J <Sj\*s>\\
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 227

This is the opinion of the Esoteric Christians

respecting these orders ; but the Exoteric give other

reasons, alleging that a king had introduced them
and other things which it would be useless to
relate. These are the orders of the Melikites
(Orthodox), who form the main body, and are the

original Christians ;
for the Eastern Christians, or
'Ibad*, who are called Nestorians and Jacobites, are
branches of them, and their imitators. The Chris-
tians took, as we have said, the whole of the insti-

* Other Arabic authors take the name 'Ibadites in a more

limited sense, applying only to the Christians of el-Hirah.

Q 2
228 EL-MAS UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

tution of their orders from the Sabeans: Kissis,

Shemas, and other ranks.

Manes rose as Heresiarch after the Messiah,
and Ibn ed-Dai'san and Marcion followed his ex-
ample. From Manes the Manicheans have their
name ;
from Marcion the Marcionites ;
and from
Ibn ed-Daisan the Daisanites.
In subsequent times
rose from them the Mozdakians, and other sects,
who follow the Dualistie doctrine.
The reader will find in our books,, theAkhbar
ez-zeman, and the Kitab el-ausat, a number of
anecdotes respecting these sects, and an account of
the fabulous stories which they tell, and of their
laws which they assign to God, although they are
made by man. We
have also treated on these
sects in our book " On the various opinions on the

principles of religion ^\ J c^UiU ^ V UT

CjUUx!!. Wehave spoken of the books of these
religious opinions, and the destruction of these
sects, in our work entitled the "Explanation of

read)
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 229

the principles of religion"

In these chapters we enter on the points on which
scholastic theology dwells, and which are the prin-
ciple objects to be described. We allude only to
striking facts, by way of narrative, and with the
view to give an insight into the history of the sects,
lest this book should be found defective in such in-

formation respecting them, as a well-informed man

ought to know; but we do not mean to enter into

any polemic discussions.
230 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

NINTH CHAPTER.

A concise account of seas that have changed their

places, and of great rivers.

THE author of the Logic <JikzJ,J (Aristotle) says,

that the seas change their places in the lapse of
centuries and the length of ages. And indeed all

seas are in a constant motion; but if this motion is

compared with the volume of water, the extent of

and the depth of their abysses, it is as if
their level,

they were quiet. There is, however, no place on

earth that is ever covered with water nor one that is

ever land, but a constant revolution takes place

effected by the rivers which may run in one place
or discontinue their course, for this reason the

places of sea and land change, and there is no

place on earth always land nor always sea. At
periods there will be land where there once has been
sea; and the sea will occupy what one time has been
land. These revolutions are caused by the course
and origin of the rivers,, for places watered by
rivers have a period of youth and decrepitude, of

growth and of life and death, like animals and plants,

with the difference that growth and decay in plants
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 231

and animals do not manifest themselves now in one

part and
then in another, but all parts grow

together, so they wither and die at the same time.

But the earth grows and declines part by part.
This is also connected with the revolutions of the
sun.
The learned are at variance about the rivers and
springs, and their origin. Some are of opinion that
all have the same ultimate source, namely, the

greatest sea. This is the sea 'adab c_> xc j^e, and

not the Okianos (the Atlantic). Others suppose
that the water is in the earth in the same way as the
veins in the body. Some reason thus : It is a law of
nature that the surface of the water be level, but
as the earth is in some places high and in others

deep, the water goes to the deepest part, and when

it is enclosed in caverns it has a tendency to form

steam, which produces a pressure on the earth from

beneath ; it gushes forth and gives origin to springs
and (
rivers. Frequently water is the product of the
air which is in the bowels of the earth, for water is

no element djJU&wf o-rot%etoz/), but it is the product

of the rottenness* and the exhalations of the earth.
We forbear mentioning here the various controver-
sies which are extant on this head for fear of tres-

* This a medical term which means gangrene, and

X>*A is

implies the last stage of inflammation which precedes it.

232 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

passing our limits, for we mean to abridge what we

have said in other works in detail.
Much has been said on the beginning, course,

length, and end of large rivers; like the Nile,, the

Euphrates, the Tigris, the river of Balkh or Jaihun,

the river Mihran j,|^-o
in es-Sind JsJUJJ
cSo^-*'
the Ganges <j~s^> which is a large river in India,
and the Atanabus u*oUkJ (Danube), which falls

into the sea Nitus (Black Sea), and other large

rivers. I saw in the geography (of Ptolemy), a

drawing of the Nile as it comes forth from the

mountain el-Komr j$\ J,**-, rising from twelve
sources ; then the water falls into two lakes which
are like the marshes (of Babylonia between Wasit
and el-Basrah) ; further on the water is collected in
its course into one stream which passes sandy
districts, and (on the foot of) mountains. It pro-

ceeds, flowing through that part of the country of the

Sudan (Negroes), which borders on the country of
the Zanj, and a branch goes off from it into
g^L
the sea of the Zanj ^'^j^ This is the sea of the
island Kanbalu* which is well cultivated, and the
inhabitants are Moslims but they speak the Zanjee

language. The Mahomedans have conquered this

island and made the inhabitants prisoners, just as

they have taken the isle of Crete (jiJajjj'J

in the

* The MS. bears

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 233

Mediterranean. This happened at the beginning of

the 'Abbaside and end of the Omaiyide dynasties.
From this island to 'Oman, the distance is, according
to the account of the sailors, about five hundred

farsangs by sea. This however is a mere conjecture,

and not geometrically measured. Many of the sailors
of Smlf and 'Oman who visit this sea, say, that they
found in it, at or before the time when the Nile
increases in Egypt, different colours within the
small space in which the river continues its course
in the sea, for it forces its way to some distance on
account of its rapidity. The river comes from the
mountains of the Zanj and is above a mile wide.
The water is sweet and becomes muddy at the time
of the increase. There live in it susmdr (alliga-

tors) ^Uw^xJ! which means crocodiles like those in

the Nile of Egypt, they are also called Warl ^\.
El-Jahit supposes that the river Mihran in
es-Sind is the Nile, alleging as a proof that cro-
codiles live in it. I cannot understand how this

proof can be conclusive. This he states in his book

" on the
leading cities and the wonders of the coun-
tries"
(^tXXxJJ 4-^b^^La^^! i_>ur. It is an excel-
lent work, but as he has never made a voyage and few

journies and travels through kingdoms and cities,

he did not know that the Mihran of es-Sind comes
from the well-known sources of the highland of es-

Sind, from the country belonging to Kinnauj

 EL-MAS UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,
J
234

in the kingdom of Budah **#, and of Kashmir

5, el-Kandahar and et-Takin (sfU&\
^Lfrjafl!,

, the tributaries which rise in these coun-

tries run to el-Multan and from thence the united
river receives the name Mihran. El-Multan

^lU^U means meadows of gold. The King of

el-Multan is a Kora'ishite, and of the children of

Osamah Ben Lawi Ben Ghalib ^j c5>J ^j 2UL-J

-*Jlc. His dominion extends as far as the frontier

of Khorasan. The lord of the kingdom of el-

Mansurah who is descended

^y^JLtJ! is a Koraishite,
from Habbar Ben el-Aswad* Jy-^J
^^ who J^ 9

has been one of their t kings. The crown of el-

Multan has been hereditary, in the family which
rules at present, since ancient times, and nearly
from the beginning of the Islam.
From el-Multan the river Mihran takes its

course to the country of el-Mansurah, and falls

about ed-Daibol into the Indian ocean. In this sea
are many crocodiles, for it has several estuaries and

gulfs as the estuary of Sindabur j^^^o (^^tX^)

in the kingdom of Baghar ^L (L>.) in India;

'
The reader finds a notice of this family in Reiske's notes
to Abulpeda's Historia Islamitica. Vol. I.

f El-Mansurah is taken as the name of the inhabitants, and

for this reason the used here.
plural is Compare the note to p.

176, supra.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 235

the estuary of ez-Zanj in the dominions of the

Maharaj and the gulfs of el-A'nab v Us^M (grapes),

which extend towards the island Serendib (Ceylon).
The crocodiles live particularly in sweet water, and,
as we said, in the estuaries of India the water of
which is most part sweet, on account of the
for the

streams which arise from rain and fall in them.

Now we return to the description of the Nile of

Egypt. The philosophers say, that its course on

the face of the earth, through cultivated and waste

countries, is nine hundred or one thousand farsangs

before it comes to Oswan in Upper Egypt. The
boatsfrom el-Fostat go as far up the river as
Oswan but some miles from Oswan are mountains
;

and rocks, and as the Nile takes its course through

the midst of them, the navigation is rendered
impracticable. These rocks form the line of separa-

tion between the Nile navigation of the Abyssinians

and Moslims. This part of the Nile has the name
of huge stones and rocks j^*aJi ^jUij (cataracts).

Having passed through Upper Egypt the Nile comes

to el-Fostat. It passes the mount et-Tilemun
and the dam of el-Lahun ^yfc&H at el-
^^^wJaM,
Fayyum. In this place is the island which Joseph
had chosen for himself and which was granted to
him kju. The history of Egypt, of the landed

property there, and the buildings raised by Joseph,

will be related in the thirty-first chapter. As the
236 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Nile continues its course it is divided into many

branches which go to Tinms, Dimyat, Rashid, and
el-Iskandariyah (Alexandria), but the canal which
goes to Alexandria had no water previous to the
inundation of this year 332. I have heard [I am in

Antakiyah (Antioch) and the Syrian frontiers], that

the Nile rose to eighteen cubits, but I do not know
whether the water runs through the canal of Alex-
andria or not.
Alexander, the son of Philip of Macedonia,
has built Alexandria on this branch of the Nile.
The most part of the water of this river had then
its course to it, and irrigated the country round
Alexandria and Maryut ^^, so that it was in the

most flourishing state of cultivation, and an unin-

terrupted line of gardens extended from Maryut to
Barkah Xi^j
in the Maghrib. Vessels went up the
Nile, and came down as far as the markets of
Alexandria. The bed of the Nile in the town was
paved with stones and granite. In subsequent
times the water deposited so much mud that the
canal was filled, and the passage of the water ob-
structed. Others assign a different cause, which
rendered it impossible to keep the bed of the canal
clear. We cannot enter on their opinions ; for
the plan of our book excludes such details. The
Alexandrians began to drink the water of wells ;
for the Nile runs about one day's journey from
Alexandria. We account
shall give a full historical
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 237

of this town in the chapter devoted to the descrip-

tion of Alexandria.

The water which, as we stated, falls into the

sea of the Zanj, forms an estuary, which comes
to the upper part of the course of this river through
the country of the Zanj, arid separates this country
from the remotest provinces of Ahyssinia. If it was
not for this gulf, interjacent deserts, and marshes,
the Abyssinians could not defend their country

against the Zanj ;

for they are superior in numbers
and bravery.
The river of Balkh, which has the name Jaihun
(Oxus), rises from several sources, and, having
passed et-Tirmid xy3J, Asfarayin ^y.iyu-k and
other places of Khorasan, it takes its course
through Khowarezm : there in several places it

branches off: the rest falls into a lake, on which

the town of el-Jorjaniyah X/JU*^it is situated in the
lowest part of Khowarezm. This is the greatest
lake there, and many believe that it is the greatest
lake in the cultivated world; for it is about one
month's journey long and wide. There is some
navigation carried on in this lake : it also receives

the river* of Ferghanah and esh-Shash, which runs

through the country of el-'Adat cihUSJ and the

* The Sirr of the Tatars, and Sa'ihun

Suyi ^y0\~*
of the Arabs.
238 EL-MAS'uof S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

town of Hai's JJMA^, on which go down

boats
into the lake. On this river the Turkish city

named Newtown x>xiJ (Yanghi Kant) is &j<x

situated, amongst the population of which are some

Moslims; but the majority are Turks. The popu-
lation of this place consists of Ghizians*, who are

* One copy bears XxKxJJ, and another 3o Isstachri

JJ.

places there the *jjy \ 1 this seems to be more correct, and is

confirmed by the author of the Oriental Geography, who writes

.
They are, therefore, the nations whose name is spelt Ghozz
in the Kamus, and Ghiz in the Jagata'i dictionary printed at Cal-
cutta, and who are better known in Western Asia under the name
of Seljiiks, as the founders of several dynasties, and, in their

under the name Kirghiz, as nomades. Kir

original site,
jo
means a and Kirghiz
plain, ytro a Ghiz of the desert, or a

nomade. They took this name probably in contradistinction of

their brothers, who were at Bagdad domineering slaves ;

and at a
subsequent period servile masters over almost all the Moham-
medan dominions. For this reason the addition Kir to the name of
the Ghiz seems to be comparatively modern, although Abulghaziy
connects them with Oghuz-Khan. This seems to be confirmed by
the Chinese writers, who call them Ha-Kya-szu (pronounced
Hakas) in ancient times, and Ki-li-ki-szu, which is
pronounced
Kilgis since the thirteenth century. names Kirghis and As the

Seljuks came into use, the name Ghiz Oghuz or Hakas disappeared.
Before we go further in the history of the name Ghiz, it is

necessary to make a few remarks on its sound and the way in which
this sound is
expressed by different writers and in the various
compounds in which we meet it. The first letter is g. This
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 239

mostly nomades; but some are settled. They are

Turks by origin, and divided in three hordes dU^t,

the higher, middling, and lower horde. These are

letter is not in the Arabic alphabet, hence Abulghaziy (p. 26

of the Tatar text.) writes the name Kirghiz in three different ways ;

and CkircMz. The

yfjS' KirJciz, yij*S Ckirghiz, \.A3j3
same author informs us further that g is pronounced by some
Tatar tribes like j, and that they spell Kipjak (or Kapjak)

oLsEVJ, *
and Jipjak oUs^V
*
The second letter has the same
V V
sound as the u in French and the v in Greek, and which, in Greek
as well as in Tatar words, sometimes expressed by a Kasrah or i
is

in Arabic, sometimes
by a Dhammah or o, and sometimes by a

^
or u. The third letter seems to be a z, but it would appear
that some Tatar hordes pronounce it like th or t. The name of
the Circassians (Jerkez), for instance, seems to have been pro-
nounced Cercetse at the time of Pliny (vi., 5.)
The Archbishop Siestrencewicz de Bohusz proves in his

work, Sur Y Origins des Sarmates, Petersbourg, 1812, vol. iv.,

p. 637, with a host of testimonies from ancient authors, that the

Scythians called themselves Goths, or Gots: this is, therefore,

clearly the same name as Ghiz. The Archbishop derives from

Goth the word Scyth, saying the S may have been added by the
Greeks. He could have confirmed this conjecture by the exam-
ple of some other name of the same nation, to which an S is pre-
fixed, although the name of the man, from which it is derived,
does not begin with an S. Herodotus (iv., cap. 6) derives
namely the /Scolotes from Col (Colaxain).
Eichwald (Alte Geogrophie des Kaspichen Meeres) identifies
the Scythians with the Judes, and there can be no doubt that
both names are only different pronunciations of the name Ghiz.
We find the name Ghiz farther in the Getes, Tyragetes (or Getes
240 EL-MAS'UD1'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

the bravest of Turks, and have the smallest eyes,

all

and most diminutive stature. The author of the

logic (Aristotle) observes, however, in the four-

who lived on the Tyras), and Massagetes of the ancients, and in

the Tunghiz, Targhiz, Taghizghiz, &c., of Oriental authors. It

seems tliat 'he word Ghiz

is
pronounced like Gete in Tatary, and
not a Greek corruption hence we read Gete in the history of
:

Timour (Transl. by Petis de la Crois, vol. i., p. 26), which

is written 3uj=. Jitta in the Persian original (MS. of theEarl of

Munster). The identity of the Kirghiz with the Massagetes of

Herodotus is shown by their geographical position, and confirmed

by Chinese authors, who give the same account of them as

Herodotus.

Although the Massagetes of Herodotus and other classics,

and the Ghozz, Kirghiz, &c., of Oriental authors, are undoubtedly
of Tatar origin, it has been proved by Eichwald, that the Getes
and Tyragetes of the classics were Slavonians. It seems, there-

fore, that the name Ghiz or Gete, which is so widely spread in

Central Asia, and which has been so sacredly preserved since the
most ancient times, applied originally rather to a religion than to
a nation, to which the Budini (Buddhists?) seem to have been

opposed. In this case the name of the Goths may not be different
from that of Ghiz. We find that Arabic authors use the name
Ghozz and Turk indiscriminately: as Turk is
undoubtedly the
name of the Tatar race, the other must have originally meant
their religion, the founder of which was most likely Oghuz Khan
As this note is already too long, we reserve it for
^jUi^E^.
the additional notes to say something more on this man and reli-

gion. The division of the Ghiz into three hordes, of which

our author speaks, is still existing, notwithstanding their numerous
emigrations; and it seems to have existed as early as the time
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 241

teenth and eighteenth books of his work on the

animals where he speaks of the bird
^j^JL^,
called el-Gheranik that
ui^\^ (yepavos the crane),
there are some Turks who are of a still smaller
size*. The reader will find an account of all the
Turkish hordes in occasionally interspersed notices,
and under a peculiar head further on in this
work.
The town of Balkh has a Ribatf ,
named el-

Ahashban ^U&^J (^Uo^j), about twenty days'

when they made the inroad into Persia, recorded by Herodotus ;

for his Massagetes are undoubtedly the Getes, or Ghiz, of the

great horde masa means great in Pehlewi and we cannot doubt
; ;

that Herodotus derives his knowledge of the fact from the

Persians.
* Aristotle, Historia Animalium, viii.
cap. 12. says, the cranes

go from the Scythian steppes to the marshes above Egypt, from

which the Nile comes, and fight with the Pigmies. The Arabic
translator seems to have correctly rendered the word Scythians

by Turks; but he has misunderstood the passage in placing the

Pigmies in Scythia, and making them Turks.

-(-
Ribat kU . is a frontier place, exposed to the invasions of

those who have not embraced the Islam. In order to form in

such places an armed population, for the defence of the Moslim

territory, some worldly advantages, all possible privileges in

heaven, and the title tajL~ were attached to a residence in them.

Most divines declare a place where the unbelievers have once

made an invasion, as a Ribat for two years; after the second

inroad, forty years; and after a third invasion, for ever

for

(Hidayah, and its commentary the Kefayah).

R
 242 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

journey from the city, in the most distant of its

dependencies. Beyond this Ribat live various un-

believing nations, as the Turks, called Ukhan*
j,U^ (^U^J); and Tubbet ciuJ south of these
Turks are others, named Inghan ^Uut (Talighan?f).
In their country rises a great river, which bears the
name River of Inghan J ^Uwt ^J Some O&Q-
persons, who are acquainted with those localities,
believe that it is the beginning of the river of JBalkh,
or the Jaihun. The length of its course is about
one hundred and farsangs : some make it four
fifty
hundred farsangs, from the beginning of the river
of the Turks, that is to say, the Inghan. Geogra-
phers who think that the Jaihun falls into the
Mihran (Indus) of es-Sind, are wrong . We

*
Perhaps they are the Ouhoun of Deguignes, Histoire de
Huns, vol. ii. pp. 24 and 50, or the Auchatae of Herodotus, iv. 6.

f Burnes' Travels to Bokhara, vol. ii.

p. 202.

J Isstachri, p. 114, gives to the main stream of the rivulets,

which form the Jaihun, the name of L and to the country

^ ly-j
whence it comes from, that of loW ^ Wajan,
1
on the frontier of

Badakhshan. This is probably a more correct reading than

Inghan.
This is the opinion of the Zend-Avesta (p. 392), and it

the Mohammedans " Le

came probably from the Guebers to :

Veh roud passe dans le Khorassan, parait dans la terre

de Sind,

et coule dans le Zare de 1'Hindoustan; la on 1'appelle le Mehra

And " Le Veh roud est encore
roud." p. 393, appelle Kase;"
car dans le Sind on 1'appelle Kase." And " Le Kase va
again,
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 243

will not speak here of the Black and White

dans la ville de Tous; la on Casp roud." We have

1'appelle le
here three rivers, which form a semicircle, and separate Iran from
three Keshvars, or climates :
India, Tibet and China, (Frededafshe
and Videdafshe), and from Tatary (Vorojereste?). The name
for the whole line of water is Veh roud. Kase seems to be
at the same time the Oxus (Jaihun), and the river of the

Penjab, which rises near the sources of the Oxus. It is

very likely that the name OPUS is formed from Kase by prefix-

ing the Greek article 6, and subjoining the termination os. The
Casp roud is the Ochus of the ancients. The opinion that the
Oxus once fell into the Caspian, seems to owe its origin to the
circumstance that the Guebers did not sufficiently distinguish the
Oxus and Ochus. Mehra, or Mihran is still now the name
of the lower course of the Indus. These three rivers had all the
same importance for the Persians, as frontier, as well as in a
commercial and agricultural point of view hence they said, for ;

the sake of system, that the whole line of water falls into the

Gulf of 'Oman, since the principal river has there its mouths. It
appears, namely, that they had the idea that their sacred land was
on all surrounded by rivers, and that the Veh roud, or
sides

south and eastern semicircle, corresponds with a north and western

semicircle, called Arg roud, formed by the same sea and the Tigris
with which they may have connected the A raxes. This will explain
what is said in the Zend-Avesta, ii., p. 390: "Les deux rouds

(the Arg roud, and Veh roud), de deux extremites, font la tour
de toute la terre (of Iran), vont (passent) dans le Zare, et

mangent tous les Keschwar. Ensuite tous les deux se jettent

dans le Zare Ferakh Kand (the Sea of 'Oman, and Persian Gulf)."
As the frontier of Iran [or rather the Khounnerets, i.e. 9

Babylon (see p. 199, supra); for this idea being so wrong res-
pecting eastern rivers, must have had its origin in the west] was

extended, the Ochus was neglected in the north-east, and the

R 2
244 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Arisht* o&Aj^l C*x>j\ ^ s^W ^^, on which the

kingdom of Kai'makf Baighur % ^ybo ^V(u^)

is situated, who are also Turks, beyond the river

Jaihun. On these two rivers live the Ghaznians

(Ghiz?) X/JytM (SujpjJl),

who are equally Turks.

Euphrates, and even the Nile, with the Mediterranean, were

taken into account in the west. The Tigris (Arg roud) conti-
nued, nevertheless, to be the sacred river, as it is in the Zend-
Avesta; and even under the Khalifs, there was no Mohammedan
festival celebrated with so much pomp as that on the Tigris, at the
time of the summer solstice. The Tigris separated the sacred
land from the three other Keshvars or climates; Arabia (Shave),
the West and Egypt (Arze), Mesopotamia and Asia Minor (Vo-

robereste?); so that it is
literally true that these two lines of
rivers water (mangent) all seven climates, or Keshvars. The
division into these seven climates (which el-Mas'udi has described

p. 199, supra) is, therefore, originally relative to the place where

the division was made.
As the Arg and Veh roud consist ultimately of four rivers,

as many flow in the paradise of Moses.

* If the nations on this river are the Uigurs, this name
should be written Irtish, elsemay be the Sirr (the Saihun of
it

Arabic geographers, and the Jaraxes of Strabo), which is also

called Ariss, or Arsh.

-j- Perhaps it is the same name as the Ka'imar

l^f mentioned
by Abulghazi (Edit. Tatarica, Kasan, 1825) in the genealogy of
the Turks as one of the fathers, which always means a tribe or
nation. There is for the rest a Turkish horde of the name of
Ka'imak, mentioned in the Jihannuma apud J. v., Hammer,
Hist, de 1'empire Ottoman.

| Probably ^yfcx-j instead of ,ybJ Ighur, or Uighur.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 245

Many tales are related about those two rivers. We

do not know the length of their course.
Various accounts are current respecting the

Ganges u^s^*, which is the river of India: it rises

in the mountains of the most remote parts of India,

towards China, not far from the Turkish frontier,

and falls, after a course of four hundred farsangs,

into the Abyssinian Sea ^^^>sr, on the coast of

India.

The Euphrates ci|;iH has its sources in the

country of Kalikala &u)|? (Arzen-er-Rum., vulgo

Erzerum), on the Armenian frontier, from the

mountains called Afradohosf yM^^!

about one day's journey from Kali-kala
The course of the Euphrates goes through the By-
zantine territory, till it enters (into the Moslim

territory) at Malatiyah jUkXx>. A Moslim, who has

been a prisoner of war in the Christian countries,
tells me that the Euphrates receives in its course

through the Byzantine territory many tributaries.

One of them comes from the lake of el-Mazerbun
j which is the largest lake in the

* The Mohammedans had lost

sight of the Ganges when
Alahmud of Ghiznah conquered India; and they called it then

iT, after the Persian way of spelling,

f Compare St. Martin, Mem. sur I'Armenie, vol. i., p. 45.

 246 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Byzantine empire; for it is one month long

and wide, or more. They ply boats on it.

The Euphrates comes to Jasr Manbij ^y

after it has passed the castle of Somaisat

which is built of clay: then it comes to Balos L

and passes Siff in ^^A*?, the field of the battle be-

tween the Moslims of el-'lrak and Syria (under
'Ali): farther on it passes er-Rakkah, er-Rahabah

Su^ll, Hit iJlAx4>, and el-Anbar ^Uttl, In these

places several canals are derived from it, like the

'Isa canal, which passes Bagdad, and joins the

Tigris. The Euphrates continues its course to Stir

j**> G!***)> Kasr Ibn Hobairah SJAX*

el-Kufah, el-Jami'in ^^lii, Ahmedabad(?)
* el-Yerman j^N (u~j&\), and et-Tafuf
;
then it runs into the marshes between el-

Basrah and el-Wasit. The whole course of the

Euphrates is five hundred farsangs or more. The

greatest part of the water of the Euphrates had
once course through el-Hirah: the bed may still
its

be traced, and it has the name of 'Atik (ancient).

On it was fought the battle between the Moslims and
Rostam (at the time of 'Omar), called the battle of

el-Kadesiyah. The Euphrates fell at that time

into the Abyssinian sea, at a place which is now

called en-Najaf cju?UJ ;

for the sea came up to this
place, and thither resorted the ships of China and

India, destined for the kings of el-Hirah. Many

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 247

ancient historians, who are well acquainted with

the battle days of the Arabs, as Hesham Ben Mo-
hammed el-Kelbi csvJKit, Abu Mokhnif Lut Ben
Yahya, and esh-Sharki Ben el-Katami ^j ^*j~\\

^LkJfJ!, relate that the inhabitants of el-Hirah for-

tified themselves in the white tower of el-Kadesiyah,
and in that of the Beni Bokailah(or Bakilah) XXxJu csu,

when Khaled el-Mekhzumi ^^^\ marched

against them, in the reign of Abu Bekr, from el-
Yemamah, with the victorious army which had
slain the false prophet of the Beni Hanifah csu

XJux-*. These were the towers of el-Hirah, which

lay now [in 332 A.H.] in ruins, and nobody lives
there. The site of the town is three miles from el-

Kufah. When Khaled saw that the Hirians were

fortifying themselves against him, he encamped his
army not far from en-Najaf: he himself rode with
Dhirar Ibn el-Azur el-Asadi er3w>^J j*$\ ^jjj ^\j*>,
who was oneof the Bedouin horsemen, to the city ;
and they came to the tower of the Taghlebites

j*. The Christians ^^Uc threw pots

jjyaL
on them, which made his horse shy. Dhirar
said, "May God make thee quiet, for this is the

greatest stratagem which they are prepared to

make." Khaled returned to his camp, and sent
to them that they should depute an intelligent
aged man to him, that he could ask him about
their affairs. They sent 'Abd el-Mesih Ben 'Amr
 J
248 EL-MAS uni's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Ben Kais Ben Hayyan Ben Bokailah el-Ghassani

to him, who had built the white citadel. Bokailah
had this name because he went out one day in a
green silk dress and the people said, who is this
;

'
bokailah? (herb XXJu). This is the same Abdul -
Mesih who went to Satih
<g&**
el-Ghassani the

soothsayer, to ask him about a dream of the

Miibeds ^Jjw^U, and the earthquake which the
palace of the Persian kings at Ctesiphon had sus-
tained, and other things which had reference to the
Sasanian kings.
'Abd el-Mesih was then three hundred and fifty

years of agewhen he came to Khaled. He was

walking: Khaled looked at him when he drew near,
and said,
" Whence dost thou descend, O Sheikh?"
He " From the kidnies of my father."
answered,
" Where dost thou come from?"
"From the womb of my mother."
"Where art thou?"
" On the ground."
" In what
(place) art thou?"
" In
my clothes.''
" Art thou
by reason or insane?"
"
Why, by God, I am a leader, (and therefore
certainly an intelligent man)."
" The son of how art thou*?"
many

* This is an Arabic idiom, meaning " of what age are you?"

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 249

" The son of one man."

" man
By God, I requested them to send a of
their city to said
" and
me," Khaled, they depute
an idiot, who, ask one thing, answers another."
if I
" "
By God," replied the man of el-Hirah, I answer
precisely to thy questions, ask further."
" Are
you Arabs or Nabatheans?"
" Weare Nabathized Arabs, and Arabized
Nabatheans*."
"Do you wish for war or peace?'*
16
For peace."
" And what is the meaning of these fortifica-

tions?"
"
They are built for mad people who are shut up
in them till they come to their senses."
" How are come over thee?"
many (years)
" Three hundred and
fifty."
" And what hast thou seen?"
" I have seen the
ships of the sea coming up to
us in this deep country (cjbdli) with the goods of
es-Sind and India: the ground which is now under

thy feet was covered with the waves of the sea.

* That is to say, we are agriculturists, retaining some Bedouin

habits, for Arabmeans only a Bedouin; (See E. Lane's

c_^c
Modern Egyptians), and Nabathean J^J means as it will be
shown in a note to the twentieth chapter, the agriculturists on the
skirt of the desert, of Bedouin origin.
250 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Look how far we are at present from the shore. I

remember that a woman might set out with her

basket on her head, and would find the whole coun-

try in so flourishing a state, covered with villages,

plantations, trees, and cultivation, intersected with
canals and ponds full of water, as far as Syria, that
she would not require more than one cake for her
provision*; What is it now? It is destroyed and

desert. So God visits his servants and country."

Khaled, and all who were present, were asto-
nished at what they had heard. They recollected
the name of 'Abdel-Mesih, for he was famous
amongst the Arabs for his great age and sound
reason.

They say he had a poison with him, the effects

of which were instantaneous.
"
Khaled asked him, " What hast thou here?
11
Virulent poison," was his answer.
11
What wilt thou do with it?"

* The reader must bear in mind that it is a duty in the east

commanded by feelings and sacred by habit, religion, and honour,
tobe hospitable to strangers. Hence it is
only in deserts that they
carry their provisions with them.
Other authors describe in similar terms the nourishing state in
which the Ahkaf has once been, saying, that the palm-trees were
so fertile and abundant, that if a woman went out of doors with a

basket and put it down, she would find it after a while full of dates,

wherever may have stood, and without any exertion on her part.
it

Perhaps the words of our author had originally the same meaning.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 251

He " I took with me with the in-

answered, it

tention that if I should receive such proposals from

thee as may be agreeable to me and favourable for
my countrymen. I would accept them and praise
God for them, (and not take the poison). But in
the contrary case, that I might not be the first
who returned home laden with disgrace and sorrow,
I intended to devour this poison and to quit this
world, for only a short time more is allotted to
me."
"
Give it to me," ordered Khaled, and took it

in the palm of his hand, saying,

" In the name of

God, and by God, in the name of the Lord of heaven

and earth, in the name
of the Almighty, in whose
name nothing on earth goes wrong." After he had
pronounced these words he devoured it he immedi- ;

ately fainted away, and his chin sank on his chest.

They opened his clothes ; he recovered and was
full of vigour.
The 'Ibadite returned to his people. He was an
'Ibadite ^j JUr by religion, which means a Nestorian
Christian. When he came into the town he said,
" O come from the Satan he has devoured
people, I ;

poison of which the effects are instantaneous, and it

has not done him the least harm ; do what you can
to have him far from your town."
"They are a people full of ardour, and their cause
is rising, whilst that of the Sasanians is
sinking.
This religion will have a success which will extend
252 EL-MAS'UD1'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

over the earth, but corruptions will creep into it."

all

They made peace with Khaled under the condition

that they should pay one hundred thousand dirhems,
and wear a black sash ^LJUlaJJ yt^ ^Ls (rolled
round their heads, and hanging down behind as a
humiliating mark of distinction from the Moslims.)
Khaled broke off from es-Kirah, and said the fol-

lowing verses on the subject.

" How is it
possible that after the Mondirs a
price should be laidon (the two splendid palaces of
the kings of el-Hirah) el-Khawarnak u&jjsi and \

es-Sodair ^*XwJJ, although they are protected by

the horsemen of every tribe, against the roaring
lion. And how comes it that I should pasture in

the gardens between (the canals of) Marrah *^o

and el-Jofair j>*4-\. We were become (united) like
the flock on a rainy day, after the (tribe) Abu-
Kais have perished. We
have slain the Ma* add
tribes in open combat like camels destined to be
sacrificed. We raise tribute like the Kings of Per-
sia, and it is
paid to us by the (Jewish tribes of
Khaibar), the Beni Korai'tah j&jjjiJl,
and en-Nad-
hir j#ti\. So the chances which lay in the bosom
of time are uncertain, to-morrow may bring joy or
sorrow."
We
have inserted this story here in confirmation
of our statement, respecting the changing places of
the seas and the shifting of the waters and rivers in
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 253

the course of time, and daring the lapse of ages.

When the waters did not run any longer to this
place the sea became land, and at present there is a
distance of several days between el-Hirah and the
sea. Whoever has seen the Najaf will fully enter
into our views.
In the same way the Tigris has changed its

course; there a great distance between the pre-

is

sent course of the river and the dry bed which is

stopped by the sand, and called Batn el-fauhi

gf=L\ L.J*j ;
it runs close on the town of Bados u^L,
in the district of Wasit of el-Irak to Dafiri

turning towards Sus u*^ in Khuzistan <

whilst the new bed passes east of Baghdad, at a

place called Rakkah esh-Shemasiyah 3u*U&!J >,;

and an inundation has brought the river to the west

where runs at present between Kotrobbol Jo^k*
it

and the Town of peace (Bagdad), so that it passes

the villages called el-Kobb v^* esh- Shark!
&j"&9
and other which belong to Kotrobbol. The
estates,
inhabitants of these places have had a law -suit, with
those of the eastern side, who are in possession of

Rakkahesh-Shemasiyah, in the reign of el-Mokta-

der, in the presence of his Vizier, Abul-Hasan 'Ali
Ben 'Isa. What well-informed men have
deposed
at this occasion, and what we have stated are facts
which are well known at Bagdad. If the water
changes its course in about thirty years the seventh
254 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

part of a mile it will make nearly one mile in two

hundred years and if the water of a river retires
;

four hundred cubits from its original place, this

place will be waste. Through these causes places

are rendered uncultivated, and if the water finds a

declivity or a descent it widens by its course and

rapidity the bed as ground away to an

it carries the

immense distance, and wherever it finds a wide and

low place it fills it and forms lakes, marshes, and
lagunas. By these means places which have been
cultivated become deserts, and those which were
without cultivation become cultivated. Everybody
of common sense will understand and appreciate
what we have said.

El-Mas'udi says, all historians who possess just

ideas respecting the history of the world and its

kings, know, that in the year in which the Prophet

of God sent messengers to the Kisra
^^J**, and
this was the seventh year after his flight from
Mekka to Medinah, the Euphrates and Tigris were
so much swelled that they never had been so before;
the water made immense breaches and holes which
were greater than the canals, and as the canals
could not hold the water the dams and mounds gave

way, and the water filled the lower country.

The Persian King, Abrawaiz ^^ (Perwiz),

* This is the Arabic pronunciation of the Persian title

Khosraw which means possessed of an extensive kingdom.

j^.**i,
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 255

endeavoured to confine the water again, to repair

the dams, and to open the trenches olj^Lfc; but
he was unable to control the river, it took its course
towards the place where, in our time, are the
marshes. The cultivation and fields were sub-
merged, and whole districts were changed into the
marshes which are there at present, his exertions to
stop itbeing inefficient. The Persians were soon
after occupied with the Arabic wars; the water
broke through and nobody could turn his
its limits,

mind to the reparation of the dams, so the marshes

became wider and more extensive.
When Mo'awiyah had come to the Khalifat he

appointed his adoptive 'Abdullah Ben Derraj *XAC

&\j* cj^ ^ over the tribute of el-'Irak, and he

raised from the lands on the marshes fifteen million

(of Dirhems*) worth by cutting the reeds grown in

these marshes, and taking the whole as property of
the state. In subsequent times the water made
more breaches through the dams and mounds, and
when Hassan en-Nabti, the adoptive of the Beni
Dhobbah, was revenue cellector under the Khalifat

* Arabic authors
frequently mention the sums without stating
what sort of money is meant. In these cases it is a general rule
that Dinars are understood if they speak of those countries which

had been under the sway of the Byzantine empire and Dirhems,
;

if the provinces in question had formed

part of the Persian
monarchy.
256 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

of el-Walid for Hejjaj Ben Jusof, he gained some

lands from the marshes.
The whole extent of the marshes which the
water occupies at present, is about fifty far sang s
long and as many broad. In the centre is a round
place in which the ground rises; this is a city
covered with water, and if the water is clear one may
see at the bottom the ruins of buildings; some
stones are standing in their place whilst others
still

have fallen down. One may still trace the plan of

the buildings. The same is the case with the lake
of Tinnis and which may be
Dimyat (Damietta) ,
in

seen the farms and towns as we have related in

another place in this book, and in other works.
Now we will resume our subject and describe the

Tigris, its sources, course, and mouths. It comes

from the country of Amid <x*J, which belongs to
Diar Bekr, but the sources are in the country of
Khelat k&^, which forms part of Armenia. It

receives various tributaries as Sarit k>>r -o

(^uy*)
and Satid JuSU-, which come from the country of

Arzan, and Mayyaf arikin (^b'Uc ; and other rivers,

as the river Dusha l^J, el-Khabur, which comes
from Arminiah, and falls between the country of
Masura* and Faiz-Sabur f in the countries of
,

or jy* or
\

j or jUai' or
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 257

Kerda and Bazenda*, into the Tigris, and the

A'wari cf j}Z\ (jJv$L>), which comes from el-Mausil
and its dependencies, the country of the Beni
Hamdan. The poets say of these rivers, "On
the Karda and Bazenda it is delightful to spend the
summer and spring ;
for their water is as cool
as the Salsabil (a spring in Paradise), whilst the
ground of Bagdad is as hot as live coals, and the

heat is
oppressive." The river el-Khabur is not the
same which has its sources at the town of Ras el-

'ain, and falls below the city of Karkisia IA^A^J into

the Euphrates. The Tigris passes in its course the
towns of Balad jJL and el-Mausil : it receives below
el-Mausil and above the Hodaibiyah (the rough
country) of el-Mausil J^U jU^x-*, the river ez-Zab
vl>M from Arminiyah; this is the greater Zab,
farther on the other Zab, which comes equally from

Arminiyah and Aderbaijan, pours its waters into it.

The Tigris proceeds to Tikrit, Samarra J^oL*, and
Bagdad, receiving the Khandak ojjil!, es-Sorah
x\j*d\ (*\j&\),
and nahr-'Isa ^^AC these are ^:
the canals which we have said run from the
Euphrates into the Tigris. When the Tigris has

or

copy of Leyden bears J^JL!

from the country of Karenda, and the (river) Zahadra comes from
el-Mausil.

S
258 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

quitted Bagdad, it receives a great many rivers

(canals), like the Badnal jbjo (iL^j or <S\^), and

Nahras u^j (Nahr-Nar, or Nahr-Shir?), the
Nahr-Wan, not far from Jarjaraya L^.^, es-Sib

v***JJ> and No'maniyah XoLjJJL Having passed the

town of Wasit, the Tigris is divided into several
branches some of which run into the marshes of
;

el-Basrah, as the river called Baradud V^> or

the el-Yahudi river, and the Shami (or Samarri)
branch. On the stream which goes to el-'Akar

jjud\(^k!j), the greatest part of the navigation

from Bagdad and Wasit to el-Basrah, is carried
on. The whole course of the Tigris is about three
or four hundred farsangs.
We
have omitted many rivers, describing only
the larger ones, which are better known; for we
entered into details in our works, the Akhbar ez-
zeman and the Kitab el-ausat. We shall give
further notices in this book of rivers which have
been named, and of such as we have omitted to
mention.
El-Basrah has several great rivers, like the

Nahr-Shirin Nahr-ed-Dair ^*xM> and the

(.ju^
Nahr-Ibn-'Amr. There are also some considerable
rivers in the province of el-Ahwaz and the country
between this province and el-Basrah. We forbear

entering upon them here, having given accounts of

them, and of the shores of the Persian Gulf at el-
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 259

Basrah and el-Obollah, and of the place known

under the name of Hezarah *j^.=U (or el-Herarah),
which a strip of land projecting into the sea*,
is

close to el-Obollah, and which is the cause that the

sailors go into the harbour of el-Basrah. There are
marks of wood erected for the sailors in the sea, at

Hezarah, on the side of el-Obollah and 'Abbadan,

which look like three seats in the middle of the
water, and upon which fires are burnt by night, to
caution the vessels which come from 'Oman, Siraf,
and other ports, least they run against the Hezarah;
for if they run there, they are wrecked and lost.

* The MS. of differs from the other two and

Leyden copies,

bears on the contrary, there is a bay *^\

^ j^^^ u-
in which the vessels lay.

S '2
 260 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

TENTH CHAPTER.

Account of the Abyssinian sea, its extent, gulfs,

and straits.

ESTIMATES have been made respecting the extent of

the Indian sea, which is identical with the Abyssi-
nian sea length from the most western part of
: its

Abyssinia as far as China in the east, is eight thou-

sand miles, and its breadth is in one place two thou-
sand seven hundred, and in another one thou-
sand nine hundred miles, for it varies in different
places. These dimensions have been disputed, but
\ve will not enter into the different statements,
because there are no proofs upon which they rest.
This is the greatest sea of the habitable world. It
has a gulf extending from Abyssinia as far as Ber-
bera, a country situated between the territory of the

Zanj and the Abyssinians. This gulf is called the

Berberian gulf <?^ jUt it is five hundred

giM
miles long, and at the beginning and end one hun-

dred miles wide. These are not the Berbers *r>\n

who live west of Afrikiyah (Africa pro vincia), for
that is a different country although it has the same
name. The sailors of 'Oman go on this sea as far

as the island of Kanbalu f>JUj, in the sea of the

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 261

Zanj. This island is inhabited by Moslims, and by

Zanj who have not embraced th Islam. The

sailors of 'Oman to whom we have just alluded,
believe that this gulf, which is called the Berberian

gulf, and with them the sea of the Berbers and of

the country of Jofuni ^yL^ *&j, is much greater
than we have said. The waves of this sea are huge
like high mountains.

These are blind waves ^S^^-o; this (marine)

term means waves which rise as high as mountains,
and between which abysses open like the deepest
valleys but they do not break; hence no foam is
created like that produced by the collision of the
waves, in other seas. They believe that these waves
are enchanted. The sailors of 'Oman who sail on this

sea are Arabs, of the tribe of el-Azd ^W, and when

they are on board a ship, sometimes lifted up by
these waves, and then again sinking between them ;
"
they say verses whilst they are at work, as, O
Berbera and Jofuni and thy enchanted waves.
Jofuni,, and Barbera, and their waves,, as thou seest
them."
These go on the sea ez-Zanj as far as the
sailors

island of Kanbahi ^JUxi* and the Sofalah (low coun-

try), of the Demdemah*, which is on the extremity

'

One copy bears

JJ^LJJ ^ XJU-o S&j and another MS.
XJUL*. It does not require any explanation why these

two readings have been changed in the translation.

262 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

of the country of the Zanj and the low countries

JJUJ thereabout. The merchants of Siraf ^j^jl j**Ji

are also in the habit of sailing on this sea. I have
made a voyage on it from Sohar*, which is the

capital of 'Oman, with a crew of Sirafians ; they

are the owners of the vessels like Mohammed Ben
Zindibud and Jauher Ben Ahmad, known under the
name of Ibn Shirah ^\ ^ y*y^ "K*^j &t <x*s2

(jy*j) 5^Aj ^..jjlj oj^xU, who perished in this sea

with his whole crew.
And, 304 A.H., I made a voyage from the
in
island of Kanbalu to 'Oman, in a vessel of Ahmad
and 'Abd es-Samad 4*^1 ^XAC, brothers of 'Abd
er-Rahim Ben Ja'fer of Siraf. I passed then the
spot where, subsequently, the vessel of Ahmad and
'Abd es-Samad was wrecked, and where these two
men perished with their whole crew. When I
made my first voyage on this sea, Ahmad Ben Helal
Ben Okht el-Kattal JUXJ1 Z

* Both M. Quatremere followed

copies bear Sinjar AZCUJ, and
this reading- in the extract which he gives of this passage in the

Memoires sur 1'Egypte, vol. ii., page 182, the true reading seems
to be 1^.
f The MS. of Cambridge gives him the name ,
.
^
0$ Mohammed Ben Zeidum (?) of Siraf. It is
^.AA*M fj&Jj
probably the same person as Abu Zeid of Siraf, in Reinaudot,

(p. 39).
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 263

was Emir of 'Oman. have frequently been at sea;

I

as in the Chinese sea ^jywa!^^, in the seaofer-

Rum, in that of the Khazar j^\ (the Caspian), of

el-Kolzom ~^&\ (the Red Sea), and in the sea of
el- Yemen: I have encountered many perils, but

I found the sea of the Zanj which we have just

described the most dangerous of all.

There is a fish in this sea called el-Owal $\j$\

(whale), which is from four to five hundred 'Omari

cubits
tsjf.\\ ,[>^ l n g> these are the cubits in use
in this sea. The usual length of this fish is one
hundred perches ^L. Frequently when it swims
through the sea only the extremities of the two fins
are to be seen, and it looks like the sail of a ship

\jid\ j&j X*.

Generally the head of the whale is

out of water; and when powerfully ejects water, it

it

gushes into the air more than one bowshot high.

The vessels are afraid of it by day and night, and
they beat drums <_^lj j and wooden poles to drive it
away. This fish drives with its tail and fins other
fish into its open mouth, and they pass down its

throat with the stream of water. When the whale

sins God sends a fish about one cubit long called
esh-Shak &z\\* , it adheres to the root of its tail

* Quatremere translates this passage in his Memoires sur

1'Egypte, vol. ii., p. 491, and found this word written sal; one of

my copies bears
264 EL-MAS'UDl'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

and the whale has no means to make itself free from

it. It goes therefore to the bottom of the sea and

beats itself to death; its dead body floats on the

water and looks like a great mountain. The fish
called esh-Shak, adheres frequently to the whale.
The notwithstanding their size, do not
whales,
approach vessels; and they take flight when they
see this little fish, for it is their destruction*.

In the same way a little animal which lives on

the banks and islands of the Nile, is the destruction
of the crocodile. The crocodile has no natural

passage through its body; and whatever it eats is

turned into worms in its belly: when it feels any

inconvenience it
goes out on the land and lays on
its back, opens its mouth, and there come the water-
birds like Taitawif cf^LJaJJ, the Hasani
the

jU^it QUait), the Shamirek J^clwJJ, and other

sorts of birds, to eat the large worms which may be

* The translation of M. Quatremere of this sentence

runs,
" L'okal
qui ose attaquer un vaisseau, quoique grand qu'il soit,

prend la fuite des qu'il appergoit ce petit poisson qui est son

plus terrible ennemi." This sounds much better than the transla-

tion which I give. Since probability and the authority of this

distinguished orientalist is
against me, I transcribe the original

after three copies,

^

1^3
Xj'l?
^ L*^ ^ would certainly be more natural if the

words did run

l^IoxJ _J^|
t See Calilah et Dimnah, p. 124.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 265

in the belly of the crocodile. This little animal

watching in the sand, seizes this opportunity to
jump on its scales, and goes down its throat. The
crocodile throws itself violently on the ground, and
goes to the bottom of the Nile. The little animal
devours its intestines and gnaws its way out. This
little animal is generally about one cubit long,
resembles a weasel, and has legs and claws.
In the sea of the Zanj are many and variously

shaped species of fish, if people do not tell stories to

cover their ignorance. But as it is not our object
to relate the wonders of the sea, nor to describe the
aquatic animals, serpents, and other strange crea-
tures, which live in it, we will now return to the

description of various divisions, gulfs, inlets, and

its

tongues of land. Another gulf of the Abyssinian

sea is that which comes up to the town of el-Kolzom

which belongs to Egypt, and is three days

fjAjiH*
from Fostat. On this gulf is the city of Allah, the

Hejaz*, Joddah *x^, and Yemen. It is one thou-

sand four hundred miles long, and where it is widest

two hundred miles broad.Opposite the mentioned
places as Ailah and the Hejaz, on the western
coast of this gulf is el-'Allaki, el-'Aidab v^**J'>
which belongs to Upper Egypt, the country of

el-Bojah s\M &>j\ ;

then Abyssinia and Nigritia

* The MSS. bear \ and *)A.

266 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

, which form the coast of the Red Sea,

as far as the frontiers of the Sofalahs, (low district,)

_U3UJ of the Zanj. At

the Sofalah of the country
of the Zanj another gulf branches off, and this is the
Persian sea which comes up to el-Obollah,, to the

Khashabat, cijU^ 1, (the wooden sea-marks), and

to 'Abbadan j,bU, which belongs to el-Basrah.
The length of this gulf is one thousand four hun-
dred miles, and the breadth at the entrance five
hundred miles, but in some places it is not above
one hundred and fifty miles wide. This gulf has
a triangular shape, at one angle el-Obollah is
situated, thence the gulf extends towards the east

along Faris. Of the places situated on this coast,

we name Persian Daurak u^iM ^^9 Maherban
^LjjfcU (Mahruban), and Shiniz ; from this town
the embroidered Shinizee cloth has its name;
for this and other sorts of clothes are manu-
factured there: farther the town of Jannabah,
whence the Jannabee cloth X>oUil v^t has its

name*; the town of Najiram p*^0, belonging to

Siraf JJjA-a, then the countries of Ibnf 'Imarah

?
the coast of Kerman and the coast

* 'ITiese manufacturing and other towns were destroyed at

the time of Abul-Feda owing to the rule of the Turkish soldiers,
whom the 'Abbasides had called in to keep up the course of
absolutism against their own nation.

f Some copies leave out the word Ibn.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 267

of Mokran ^JC*, which is the country of the

Khawarij, who are Heretics *\jS\ ^^ gjl*^*
The whole of this coast is a palm country: then
comes the coast of es-Sind there are the mouths
of the river Mihran
^jfr*> which is the river of
es-Sind (Indus), and has been described. In the
es-Sind is the town of ed-Da'ibol. Then comes
the coast of India, the country of Borudh
u^'
whence the Borudhi cinnabar has its name.
Thence extends one interrupted coast as far as

China, partly cultivated, partly waste.

On
the coast opposite the mentioned countries
as Kerman and es-Sind is el-Bahrain, the islands of

Kotr ^33, the Shatt of the Beni Jadimah ^ k

&:<x^, (who belong to the 'Abdel-Kais tribe), Oman,
the country of el-Mahrah s^Xt, as far as the

promontory of el-Jomjomah **2aj?i u^l;, in the

country of esh-Shihr ^s^l; on this coast is also

el-Ahkaf, and near the coast many islands are

situated, like the island of Kharak J^U., which

belongs to the country of Jannabah, and has its

surname after it: between this island and the con-
tinent a strait of a few miles,, in which the pearls
is

called Kharaji pearls are found. Another island is

called the isle of Awal _J^ *j*y?>
there live the

Beni Ma'n ^.j** ^ij, the Beni Mismar J^** 9

and a great number of other Arabs. It is about
one day or less from the towns of the coast of
 EL-MAS UDIS MEADOWS OF GOLD,
J
268

Meran, which belongs to el-Bahrain. On this coast

which is called the coast of Hajar jz&&, are the
towns ez-Zarah i^tyi and el-Katif. uLlaxH.
After the isle of Awal are many other islands

as the isle Lafit L^O^, which is also called the island

of the Beni Kawan ^\J6 csu. It has been con-

quered by 'Amr Ben el-'Asi, and there is his mosque

standing to this day. This island is very populous
well cultivated, and has several villages. At a short

distance from it is the island of Haijam ^ Urufc. There

the sailors take in water. Then the mountains
known under the name of Kosair, Owair, ^s. ^ ?*$>
and a third one the name of which is not known.
Then ed-Dordur, which is called the terrible Dordur
>
and by the sailors the father of hell;

^\) at these parts of the sea rise

enormous black rocks high overhanging the water,

neither plants nor animals can live on them, and under
them the sea is very deep and stormy, hence every-
body who sails there is filled with fear; they are
between 'Oman and and vessels cannot help
Siraf,

sailing through the midst of them. There is a

constant current of the water which makes it foam.
This sea, I mean
the Persian gulf, which is also called
the Persian sea, is skirted by the countries and towns
which we have enumerated, as el- Bahrein, Faris,
el-Basrah, and Oman, and extends as far as the

promontory of el-Jomjomah. Between the Persian

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 269

gulf and the gulf of el-Kolzom and Ailah (the Red

Sea,) is the Hejaz and el- Yemen ;
this land extends

fifteen hundred miles between the two gulfs, forming

a peninsula which is surrounded for the most part

by the sea before described.

On this sea extending from China along India,
Faris, 'Oman, el-Basrah, el-Bahrain, Yemen,
Abyssinia, the Hejaz, el-Kolzom, ez-Zanj, es-Sind,
and in the islands which it surrounds, are so many
and various nations, that their description and
number is known onlyAlmighty who has
to the

created them, and every section of them has a name

by which it is distinguished from the rest. The

water forms one uninterrupted sea. There are
many places in this sea where they dive for pearls
s. s-

jM. On these coasts, cornelians, Madinj

which is a sort of coral, and different

sorts of rubies, sapphires, diamonds, and turquois

are found. There are mines of gold and silver in

the country of Kolah X# and Serirah '^^ and
on the coast of this sea are mines of iron, in the
countries about Kerman. 'Oman produces
copper.
From the countries which form the coast of this

sea, come different sorts of perfumes, scents, am-

bergis, various drugs used in medicine, plantane,
cinamon, cinnabar, and ruscus ^1,^x^01. We shall
hereafter specify the places where those precious all

stones, perfumes, and plants are found.

270 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

This sea which we have described, bears the

general name
of the Abyssinian Sea
^z^\ J&-
The winds of the different parts of this sea which
we have described, and every one of which has a
distinct name, as the Persian gulf, the sea of Yemen,
the sea of el-Kolzom, the sea of Abyssinia, and the
sea of ez-Zanj, are different. In some seas the wind
comes from the bottom of the sea, stirring up the
water ; waves rise therefrom as in a boiling kettle,
where the particles J^ of the heat of the come
fire

from underneath. In others winds and storms come

partly from the bottom of the sea, partly from the
air, and in some seas the wind arises wholly from

an agitation of the air without any wind coming

from the bottom of the sea. Those winds which,
as we have stated^ come from the bottom of the
sea, arise from the winds which blow from the land
and penetrate into the sea, from whence they rise to

the surface of the water. God knows best how this

comes.
There are several winds in those seas which are
known to the sailors to blow in particular directions
at certain times. This peculiar knowledge is ac-

quired by theory, practice, and long experience.

They also have a knowledge of certain signs and
indications by which they can tell whether the wind
will be high or not, and when a storm maybe expected.
What we have said here of the Abyssinian Sea, may
be applied in some measure to the Mediterranean,
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 271

where the Byzantines and Moslims have certain signs

by which they can tell if the wind will change. The
same is the case with the sailors of the sea of the

Khazar, (the Caspian) who go to Jorjan, Taberistan,

and ed-Dailem. We shall give in the following
pages, a view and some details of the description and
history of those seas, and their wonders, if it is the
will of God, for there is no strength but in God.
272

ELEVENTH CHAPTER.

The different opinions on ebb and flow, and all that

has been said on this subject.

FLOW means the coming in of the water

,x*JJ

according to its nature and the laws of its motion.

The ebb j^ii is the going out of the water, and rests
on laws which are the reverse of those of the flow.
This may be observed in the Abyssinian sea, which
comprehends the seas of China, India, and the gulfs
of el-Berbera and Faris, as we have said in the pre-

ceding chapter. With respect to the ebb and flow,

the seas may be divided into three classes, the first
of which comprehends those seas in which ebb and
flow take place, and are apparent and evident ; the
other in which ebb and flow take place, but are
not perceptible ; and finally, there are seas in which
there is no ebb and flow at all. In those seas which
have no ebb and flow, the cause of their absence
may be threefold. The first cause is this if the :

water remains some time quiet it becomes salt,

heavier, and denser: it happens frequently that the

water goes into certain places for one cause or
another, and forms a sort of lake, diminishing in
 AND MINES OP GEMS. 273

summer, and increasing in winter, and one may

observe that it is increased by the accession of rivers
and springs. To the second class belong those
seas which are far from land and extensive, a cir-

cumstance which renders it impossible to observe

the ebb and flow. The third class comprehends such
seas as are on volcanic ground, for if the ground is

in volcanic action the water is in a constant current

to another sea, being increased in volume and
swelled by the air which is originally in the earth,
and thence communicated to the water. This is
particularly frequent with seas that have an exten-
sive line of coast and many islands*.
A variety of opinions have been started respecting
the causes of the ebb and flow. Some ascribe them
to the influence of the moon, for she being congenial

ju *iu

\j Means an increase in volume without an

(apparent)
addition of matter. If this increase be effected
by heat it is

c>Jiij J^fsW^, and if

by the absorption of another stuff as air

and humidity, it is called <s\LsxiJJ

^sik^CJJ. The secondary
meaning, which alone is found in Dictionaries is to boil.

T
274 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

with water makes it warm and expands it.

They
compare her influence with that of fire: if water is
exposed to the influence of heat in a kettle, although
only one-half or two-thirds of the kettle be full, it
will rise when it boils, until it runs over, for its

volume becomes apparently double whilst weight its

is diminished, it
being a law of heat to expand bodies,
and a law of cold to contract them. The bottom of
the sea becomes warm, and by these means sweet
water is produced in the earth, which is changed (into
salt water) and becomes warm, as it happens in

cisterns and wells. When the water is warm it

expands, and when it is expanded, it is increased in
volume ;
and when its volume is
great, every particle

pushes the particle next to itself, and so it raises the

level as it rises from the bottom, for it requires more

space. The full moon communicates a great deal of

heat to the atmosphere, hence the water increases in
volume. This is called the monthly tide (spring

tide).
The Abyssinian sea runs from east to west
along the equator; after this line the moveable
heavenly bodies and those fixed stars which stand
vertically over it make their daily revolutions.
When the moveable bodies are at a sufficient dis-
tance from the equator their action upon the sea is

suspended, but when they are near the line they

exercise their influence upon the sea from one end
to the other every
day and night; with all that, the
 AND MINES OF GEMS, 275

place exposed to their influence shows but little

increase; it is therefore particularly in rivers and

other channels through which the water flows into
the sea, that the flow is distinctly seen.
Others say, if the ebb and flow is the same phe-
nomenon as the expansion of water in a kettle under
the influence of fire, which makes the water rise,
the sea will, after it has been removed from the
bottom of its basin, go according to its nature

(gravity), to the deepest places of the earth, and so

it will return into its former place, just as the water
which boils in a cauldron goes as fast back to the

bottom of the vessel as it is

displaced by the particles
of the fire (heat). Now the sun is the warmest

body and;
if the sun was the cause of ebb and flow,
the would begin with the rising of this
latter

luminary, and the former with its setting. They

believe therefore that ebb and flow is caused by

vapours, which are produced in the bowels of the

earth and continue to be generated, until they are

discharged. This discharge pushes the water of the

sea, and it remains in this state until the pressure
from underneath it is diminished; then the sea
returns to the depths of its bed and the ebb succeeds.
Hence ebb and flow take place indiscriminately
during day and night, summer and winter, indepen-
dent of the rising and setting of the sun and moon .

They say further the fact is evident, for as soon as

the ebb is over the tide comes in, and the end of the
T2
 276 EL-TMAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

flow immediately succeeded by the ebb, for the pro-

is

duction of these vapours is constant; when they are

discharged they are replaced by others. Whenever

the water of the sea runs back into its basin vapours
are generated by the contact of the water and earth.
When the sea returns vapours are produced, and
when it rises they are
discharged.
The orthodox say, everything, the course
strictly
and reason, of which cannot be discovered in nature
must be ascribed to the (immediate) action of God, and
isan additional proof of his unity and wisdom. For
ebb and flow no natural cause can be assigned.
Others say the motion of the waters of the
sea is not different from the vicissitudes of the

temperaments pl& in men. You may observe

in choleric, sanguine, and other persons, that their

temperament is roused for a time then it is quiet

again. In the same way the sea rises by degrees,
and when it has come to the greatest intenseness, it
sinks by degrees.
Another hypothesis has been advanced, opposed
to those already mentioned. It is assumed that the

air which is in contact with the water of the sea,

produces a constant decomposition of it the con- :

sequence of which is that the waters of the sea are

expanded and rise, and this is the flow ;
but in the
mean time, the water spreads and produces a decom-
position of the air which makes the water return into
its former place ,
and this is the ebb. These actions
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 277

are constant, and follow each other without inter-

ruption, for the water decomposes the air, and the

air decomposes the water. It may be greater when
the moon is full, for the activity of this (chemical)

change is increased. The moon is therefore the

reason of a more copious flow, but not of the flow

altogether, for the flow takes place although the

moon be in the last quarter. And the tide in the
Persian gulf is sometimes greatest at the rising of
the first quarter.

Many of the Nawajidah gj^ly [this is the name

for the sailors of Siraf and 'Oman, who are con-
stantly on this sea, and visit various nations in
the islands and on the coast,] say that the ebb and
flow takes place only twice a year in the greatest

part of this sea, once in the summer months, then

the ebb is six months north-east, during which the
sea of China and of other countries of that quarter
of the globe is high, for the water flows then from the
west ; and once in the winter months, then the ebb
is six months south-west, for in winter the sea is
fuller in the west, whilst the sea of China ebbs.
The motions of the sea cohere with the course of
the winds, for when the sun is in the northern

hemisphere, the air moves to the south, hence the

sea is during summer higher in the south, for the
northern winds are high and force the water there.
In the same way when the sun is in the southern

hemisphere ;
the course of the air, and with it the
278 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

current of the water, is from south to north, and

hence there is less water in the south. The shifting
of the water in these two. directions, from south to
north and from north to south is called the hyemal
ebb and flow; the ebb of the north is flow, in the
south vice versa, and if the moon* happens to
meet with another planet in one of these two direc-

tions, the warmth is increased by their joined

action, and hence the current of the air is stronger
towards the hemisphere which is opposite to that
where the sun is.
El-Mas'udi says, this is the hypothesis of el-
Kindi and Ahmad Ben et-Taib es-Sarakhsi, and what
we have said is borrowed from them
namely, that ;

the motion of the sea coincides with the course of the

winds. saw a curious phenomenon in the country
I

of Kanbayat in India, from which the laced Kanbayan

shoes X-,A.>UAJJ have their name, for they are

JlxiJI

made in this and the neighbouring towns like Sindanf

and Stibarah s^L^w (Sufarah) . I visited this place

in 303, A.H., during the government of Babina UoL

* The text
is
probably corrupted and should run, and if the
sun happens to meet with the moon or another planet, &c.

f Some MSS. bear JJ^^XXA*,

and others
^l^&; supposing
the first part of the word being correctly spelt in the first reading,
and the finale
^ in the second,

feda gives to a town on the coast of India,

we have the name which Abul-

viz.,
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 279

lo'L), who was appointed there as Brahman <&

by the Ballahra* ^^XxJI, the sovereign of el-

Mankir jJolXU This Babina liked to enter into
disputations with Moslims or persons of any other
religion, who visited his province. The above-men-
tioned town is situated on an estuary which is as
wide as the Nile, or like the Tigris antl Euphrates.
On the banks of the estuary one sees towns, villas,
cultivation, gardens, palms, cocoanut-trees, guinea-
fowls, parrots, and other Indian birds. The city of

Kambayah is two days or less distant from the

mouth of this estuary. The ebb is so marked in
this estuary that the sand lays quite bare, and only
in the middle of the bed remains a little water. I

saw a dog on this sand, which was left dry by the

water like the sand of a desert ;
the tide coming in
from the sea like a mountain caught him although he

ran as fast as he could to the land to escape, and the

poor animal was drowned notwithstanding his swift-

ness. Between el-Basrah and el-Ahwaz in the

places called el-Basiyan ^U* UM and el-Kaidem

the tide comes in with equal violence and is
f<x*Hj
called there the crime (Boaref), full of noise, ebuli-

* The original title of this prince is

according to the Mefatih
el-'olum, ts J *ktyt Behlway or .jb Ji.j Baluhar.

-f-
See Major Rennel's Memoirs on the map of Hindoostan,

p. 353, who describes the passage of the Boare up the Hoogly.

280 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

tion, and danger: the sailors are afraid of it, and

the place is well known to everybody who has passed
it on his way to Daurak o^ and Faris.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 281

TWELFTH CHAPTER.

The sea of er-Rum (the Mediterranean^ ,

its length
and breadth, beginning and end.

THE sea of er-Rum -^Jl,

of Tarsus vyj* 9 Adanah
sl3.it, el-Misslsah 'i^j^\ 9 Antakiyah (Antioch), el-

Ladikiyah ZJ* &N (Laodocia), Atrabolos uJbV^t

(Tripolis), Sur^xs, and of other places on the
coast of Syria and Egypt, as of Alexandria and on
the coast of the Maghrib,is five thousand miles
long;
the breadth varies being in some places eight hun-
dred miles, in others seven hundred, six hundred
and less; so it is stated in the astronomical works of
many authors of astronomical tables, as Mohammed
Ben Jaber el-Battani jUxJJ ^jU. (Jj.j <x*:2. This sea
begins from the strait which connects it with the sea
Okianos (the Atlantic), and which is narrowest
between the coast of Tanjah *^J& (Tangiers) and
Sabtah XZx*s (Ceuta), in the Maghrib, and between
the coast of el-Andalos (Spain) ;
this narrow passage
has the name of Saita lk>~ (Ceuta), the distance
between the two coasts is not more than ten miles;
 5
EL-MAS UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

hence it is the route to cross over from theMaghrib

to el-Andalos, and from el-Andalos into the Magh-
rib. It is generally called the Zokak oli'j^l (lane).
We shall
speak in our account of
Egypt of the
bridge, which joined the two coasts, and of the navi-
gation on this sea; also that the island of Kobros

u~j* (Cyprus) and el-'Arish (fit j.x$\ were once

connected by land, so that caravans passed from one

place to another.
On the limits where these two seas, the Mediter-
ranean and the Ocean join, pillars of copper and
stone, have been erected by King Hirakl the giant*.

Upon these pillars are inscriptions and figures,

which show with their hands that one cannot go
further, and that impracticable to navigate
it is

beyond the Mediterranean into that sea (the ocean),

for no vessel sails on it: there is no cultivation nor

a human being, and the sea has no limits neither

in its depths nor extent, for its end is unknown.
This is the sea of darkness, also called the green sea

or the surrounding sea l*^\ ^ ^*a^l ^ cAiJsJJ ^i

Some say that these pillars are not on this strait, but
in some islands of the ocean and their coast.

Some people consider this sea as the origin of all

* Hirakl name
JJf jjfc
is generally the Arabic for Heraclius

but here, as the reader perceives, the pillars in question are the
Herculis.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 283

others. There are some wonderful stories related

respecting it, for which we refer the reader to ourbook

the Akhbar ez-zeman there he will find an account of
;

those crews who have risked their lives in navigating

this sea, and who of them have escaped, and who
have been shipwrecked, also what they have encoun-
tered and seen. Such an adventurer was a Moor
of Spain, of the name
Khoshkhash <j.ici of
He was a young man of Cordoba having assembled :

some young men they went on board a vessel which

they had ready on the ocean, and nobody knew for
a long time what had become of them. At length
they came back loaded with rich booty. Their
history is well known among the people of el-

Andalos (the Moors in Spain).

The length of this strait which forms a current
from the ocean into the Mediterranean is consider-

able, extending from the mentioned pillars as far as

el-Ahjar. The current from the ocean is so great
that it is
perceptible. From the sea of er-Rum, of

Syria and Egypt, a gulf branches off which is five

hundred miles long, and passes the city of Rome

XA-CJJ &LKX.O. This gulf is called the Adriatic u^jM
in the language of Rome. West of this strait* (or

* One copy leaves out this sentence altogether, and the other

gives it
incomplete; for it seems that the author continued his
account of the Adriatic naming some towns of
Italy situated on it
before he comes again to speak of the strait of Gibraltar. This
description of the Adriatic however is left out in all MS.
284 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

gulf) a town is situated, named Sabtah (Ceuta), it

lays on the same side as Tanjah, opposite the cities

on the coast of Spain, and the Jebel Tarik 3^.

jjUs (Gibraltar)
named after the freed-slave of
, so
Musa Ben Nosair. The time for crossing from
Sabtah to Spain from morning to noon. This
is

strait is very boisterous, and there is sometimes a

great swell although there is no wind, for the water

runs through it into the Mediterranean. The Moors
in Spain and in the Maghrib call this strait Lane

oli'^J!,
for it has this shape.
There are various islands in the Mediterranean,

uj*S between the coast of Syria

as the isle of Cyprus 9

and er-Rum, Rhodes u*^j, opposite Alexandria,

Crete J&y y>J, and Sicily *JuU>. We shall speak
t

of Sicily when we treat of the mount Borkan ^ ^

(^Etna), which throws out fire variously shaped,
representing sometimes enormous carcases. Ya'-
kub Ben Ishak el-Kindi and Ahmad Ben et-Taib
es-Sarakhsi c^i ^ ^^^ <s*&\ <Jbswt ^ vy*V.
^y^juwJJ, respecting the length and breadth
differ

of this sea from the account which we have given, as

we shallhave an opportunity to observe further in
this book where we describe these seas according to
the plan of the work.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 285

THIRTEENTH CHAPTER.

On the sea ofNitus (Pontus), and Mdyotis* (Maoris),

and the strait of Constantinople.

THE Pontus extends from the country of Ladikah

XJ'^ to Constantinople, and has a length of one
thousand one hundred miles. Its breadth at the

beginning is three hundred miles. The great river,

named Tanabus u^uUk (Danube), which we have

* The name of this sea

being variously spelt in different copies,
the spelling of Abulfeda has been followed in page 30, supra ; for

although this author may be incorrect in some cases, he is more

correct than any other Oriental geographer, particularly in the ortho-

graphy of proper names, and his geography has lately been pub-
M. Reinaud and Baron Slane, with such exactness, that
lished by

it must be considered as the standard work and canon in writing

geographical names. Most copists write ^JajLc, and this seems

to be the correct way of spelling it; for if we add the vowels

we have as nearly the Greek word Matcorts, as it can be expressed

in Arabic. It appears for the rest from this chapter that the Arabs
had exceedingly wrong notions respecting the Pontus, as well as
the Palus Maeotis; for although they had in the earliest time

pushed their conquests as far as the coasts of the Black Sea, and
although they carried on some trade on it, they referred in geo-
graphy, as well as in other branches of human knowledge, seldom
to experience, being led entirely by the authority of more
ancient information, which was frequently misunderstood.
286 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

It comes
already mentioned falls into this sea.
from the north, and runs through the country of
It rises from a large lake
many Japhetite nations.
in the north, which receives its water from springs
and mountains. The course of this river is about
three hundred farsangs long. Its banks are all along

cultivated by the children of Yafeth Ben Nuh. It

flows through the sea of Mayotis into the Pontus, ac-

cording to the opinion of many well-informed men.

This is a large river in which there are various
stones, plants, and medical substances, and hence
notice has been taken of it by many ancient philo-
sophers.
Somepeople consider the sea of Mayotis as a
lake, towhich they give a length of three hundred
miles, and a width of one hundred miles. From
this sea the strait of Constantinople branches off,

which connects it with the Mediterranean; the

length of this strait is three hundred miles, and its

breadth on an average fifty miles. On its western

bank Constantinople is situated, and there runs an
uninterrupted line of cultivation from the beginning
of this strait to the end, and as far as Rome and

Spain. The opinions of those astronomers must

therefore be true, who maintain that the sea

of the Targhiz Russians and

jJ3\*, cr^Ji,

* This name is
mostly spelt vc j>U or not dotted at all. I

the same nation as the

suppose it is
Tyragetes of Herodotus.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 287

Nagaiz*, who are three nations of Turkish origin, is

the same as the Pontus. We
speak of these
shall

nations in the progress of our work if it is the

will of God the Almighty, distinguishing those who
sail on this sea from those who do not navigate it.

*
Amongst the various readings rutf v^ seems to be
the most correct. The Nagaiz live north-east of the Black Sea
towards Stavropol.
288 EL-MAS'lTDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

FOURTEENTH CHAPTER.

The sea of Bab el-Abwdb, of the Khazar and of

*7orjdn (the Caspian), and the relation in which
the seas stand to each other.

THE sea of the Barbarians*

^U^l ^s? which is so
called because their abodes are on its coast, is sur-
rounded from all sides with cultivation; it is

generally known under the name of the sea of Bab

el-Abwabf v^^ v^>^> the sea of the Khazar,
of el-Jil (Ghilan), of ed-Dailem, of Jorjan, and of
Taberistan. On this sea live various nations of
Turkish origin. It extends along Khowarezm
which forms a province of Khorasan, and is eight
hundred miles long, its breadth is six hundred

means any person who is not Arab, but particularly

the Persians. In this passage it must be taken in the more

extensivemeaning, in which it answers exactly to the Latin
barbarus. Ibn Khaldun uses in this sense the expression
" a wild animaL "
l

-j-
Our author writes this name in all instances Bab wal-

Abwab, i.e., the gate and the gates, instead of Bab el-Abwab, i.e.,

the gate of the gates, and comes therefore nearer to the ancient
name Portce Caucasia.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 289

miles, and it has nearly a round shape. In the

progress of our work we will describe all the nations

who live on this sea, which has the name of the sea
of the Barbarians.
In this sea are many Tenanin*, which is the

plural of Tinnin. They are equally frequent in the

Mediterranean, particularly about Tripolis, Laodicea,

and Jebel el- Akra', in the district of Antioch, for under
this mountain the sea is deep and boisterous ; hence
this place is called the Knot
of the Sea j.s\!\ *J-=M-
On the coast of this sea are situated Antioch,

Rashid, Sakandarunah'!' (Alexandria Cilicise), Hisn

el-Markab^, on the mountain el-Lokkam, Missi-
sah, where the river Jaihan falls into the sea,

Adanah XJit with the mouth of the Saihan, Tarsus

with the river el-Berdan ^b jJJ, which is the river
of Tarsus ;
further on is waste land, which forms the
frontier between the Moslim and the Byzantine

* It appears from what follows, that tinnin (in Hebrew,

tannin), which is the usual word for dragon, means originally
water- spout, and that the signification dragon owes its origin to
the popular belief, that the water-spout is a sea-monster, which,

according to el-Kazwinl, has sometimes a length of two farsangs.

Some further details, respecting the fables to which this pheno-
menon has given rise, as those of the Gorgons, of Perseus and
Andromeda, of St. George, &c., will be given in the additional
notes.

f The MSS. bear Alexandria, although it comes later.

i.
The MSS. bear tyJu^Jl
and o^i^Jl.

U
290 EL-MAS'lJDi's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

territory: then we come to the towns of Kalamiah

3UjlJ', Yunos u*^.j and Kerasia U~jj ; then to
Solukiah a/Ji^X*, which has a large river that falls
into the Mediterranean; from thence the sea is

skirted with a line of fortresses, which extends as

far asConstantinople. We
have omitted many
rivers of the Byzantine dominions which fall into

this sea, as the Cold River ^UJt^xM, the Honey

River J^xJt ^ 3 and many others. The coast of the

Maghrib, beginning from the strait on which Tan-

giers is situated, is equally in a flourishing state of
cultivation all along the coast of Afrikiya, Susah,

Tripolis, theMaghrib, (in its narrower sense),

Alexandria, Rashid, and Dimyat, up to the Byzan-
tine frontier, which joins the coast formed by the

Byzantine dominions: further on is the coast of

Rome, and beyond it the coast of Spain as far as the
coast opposite Tangiers, on the strait from which we
began our description. The whole coast just de-
scribed presents an uninterrupted line of well-culti-
vated countries, belonging partly to the Moslims,

partly to the Roman dominions, and intersected by

several rivers which fall into the sea and the strait
of Constantinople, which only one mile wide.
is

This sea has several gulfs and estuaries, but they

are merely inlets, and do not communicate with any
other sea.
The shape of this sea has been compared to a
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 291

cabbage *-**j&\, of which the strait of Gibraltar

forms the stalk but it will appear, by comparing
;

the length and breadth which we have given, that it

is not round.

The Tinnins (dragons) are quite unknown in the

Abyssinian sea and in its numerous estuaries and bays.

They most frequent near the Atlantic (jluUs'l-
are
Different opinions have been advanced as to what the

dragon is some believe that it is a black wind in

:

the bottom of the sea, which rises into the air,

that is to say, the atmosphere j4-\,
as high as the

clouds, like a hurricane whirling dust aloft as it rises

from the ground, and destroying vegetation. The

shape of the dragon becomes longer the higher it
ascends in the air.

Some
people believe that the dragon is a black
serpent which rises into the air, the clouds are at

the same time black, all is dark, and this is suc-

ceeded by a terrible wind.
Some are of opinion that it is an animal which
lives in the bottom of the sea, and that, when it is

haughty and overbearing, God sends an angel in a

cloud, who draws it out. It has the shape of a

black shining serpent. When it is carried through

the air it goes so high that it does not touch any

thing with its tail, excepting, perhaps, very high

buildings or trees ; but it
frequently damages
many trees. It is carried in the clouds to

Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog). The clouds

u 2
292 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

kill the dragon through cold and rain, and give it

to Gog and Magog to devour. This is the
opinion of Ibn 'Abbas. There are various other
popular traditions respecting the dragon, which are
recorded by biographers of Mohammed and other

prophets, but we cannot insert them all here. They

say, for instance, that the dragons are black serpents
which live in the desert, whence they pass, by rivers
swelled by rains, into the sea. They feed there on
sea animals, grow to an immense size, and live a

long time ;
but when one of them has reached an

age of five hundred years, it becomes so oppressive

to sea animals, that there happens something like

what we have related, as being the account of Ibn

'Abbas. Some, they state, are white, and others
black like serpents.
The Persians do not deny the existence of
dragons. They believe that they have seven heads*,
they call them ^U<x^Jf, and allude frequently

* The representation of the constellation called Dragon in el-

Kazwini (MS. of the East India House, No. 1377,) has equally
seven heads.
* the change of we may pronounce
By j into . this word

el-Agorghan ^LjLjs*^, which would leave no doubt of the

identity with the Greek name Gorgons. In this case the name

of Perseus could be derived from the Persian word Peri

^^
which means an angel. Several pages being wanting in the MS.
of Leyden, I have this passage,
unfortunately, only in one MS.,
copies would show how far this
else the comparison with other
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 293

to them in their tales. God knows best what the

dragons really are.

Many persons believe the stories connected with

this subject, whilstthey are rejected by many
sound men. We will not repeat tales like that of

'Imran Ben Jabir, who is said to have reached

the sources of the Nile, and to have crossed the sea
on the back of an animal, laying hold of its hair
This, they say, was a marine animal, of such celerity
that accompanied the sun in its course.
it
By
seizing its hair 'Imran crossed the sea, seeking the
bed of the sun, at once he saw the Nile as it comes
forth from golden palaces; they say also that the

angel who guards the sources of the Nile gave

him a bunch of grapes, and that he returned to the
man who had seen him when he set out, to describe
to him how he had managed to reach the Nile,

conjecture is correct, and whether the Greeks have borrowed

the fable of the Gorgons, and of Perseus and Andromeda from
the Persians, or whether they owe it to the Syrians and Phoeni- v/

cians. For the rest it is very likely that is to be read

^IsJ^^J
" And
as two words: in this case the translation would run, they
name which sounds for the
give to them a 'an (or rather ghan ;

Persians have not the sound of the in the singular."

^)
The Kamus, p. 1728, informs us that the Persian name for

the constellation called Dragon is .^oJjufc. This word

^jLxJJ

(Haftorang) occurs repeatedly in the Zend-Avesta, and has been

mistaken by Anquetil Duperron for the Great Bear.
294 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

but he found him dead. They relate further some

adventures which he had with the devil, several

tales respecting the bunch of grapes, and other

stories.

It is asserted on the authority of a tradition (of

the Prophet), that in the middle of the green sea,

(ocean) are all sorts of curious stones and gold, on

four pillars of ruby, sapphire, emerald, and chry-

solith, from every pillar comes forth a river, and

these four rivers go from the ocean into the four

quarters of the globe without mixing with the sea

water. The first of these four rivers is the Nile,

the second is the Jaihan (in Syria) ^Lsx^., the

third, the Sai'han ^Isx*, and the fourth is the

Euphrates*.
Another story of this sort is, that the angel to

* In Boun-Dehesh it is said that all the rivers fall into the

Ferakh-kand, and come from thence ; meaning, no doubt, by the

evaporation of the water, which falls down as rain, and forms the

rivers. The vulgar version of this theory, which is related here,

afforded an opportunity to connect a fiction with the sacred rivers,

of which there are everywhere four in Eastern tradition, although

they do not agree as to their identity. Compare the note to page

243, supra.
This idea had been known to the Greeks, and defended by
some of their philosophers in its grossest version. " Some think,"
" that the rivers
says Aristotle, Meteor, ii., 2, flow (peiv) from
the sea, and again into the sea :
they become sweet by being fil-
tered in their passage through the earth, and loose by this
means their saltness."
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 295

whose care the seas are confided immerges the heel

of his foot into the sea at the extremity of China,

and, as the sea is swelled, the flow takes place.

Then he raises his foot from the sea, and the
water returns into former place, and this
its is the
ebb. They demonstrate this by an example : If a

vessel is only half full of water, and you put your

hand or foot into it, the water will fill the whole
vessel, and, when you take out the hand, the water
will be as before. Some think that the angel puts
only the great toe of his right foot into the water,
and that this is the cause of the tide.
The theories* just alluded to are neither proved

JSAxVc *.A*J
sljjTi Lc

(read

UJLc ^^ c^l U

Jji

5
&\J4jj\

]! .aJfef L
As the
296 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

as facts, nor are they articles of faith (although

they are put into the mouth of Mohammed) they :

belong to that class of traditions which may be

believed or rejected, for they rest ultimately on the

authority of only one (of the companions of the

Prophet), and but few have handed them down :

they cannot be traced to many (of the companions),

nor have they ever been generally acknowledged.
And this is required to give to traditions authority,

removing all possibility of interpolation. Only,

if a tradition is founded on such (historical)
evidence, which leaves no doubt respecting its

authority, one must subject (one's reason) to it,

and be guided by it for God has commanded that
;

sacred traditions should be considered as positive

laws, in the words "Receive what the Prophet has

given (permitted) to you, and forbear from what he

forbids you :" but the above traditions have not
the character of authenticity. We
have explained
the different opinions on this subject. have We
thought it
necessary to enter into these details,
in order to convince the reader that we are

competent to judge on the questions which have

As the word
UJ^A^, which has been taken in the trans-

lation as a technical term, and applying only to the knowledge of

law, might be translated,
" And we have made ourselves master
of the subjects on which we speak in this book," the original

text has been added.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 297

reference to revelation, alluded to in this or in any

other of our works, and that he may not be misled

by the misconstruction of critics of some other

subjects on which we have treated.

Somepeople count four seas in the cultivated
world, others five, others six, and some bring them
to seven ;
all of which are connected and uninter-

rupted. The first is the Abyssinian sea ^

then the Mediterranean
^jjJJ, the Pontus L
the May otis ^kiLc, the Khazarian sea

and the Ocean cr-JUil, which is also called the

Green Sea, the Surrounding Sea, and the Dark Sea.
The sea Mayotis is connected with the Pontus,
which communicates with the Mediterranean
through the strait of Constantinople; and the
Mediterranean stands again in connexion with the
Ocean or the Green Sea; they form therefore only
one sea, as the waters are not separated. But they
are in no connexion whatever with the sea of the
Khazar (the Caspian). The Mayotis and Pontus
should also be considered as one sea, and although
these two seas, the greater of which is called the

Pontus u*kJo, and the smaller and narrower Mayotis^

yJajLo, are only connected by a strait one ought ;

to give to both together only one name, calling them

* Both and the

copies bear, the smaller sea is called Pontus,

larger Mayotis. This must be a fault of the copyists.

298 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Pontus or Mayotis. If we use hereafter the

either
name Pontus or Mayotis, be it understood that the
terms are to be taken in this meaning, (each of these
two names) implying the smaller and the greater sea.
El-Mas'udi says, many people have the wrong

opinion that the sea of the Khazar stands in con-

nexion with the Mayotis, but I have not seen one
merchant who goes into the country of the Khazar,
nor anybody else who sails on the sea of Mayotis
and Pontus, to the Byzantine dominions or to the
Targhiz, who agreed with the opinion that the sea
of the Khazar is connected with any other sea
either by a canal or by a strait, or in any other

way excepting through the river of the Khazar.

We speak of the kingdom of the Khazar, and
will

how the Russians brought their vessels into this

(the Caspian) sea, (from the Black Sea), which
happened after the year three hundred (of the
Hijrah), in the chapter on the Caucasus and the town
of Bab-el- Abwab.
I have referred to many ancient and modern
authors who have
a great knowledge of the sea, and
found that they state in their works that the strait
of Constantinople begins from the sea of Mayotis,
and proceeds to the sea of the Khazar, connecting
them. I cannot comprehend how they come to

this idea whether they know it from experience, or

;

whether they deduce it from

premises and conclu-
sions, or perhaps they are under wrong impressions,
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 299

and believe that the Russians who sail on this sea

(the Black Sea) are the Khazar. I sailed from

Aboskun ^^L^\ which 9 is a seaport on the coast
of Jorjan, to Taberistan, and other countries, and
asked every merchant and sailor possessed of any
knowledge, whom I met, respecting this point,
and every one of them informed me that one could
not come by water into the Black Sea, except by the

way which had been taken by the Russians. The

inhabitants of er-Rum, Aderbaijan, el-Bailkan, [in
the country near Berda'ah and other provinces,] of

ed-Dailem, el-Jil, Jorjan, and Taberistan, were

alarmed and made a general rise against them, for
they had never before seen an enemy coming against
them from those quarters, nor was such an invasion
recorded since the most remote time. The fact to

which we have just alluded is well known in the

above-mentioned cities, nations, and countries, and
they cannot deny it on account of its publicity. It

happened in the reign of Ibn Abi-s-Saj.

I read in a book, which bears the name of el-

Kindi, and his disciple^ es-Sarakhsi, who lived with

the Khalif el-Mo'tadhed, that there is a great lake

in the north, at the extremity of the habitable world,

extending as far as the north pole, and that there

is a town near this lake of the name of Tuliah

SJ^j, on the limits of the habitable world. This

lake is also mentioned in the Memoirs of the
Beni el-Monajjim. Ahmad Ben et-Taib es-Sarakhsi
300 EL-MAS'lJDi's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

states, in his Memoir on the seas, waters, and

mountains JUi^ *^U ^la^JJ XJLw^,,^on the autho-
rity of el-Kindi, that the Mediterranean is six thou-
sand miles long in its extent from Sur, Atrabolos

(Tripolis), Antioch, el-Markab* t-o^U the coast of 9

el-Missisah, Tarsus, and Kalamiah Xx^i' (Xx^Xi'), to

the pillars of Hercules, and that it is four hundred
miles wide where it is broadest.
This is what el-Kindi and Ibn et-Taib say. We
have now stated what both parties say on this
subject, and how far they differ from the astrono-
mers, as we have found in their works, or heard
from their followers. We
cannot add the proofs
with which they strengthen their statements for ;

we have made it a rule for ourselves to be concise

and short in this book.
The various opinions of the Greeks and of other
ancient philosophers, on the origin and cause of
the seas, have been given in full detail in the

second book
^3 of our Akhbar ez-zeman, which
consists of thirty books: there all the theories

respecting this subject are specified, under the

names of their authors: the present work, how-
ever, shall nevertheless contain a summary view of
the various theories on this head.
Some are of opinion that the sea is a remnant

* The MSS. bear 4_Jul \ el-Mankib.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 301

of the primitive humidity, the greater portion of

which has been dried up by fire, and that portion
which remained has undergone a change through
the process of burning, and has become salt.
Some maintain that, when the whole of the primi-
tive humidity underwent the process of burning
under the revolutions of the sun, the pure part
was separated, and the rest became salt and bitter*.
Some consider the sea as the sweat of the earth f,
which caused by the constant revolutions of the
is

sun round our planet. Some believe that the sea

is the rest of the secondary humidity, which was
left after the earth had extracted the purer part of
it for the production of solid bodies : the same thing

happens with sweet water ;

if you pass it
through
sand, it will be found salt. Some are of opinion

* " Some nearest to the solid mass of the

say, the region

globe was originally occupied by water round the whole earth;

but subsequently it was evaporated, and dried up by the heat of
the sun wind, and the revolutions of sun and moon, converted
; v
the water which was left into sea (i.e., salt-water)." Aristotle,
Meterol. ii., cap 1.

This idea is universal, and is met with as early as Genesis. El-

Kazwini seems to think that the greater part of the water which
once surrounded our globe is now concentrated in the south-

ern hemisphere, being attracted by the heat of the sun, which is

greatest in the south pole, according to the ideas of the Arabs.

f This opinion was defended by Empedocles. Pliny, lib. ii.,

Aristotle, Meteorol. ii., 1 .

302 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

that the sweet and salt waters were originally mixed :

the sun attracted the lighter (i.e., sweet water),

and raised (evaporated) it. Some think the sun

evaporates (the sweet water which is raised from

the sea water) and feeds upon it*. Others object
that the vapour becomes again water after it has
been purified for, as the vapour rises to the higher
;

and colder regions, it is condensed by the cold.

Some persons argue that that portion of elementary

water which has existed as vapour in the air, and
has been condensed by the cold to which it was

exposed there, is sweet whilst that portion of

;

elementary water which has been exposed to the

influence of burning is salt.

Some reason thus : the water which flows into

the sea from the high and low grounds of the
earth absorbs, according to its nature, the salt
which the earth throws out into its basin ;
the

particles of which are naturally in water,

fire

together with the particles of heat which emanate

from the sun and moon, and cause the water, being
mixed with it, to come forth from the earth, raise
and evaporate the water by their raising (expansive)

power, the finer particles of water, when it is above,

are turned into rain. This process is constantly
repeated, because this water becomes again salt ;

*
Aristotle, Meleorol. ii., 2.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 303

for the earth embues it again with saline particles,

and the sun and moon deprive (the sea) again of the
finer and sweet portions of the water (by evapora-
tion). It is for this reason that the sea remains

unchanged both quantity and (specific) weight

in

(salt dissolved in it); for the heat raises the finer

portion of the sea water, and changes it into

atmospheric humidity, in the same proportion
as the same water flows again into the sea, in the
form of streams, after it has become terrestrial

humidity SUxJ^J*; for, being in the form of streams,

it has a
tendency to stagnate, and to form marshes
flowing to the deepest places of the earth, and so it
comes into the bed of the sea. The quantity of
water remains, therefore, constant, and is neither

* The Arabs have names for different sorts of

quite distinct
waters, as they had considered them as different substances. This
if

passage and what follows leads to the same idea; and, indeed, what
can be more different in its reference to man than sea-water and

spring- water ? We
read, therefore, in the Zend-Avesta (vol. ii.,
u II est
p. 394, Boun-dehesch), parle dans la loi de sept especes
d'eaux s^avoir, la premiere eau est celle qui est sur les arbres ;
:

la seconde, celle qui, coulant des montagnes, forme les rouds ;

la troisieme, 1'eau de pluie; la quatrieme, celle est appellee

qui
Armiste (creusee) ; la cinquieme, la semence des animaux, et
celle des hommes ; la septieme, la sueur des animaux, et celle des

hommes."
After these seven humours follow seven others in the Zend-

Avesta, which are produced by them.

304 EL-MAS'tiDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

increased nor diminished. The springs are the

hidden veins of the earth, pouring into the brooks,
which fall into the rivers. This has been compared
with the construction of animals. When an animal
takes food, the limpid part of it is distributed

through the body by the influence of warmth, and

is destined for nutrition ; but the salt and bitter

parts remain behind to be secreted as excrements,

being not possessed of limpidity v^ r an d this is >

the stuff of which urine and sweat consist. And as

the nutritive humours are changed under the in-
fluence of warmth, into bitterness (bile) and saltness,
one will find that bitter (bilious) excrements, besides
the urine and sweat, are secreted from the body,
if the warmth is increased beyond its regular
standard ;
for all water that has been burnt is bitter.

This is the theory of all ancients*.

This can be demonstrated by an experiment. If

you heat any liquor which contains a nutritive

substance, like wine, vinegar, rose, saffron, or gilly-
flower water, the spirituous particles fly away with
the vapour which rises from it ; but if you heat salt
water the case is different : the absorbed spirituous

(salt) particles remain behind, particularly if the

process of heating is repeated. The author of

the Logic f (Aristotle) has many discussions on

*
Compare Aristotle, Meteorologica, ii.. 2 and 3.

f Locis laudatis.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 305

this subject ;
so he says that the sea- water is denser
and more turbid than sweet water, which limpid is

and clear; and that if we give to a piece of wax

the shape of a vessel well shut, and lay it into salt

water, we shall find that the water which penetrated

into the vessel is sweet to the taste, and specifically

lighter than sea-water whereas, the water round

;

the vessel is more salt, and specifically heavier.

Flowing water is called river ^ ;

water coming
forth from the earth is called spring ; and
(jj*c
water collected in a great mass is called sea j*=- *

El-Mas'udi says there are many treatises extant

on the water and its causes. In the second book
of our work Akhbar ez-zeman, which comprises
thirty books, we have exposed the proofs which
have been brought forward in confirmation of the
theories respecting the extent of the sea, its dimen-

sions, the use of its saltness, its connections

and divisions, its being neither liable to increase
nor decrease, and respecting the reasons that the
ebb and flow is greater in the Abyssinian sea
than anywhere else.

I have had many conversations with merchants

of 'Oman and of Siraf, who are in the habit of

navigating the seas of China, India, es-Sind, ez-

* This includes lakes; for the Arabic word for lake,

s^sr,
is the diminutive of ..-ST sea.

X
306 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Zanj, Yemen, el-Kolzom, and of Abyssinia, and

received information which differed from the ac-
count given by philosophers and other men of
learning, upon whose authority the dimensions and
extent of the seas usually stated.
is The sailors
say that this sea, in certain directions, has no end. I
made, also, the acquaintance of the sailors on the
Mediterranean, both those on board of ships of war
and of traders: they are the Nautse XAJ'^JM, the
officers of the men*, and the captains
L^l, and
others who are intrusted with the management
of vessels of war, as Lawi g^y Go^0> who has
the surname Abul-Harb, and is a slave of Zorakah

the governor of Tripolis, in Syria, on the coast

3}jj,
of Damascus. They are well acquainted with the
length and breadth of the Mediterranean, with its
gulfs and straits. I found such information in

'Abdullah Ben Wazir, the governor of the town

of Jobailahf, on the coast of Hims, in Syria; and at

present,, that is to say, in 332 A.M., there is no

man who knows the Mediterranean better than he.
All vessels, the ships of war as well as traders,
follow his advice, and trust in his knowledge and

science, on account of his long experience. We

* It is very likely that the original reading was ,

.
^.A
and not
Jca..^.

f MSS. bear 2u*JLc, &k*. and

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 307

have related the wonders of this sea, and the

information which we have gathered respecting it, in
the preceding pages, and we shall insert in our

progress some further notices respecting it.

Various signs have been stated which are said
to indicate that water is to be found in the earth on

digging. Some say experience has shown that in

places where reeds, aquatic plants, grass, and other

herbage grows, water will be found on digging; but
the absence of such plants shows that water is
distant.
Ihave found the following rule in the works on
agriculture If you wish to know whether the water
:

is near or dig three or four cubits into the

far,

ground, then take a kettle of brass, or an earthen-

ware jar, with a wide mouth; besmear the inside of
it
equally with grease: take clean white wool and
a stone of the size of an egg, which you enclose
in the wool, making a ball of it; then besmear
the side of this ball with melted wax, patch it

into the jar which has been anointed with oil or

grease, and let it down into the bottom of the pit.

The wool be attached to the bottom of the jar
will

through the wax, and it will be glued on the stone.

Throw earth upon the vessel, more
one, two, or
cubits deep. All this is to be done after sunset. Hav-

ingleft it in this state during the night, you remove the

earth the next morning before the rising of the sun ;

and if you find many drops of water adhering to the

X 2
308 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

inside of the vessel, one near the other, and if the

wool be wet,, you may be sure that you will soon find

water in that place; but if the drops be distant from

each other, and if the wool be but little wet, you must
dig to a great depth before you arrive at water; and
if you see no drops, or only very few, either in the

vessel or on the wool, you will find no water in this

place, not even on digging deep.

I found, in another copy of the works on agricul-
ture, other rules concerning the same subject. If

you wish to know whether you will soon come to

water on digging, you have only to examine the
back of the ants of that place: if they be thick,
black, and heavy in their carriage, you will find the

distance of the water in proportion to their carriage.

But if they be light, and run so fast that you can
hardly catch them, the water is at a distance of
forty cubits. And the first water will be good and
sweet, but the second will be heavy and salt.

These are the signs for a man who means to dig for

water:we have given a full account of this subject

in our Akhbar ez-zeman. In this book we give

merely general notices of subjects which are necessary

to be known, without entering into details and illustra-

tions, referring to the Akhbar ez-zeman, where we

enter at greater length on these subjects. Let us
now speak of the kings of the Chinese, and what
belongs besides under this head.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 309

FIFTEENTH CHAPTER.

The Chinese Empire : its

kings : their lives and
government.

THE historians do not agree respecting the Chinese

and their origin. Many of them say that the
children of 'Abur Ben Batwil Ben Yafeth Ben Nuh
cm
went when Falegh Ben 'Aber Ben
north-east,
Arfakhshad divided the earth amongst the sons of
Nuh. A portion of them, descended from Ar'au jsj,
took their way towards the north, dispersed there
over the country, and formed a number of nations
and kingdoms, as ed-Dailem jJoJJJ,
el-Jil ^A.\
et-Tailisan ^LJUW? (UX^l et-Tatar*

xU and el-Mukan

* This nation must live west of the I doubt, there-

Caspian;
fore, whether Tatar is a correct reading. A MS., 7496, in the

British Museum, which contains an ancient geographical work,

o-
mentions frequently this name; spelling it el-Bab r, and in
j\AJ!
one instance el-Bair.

f This name is written el-Mufan in the MS. which appears

to be nearest to the true reading of the name. The beginning
of this chapter has been compared with an extract in en-Nowairi.
The proper names have been transcribed in Arabic characters, as
they are in the MSS., with all their faults; but, where it was safe,
they have been corrected in the English transcript.
310 EL-MAS'tfDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

or ^UyUi)* Further are the inhabitants of

the Caucasus, who consist of various races of el-

Lakz y&J (yfl or ^jSi\\), the Alans ^Wl (j,

the Khazar ^yUthe Abkhaz Ji*y\ (jb$\ or
the Serir jij*il\, the Cossaks ^T, and other
nations descended from them. They are spread
over those tracts and over the country along the
Black Sea and the Mayotis, as far as Terabizond
(Trebizond). They inhabit, also, the coast of the
sea of the Khazar, of the Targhiz (Bulghar) ,
and
other neighbouring nations.
The children of Abur set over the river of
Balkh (Oxus) the most of them proceeded to
:

China <jjyo, spread over the country, and formed

empires, as the Khottal JJC-L! (j^il), who are the

inhabitants of Khottalan & (^dH**)*

the Dii-

shan(?) ^l&jJ Cu^au or u^^) ^e Oshrusanah

x+r.pZ,y\ 9 the inhabitants of the Soghd x*aH who

livebetween Bokhara and Samarkand, the Fergha-
nians* Xj^VjiJ!, and the inhabitants of esh-Shash

jiUJI, of Isbijab (Isfijab) or

^1^0'
^l^^-^ (cj^J
and of the country belonging to Tarab cii^lXH

* The
Ferghanians formed one of the best corps of Turkish
troops in the service of the 'Abbasides, and are frequently
mentioned by historians; but as the dot upon the A is sometimes
omitted in MS 8.,
Reiske and other authors have been led astray,
and, considering the word to be derived from Fir'aun, they believed
them to be Egyptians.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 311

(u^UM or jjjUJJ
or eM^/jdJ. Some of these nations
built cities and villages, whilst others live in

steppes. Of the same origin are other nations, as

the Turks the Kharlajians*
j\, gO^Al (gojAJ)>
and the Taghizghizf ^iy&J! who inhabit the town
of Kusan ^^ (o^/O^ forming an empire between
Khorasan and and
China; they are at present [in
332, A.H.] the bravest of all Turkish hordes. Their

king has the title Irkhan;}: ^U-,1 (o^ or 6^ or

^bjjj), and professes the doctrine of the Mani-
cheans, which no other Turkish horde acknowledges.
Farther are descended from 'Abur the Kaimakians
tne Marghinanians (?) XJU
/JI^M)'
or axxsS'JsJJ or X/Jl^Jj), the Baunah

,
and the Jaghrians (?) x>j*iJ (*j*L\ or

* The Tatar name of this horde is

Kal-aj ^Jb*: t ^ie
y claim
to be descended from Oghuz Khan. Deguignes, Hist, des Huns,
Vol. ii., p. 9, and Abulghazi Bahadur Khan, edit. Tatar, p. 14.

f On the various ways in which the name of this horde is

spelt, from which the Tulunides were descended, the reader may
consult Roorda's Abul Abbasi Ahmedis Vita, Leyden, 1825,

p. 50.

J Irkhan (.jU^ot means the khan of men. The reading

of one copy is Ilkhan i.e., the khan of the nation the latter is a ;

title frequently met with

Tatar history, and this reading should
in

have deserved the preference, if this title were not in all other

passages of el-Mas'udi, where this prince is mentioned, distinctly

written Irkhan.
312 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

or AAjyiit). The bravest of them are the

Ghizians *tyA\, and the best formed and hand-

somest are the Kharlajians X/oiyLt (^i^t or

XxT^L! or X/J->i!) who inhabit Ferghanah XJU^J,

esh-Shash jfclcjJJ, and the adjacent country. They
have the sway over the Turks, and the Khakan of
the Khakans (^Si^L! 6^'^ is of their horde:
all the Turkish nations obey him, and all other
Turkish kings are his vassals. One of these
Khakans was Ferasiab the Turk, who conquered
Persia: another of them was Sanah 3oL>. The
Khakan of the Turks extends his sway at present
over all Turkish kings, since the town in the
steppes of Samarkand, which had the name 'Amat
cl$ (c>Uc), was destroyed. We have related under
what circumstances the government was removed
from this city, in our book called Kitab el-ausat.
One part of the children of 'Abur came as far
as the frontiers of India. The climate of the country
impressed its character upon them and they are in
;

their complexion Hindus, and not like

like the
other Turks. Some of them are settled, whilst
others are wandering. Another portion of them is

settled in et-Tubbet dL^xJ!. They placed their

government to the hands of a king, who was

subject to the khakan ; but, when the power of the
khakan had ceased, the Tubbetians gave to their

king the title khakan, imitating the former Turkish

kings.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 313

The majority of the children of 'Abur followed

the course of the river to the extremity of China.
There they spread over the country, fixed their
abode, and cultivated the land they formed communi- ;

ties, established capitals, and built towns. They

founded a large city for the residence of their king,

which they Anku*

yu! (yot or ly*J)}; this
called

city is three months' journey from the Abyssinian

sea; the whole interjacent country is covered with
towns and well-cultivated. Their first king in this

new settlement was LotsatisBenNa'ur BenYarej Ben

'Abiir Ben Yafeth Ben Nuh U

L
^jj.
When he was on the throne
he spread his subjects over the country, dug canals,
planted trees, taught the use of the fruits as food,
and killed the lions (wild beasts). He reigned
about three hundred years then he died, and was;

succeeded by his son 'Arun Ben Lotsatis (^j#jz*

He put the corpse of his father in a golden statue
JlA^JI, as an expression of his veneration and
regretf . The statue was put on a golden throne,

* Abulfeda writes
Yanju >-**? \
the .
j and o k in these two
ways of spelling seem both to be meant to express the sound of g.
This town is supposed to be Nanking, which is called Kiang-
Ming by the Chinese.

j It is well known that this practice prevails among the

314 EL-MAS'uDl'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

studded with precious stones. He himself took his

seat under this throne, worshipping the dead, and so
did all the inhabitants of the kingdom every morning
and evening. He
reigned about two hundred and
fifty years.
After him, his son 'Abirun Ben 'Arun

6^^ (^ Uij* ^ (j&**s came

1 to the throne. He
alsoput the body of his father into a golden statue,
which he placed one step lower than that of his
grandfather. He first addressed his prayers to his

grandfather, and then to his father. His government

was very good, and he never did anything without
asking his subjects for their opinion. Equity was
everywhere exercised, the population increased*, and
the soil was cultivated during his reign, which
lasted two hundred years. His son 'Athinan Ben
'Abirun J^AXC ^ u^c
(^AAC) succeeded him.
He observed the same usage, of putting the body of
his father in a golden statue and worshipping it.

His was a long reign, and his territory extended to

the country of the Turks, the descendants of his

uncle. In his days, arts to promote the comforts of

Chinese. Abulghazi ascribes the same usage to the ancient

Tatars ; and he agrees in this point, as in many others, with
Herodotus, lib. iv.

* It deserves to be noticed that the increase of mankind is

considered in the east as the object of human society and the

criterion of a good government, just as we consider the greatest
happiness to the greatest number as such.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 315

and other trades, became frequent. He lived

life,

four hundred years, and had Jaraban his son

^U-JAT lrj
j
^^ manned
as successor. He ordered, first,

ships to be built, them, loaded them with the

produce of China, and sent them to India, es-Sind,
Babylonia, and other kingdoms near and far. He
made to the kings the most rare presents, and sent
them costly gifts; and he gave orders to his sailors
to bring him from every country what is beautiful
and exquisite for the table, or for dress and furniture,
not found in his own kingdom. He ordered them to
make themselves acquainted with the forms of govern-
ment of every empire, and with the religious tenets,

laws, and moral state of every nation; and that they

should ask the people for precious stones, perfumes,
and instruments. The vessels went out, and sepa-
rated to visit various countries, following the orders
of their king. Wherever they landed the inhabitants
were surprised at them, and admired what they
brought. Kings, whose dominions were on the sea
coast, built vessels, and ordered them to sail to

China, in order to import into China such products

as were wanting there. They wrote to the king,
acknowledging the presents of his country and send-
ing others in return. So China advanced in her
civilization and prosperity. The king died after a

reign of about two hundred years, to the greatest

affliction of his subjects. The public mourning
lasted one month. Tutal Ben Jaraban
316 KL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

y.'jjj was his son and successor. He

put the corpse of his father into an image of gold,
and observed the usages of former kings. He
brought his affairs into order and made some praise-
worthy new institutions : the like none of his prede-
cessors had made. He said to his countrymen, an

empire cannot exist without justice, for justice is

the balance of God,, and it is productive of an
increase of prosperity and of good actions. He
created courtiers and nobles, and gave crowns as
marks of distinction. He formed ranks among the
people according to their pursuits. He went out to
seek a place for a temple, and he found a spot with
luxuriant herbage, covered with flowers and well
watered. There he marked out the foundation of a
temple. Stones of various colours and descriptions
were brought to the spot, and the construction went
on. Acupola was raised on the top with air-holes,
and the whole fabric was in perfect symmetry. In
the temple were cells for persons who wished to
shut themselves up for the service of God. When
the whole was completed, he put in its
edifice

uppermost part the statues which contained the

bodies of his fathers, giving orders to worship
them.
He assembled the great men of his empire, and

acquainted them of his intentions to unite all his

subjects into one religion, to which they could

always appeal. Religion should be the tie of union
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 317

and order; for he observed that, if a government has

lost sight of religion, it is exposed to dissolution,
corruption, and vice. He founded the government,
therefore, on sacred laws and positive regulations
dictated by reason, which should form the basis: he
made a penal code : he fixed the conditions under
which matrimony should be legitimate, to induce
women to become mothers, and to render the ties
between father and child firm ; and he made a
distinction between the laws; enforcing some as
positive and obligatory commands, which are
violated by neglecting the observance of their

tenor ;
whilst he left others open to the will of
the individual ,JJ!p ;
for they should only serve as

guides. He
prescribed to his subjects certain

prayers, and regulated the divine service. There

is,however, no inclination nor prostration observed
which are performed at fixed times
in their prayers,

of day or night but, in the prayers which are to be

;

said at certain times in the year and months, pros-

trations and inclinations are to be made. He
instituted feasts. Fornication is under certain
restrictions belonging to the criminal laws. If a

woman means to prostitute herself, she has to pay

a certain tax ;
but if she refuses the embraces of
men for some time, or if she gives up the practice
altogether, she has no longer to pay the tax.

The sons of such women are enlisted in the (stand-

ing) army of the king; but the girls are left to the
 5
318 EL-MAS'UDI S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

mothers, and are generally initiated in their trade.

He prescribed sacrifices and incense which were to
be offered in the temples. To the stars incense
was offered; and for every star a certain time was
fixed on which its favour was particularly solicited,

by burning incense, perfumes, and certain drugs.

He defined everything which his subjects had to do.
Heenjoyed a long life, had a numerous pos-
terity, and died after a reign of about one hundred
and fifty years. This king was much lamented.
They put his body into a coffin of gold ornamented
with precious stones, and built him a grand mau-
soleum, on the top of which they placed seven gems
of different colours, answering to the seven planets,
that is to say, to the sun and moon (^1^1), and
the five stars, in shape and colour. The day of his
death was celebrated as a holy day, in which they
assembled at his mausoleum and said many prayers.
His portrait and an account of his life were engraved
on a plate of gold, and deposited on the top of the
mausoleum, where everybody could see them, that they
should serve as an example, and as an exhortation
to follow his good government. The history of his
life and his portrait are also represented on the
gates of the town, on coins of gold and copper <j*>Xj
and on dresses*.

* Ibn Khaldun observes that the Persian kings had dresses the
woof of which was gold, and represented various figures, particu-
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 319

Their money consists, for the most part, of

copper and brass coins. This city became the

residence of the kings of China. The name of it

is Anku lyut 0>+^), and it is three months' journey

distant from the Abyssinian sea. They have
another large town called Madu _j<x (\*i Amid), in
the north-west of their empire, towards et-Tubbet
C^AAJI. Madu
and et-Tubbet keep up a constant
warfare, without either party being conquerors or

conquered.
Order in the affairs of the empire,
good govern-
ment, and prosperity continued under the suc-
cessors of this king: justice was everywhere
exercised, and injustice was banished from their

country. They followed the regulations made by

the former kings, whom we have mentioned; and

they kept up the wars with their enemies. Their

frontiers were well guarded by soldiers, the armies

received their pay regularly., and merchants flocked

there, by land and sea, from all parts of the world.

They were of the ancient faith, the Samanean reli-

ligion* X/JfxJI XJu, which is about the same as the

larly the portraits of the kings :

they were manufactured in their
own and given as presents
palaces, to men of distinction. This
costume went over to the Arabs.
* The Mefatih el-'olum (MS. of Leyden, No. 314) contains
the following important passage respecting the Samaneans :
320 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

belief of the Koraishites before Mohammed. They

worshipped symbols, towards which they turned
their faces in praying. Persons of intellect ad-
dressed their prayers to the Almighty, andi they
considered the images of idols and other symbols

" The Samaneans are the Arabs who follow the doctrine of
Saman. They are idolaters, who maintain that the world had no
beginning: they believe in the metempsychosis, and that the
earth is constantly declining.
" In the most ancient times all the nations were either Saman-
eans or Chaldeans. The Samaneans are idolaters. The Chal-
deans are also called Sabeans and Harranians ; for the remnants of
them live in Harran and el- 'Irak. They believe that Yudasif

(Yudasp), the rebel of India, was their prophet. This Budasif

(Budasp: this seems to be more correct than Yudasif) was
contemporaneous with the king Tahmurth, and the Persian
writing comes from him. The name of Sabeans was applied to
them at the time of el-Mamun, and meant originally a Christian
sect. In India and China are the remnants of the Samaneans."
Hamzah of Ispahan (MS. of Leyden) confirms literally the
words of the Mefatih el-'olum.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 321

merely as objects to fix their eyes upon

whilst the uneducated and ignorant confounded
these symbols with the Almighty, and worshipped
them both (God and the symbols) together. The
adoration of the idols brought them nearer to God,

although the notions expressed in their religious

service were too concrete to be adequate to the

sublimity, greatness, and majesty of the divinity.

The which they performed to these idols
service
was nevertheless an expression of obedience to God,
and it brought them nearer to him.
This continued until speculations and sectarian-
ism grew up in China: then rose the Dualists, and
those who believe on a time without limits J^i

^fcjO!. Previous to these innovations, they had

worshipped images, like the higher and lower classes
in India. These religious quarrels caused a com-
plete revolution: they had not been without specu-
lation, but they had referred in all questions to the
ancient sacred laws.
The Chinese empire borders on kingdom of
the
the Taghizghiz
y.y&\ and
t
it was from them that

they received the doctrine of Manes 45^-0 >

f a gd
of light and darkness. Previously they had been
in ignorance, and had the same system of worship
as the various Turkish hordes, until a satan of a
Manichean came them, and preached to them in
to

flowery phrases of the discord which prevails in this

322 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

world ; the opposition of life and death, health and

illness, rich and poor, light and dark, separation and

union, continuity and division, rising and setting,

existence and non-existence, night and day, and other

things which are opposite to each other. He named

to them the different pains and frailties to which all

animals are subject, hoth those endowed with speech

and those deprived of this faculty; and by which
even children, and persons not possessed of their
mental faculties, are tortured adding that, as God
;

the Almighty did not stand in need of their suffer-

ings, they must be ascribed to a powerful opposite

principle, which was active in contaminating what

isgood and moral and that this was in God. Far
;

be from God what he professed for he is the

!

Exalted, the Great. Manes mislead by this and

similar theories their reason, and they believed
them. When the King of China was a Shamanean

c^oi he sacrificed animals, and was constantly at

war with Irkhan ^U^l the king of the Turks;

but, when he had turned Manichean, they became

on terms of friendship.
The kings (and governors) of China follow
different sects and religions, and they are at variance
in their faith. But they are not biassed so as to
abandon the laws commanded by reason, and sacred
by usage, in making regulations and passing sen-
tences. The laws of reason are acknowledged by
all sects.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 323

The Chinese are divided into tribes and branches,

like the tribes and families of the Arabs. They
bestow great care upon the preservation of their
genealogies; and some persons can name fifty an-
cestors: many know them as far back as 'Abur.
Persons of the same family do not intermarry so, ;

an example to Arabia), a
for instance (referring for

man of the Modhar tribe would marry a woman of

the Rabi'ah tribe, and a man of the Rabfah would
marry into the Modhar tribe; or a Kahlan man
would marry a Himyarite woman, and a Himyarite
a woman of the Kahlan tribe. They are of opinion
that the children of such a match will be of a good
constitution; and, indeed, tjiis law contributes to
public health and longevity.
China* continued to be in a flourishing condi-

tion, as had been under the ancient kings, up

it

to the year 264 of the Hijrah, when some event

happened which destroyed order, paralysed the

laws, and prevented the nation from opposing their
enemies, up to our time [332 A.H.]. These dis-

orders were caused by a rebel, who, although he

was not of royal blood, rose in some town of China.
His name was Baishu Shirrir jj.jJ* ^\-> Orf^
He began with liberality, by which he

*
Compare Ancient Account of India and China, from page
40 to page 44.
Y 2
324 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

atracted the worst and lowest classes. The king

and the lords of the council were not watchful
enough, on account of his obscurity for he was a ;

man of no importance. His cause became strong,

his name famous, and his numbers and power
increased; for the bad came to join him from far
and near.
When his army was numerous enough, he
quitted the place where he had begun the rebellion.
He sent corps out to make predatory incursions
into the well-cultivated parts of the country ;
and

finally he besieged the city of Khaniku lyuU.

(Canton). This is a very large town, situated on a
river greater than the Tigris, or about the same: it
falls into the sea of China, six or seven days'
from the said city. Through this river the

ships go up which come from el-Basrah *j*3^\,

Siraf oV^-i, 'Oman ^l, the various towns of India
and es-Sind, the islands of ez-Zanij, from es-Sinf,
and other countries, with their cargoes and goods.
This town inhabited by Moslims, Christians, Jews,
is

and Magians, besides the Chinese. The said rebel

marched towards this city, besieged it, and put the
army of the king, which was come to relieve it, to

flight. He violated what is sacred; and, having

increased his army, he took Khaniku by storm.
When he was master of the city, the victims
who fell under the sword of the rebels were innu-
merable; and the number of Moslims, Christians,
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 325

and Jews alone, exclusive of the Chinese population,

who were killed or drowned for fear of the sword,
amounted to two hundred thousand. These were
counted ;
for the kings are in the habit of keeping a

census of the population of their dominions, both of

their subjects and of foreigners who are resident

there. There are special officers and men for the

census Lei. This gives them a view of the state of

the population of their empire. The assailants cut

down the mulberry plantations round the town, which
were of importance, their leaves being the food of
the silkworm, which yields the silk. This destruc- "

. '^"T^^^C'
tion of the trees was the cause why silk has
failed^
and that the exportation of this article into the
Moslim countries is stagnated. Baishii overran ,

with his army one place after another; and having

increased his troops with people of bad character,
whose only object was plunder, he marched towards
Ankii, which the residence of the king.
is He had
an army of three hundred thousand men, cavalry
and infantry. The king and his court met him with
about one hundred thousand men. About one month
of constant fight both parties stood their ground,
but after this period the king was defeated and put
to flight: the rebel pursued him
a long way. The
king took refuge in a town in the extremity of
China. The rebel took possession of the metropolis
and the royal palace, and appropriated to himself the
treasures of the former kings, and those which they
326 EL-MAS'UDi's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

had given to their higher officers. He overran the

rest of the country, and conquered other towns; but
he saw that he could not keep the throne, not being
of royal blood. He spread destruction over all the
country, confiscated property, and shed blood.
The town inwhich the king had taken refuge was
Madii, of which we have already spoken as being
on the frontier of et-Tubbet.
The king of China wrote to Irkhan, the king of
the Turks, implore his assistance
to informing :

him how he was situated, and explaining to him

what was the duty of kings, if asked for aid by
their brother kings, and that it was a law of royalty
and a duty to assist each other. The Turkish
monarch sent his son in aid,, with four hundred
thousand men, cavalry and infantry. The two
parties met, and the war was undecided between
them for about a year the numbers of men killed
:

on both sides was enormous. Then the rebel

disappeared, or, as some say, he was killed or burnt.

His children and court were made prisoners, and

the king of China returned to his residence.
The common people give to the king the title
Baghbur (or Faghfiir*), which means the son of

or
jJuW' In tne Kamus the first syllable is

marked with a dhammah but this seems to be wrong.

; Bagh
means, according to el-Asma'i, god or idol hence Bagdad means
:

the gift of God, and Bagistan a temple (Bagoda ?), in the Sind
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 327

heaven *UvJl but the by which he is

title
^j] ;

addressed is Ti'emhian ^U:=zv*k, (Tien-hia,) and

not Baghfur.
The governor of every district made himself
independent in his province, in the same manner as
the kings of thecJbyjJ J'^Ju, after
satrapies
Alexander, the son of Philip, the Macedonian,
had killed Dara Ben Dara, king of Persia, and
almost in the same with us at present,
way as it is

in 332 A.H. The king of China being satisfied with

their nominal submission, and that they laid the

of the empire before him, did not chose to

affairs

send armed force into every one of his provinces,

to fight those who had made themselves masters of
them. As
the king's power was so limited, those

independent governors of the provinces withheld

the revenue, and he was glad enough to be in peace
with them. Every one of these petty kings invaded
the country of his neighbours as much as his power

and Persian languages, particularly in Pehlewi. Bur means son.

In the East the ether or heaven has been considered as God; and
hence the word Bagh seems to imply both meanings. Bagfur
" Pour mieux
is, therefore, a literal translation of Tien-t9e.

faire comprendre de quel ciel ils veulent parler," says Visdelou,

" ils la loin. Ils lui (to the emperor)
poussent genealogie plus
donnent le ciel pour pere, la terre pour mere, le soleil pour frere
aine, et la lune pour soeur ainee."
328 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

allowed. By means the public order and

these
welfare were destroyed which had existed under
the former kings,, under whom
the government
and administration were good, and justice was ad-
ministered according to the law of reason (for they
had no revealed code like the Koran).

It is related* that a merchant of the town of

Samarkand, in Khorasan, went from his home, with
a good stock of wares, to el-'Irak, where he

bought many goods of this country, and preceded

to el-Basrah. He went by sea to 'Oman, whence
he directed his voyage to Kolah XK, which is half
way to China, or about that. It is at present the
commercial mart of the Moslim vessels of Siraf
and 'Oman, where they meet with the merchants of
China, who come to this island in their own vessels.
In most ancient times it was different ;
for the
Chinese vessels used to come to 'Oman, Siraf, to
the coasts of Faris, and el-Bahrein, to el-Obollah,
and el-Basrah (which had then the name of Farj
el-Hind); and in the same way the vessels went
from the ports mentioned as far as China. But
since justice was no longer practised, and under
the depraved state of government which we have
described, both parties meet half way.
The said merchant went at Kolah on board a

*
Compare Ancient Account of India and China, translated

by Renaudot, London, 1733, from page 69 to page 73.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 329

Chinese vessel, which brought him into the sea-port

of Khaniku. The king sent a eunuch from his
court, on whom
he had particular confidence (to
purchase wares). In China eunuchs are appointed
in the revenue department and other offices some :

parents, therefore, castrate their children, in order

that they may rise to power. This officer (the

eunuch) came to Khaniku; there he sent for the

merchants, among whom was the Khorasanian.
They showed him the wares which he required, and
he chose what he thought might meet the king's
wishes. The Khorasanian asked a higher price
for his wares than he felt inclined to pay: after a

dispute, it came so far, that the officer gave orders

to imprison him, and to force him (to yield). The
merchant had confidence in the justice of the king,
and went directly to Anku, the residence of the

king, and presented himself in the place of the

oppressed (court of appeal). It is theusage of
the country, that the plaintiff, whether he come
from a remote place, or is a resident of the capital,
puts on a peculiar dress of red silk,, which is like a
shirt, and presents himself in a place designed for

appeals against oppression. Some of the provincial

kings have to receive there the plaintiffs who may
present themselves. They come, therefore, before
from the distance of one month by post.
this court,

This was the case with the said merchant, and he

stood before the officer of this department. He
330 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

came to him and said, "Thou undertakes! an im-

portant matter,, and exposest thyself to great danger ;

consider well whether thou art sure of the truth of

thy statement : if not, I will send thee back to the

place from whence thou earnest." These words are

addressed to every one who comes to demand
redress; and the party shrinks, and vaccillates in
if

the accusation, he is sent home, after a bastinado of

one hundred strokes ; but, if he insists on his state-

ment, he is brought before the king to trial. When

the merchant continued in his* prosecution, and
when they saw that he insisted on the truth of his

assertion without fear or hesitation, he had an

audience of the king. He stood before him and
related his case. When the interpreter had ex-
plained his complaint to the king, he allotted him
a habitation, and loaded him with kindness.
He sent for the vizier, and for the leaders of
the centre and of the right and left wings. These
are officers who are appointed to these commands
in time of peace, that, in case a war should break
out, every one may know his place and duties.

The king ordered every one of them to write to

their respective officers in Khaniku, [for every one

has a lieutenant in every province of the king-

dom, with whom he is in correspondence,] and to
request them to send in a statement of the particulars
of the case of the merchant and the eunuch. The

king wrote equally to his lieutenant in that province.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 331

The case had become known there, and the letters

which came back by post confirmed the truth of the

merchant. The king of China has, on the roads of
all his provinces, mules with docked tails*, for the

post, and for the transport of parcels

WyLt
Then the king sent for the eunuch, he deprived
him of his favour, and he said, " Thou hast ill-
treated a merchant, who has come from a distant

country. He has made a long journey by land and

* Jo is derived from the Persian word buridah

>xJ!j post,

jjju vj, which means dock-tailed: for the mules used for this

purpose had their tails docked. Berid means the post mule, the

messenger who rides it, and the distance from one station X5ws

to another, where the mules were changed, which was about two
farsangs : some authors say four and from Ibn Khordadbeh it
;

appears to have been six miles. The letter-carrier is called

c VU^iU in Arabic: this word is a corruption of the Persian

word xJLwj a servant. In the post-office

jy nj\ /.J*J* every

letter or parcel put to post, or come by post, was entered *S*.j

in a list - uXjtj which was called ^jX^^J in Arabic, that is to

say, (_ .b tS \\ In this list the number of letters and parcels

was named, and the address of every one of them specified.
The Bodleian library of Oxford is in possession of a very
ancient MS. of Ibn Khordadbeh's Geography. The author was
post-master-general somewhere in Khorasan, towards the end of
the third century, and his book is nothing more than a road-book,

naming all the post stations, and the distances from one place to

another. From this book the distances of places in all other

Arabic geographers are copied, but not always very correctly.

332 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

sea, and has passed many kingdoms without any

adversity. He made up his mind to come to my
empire, in confidence on my justice, and thou hast
treated him thus ! If he had returned from my states
thus ill-treated, he would have spread unfavourable

reports in other kingdoms, and my name and

government would have been branded with ignominy.
If it were not in consideration of thy former services,
I should put thee to death ; but now I will inflict a

punishment upon thee which is harder than death.

I appoint thee (to guard) the tombs of the kings.
Thou shalt be with the dead, since thou hast
acquitted thyself so ill of thy duties and my orders

among the living."

The
king heaped great favours on the merchant,
and him to Khaniku (Canton), saying, " If
sent
thou meanest to sell to us such wares as we may
choose, thou shalt have a good price for them; but
if thou dost not feel inclined to sell, thou art the

master over thy property. Stay if thou likest, sell

what thou pleasest, and go wheresoever thou
choosest." The eunuch was sent to the tombs of
the kings.
There is a curious story related of the king of
China*. A man of Koraishite origin, of the family

*
Compare Ancient Account of India and China, by two
Mohammedan travellers, translated by Renaudot, London, 1733,
from page 51 to page 59.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 333

of Habbar Ben el-Aswad,* Jy^ ^j

,/** came,
during the well-known invasion of the leader of the

Zanj, from el-Basrah to Siraf. He had been a

great man and had a good fortune.
at el-Basrah,

From Siraf he made a voyage to India there he :

went from one vessel landing in

into another,
various places of India, until he came to China.
When he had come to Khaniku, he had a fancy to
visit the royal residence, which was then in the

town of Hamdan (Cumdan) ^Jj^: this is one of

the largest and most important cities of the empire.
He remained a long while in the royal palace, and
sent a memorial to the king, in which he stated
that he was of the family of the Arabic prophet.
The king provided him with lodgings, and ordered
whatever he might require to be given him, and
every comfort procured for him. In the mean time
he wrote to the king (governor) at Khaniku, and
gave him orders to inquire of the merchants
respecting the man who claimed to be a relation of
the prophet of the Arabs. The answer of the
governor of Khaniku confirmed the truth of what
he had said. The king gave him access to the
court, and made him rich presents, with which he
subsequently returned to el-Irak.
He was an intelligent man, and related that,

* Abul-
See, for a notice of this family, Reiske's notes to

feda Annal. Moslem,

y
vol. i.
334 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

when he was presented before the king, he asked

him respecting the Arabs, and how they made an
end to the Persian empire. "We were assisted by
" because
God," answered the Arab, they wor-
shipped the fire, sun, and moon, instead of the
Almighty God. The Arabs have conquered the
most celebrated, populous, and richest countries,
which have the greatest deltas (which are the
sources of they have subjected nations of
fertility) :

the greatest intellect and fame." He asked him

further what was the gradation in dignity of the
" I do not
kings of the earth. know," replied the
Arab. The king ordered the interpreter to ex-
plain to him: " We count five great kings: the
most powerful of them is he who is in possession of
el-'Irak; for this country is in the middle of the

world, and is surrounded by all other kingdoms.

We give him, since ancient times, the title of king

of kings. After him ranks this our king, to whom

we give the of king of men (mankind (j*UJj).
title

No government is better than ours, no monarch

more absolute and firm in his power than our
king, nor do the subjects of any other mo-
narch yield such strict obedience as we to our

king. We are the kings of men. After our-

selves follows the king of the lions U**M J0u ;

this is the king of the Turks, our neighbour. They

are men-lions. Next to them ranks the king of
the elephants; that is to say, the king of India,
which has with us the name of the kingdom of
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 335

wisdom ;
for the Hindus have invented philosophy.
Then follows the Byzantine king, whom we call the

king of men (jU.yf) ; for no men on earth have

better constitutions or finer countenances than the

Byzantines. These five stand at the head of kings:

all others are beneath them."
He asked him through his interpreter whether
he could recognize his Lord, that is to say, the Pro-
" How can I see him?"
phet, if he should see him.
said the Arab;
" he is with God." " I do not mean
"
it literally, said the king, "but in a representation."
He answered in the affirmative. The king ordered
a box to be brought and, when it was before him,
;

he took a casket out from it, and said to the inter-

"
preter, show him his Lord;
7
I and
the saw (relates

Arab), in the casket, the images of the prophets.

My lips muttered benedictions upon them. The king
did not know that I knew them hence, he said to;

the interpreter,
'
Ask him why he moves his lips.'
He interrogated me, and I answered him that I was
pronouncing benedictions upon the prophets. He
asked me further how I recognized them, and I told

him that I knew them by the attributes with which

' '

they were represented. This,' I exclaimed, is

Nuh in the ark ; he has been saved with those who

were with him whilst God submerged the whole
earth, and all that was on it.' He smiled, and
said, It is Nuh, as thou sayest ;
but it is not true
that the whole earth was inundated. The flood
336 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

occupied only a part of the globe, and did not reach

our country. Your traditions are correct, as far as
that part of the earth is concerned which you inha-
bit; but we, the inhabitants of China, of India, of es-
Sind, and other nations, do not agree with your
account; nor have our forefathers left us a tradition

agreeing with yours on this head. As to thy belief

that the whole earth was covered with water, I must
remark that this would be so remarkable an event
that the terror would keep up its recollection, and all

the nations would have handed it down to their

posterity.' I endeavoured to answer him, and to

bring forth arguments against his assertion in
defence of my statement. Then I continued, This
'

is Musa with his rod, and the Israelites.' 'Yes,'

*
observed the monarch, it is he with his energy
*X>Jt against the corruption of his nation.'
X$

'There is Christ/ exclaimed the Arab, 'riding on

an ass, and with him the apostles.' The king
made the observation that his career was but short,

having hardly lasted longer than thirty months."

A great number of other prophets were shown, and
comments made on their history. So much we
have selected as a specimen (of the account of this
Korai'shite).
This Koraishite, who was known under the

name of Ibn Habbar J^& (^^> recollected to have

seen long inscriptions over every figure, containing,
as he believed, the name, the
country, the length of
 AND MINES OP GEMS. 337

the the reason of the prophetic mission, and

life,

the biography of every prophet.

" "I
Then," proceeds this man in his narrative,
saw the image of the prophet Mohammed sitting on a
camel, and surrounded by his companions, who wore
Arabic shoes of camels' leather on their feet. They
had girdles tied round their waists, on which
their dentifrice was suspended. I could not help

shedding tears at this sight, and he made the

interpreter ask me for the reason of my emotion.
' *
This,' I answered, is our prophet,, our lord and

my nephew (relation) ; may God bless him !'

'What thou sayest is true,' replied the king; 'He

and his nation came to the possession of the finest

territories, he himself, however, had them not under

his power^ but his successors.' I saw the images
of many prophets: one them joined his fore-finger
of
and thumb into a ring, as if he meant to indicate
that the creation of God forms a ring another had ;

his fore-finger and thumb pointed to the heavens,

expressing that he resigns all the goods of this

world for what is above.
" The
king asked me respecting the khalifs,,
their and many questions concerning the
dress,
divine laws, and I answered him to the best of my

knowledge. He asked me also what we believe to

be the age of the world. I said, 'The Moslims do

not agree in this point; some state it to be six

thousand years, and some give a higher, and others
z
338 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

a lesser number.' He asked me whether this had

J
been taught by our prophet. I answered, 'Yes.

He and his vizier laughed, and he expressed by a

*
I do
sign that he did not approve of my answer.
not think/ said he, 'your prophet can have said
this: thou must be wrong.' I made a mistake, and
answered, 'Yes, he said so.' When I made this
reply, I saw by his brow that he disapproved of it.

Then he ordered his interpreter to tell me that I

should weigh my words, observing that kings wish
to have a positive and true answer. Thou allow-
'

est that you do not agree on this head, and yet

thou sayest that you have a tradition of the Pro-
phet on it. What prophets say excludes contro-
versy, and it must be received with faith. Take
care, therefore, not to say such contradictions/
He made many other observations, which I cannot
remember, on account of the length of time.

Finally, he said, 'Do not separate thyself from thine

own king; for he is nearer to thee than I, both with

respect to home and consanguinity.' I related to

him the circumstances which brought me from

(
el-Basrah to Siraf; 'Then,' I continued, l had
a great desire to see thee, O
king! having heard so
much of the stability of thy empire, of the per-
fection of thy institutions and justice, and of thy
excellent government, which extends its beneficial

influence over thy subjects. I was longing to

all

see thy kingdom, and to witness its prosperity;

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 339

and now, having seen it, I shall return to my native

soil, and into the dominions of my nephew (rela-

tion), to how
relate perfect and glorious I found
this kingdom, how extensive this country, how
universal the practice of justice, which emanates
from thy wise institutions. Every word shall ex-
press my admiration and thy praise, O, most glo-
rious monarch!' He was delighted with my
words, awarded precious gifts to me, and sent me
by post to Khaniku. The governor of the last-
mentioned city received orders to treat me respect-
fully, to present me to all distinguished persons
there, and to lodge me till I could set out on my
voyage. I lived there most splendidly until I left
China."
El-Mas'udi says,, Abu Zai'd el-Hasan (Moham-
med) Ben Yezid, of Siraf, gave me an account
of Ibn Habbar at el-Basrah, where he was settled
after he had left Siraf. This was in 303 A.H.
Abu Zaid el-Hasan was the nephew of Abu Yezid
(Zaid), Mohammed Ben Mozdin (^j-^v* G^U),
Ben Sasiat CLjU*- U (jU UA*J), the governor of

Siraf; he was a man of much information and intel-

ligence, and he told me that he had asked this
Koraishite, Ibn Habbar, respecting the town of
o^
Hamdan ^Ux*-; its description, extent, &c.; and
he told me how large it was, the number of inhabi-

tants, and that it was divided into two parts, which

z 2
340 EL-MAS'UDIS MEADOWS OF GOLD,

were separated by a long, wide, and straight road.

The king, his vizier, the kadhi of the kadhis, the
garrison, the eunuchs of the king, and all his house-
hold, reside on the right side, which is towards the
east: from this part of the town the lower class and

markets are excluded. Through the streets run

canals,and they are shaded by trees, which are
symmetrically planted, and the houses are spacious
and magnificent. On the left side, which is
towards the west, are the tradespeople, the stores
for provisions, and the markets. In the morning
I saw the stewards of the king, his household, the
slave boys of his leaders and their guardians, going on
footand horseback to the quarter of the town where
the markets and tradespeople are they provided;

themselves there with necessaries, and returned.

None went again at any other time to that quarter
before the next morning, for in their own quarter
there is every pleasure., beautiful lakes and canals,
but no palms ;
for palms do not grow in China.
The Chinese most clever people on
are the
earth they have extraordinary skill in plastic and
:

other arts, so that no other nation can be compared

with them in any kind of workmanship. The court
awards prizes for well made works, in order to pro-
mote them ; and the king orders them to be shown
in a public exhibition in his palace for one whole

year (before the prize is given) and if nobody can

;

discover a fault during this time, in a piece of art

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 341

exhibited there, the prize is awarded, and it is put

into the collection of arts; bat, if there be found any

imperfection, it is turned out, and no reward is

given. A man had made an ear of corn on which a

sparrow was sitting, and this was considered for
some time as a prize piece: a humpbacked man
saw and noticed that there was a fault in it.
it,

''Where?" he was asked. "Everybody knows,"

" that a sparrow sits on
replied the humpbacked, if

an ear it bends; the artist, however, has made it

upright, although the sparrow sits on it: this is a
fault." The judgment of the humpbacked man was
found correct, and the artist was not rewarded. The
object in acting thus is to stimulate artists to exert
themselves, and to be more careful and considerate
in what they do.
China is rich in remarkable objects, and there
aremany interesting accounts of the inhabitants, of
which we an abstract in the progress of this
will give

work. We have related them all in our books, the

Akhbar-ez-zeman and the Kitab el-ausat; in the
latter we
give such accounts as are omitted in the
Akhbar-ez-zeman and in this book we relate some
;

facts which are wanting in both those works.

342 EL-MAS'lJDi's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

SIXTEENTH CHAPTER.

A comprehensive view of the accounts of the seas, of

their wonders, and of the nations who live in
islands, or on the coast. The relative position and
dignity of various kings. The history of Spain
and other countries. The places and substances
which yield perfumes. The various kinds of
perfumes.

IN the preceding pages of this work we h^ve given

a general account of the seas, both those which are
in communication with each other, and those which
are separated. Here we will recapitulate all the
accounts which we possess, connected with the Abys-
sinian sea, speaking, at the same time, of the kings
and kingdoms situated on this sea also of their ;

respective position, and other matters of interest.

We
repeat that the seas of China, India, Faris,
and Yemen, are connected, and form only one
mass of water. The difference of the currents
and height of the water is to be attributed to
the direction of the winds, the season when
they rise, and other causes. The Persian sea is

most stormy, and most dangerous for navigation, at

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 343

the time when the Indian sea is quiet; and, again,

the Persian sea is quiet when the sea of India is

boisterous, stormy, dark, and rough. The sea of

Paris begins to be stormy when the sun enters into
the sign Virgo, about the time of the autumnal

equinox; continues so, and storms increase every

it

day, until the sun comes into the sign Pisces it is :

roughest at the end of autumn, when the sun is in

the sign Sagittarius: then it becomes more quiet
until the sun enters again into Virgo, and it is most
quiet at the end of spring, when the sun is in
Gemini. The Indian Sea is stormy till the sun
enters into the sign Virgo: then begins the navi-

gation on it; for it is easiest when the sun is in

Sagittarius. They sail all the year round on the

Persian Sea, from 'Oman to Siraf,which is a dis-
tance of one hundred and sixty farsangs, and from
Siraf to el-Basrah, which is a voyage of one hun-
dred and forty farsangs. But at this time it is not
navigable, excepting in the two mentioned routes,
or to neighbouring harbours.
Abu Ma'sher yb** ^\ y the astrologer, confirms,

in his
" Great Introduction to Astronomy" J^j^U

p-s=vxM ^ $ j**ffJ>
what we have said, that the

stormy quiet seasons on these seas begin when the

and
sun is in the above-mentioned signs of the zodiac ;

and he relates further, that it is

impossible to sail from
'Oman on the sea of India in the Tirmah (June),
344 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

except with first-rate* vessels and light cargoes.

These vessels are called et-Tirmahians SUALojAxM.
In India is at that time winter f \S~\\ ^ jT,U*j,

and the rainy season for (the two Syriac months

;

called) Kanun and the month Shobat, (December,

January, and February,) are their summer months :

our winter being their summer, whilst the month

Taimis (July) and Ab (August), which are sum-
mer months with us, are their winter. This change
of seasons is the case in all the towns of India, es-

Sind, and the neighbouring countries, through the

whole extent of this sea. From this circumstance,
that their winter is in our summer, the saying has
Ml

its
"
origin *xx$M ^L ^**j (_o^; that is to say,
he wintered in India." This is owing to the dif-
ference of the distance from the sun.
Pearl fishing, in the sea of Faris, is carried on
from the beginning of Nisan (April) to the end of
Ailul (October) ; no pearl fishing from
but there is

Ailul to Nisan. The places where pearls are found

in this sea have been named in the preceding pages
of this book. There do not exist pearls in any
other but the Abyssinian sea, near the coast of
the countries of Kharak J^U., Kotr^y?, 'Oman j,l$,

Serendib ^jjo^, and other places. In our former

* The word which I render first-rate vessels is doubtful in

all MS S.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 345

works we have mentioned how the pearls grow, and

the various opinions on this subject. for some ;

believe that they are produced by rain, whilst others

maintain that their formation is independent of rain ;
we have described the pearls, both the old (fine) and
the new ones, which are called ^Lsxjl, but gene-

rally known under the name of J^X^!. The flesh

and grease which are in mother of pearl are of an

animal which has the anxiety of a mother for the

pearls that are in it, at the approaching of the

divers*. We have given a description of pearl
fishing. The divers must not eat any other food
but fish, dates, or what is prepared of grain

c>\j$\
: their ears are split, to give a passage to the

breath (through the Eustachian tube), instead of

breathing through the nostrils for they put a little ;

ball of tortoise-shell into the nostrils :

[the tortoise
*UJ.*vJJ is a kind of marine animal, and of its shells

combs and other instruments are made, instead of

using wood:] and they put cotton with a little oil
into their ears and, when they walk at the bottom
;

21 This is the reading of all the MSS.,

^c jU cy^f.
and still I cannot help thinking that it is a corruption instead of

" in which the

Xs.
2jJlf * pearls rest like the foetus in the
womb of the mother."
 346 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

of the sea, they let the oil ascend, to receive by this

means a glimpse of light. Their feet and legs are
blackened with soot ; for the marine animals of which
divers are afraid are
shy of soot. Their voice
(from the bottom of the sea) sounds like the barking
of dogs. The sound passes through the water till it
reaches the ears. In our former works we have
given a full account of many curious matters con-
nected with divers, pearl-fishing, the pearls, and the
animals that produce them; also of the descriptions,
marks, prices, size, and weight of pearls.
This sea begins from el-Basrah and el-Obollah,
and extends along el-Bahrain from the sea-marks
of el- Basrah. Then comes the sea of Ladiwa (of
the Lacadives) <s^ j^z G&J^ j-^v) : on this sea

Safura ^yL*>, Subarah *j\~>f~>,

Tanah lj', Sindabur

^yjjsx*-, Kanbayat and other places of India

x>.UxT,
and es-Sind, are situated. Then comes the sea of
Horkand *xiT^ ^^sr ;
then the sea of Kilah x^ j^s:,
which is also spelt Kolah *XT, and of the islands ;

then the sea of Kardebinj gv*V >*; (^O^ >=0 >

then the sea of es-Sinf < i^aJl, from which the

Sinfi aloes has name; for it
its comes from thence;
then the sea of China, which is the sea of Saihu jssyo

(i^s^ or ^.=?U>) and there is no sea beyond it.

;

We have said that the Persian Gulf begins from

the sea-marks of el-Basrah, and a place called el-

Kankela ^H *&J or jOXl\. There are

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 347

marks of wood erected in the sea, to insure the

navigation to 'Oman, which is a distance of three

hundred farsangs. On the coast of this sea are
Faris and el -Bahrain. From 'Oman, the capital of
which is Sohar*, which the Persians call Maztin

CD^r* CcL.vtrO ? to el-Maskat LjuJLI, which is a

village where the sailors take in water from the

fresh- water wells which are there, are fifty farsangs.
From Mask at promontory of el-Jomjomah
to the
are also fifty farsangs. This is the limit of the sea
of Faris, the whole length of which is four hundred

farsangs. This is the division recognized by

sailors.

The promontory of el-Jomjomah *^sx*iJ ^j

is a mountain, which stands in connection with (the

esh-Shihr^JI and el- Ahkaf, in Yemen.

deserts of)
No one knows to what distance the sand extends
under the water : most copious under the
but it is

promontory of el-Jomjomah. There are, as we

have said, mountains in the sea, under water, like
those on the and they are called in the
land;
Mediterranean sofalah XJUuJi. Such a sofalah is in
a place which is known by the name of coast of

Salukiyat LJ^L*, in the Byzantine empire: it

extends under water nearly as far as the Isle of

Cyprus, and the greater part of the shipwrecks in the

* The MS. bears as in page 262, supra.

here^l*c\^,
348 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Mediterranean happen there. The sailors have, in

every sea, peculiar expressions by which they un-

derstand each other.
Fromthe promontory of el-Jomjomah, the ves-
sels enter, from the sea of Faris, into the second

sea, which has the name Ladiwa <s^y . Its depth

is unfathomable, its extent cannot be measured,
and the mass of water is beyond calculation. Many
sailors believe that no description can comprehend
all its parts, it being of an almost endless extent,
as we have already stated. The vessels cross it in

two or three months, or in one month, as they have

the wind. On the side of this sea extend the sea
and country of the Zanj.
This sea has not much ambergris ; for it is

mostly thrown on to the coast of the Zanj, and of

esh-Shihr, in Arabia.
The inhabitants of esh-Shihr are of the tribe of
Kodha'ah Ben Malik Ben Himyar Jju
anc^ f t ner Arabic tribes.
^
The
XeLa*
inha-
j*&* CU^'
bitants of Arabic origin in this country, which is

also known under the name of el-Mahrah 2

are called the people of hair and body ^yc

~*Jjj. Their language differs from pure Arabic :

the difference consists in using shin instead of Kaf

uJKM ; for instance, (jti^J^j J ClAS U*3 yiA Ju&
<s 30 i ^xsr" ^ which is the same as

t Jj LlJL J
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 349

cf<SJJJ The same is the case in other

phrases. poor and needy people

They are a :

they have a sort of camel called Mahri camel <-**?

it goes as fast as the Bejawi camel t-r^srW
:

.=svJJ, or even faster, as some think. On these

they ride along their coast ;

and when the camel
comes to ambergris, which has been thrown out by
the sea, it kneels down for it is trained and
;

taught to do so : thus the rider can pick it up.

The ambergris, which is found on this coast, and
on the islands and coast of ez-Zanj, is the best it :

is round, of a blue colour, and is of the size of an

ostrich's egg, or smaller. There is a sort of amber-

gris which is brought on shore by a fish, called

whale JtjSN, of which we have spoken. When the

sea is
stormy, pieces of ambergris are thrown up
from the bottom of the sea, as big as mountains, or
smaller, as we have described. This fish devours
the ambergris, which causes its death; and it floats

on the surface of the water. When people of ez-

Zanj, or others, observe the whale, they throw
hooks and ropes on it from their boats, open its
belly, and take the ambergris. The ambergris
found in the belly of the fish has a foetid smell, and
is known to the perfumers of el-'Irak and Faris

* " How dost thou mean what thou hast said to me? I have told
thee to put what I have with me to what thou hast with thee."
350 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

under the name of el-mand *x;U but that which is ;

found in the back of the fish is delicious and exqui-

site. Its quality depends on the length of the
time which it has been in the entrails of the fish.
Between the third sea, which is the sea of

Horkand^, and the second, which is the sea Ladiwa,

are many islands and they form the division
;

between these two Some

say there are about
seas.

two thousand, but, in fact, there are no more than

one thousand and nine hundred, every of one which is

cultivated. All these islands are ruled by a woman,

for it is an ancient habit with them not to have a
man as sovereign.

These islands yield much ambergris, which is

thrown on shore by the sea. It is sometimes the
size of the largest rocks. I have learned from
several sailors of Siraf and 'Oman, when I visited
those two towns, and from others who used to sail
to these islands, that the ambergris grows in the
bottom of the sea, and is of various kinds, as there
are various sorts of Agalloche : it is white, black,

spongy, and the like, and, when the sea is

strong,
it throws
up rocks and stones, and with them
ambergris.
The inhabitants of these islands are united

*
Compare Renaudot's Ancient Accounts of China, from page
1 to page 8.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 351

under one government they are very numerous,

;

and have immense armies. The distance from

one island to another is one mile, or one, two,
or three farsangs. Their palm tree is the cocoa-
nut palm j^^UJJjJsr, but they have no date palms.
Persons who understand the generation (physiology)
of animals, and the vegetation of plants, believe
that the cocoa-nut tree is originally the same as the
wild palm tree, which yields the fruit called mokl

JJiU J^?> hut that

the soil of India impressed its own

character on it, when it was transplanted, and that

it changed it into the cocoa-nut palm. We entered
in our work called ^.^UKJ! ciA^l^' "axioms of

experience," upon the influence which the climate

and air of every part of the globe exercise on the
nature of men andanimals, and vegetation. Thus,
it is to be ascribed to the influence of the climate
that the Turks have peculiar features, and small
eyes and even their camels bear the stamp of the
;

climate their legs are short, their neck thick, and

:

their hair white. The country

of Yajuj and Majuj

(Gog and Magog) partakes of the same character.

There could be brought forward many other ex-
amples, which have been pointed out by persons
who possess a knowledge of the races that inhabit
the east and west, as we have described.
No other island of the sea can boast of such
skilful artisans as the inhabitants of this group,
352 EL-MAS'lTDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

in all arts and trades, as in making cloth, instru-

ments, and so forth.

The treasures of this country consist of shells,

(concha veneris) *. These shells form the habi-

tation of certain animals; and, when there is no
money in the public treasury, the inhabitants receive

orders to cut branches of the cocoa-nut tree, and to

throw them on the water, with the leaves. These
animals fasten on the branches, and are thus

gathered then they are spread upon the sand

;

on the beach, and, as the animal perishes in the sun,

the shell remains empty. So they fill the public
treasury. These islands have, together, the name
of ez-Zanjat >Lsx>- Jl*, and they export the great-
est quantity of cocoa-nuts J*^jUM yt>^ g\^\. The
most important of these islands is Serendib v.*x^ <

(Ceylon). At a distance of about a thousand farsangs

from Serendib is another archipelago, called er-
Ramin (^ycl^l: these islands are cultivated, have

many gold mines, and are governed by kings. In

the same sea is Fansur jy^xi, whence the Fansuri
camphor has its name. In years in which hurricanes,
storms, inundations, and earthquakes are frequent,
camphor is most abundant, and when these cala-
mities are of less frequency, camphor is scarce.

En-Nowairi(MS. of Leyden, p. 26,) writes, after Benel-Jahit,

i
er-Rithhat.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 353

In almost all the islands which we have named

they eat cocoa-nuts: from these islands, bokkam (a

dye similar to our Brazil wood) and ruscus*

fjulf

&[)j$L\
are exported; they have also gold and
elephants. Some of the inhabitants are cannibals.
This archipelago stands in connection with the
islands of el-Jebalus ^Litf, which have a popu-
lation of a very singular appearance. They bring
in boats ambergris, betel, and other articles, to

the vessels which pass them, to exchange these

articles for iron and some clothes. They do not
employ money. Next to them are islands called

Andaman e U!*xJ\ which are inhabited by

(^UljJl),
Negroes of strange appearance and look. Their
hair is woolly, and each of their feet is larger than

* The Haisran is identified with the in the MS.

t$\J(j*J
1075, anc. fonds of the Royal Library at Paris, and Laguna
informs us, in his excellent notes to his Spanish Translation of
Dioscoridcs (Valencia, 1695, p. 100), that it is the ruscus; but

he, as well as Banqueri (Libro de Agricultural leave it uncertain

what species of ruscus. In the said MS. of Paris, the Haisran
is thus described: "It is
imported to us from China; it has the
form of ropes a finger thick, which are used for various domestic
purposes. They are particularly useful for hanging cloth on them,
for they do not make marks. Some say they are the branches of
some shrub; others believe that they are roots." En-Nowa'iri
informs us, that the sceptre of the khalif was of this wood.

En-Nowairi
f writes,
jj^U^J and ^Sl&J Langalus;
and in the MS. of the British Museum No. 7496, their name r
written
^^jKj'U
2 A
354 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

one cubit. They have no vessels, and, if a ship-

wrecked thrown on their shore, they devour
sailor is

him. They do the same with the crew of vessels if

they land there.
I have been told by many sailors, that they have

sometimes seen a small strip of white cloud over this

sea, from which a long white tongue comes forth

stretching down to the sea; and, when it reaches the

water, the sea rises towards it in a terrible hurricane,

which destroys everything that may come within its

reach, and it is followed by a heavy shower.
The fourth sea is that of Kilah Bar JL>**M
as we have said. It has also the name of the Sea

of Kolah XK ^^ (xX/J"). The water in this sea is

shallow; the shallower a sea is, the more frequent

are accidents, and the greater is the danger. In
this sea are many islands and sedadi <s ^U*? (<s j\j*>

sing. tf^*?). This word is a plural of sadi cfJ^>; so

the sailors call a land between two straits, if they
have to pass it. Several islands and mountains of
this sea are worth notice; but our object is to give

general ideas, and not to enter into details.

The fifth sea, which is known under the name
of Kerda'* equally shallow, and full of moun-
gijT,
is

tains and islands, from which the camphor and the

essential oil of camphor *U are procured.

^ytffl

Camphor has little essential oil,, but much vehicle,

from which it can hardly be extracted.

* name
Page 346 supra, this sea has the of Kardebinj.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 355

These by various nations.

islands are inhabited

One race is called el-Maht i^sswM (_~*asJt) they ;

have crisp hair and strange features. They come

in boats to the vessels which pass by, and throw a
sort of poisoned arrow. Beyond these people, and
between the country of Kolah, are mines of white
lead (tin), and mountains rich in silver, which con-
tain also gold and lead; but it cannot be separated.
Next follows the sea of es-Sinf (
i;>^!\^^:,

according to the division which we have just made.

In this sea are the dominions of the Maharaj, the

king of the islands. The population and number of

the troops of his kingdom cannot be counted and ;

the islands under his sceptre are so numerous, that

the most fast sailing vessel is not able to go round
them in two years. This king is in possession of

several kinds of spices <5o^W and perfumes and no ;

kingdom has more natural resources, nor more

articles for exportation, than this. Among these
are camphor, aloes, gillyflowers, sandal-wood, betel-

nuts, mace, cardamoms, cubebs, and the like. The

limits of this sea, which extends from these islands
towards the sea of China, are not known, and its

extent is
unexplored.
In some parts of this island are high mountains,
with a dense population, who have slit ears, and a
white complexion. Their faces look like a piece of
a hammered shield they wear their hair long, as
;

we (the Mohammedans) wear our beards. From

these mountains issues fire, by day and night. By
356 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

day it has a dark appearance, and at night it

shines red. It rises to such a height, that it reaches

the regions of the heaven (i.e. it ascends above the

atmosphere). The explosion is accompanied with

a noise like the loudest thunder. Sometimes a
strange sound proceeds from these volcanos, which
is indicative that their king will die and, if the ;

sound is lower, it foretells the death of one of their

chiefs. They know

the meaning of these sounds,

by long habit and experience. This is one of the

great chimneys (craters) of the earth. At no great
distance is another island, from which, constantly,
the sound of drums, lutes, fifes, and other musical

instruments, and the noise of dancing, and various

amusements, are heard. Sailors, who have passed
this place, believe that the Dajjal (Antichrist)

occupies this island.

To the dominions of the Maharaj belongs Sarirah

*jjj.~>,
the extent of which is estimated at four
hundred farsangs. The whole island is well culti-
vated. He is also in possession of the island of

ez-Zanij, er-Ramni tfUij-H,

and many other islands
which are not known to us. The Maharaj is the
lord of the sixth sea, which is the sea of es-Sinf

The seventh sea is the sea of China

which is also called the sea of Saihu *

* One MS. reads and another

>ss\**j
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 357

this is a stormy and dangerous sea, and there is a

great deal of <-*ssd\; this word means a great raging

w
on the sea jssd\ ^
X^xM 'i&A\ <-*sd\ j>+JiSj,
and
is one of the maritime terms which are common

among the sailors of every sea. In this sea are

many mountains, between which the vessels must

pass.
When a great storm comes on, black figures
rise from the water, about four or five spans long,

and they look like little Abyssinians. They mount

on the vessels; but,however numerous they may
be, they do no harm. When sailors observe them,
they are sure that a storm is near ;
for their ap-
pearance is a certain sign of a gale. They prepare
themselves for the storm, which will either be their
ruin, or they will be saved from it. Those who are
to be saved frequently observe something like a
luminous bird at the top of the mast JJ<xH. The
sailors of the sea of China, and of the whole Abys-
sinian sea, call the mast $3M (jj^xJ!); and the
sailors of the Mediterranean call it
<^jl^\. This

appearance on the top of the mast is of such

brightness that the eye cannot behold it, nor can

they make out what it is. The moment it

appears
the sea becomes quiet, the gale lulls, and the
waves subside. Then this brightness vanishes,
and no one can perceive how it comes, or how
it disappears. It is the sign of safety, and the
assurance that they have escaped. What we have
 J
358 EL-MAS'UDI S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

related is confirmed by the sailors and merchants

of el-Basrah, 'Oman, Siraf, and others, who have
navigated this sea ; and, however marvellous it

sounds, it
may be true that God sends such a
sign ; for his servants are saved, through his
power, from the dangers of the sea, and guided in
their voyage.

In this sea is a sort of crab, of the length of

one cubit, or a span, more or less if it comes forth :

from the sea in rapid motion, and goes on shore, it

loses the qualities of an animal, and is petrified.

This stone forms an ingredient in the collyria, and,

generally, in medicines for the eye. It is, therefore,

well known. There are wonderful accounts reported

respecting the sea of China, and those which are in
connection with it. We refer the reader to our
books on these subjects, which we have frequently
had occasion to bring under his notice.
Beyond the coast of China is no other kingdom
known or described, excepting the country of es-
Sabal y^\ (es-Sila?), and the islands which
belong to it. No one from el-Irak, or any other
place of the West, frequents this country. The
air of this country is wholesome, the water

good, the soil fertile, and the precious stones are

brilliant and genuine hence, the country is rich
:
;

and it seldom happens that any of the inhabitants

leave their native soil. They are allies of the

Chinese, and the kings of both countries constantly

exchange presents.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 359

Some say they are descendants of 'Abur, who

settled there in the same way as the Chinese took

possession of their country.

In China are many rivers, which may be com-
pared with the Tigris and Euphrates. They come
from the country of the Turks, et-Tubbet, and of the

Soghd JouaJi. The Soghd live between Bokhara and

Samarkand. In their country is the mountain en-

Nushadir* jiliytfl (the mountain of sal-ammoniac),

from which fire rises in summer at night, which may
be seen at a distance of nearly one hundred farsangs ;

and by day smoke issues, which is so dense that

the rays of the sun cannot penetrate through it.

This mountain yields sal-ammoniac ^sliy Tra- .

vellers in summer take their road from Khorasan to

China by thismountain; for there is a valley

through it, which is forty or fifty miles long. At
the entrance of the valley wait some men who offer

themselves to carry the baggage, if they are well

paid. They use sticks to drive the passengers on

their journey; for any stoppage or rest would be

fatal to the traveller, in consequence of the irritation

which the ammoniacal vapours of this valley pro-

duce on the brain, and on account of the heat. The
way becomes more and more narrow till the travellers

* This volcano has been introduced to the notice of

Europe by
Klaproth, Abel Remusat, and Humboldt.
 5
360 EL-MAS UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

come to the end of their perilous passage. Here

are pits with water, in which they throw themselves,
from the depressing influence of the
to obtain relief

vapours of sal-ammoniac, and of the heat of the air.

No animal passes through the valley in summer, nor
anybody who by fanaticism*. The sal
is excited
ammoniac throws out flames in summer. In winter
much snow and rain fall, which extinguish the
heat and flames: at that time men and animals can

pass it without inconvenience. When travellers

arrive in the Chinese. territories,, they are beaten as

in passing (to counteract the congestion of blood in
the brain). The distance from Khorasan to China,

through the pass just mentioned, about forty days'

is

journey; partly through steppes, solitudes, and

deserts. The other road, which is used for animals,
is about four months' journey ;
but on that the tra-
veller enjoys the protection of several Turkish tribes.

I have seen a very intelligent and agreeable man

* JUo "No
c^sfi ^ \* gjyt Jfo y>: literally,

caller (or one who makes proselytes,) nor one who answers, (or
a proselyte,) passes this valley." I doubt whether the meaning

which I have given to this passage in the text is correct ;

but I do
not know the true sense. Perhaps the author means to say one
must not speak; but why should he use such an artificial expres-
sion ? Moreover, if he meant to circumscribe the word speak, by

saying the traveller must neither ask nor answer, he would have
used JoUj, and not cb
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 361

at Balkh, who had made the journey to China,

several times ;
but he had never been at sea. I have
seen many other persons who went from the country
of the Soghd, through the mountains of en-Nushadir,
to et-Tubbet and China. Khorasan is contiguous
to and es-Sind, in the direction of el-
India,
Mansurah and el-Multan. The same caravan
goes from es-Sind to Khorasan, and the caravans of
India go in the same manner into this country, as

far as Zabolistan j,UuJJj, which has the name of

Fairuz Ibn KaTk JC/J"
jjj*- This is an ex-
^.jj\
tensive country: it has
many astonishingly strong
castles, and is densely inhabited by nations of
different tongues. Historians do not agree respect-

ing their origin. Some trace their descent from

Yafeth Ben Nuh, and others connect them with the

first Persians, giving a long genealogy.
The country of et-Tubbet (Tibet) is separated
and distinct from China. The rulers of et-Tubbet

are the Himyarites, who were led there by one of

the Tobba's, as we shall relate in the history of

Yemen, to which we shall devote some of the

following pages of this book ;

and it is to be found
in our Akhbar ez-zeman. The population of et-

Tubbet consists partly of nomades, and partly of

settled inhabitants. The wandering Tibetans are
of Turkish origin, numerous that they
and so
cannot be counted. They yield to no nomadic nation
of the Turks, and are respected by other Turkish
362 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

hordes ;
for in ancient times the king (khdkan)
was of their horde ;
and it is
generally believed,
among all Turks, that they will again obtain the
royal power.
The country of et-Tubbet has some peculiarities
and mountains, which
in its air, water, soil, plains,

deserve notice. There, man lives gay and full of

cheerfulness, which is neither interrupted by sor-
rows, nor cares, nor by reflection. The varieties
of fruits, flowers, meadows, and rivers, of this

country, are innumerable. The nature of this

country predisposes men and animals to be light-

hearted and cheerful you will not even see old
;

men or old women dull ;

but old and young are

equally gay. This cheerfulness, joviality, and gaiety,

lead them to indulge in music and dancing; and
it
goes so far, that the relations of persons who die
do not feel such deep sorrow as other people feel
at the loss of a beloved individual, or in the absence

of one to whom they are attached ; but, notwith-

standing this levity, they are affectionate to each

other.

This country has the name of Thobbet after

those Himyarites who had settled LH^xS (thobbit)
there. This is expressed in the poem of Di 'bil
Ben ^r^kvM ^c ^j J^c^, in which
'All el-Khoza'i

he lowers the Komait il^&i, boasting of the superi-

ority of the Kahtan tribes above the Nizar^J tribes.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 363

" on the gate of

They have put an inscription
Merw and on the gate of China. Both these are
our inscriptions. They have named Samarkand
after (their king) Shamir, and they have colonized
et-Tubbet."
We shall relate, in the chapter on the history of
the kings of Yemen, the principal events in the

history of the kings of et-Tubbet, and of those who

made (military) excursions. Et-Tubbet borders on
one side on China, and on the other side on India,
Khorasan, and the Turkish steppes. It comprises
extensive cultivated lands and many towns, some
of which are fortified. In ancient times, they gave
5
to their kings the title Tobba in imitation of the
,

of the king of Yemen.

title But, as time changes
every thing, the Himyaritic language was lost
amongst them, and exchanged for a language which
is similar to those of the neighbouring countries

and nations ;
and they called their king Khakan

The Tubbetan and Chinese musk comes from

contiguous countries, in which the musk deer U&
jCJLI lives;and the superiority of the Tubbetan
musk over the Chinese musk depends on two causes :

the musk deer of et-Tubbet lives upon spikenard

and all sorts of aromatic herbs, whilst the Chinese
musk deer has none of those odoriferous plants;

further, the Tubbetans leave the musk in the blad-

der, as it is in its natural state, and the Chinese take it

364 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

out from the bladder, and adulterate it with blood

and other sophistications. Besides, the Chinese
musk imported to us by sea, and is thus exposed
is

to moisture and different air. When the Chinese

have spoiled their musk by adulteration, they put it
into pots and bottles, which they carefully close, and,
in this state, it is
imported into the Moslim territory
by the seaports of 'Oman, Paris, el-Irak, and other
large towns*.
The musk which the zebif yields, immediately
after it has come to maturity, is the best and most

exquisite, such as the musk of et-Tubbet is. There

isno difference between the musk gazelles J^JU ^j*
and the common gazelles ^>*> as to form, appear-
ance, colour, or horns; the sole difference that
existsis, that they have canine teeth, resembling

the projecting teeth of the elephant. The musk

deer has two such teeth projecting from the jaw,
which are very strong, white, and straight, and about

* En-Nowairi
gives some precious details respecting the trade
of perfumes, which was the most considerable branch of foreign
commerce under the Abbasides. He confirms the statement of
our author, saying that the musk of et-Tubbet and of China are

originally of thesame quality but that the Tubbetan musk is

;

imported by land ^liJ\ .Jks. through Khorasan, and preserves

its
fragrancy; whilst the Chinese musk, although it comes origin-

ally from Tubbet, is

brought from Canton (Khaniku) by sea, and
loses its strength.

f Compare Ancient Accounts of India and China, p. 71.

 AND MINKS OF GEMS. 365

one span long, more or less. The Chinese and Tub-

betans set nooses, nets, and traps, to catch the
musk deer ; sometimes they shoot them with arrows.

They pull them down and cut out the musk bladder.
The blood in the navel has a foetid smell, and, as

long as it is fresh, it has not only no fragrance, but

it is
very offensive. After it has been kept for some
time, it loses that offensive smell, and it becomes,
under the influence of air, musk. It undergoes
exactly the same process as fruits, if they have been
taken from the tree before they have their flavour.
The best musk is that which is found in the navel
of the animal, and matured in the bladder till it has
its fragrancy. The blood is accumulated in the
navel of the animal, and, when its
particles have
undergone a change there, it receives an agreeable
smell. The animal, feeling some inconvenience,
rubs its navel on rocks and stones which are
warmed by the sun, for this excites a pleasing
sensation. By this means
(this changed blood) is

discharged, and adheres to the stones. The sen-

sation be compared to the relief felt if a
may
tumour or boil, in which much matter has been
collected, is
discharged. When the musk bladder
which is the Persian word for navel]* is

The word is
*~> i>^ Sj.* jJu ^ X4-1J.
"
written &jU in Persian, and does not mean navel," generally,
" the navel
but, as in Arabic, especially, bag of a musk goat."
366 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

emptied of its contents, it cicatrizes, and the blood

accumulates there a second time, as in the first
instance. The Tubbetans go out to the rocks
and mountains, and there they find the blood con-
gealed on the stones, which has been matured by
nature in the animal, and dried by the sun, after it
has been exposed to its influence. This is the
most exquisite musk, and is, in gathering, put into
the musk bladders which have been taken from
hunted deer, and brought for the purpose to the

spot where the musk is gathered. This is the musk

used by the Tubbetan princes, and which they send
as presents to each other; but it is seldom exported
from their country. There are many towns in et-
Tubbet, and the musk is called after the town or
district from whence it comes.

Thekings of China, of the Turks, of India, of

the Zanj, and all other kings of the earth, looked up
to the king of the climate (kishwar) of Babel
with great respect; for he is the first king on earth,
and occupies the same position with respect to
others as the moon* with respect to the stars. For
his country is the noblest and most populous he is :

the richest of all sovereigns he is most favoured by

;

nature ; and he has a powerful and firm government.

This was the case in ancient times but now, [in ;

One copy " the sun. 1

reads, in the margin, as a correction,

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 367

332 A.H.,] this description does not at all agree

with
the sovereign of this country. The ancient kings of
Babel had the title of Shahan Shah ali^UU, which
means the King of Kings. He has the same position
with regard to the rest of the world as the heart in
the body, and the buckle in a necklace. Next ranks
the king of India, who is the king of wisdom and
of elephants ; was acknowledged amongst the
for it

Khosraws that wisdom comes from India. After

the king of India ranks the king of China, who is

the king of wise government, good institutions, and

perfection in arts. No
king on earth pays more
attention to internal government than the king of

China, nor keeps any other the citizens, soldiers, and

persons in office, better under control. His people
are brave, strong, and powerful. He is able to defend
his country with well equipped armies. His troops
receive pay, as it was the case under the kings of

Babel. The first rank after the king of China is

claimed by the king of the Turks ; who resides in

the city of Kofristan* ^U*- jjLf, and rules over the

Turkish nation called Taghizghiz. He is called the
king of lions (tigers) and of horses ; for there is no
nation on earth braver, nor more lion (tiger) -like in

shedding blood, than his subjects; nor has any

country greater abundance of horses than this. His

* One copy reads Kushan j^li

368 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

country isbetween China and the steppes of Kho-

rasan. The title of this monarch is Irkhan W 5 U^
(the Khan of Men). The Turks have several kings,

who rule over different hordes, and are not under

submission to the irkhan; but there is no other
Turkish king who excels him. The Byzantine king,
who follows next, is named the King of Men ;
for

there are no men on earth better formed than his

subjects. This gradation was recognized in ancient
times but subsequently the kings of the earth
;

have become more equal in their positions. A

man who takes a very correct view of the history of
the world, describes thus, in some poem, the

kings of the world :

"
There are two famous palaces on earth, the
Iwan (of the Khosraws, at Ctesiphon), and the
Ghomdan kings of Yemen, at San'a); and
(of the
there are only two great royal families, the Sasa-
nians and Kahtanites. Faris is, in preference,
called the earth, and Babil the climate (or Kishwar).
The site of the Islam Mekka, and Khorasan
is

is the world. The two royal cities, Bokhara and

Balkh, form the two corners (of Khorasan), and
render it formidable. El-Bailakan ^liX/^! and
Taberistan are its frontiers ;
er-Rai is its Sharwan
(fortified frontier pass). In society some men are

distinguished by higher rank, as the Marzoban (in

the Persian empire),, the Batrick (or Patrician,
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 369

amongst the Romans), and the Tarkhan*. The

title of the Persian king is Kisra; the Romans call

their monarch Caesar; the Abyssinians Nejashi;

and the Turks Khakanf."
The king of Sicily XJJus and Afrikiyah, in the

Maghrib, had, before the Islam, the title Jirjis

U^AJS*^. (George)
and the king of Spain had the
;

name Lodrik JijjM (Roderic) which was common

c
,

to all the kings of Spain. The inhabitants of this

country are said to belong to the nation of el-Ishban

* Tarkhan is the title of the Tatar Magnates. A Tarkan had

the right to go to court whenever he pleased, and to commit nine
crimes without being subject to the laws. These privileges were
inherited through nine generations. The Hungarians, who are
Tatars, have preserved and extended these humane institutions.
A Hungarian Magnate may commit as many crimes as he chooses;
he never checked by the court of Vienna, except if he should
is

dare to wish to better the condition of his country; and his

privileges are
inherited by his whole posterity without end.

2 B
370 EL-MAS'UDl'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

j,U-&yJ (Hispani), who are descen dents of Yafeth

Ben Nuh, and are spread over this country. But

the more generally received opinion amongst the
Moslims in Spain is, that Lodrik (Roderic) was of

the Galician nation, who are a French race. He

was the last sovereign; and was killed by Tank
L^jVjUs, the freed slave of Musa Ben Nosair, when
he conquered Spain and entered Tolaitilah *XkJik
(Toledo), which was the metropolis and the residence
of the king. Through this city runs a large river,
which has the name Taj ah* <^lj' (Tagus). It comes
from the country of the Galiciansf Xi'^i^ and the
Basques;};. They are a great nation, ruled by a

king who goes as frequently to war with the Mos-

lims in Spain, as the Galicians and the French

saj>jj^i.
This river, (the Tagus,) falls into the

Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the most celebrated

rivers in the world: in the middle of its course it

passes the town of Toledo. Over the Tagus goes

the arched bridge es-Saif i^ix**!! ^ko, which was

constructed by ancient kings ;

it is one of the

* Almost all MSS. read the name of this river Abirah

SJAO!,
and it is evident from what follows, that our author did not suffi-

ciently distingTiish between the Tagus and the Ebro.

H- This is the plural of <JiX:s, as it has been said in the note

to page 177 supra. The Arabic name of the country is

Jiilikiyah

All MSS. read &\\ instead

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 371

most remarkable buildings on earth, and much more

surprising than the bridge Sajineh* Lsx->, on the
frontier between Mesopotamia and the Byzantine

empire, not far from Somaisat kLA*-o, in the coun-

try of Sarujah f X^*-. This, and the city of

Toledo,, are fortified, and have strong walls.

The (Mohammedan) inhabitants of this city

rebelled against theOmaiyides after the conquest,
and defended themselves two years with success
against them; but, in 315, the town was taken by
'Abder-Rahman Ben Mohammed Ben 'Abdullah
Ben Mohammed Ben 'Abder-Rahman Ben el-
Hakam Ben Hisham Ben 'Abder-Rahman Ben
Mo'awiyah Ben Hisham Ben 'Abdel-Melik Ben
Merwan Ben el-Hakam, and he is at present [332
A.M.,] king of Spain. Many buildings of this city
were destroyed when it was taken. Kortobah

AA^J was made the metropolis of Spain, and con-

tinues to be so to this day. seven days' jour-
It is

ney from Toledo, and about three days from the

sea: one day's journey from the sea is the town

Ishbiliyah *JlAAf (Seville). The cultivation and

towns of Spain extend about two months' journey,

* This seems to be a
corruption of the Greek word ^evy^a,
or of the Arabic name Jasr Manbij, and to mean one or the other
of these two bridges over the Euphrates.

f Abulfeda writes Saruj. But en-Nowa'iri in an autographic

copy of one of the volumes of his history (MS. of Leyden), spells

the name like our author.
2 B 2
372 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

and amongst them there are nearly forty renowned

cities.

The Omai'yades in Spain, are called the sons

of the khalifs cjb^i! \

csvj, but they do not give
them the title khalifah (successor of the prophet),
for no prince has a claim to this title, in their

opinion, who
not master of the two holy
is cities

(which formed the dominions of the Prophet).

'Abd er-Rahman Ben Mo'awiyah Ben Hisham
Ben 'Abd el-Melik Ben Merwan went to Spain in
in the Rebi' of 137* A.H. (and died in 171). He
was succeeded by Hisham Ben 'Abd er-
his son

Rahman, who reigned nine years (180). Then

reigned his son, el-Hakam Ben Hisham, nearly
twenty years (206) f- At present reigns 'Abd
er-Rahman Ben Mohammed (350) in Spain as we
have said. He has a very good government.
He made in 327 A. H., an expedition against the
Christians, with more than one hundred thousand
men, and encamped before the capital of the king-

* One copy reads the year 137, and another 139; the real
date is the tenth of Rebi'L, 138.

f Here the names of 'Abd er-Rahman Ben el-Hakam [238] ;

Mohammed Ben 'Abd er-Rahman [273]; el-Mondir Ben Mo-

hammed [275]; and Abdullah [300]; are left out in all copies

by a mistake of the transcribers. The dates between crotchets

are the years of the death of the kings, and have been borrowed

from Conde's Historia de la Domination de los Arabes en

Espana, Madrid, 1820.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 373

dom of the Galicians, which is called Samurah,

(Zamora), and surrounded with seven walls,

'ijjv*
which form one of the most wonderful buildings
raised by ancient kings. From one wall to another

is a considerable distance, in which run ditches

filled with water. He conquered two walls, and

then the besieged made a sally upon the assailants,
and killed as many as they could reach; the
number of those who fell under the sword, or were
drowned, amounted to forty thousand men. This
gave to the Galicians and Basques the superiority
over the Moslims, and they took the towns and
frontiers towards France from them. On this

frontier is the city of Orbunah XJ^t, which the

Moslims lost in 300 A.H., with other towns and

fortresses, but the town is still existing after the

conquest, to this day 332 A.H.
In the eastern part of Spain, on the Medi-
terranean, is the city of Tortushah *&> j^ ;
and
a little farther north, is Faraghah Xr^j on a large
river, then Laridah SJ^, and still further north
lies csvxb ;
the last mentioned town is on the
French frontiers. This is the most narrow pass of
the Pyrenees.
A
short time previous to the beginning of the
fourth century of the Hijrah, ships landed in Spain
which had thousands of men on board, who made
incursions on the coast. The Moslims of Spain
374 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

believed that they were a Magian nation ^U

jM^sOlJ (fire worshippers) who were in the habit of
visiting this country every two centuries.
They
came from a gulf of the Ocean, and not from the
strait on which the pillars of copper (columns Her-

culls) stand. I suppose this gulf is connected with

the sea of Mayotis and the Pontus, (through a
northern passage,) and that the invading nation
were the Russians * u*j^ 5 of whom we have
spoken; for no other nation sails in the seas which
stand in connexion with the Ocean. In the Medi-
terranean f, not far from Crete, planks of vessels
of Indian plantain wood have been found, which
were well cut and joined with fibres of the cocoa nut
tree. It was evident that they were of wrecked

vessels, and had been a long time in water; vessels

of this description are only found in the Abyssinian
sea, for the vessels of the Mediterranean and of the
West are all joined with nails. In the Abyssinian
sea, iron nails would not be applicable for sbip

building, for the water of that sea corrodes the iron,

and the nails become thinner and weaker in the

water; hence the planks are joined with fibres and

besmeared with grease and quicklime. This is a
proof that the seas have a communication. The

*
They were the Normans. This suggestion, although it is

not correct, does honour to the sagacity of our author.

f Compare Ancient Accounts of India and China, translated

by Renaudot, page 59.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 375

sea towards and the country of es-Sila

China
all round the country of the
^XA*J! (jo-Jl), goes
Turks, and has a communication with the sea
of the West c-^jdj^ (the Atlantic), through some
of the great ocean
straits u*^^' ^^
On the coast of Syria, ambergris has been found
thrown on shore, although it has never been a pro-
duction of the Mediterranean since ancient times,
and it is
possible that it came there through the
same way by which we suppose that the planks of
the vessels came there from the sea of China. God
knows best. The sea of Spain * abounds in am-
bergris, and it is exported from Spain to Egypt and
other countries, from the coasts of this sea called

Shantirin
^.^J^JU-K (Santarem), and Shodaunah

*3j*xi (Sidonia) . The ounce ,

in Bagdad weight, i s paid
with three mithkals of gold in Spain, and Egypt in

with ten dinars, although it is of an inferior quality.

It is probable that the pieces of ambergris found

on the Byzantine (Syrian) coasts have been propelled

there by the waves, for the sea of Spain is in com-
munication with the sea that washes these coasts.
In Spain are considerable mines of silver and

quicksilver, and since this is the best quicksilver

that exists, it is exported into all Moslim, and not

Moslim, countries. Other articles of exportation

* of the Mohammedan
Compare Al-Makarri, History dynas-
ties in Spain, translated by M. Gayangos, vol. I. p. 89.
376 EL-MAS'lJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

from Spain are saffron and ginger roots J^-ST y\

\

The principal ingredients of perfumes are five:

musk, camphor, aloes, ambergris, and saffron they ;

all come from India,

except saffron and ambergris,
which are found in the country of the Zanj, in esh-
Shihr, ^.=i=UJJ,
and Spain.
The kinds of spices x^Ut are twenty-five, viz.,
the hyacinth (spikenard) J^JUJI, gilly-flower

sandal-wood ^AxaJJ, betel-nut (nutmeg)

the rose ^\ 9 cassia Xs:Ou*J!, the bark of pomegra-
nate
-o;^ the finer species of cinnamon XJ^iM,
cardamoms xXsijiH, cubeb< XjUJft, a species of

cinnamon* |yxlL^J\, the berries of Ceesalpinia Sappa

^XA!\
-7 -^ 5 the roots of
Nymphea S^ULM, the
a species of grain resembling cherry-stones (growing

in Aderbaijan) ^Lsv*!!, saffron of Yemen <j^^>

costus-root \a.*&\, clove jlxli^i, the gum of the lada

^J^M^ styrax X*xU, the seed of satonicum

calamus aromaticus HiXjjjOi ^^ 9 orobanche j

We have described the mines of silver, gold, quick-

silver, and the places where all sorts of perfumes
are found, in our work, the Akhbar ez-zeman: we

* The Arabs distinguished particularly two species of cinna-

mon which are both mentioned here: one of them is most likely
the cinnamon of Ceylon (laurus cinnamonum)j and the other the
cinnamon of China (laurus cassia?) or perhaps the Malabrathrum.
The names of three drugs are left uncertain in the MSS.
j-
 AND MINF.S OF GEMS. 377

may, therefore, dispense with entering further on

this subject in this book.
The accounts which are reported respecting the
sea of the west, are marvellous, particularly those
which regard the sea that washes the cultivated
districts of the Sudan (Negroes), and the extreme

west. Men who possessed of an extensive

are

knowledge of our globe, say, that the Abyssinians

and Sudan (Negroes) occupy a country of seven
years' journey; that Egypt forms the sixtieth part
of the country of the Sudan and that the country
;

of the Sudan forms only a small portion of the sur-

face of the earth, the dimension of which is five

hundred years' journey. One third of it is inha-

bited, one-third is desert, and one-third is covered

with seas. The country of the Sudan borders on
the most distant plains of the dominions of Idris
Ben Ben 'Abdullah Ben el-Hasan Ben el-
Tdris

Hosain Ben 'All Ben Abi Taleb, in the Mag rib,

which is the country of Tilimsan
^U^Xj, Tahart
djjjblj, and Fas ^ (Fezz) : then comes Sus el-

adna ^^1^*^, which is about two thousand three

hundred miles from el-Kairwan, and twenty days'
from Sus el-aksa. The cultivation extends, with-
out interruption, as far as the Wadi-r-raml (valley
of sandj and Kasr el-aswad (the black palace).
Farther on come deserts of sand, in which one finds
a town, of the name of Medinat en -Nonas wa
378 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Kibab er-Rasas (the town of copper, and the cupo-

las of lead) .

Musa Ben Nosair

has penetrated as far as
Medinat en-Nonas, under the reign of 'Abd el-

Melik Ben Merwan. The wonderful things which

he has seen, are related in several books which are
known to
every one. Some are of opinion that
the town which has been stormed by Musa, is in

the plains of the Ardh el-Kebirah S^AA&J u*j\ (the

main land), which extends (north of the Peninsula)
of Spain. Maimun Ben 'Abd el-Wehhab Ben 'Abd
er- Rahman Ben Rostam el-Farisi, who was of the
Ibadhian sect *\AC
^.j u-jl^H tX^c ( .^j (_^^^>
^Uyfc ^ L5 *
;
UJi
jr*j ^.j ^^J has spread there
the tenets of the Khawarij. Some historians believe
that the inhabitants are remnants of the Ishban,
who have cultivated those countries. Maimun
had several wars with the Talebites. We shall

speak on the different opinions respecting the

Ishban ^jUt another chapter of this book.

in

Some connect them with the Persians, deriving the

name from Isbahan ^1$.^.
In these places of the Maghrib are found some
of the sect of the Khawarij, called the Harurians*

* One copy reads " Sofrians The y are a

(Sj^JUaJl."
fraction of the Harurians, so called from Saffar, the founder of
the sect.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 379

l.
They possess several cities, like the town
of Dar'ah* Xj^a, which has large silver mines: this

town lies towards el-Jasrf j**L\, and

contiguous is

with the country of the Abyssinians, with whom

the inhabitants are at constant war. In our book
called the Akhbar ez-zeman, we have related the
wars of the Maghrib; and we have described the
towns of that country we have named the sects of
;

the Khawarij, as the Ibadhians, Sofrians, and the

Mo'tazilite sects, who live there ;
and we have re-

lated the wars which arose between the followers

of those two religious opinions. We have also
acquainted the reader with the history of el-Aghlab
et-Temimi cAc^, who was appointed by el-
^&\
Mansiir over the Maghrib %, of his residence in

Afrikiyah, of the state of his affairs, during the

reign of er-Rashid, and the succession of his son, as
an independant prince, over Afrikiyah, and other

provinces of the Maghrib, till Abu Nasr Ziadatul-

lah Ben 'Abdullah Ben Ibrahim Ben Ahmed (Ben

el-Aghlab Ben Ibrahim Ben Mohammed )

Ben

* The MSS. read XcJo and SufJ.

"
f One copy reads towards the South."
J Abulfeda and Rasmussen (Annales Moslim.) say, that
Ibrahim Ben el-Aghlab is the founder of the dynasty, and that
he has been appointed by er-Rashid.
It should run Ben Mohammed Ben Ibrahim,
leaving out
Ben Aghlab. Compare Abulfeda ad annum 296.
380 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

el-Aghlab, one of his successors, was expelled by

Abu 'Abdullah, the Mohtesib, who was a Sufi, and
an emissary of the governor of el-Mahdiyah. He
drove him out, with the assistance of the Ketamah

5LoUr, and other tribes of the Berbers, in 297, A.H.,

during the Khalifat of el-Moktader. All this is

related in the Akhbar ez-zeman, where we also
describe his march to er-Rakkah. This man had
originally been Mohtesib (officer of police) at

Ramhormuz, in the Ahwaz.

We now resume our subject, and continue to
name the kings, postponing the description of the
kingdoms situated on the Abyssinian sea, which we
intend hereafter to introduce to the notice of the
reader.

The king of the Zanj is Wafliman (2j ^X

the king of el-Lan is
Kerkendaj glxiTjT (
the kings of el-Hirah were the No'mans XJ

and the Mondirs *,iUU ; the king of the mountainous

country of Tabaristan was Faran ^U (cv,lj

or jjjU),
and el-Jebel is named after him and his sons to this

day. The king of India is the Ballahra cf^XxJl;

the king of Kinnauj, who is one of the kings of es-

Sind is Budah SA^J ()^ or iatp) ;

this is a title

general to all kings of el- Kinnauj *: at present this

* En-Nowa'iri
states, that the title of the king of Kinnauj is
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 381

city is under the sceptre of the Islam, for it forms a

province of el-Multan. Through this town passes

one of the (five) rivers, which form together the
river Mihran in es-Sind, which is considered by el-

Jahit k^lit as the Nile, and by others as the

Jai'hun of Khorasan*. This Budah, who is the

king of el-Kinnauj ,
is an enemy of the Ballahra the

king of India. The king of el-Kandahar ^U^XJ!,

who is one of the kings of es-Sind ruling over this
country, is called Jahaj this name is
^\^-. (^^v^-)
;

common to all sovereigns of that country. From

his dominions comes the river Rayid <>oV,, one of
the five rivers which form the Mihran of es-

Sind. Kandahar is called the country of the Rahbut

(j *

(Rajbut) ls}*&>^\ (k^/jfc^H); another river of the

Panjab is called Hatil JJsbb ; it comes also from the

mountains of es-Sind, and runs through the country
of er-Rahbut, which is the country of el-Kandahar:
the fourth river of the Panjab comes from the coun-

try of Kabul and its mountains, which forms the

frontier of es-Sind towards Bost k*j, Ghaznahf

Ray (S\y Perhaps the difference of the times when el-Mas'udi

and en-Nowai'ri wrote, may account for the difference of their

statements.
* The first of these two errors came from the Greeks to the

Arabs, and the others from the Persians.

MSS. read -Js and
382 EL-MASU'DI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Nafsh (?) (jliu (yjjju, er-Rokhkhaj g^jti, and

the country of er-Rawan* which
(^^ is the fron-
tier of Sijistan. One of the five rivers comes from

the country ofKashmir ^^L3. The king of Kash-

mir has the name er-Rama ^\^\ (cfyi), which is
a general title for all kings.
Kashmir is situated in the mountains of es-

Sind, and forms a powerful kingdom, which com-

prizes from sixty to seventy thousand towns and
villages and his territory is unapproachable except-
;

ing from one side, so that he can shut up the whole

of his dominions with one gate ; for it is surrounded

by mountains of such height that neither men nor

wild animals can climb over them, and they are

only accessible to birds. Where there are no

mountains, there are inaccessible valleys, trees,

jungles, and rivers which defend the place by their

rapidity. The natural fortifications of this country

is well known in Khorasan and other provinces,
and it is one of the most wonderful things in the
world.
The dominions of Budahthe king of Kinnauj,
extend about one hundred and twenty Sindian
farsangs in length and breadth ; one of their far-

sangs is eight of our miles. The above-mentioned

king has four armies, corresponding with the four

* MSS. read here and in other passages .* j.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 383

cardinal winds. Each of these four armies consists

of seven hundred thousand men. The army of the
north has to oppose the king of el-Multan and his
allies. The army of the south has to defend the
the country against the Ballahra, the king of el-
Mankir and in the same manner are the other
;

armies engaged against the other neighbouring

powers. It is said that the towns, villages, and

estates in his dominions, the extent of which we
have stated, amount, as far as can be counted, to
one million and eight hundred thousand villages,
surrounded by trees, rivers, mountains, and
meadows.
Although he possesses few elephants in com-
parison with other kings, he maintains near a
thousand war elephants. If an elephant is spirited,
pugnacious, and brave, a rider sits on his back, and
he has a Fautal jJ^j (J^O which is a kind of
sword, in his trunk. The trunk is covered with
mail and iron, and the rest of his body is protected

by an armour of iron and leather such an elephant

;

is surrounded by five hundred men, who protect

him from behind. An elephant thus

equipped,
keeps his ground against six thousand horsemen.
He advances, retires, goes round (and makes the
military evolutions), like a horse with a rider on his
back. These are the manoeuvres of the elephants
of the Hindus in all their wars.
We have already stated that the sovereign power
 384 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

over el-Multan rests in the family of Samah* Ben

Lawi Ben
have considerable
Ghalib <-_*JU
forces.
^ ^ ^j
Their territory
JUU They
is one
of the greatest of those Moslim countries, which
^

\ form a frontier against unbelieving nations. There

i are on the frontiers of el-Multan about one hundred
and estates, as far as they can be
^thousand villages
'counted. There is the celebrated idol of el-Multan,
to which the inhabitants of es-Sind and India

perform pilgrimages by thousands, from the most

distant places ; they carry money^ precious stones,
aloes, and other sorts of perfumes, there to fulfil

their vows. The greatest part of the revenue of the

king of el-Multan, comes from the rich presents of
genuine komari aloes one mann of which is worth
;

two hundred dinars ;

for it is so genuine, that it

receives the impression of a seal like wax ;

and
from other objects of value, which are brought
there as offerings. When the unbelievers march
against el-Mi'iltan, and the Moslims do not feel

themselves strong enough to oppose them, they

threaten to break their idol, and their enemies

immediately withdraw their armies.

I visited el-Multan after 300 A. H., when Abu

* this name is Osamah in all

Page 234, supra, spelt SLoLwJ

copies, whilst they read in this passage Samah, and lower down
they write the family name of this dynasty, es-Samf .
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 385

-d-Dilhat el-Monbad (el-Monabbih) Ben Asad el-

Karshi es-Sami

was king there. At the same time,

I visited el-Mansurah ;
the king of that country
was then Abul-Mondir Omar Ben 'Abdullah
^3! ju>c
^j jS^**^] f*\. was acquainted with
I

his vizier Riah ^.lj^>

with his sons Mohammed and
'Ali, and with an Arab of the name of Hamzah,
who was one of the lords and kings of the Bedouins.
There were also many descendants of 'Ali Ben Abi
Taleb, of 'Omar Ben 'Ali, and of Mohammed Ben
'Ali, at el-Mansurah. There is some relationship
between the royal family of el-Mansurah and the

family of esh-Shawarib the Kadi ^IXM u_r,^^J!,

for the kings of el-Mansurah are of the family of

Habbar Ben el-Aswad, and have the name of Beni

'Amr Ben 'Abd el-Aziz el-Karshi, who is to be
distinguished from 'Amr Ben 'Abd el-Aziz Ben
Merwan, the Omaiyide (khalif).
When all the rivers which we have enumerated
have passed the Golden house (or temple) * ^^AJ
c_jui>xH, which is the meaning of the name of el-

Multan, they unite at about three days' journey

below this city and above el-Mansurah, at a place

* It
probably a fault of the copyists that we read in a pre-
is

" meadow of
ceding passage, that the name of el-Multan means
gold."

2 c
386 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

called Dushab v*A^> in^ one stream which pro-

ceeds to the town of er-Rud ^^\ (^<^0> which lies
on its western bank and belongs to el-Mansurah,
where it receives the name Mihran j,|j$-o.
There it

is divided into two branches, both of which fall at

the town of Shakirah kyi-l, which belongs also to

one of the districts of el-Mansurah, into the Indian

sea, under the name of Mihran of es-Sind j,|^

JsJUJ!, about two days' journey from the town of

ed-Daibol.
El-Multan is
seventy-five Sindian fursangs from
el-Mansurah. Each farsang has eight miles, as
stated above. All the estates and villages under the

dependency of el-Mansurah amount to three hundred

thousand. The whole country is well cultivated,
and covered with trees and fields. They are at

constant war with a nation called the Mind \j*H,

who are a race of the Sind, and with other nations
on the frontiers of es-Sind. El-Multan is
equally
on the frontier of es-Sind, and so are the towns and
villages belonging to it. El-Mansurah has its name
from Mansur Ben Jamhur, governor of the Omai-
yides. The king of el-Mansurah has eighty war
elephants, every one of which is
supported by five
hundred infantry in battle, as we have already re-
marked; and these elephants can oppose thousands
of horse.
have seen two elephants of this king, which
I

had become famous at the courts of India and es-

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 387

Sind for their courage and success in wars. One

had the name Monkirkals y^Xi^Ju^o (y^X^^o),
and
o-
the other Haidarah Many curious stories
k^j^.
are related respecting Monkirkals, throughout all
India. On the death of one of his leaders, he did
not eat nor drink for several days, and he cried and

sighed like a human being who is mourning. Tears

fellfrom his eyes, and thus he continued for a con-
siderable time. Another story is, that he went out
one day from his hayir ^>U, which means the
stable of elephants; Haidarah was behind him, and
they were followed by eighty other elephants.
When they came to a narrow street in el-Mansurah
a woman came unawares on the elephant, and was
so frightened that she fell on her back, and she was
uncovered in the middle of the road. Monkirkals,
observing this, posted himself across the road, turn-
ing his right side in opposition to the elephants
coming behind him, to prevent them from injuring
the woman, and he gave her a sign with his trunk

to risefrom the ground, having first placed her dress

in order and covered her. When she was in safety
with her husband, the elephant changed his position
and continued his way, followed by the others.
The natural history of the elephant is full of
interesting stories of this kind; and they are not
only used for war, but for many other purposes, as
for carrying burdens, drawing carriages, threshing
2 c 2
388 EL-MAs'uni's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

tyH, as oxen
rice,and other sorts of grain tread
out corn on a floor. We shall speak on the ele-

phants in the chapter on the Zanj for nowhere else

:

are they so numerous as in their country, where

they live in a wild state.

Let us now resume our short account of the

kings of es-Sind and India. The language of es-

Sind is different from that of India. Es-Sind is

the country which is nearer the dominions of the

Moslims, and India that which is farther from
them. The inhabitants of el-Mankir, which is the
residence of the Ballahra, speak the Kiriyah lan-

guage X.j^T (xyJ'), which has this name from the

places where it is spoken. On the coast, as in
Saimur j^v*, Subarah, Tanah, and other towns
(?)

on the coast of the Ladiwa sea, a language is

spoken which has its name from the sea which
washes these countries; and this is the Ladiwa sea,
which has been described above. On this coast

are many rivers,, which run from the south, whilst

all other rivers of the world flow from north to
south, excepting the Nile, of Egypt, and the Mihran,
of es-Sind. We
have given an explanation why
this is the case, and we have stated what the
learned say on the subject, in our Akhbar ez-
zeman. In the same work we have named the

places which have a great elevation (above the level

of the sea), and those which are less elevated.
Neither in India, nor in es-Sind, is there a sove-
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 389

reign who disturbs the peace of the Moslims in

their own country*. The Islam is, therefore,
flourishing there. The mosques and jami's for

Moslim worship are large and splendid, their kings

are long-lived, and reign forty, fifty, and more
years, and the (Moslim) subjects believe, that the
length of the life of a sovereign depends upon his
justice and the respect paid to the Moslims. He
(the Ballahra)pays his army from the public trea-
sury, as the Moslims do. In his empire Talata-
wian 5u^kXk (Tatarian Xj^klk) dirhams are in cir-
culation, one of which weighs a drachm and a half.

The coins are impressed with the date when their

king succeeded to the throne. His war elephants

are beyond number. This country is also called

the country of el-Kiminker j&JJl (^XjJj). On

one side it is exposed to the inroads of the king of
the Khazar
^y^J, who possesses a great number
of

horses, camels, and troops, and they believe that

there is no king on earth more glorious than he,

excepting the king of the climate of Babel, which

is the fourth climate for this king surpasses in
;

magnificence and valour all other kings of the

world. The Ballahra has a great animosity against

* One " who

copy reads persecutes the Moslims in his coun-
try so,
; for instance, the Ballahra ;" and all that follows respecting

the longevity of the kings, is said there in reference to the Bal-

lahra.
390 / EL-MAS'UDl'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

the Moslims. He has a number of elephants : his

dominions occupy a tongue of land, and are so rich

in mines of gold and silver, that gold and silver is
the medium of their commerce.
Next to this country is the kingdom of et-Takin

0ylU!. The king

friendly terms with the
is on
neighbouring sovereigns and with the Moslims ; his
military forces are less considerable than those of
the kings whom we have named. In this kingdom
are the prettiest women of all India. They are
praised for their beauty in books, De Coitu <_o;r*

*U!J, and sailors are excedingly anxious to buy them.

They are known under the name of Takinians.

Beyond this kingdom is that of Rahma ^, which
is the title for their kings, and generally at the same
time their name. His dominions border on those
of the king of the Khazars ; and, on one side, on
those of el-Ballahra, with whom he is frequently
at war. Rahma
has more troops, elephants, and
horses, than the Ballahra, the king of el-Khazar and
of et-Takin. When he takes the field, he has no
less than five thousand elephants. He never goes

* A work of this title, by the celebrated Rhazes, is in the

library of Ley den. The number of curious observations, the

correct and practical ideas, and the novelty of the notions of
eastern nations on these subjects, which are contained in this book,
render it one of the most important productions of the medical
literature of the Arabs.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 391

to war but in winter, because the elephants cannot

bear thirst. His forces are generally exaggerated ;

some believe that the number of fullers and washers

in his camp, is from ten to fifteen thousand. The above-
mentioned kings fight in squares, every one amount-
ing to twenty thousand men so that every one of
;

the four sides of the square has five thousand men.

In the kingdom of Rahma cowries are used as
the medium of exchange in commerce. His country
abounds in silver, gold, and aloes, and there the
finest cloths known are manufactured. From this

country a sort of hair, called saiman,

^QxA)
is
exported, which is fastened on ivory and silver,
and used as fly-flaps. Servants, with such instru-
ments in their hands, stand at the head of the kings
when they hold court.
In his country is an animal of the name of
j

j{u<U (<JJuJj) ^l&Jt, which common people call the

unicorn ^jJ^fil- It has in its forehead one horn

and not as great as the elephant, but much
is

higher than the buffalo. This animal bellows like

a bull. Elephants take flight from it, because, God
knows, there is no animal stronger than this. Its
bones are not divided into limbs, but the legs are
without articulation; hence, it cannot bend its limbs.
It lives in forests and woods, and when it sleeps it
leans on a tree. The Hindus and the Moslims in
India eat the flesh of this animal, for it enters into
392 EL-MAS'fjDl'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

the class of bulls and buffaloes. Most Hindus are

unacquainted with this animal; but in the kingdom

of Rahma it is more frequent, and its horn is there

purer and finer. The horns are white, with a black

figure in the middle, on a white ground; representing
the outlines and shades of the figures of men,

guinea-fowls, fish, and of the unicorn itself, or of

some other animal found in those countries. This
horn is wrought, and they make girdles and ribbons
of it, just as such ornaments are made of gold and
silver. These form part of the dress of the
articles

kings and nobles of China; and they are so much

valued, that such a girdle costs from two to four
thousand dinars. From these girdles ornaments of

gold are suspended, and they look exceedingly well :

sometimes they are inlaid with precious stones and

gold. The figures, in the horn of the unicorn, are
black, on a white ground; sometimes, however,
they are white on a black ground. El-Jahit be-

lieves, that the unicorn is a seven months' camel,

which stretches its head out from the womb of the
mother to graze, and then it draws it in again. He
relates this extraordinary fact in his book te
On
Animals" ^V-^ v^- This story led me to
inquire of the merchants of Siraf and 'Oman, who
visit those places, and whom I saw in India every- :

body was surprised at my question, and assured me,

that the pregnancy and delivery of the unicorn are
not different from that of the buffalo. I do not
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 393

know how el-Jahit learnt this story; whether he

found it in some book, or whether it had been
related to him.
The king Rahma has maritime and inland

provinces. On
empire borders a kingdom,
his

which has no sea: the name of the king is el-Kas

i^l&J (u-U&O- T ne inhabitants are white; they
have their ears and the men and women are
slit;

very handsome. They have elephants., camels, and

horses.
The neighbour of this king is the king of el-

Farbikh gi^AN (g^\ or ^yfll) (Kamirus?); who

possesses maritime provinces and inland provinces,
his dominions being situated on a peninsula. The
sea throws ambergris on shore, and the country is

productive of pepper and elephants. He is brave

and proud. But he is less powerful than proud,
and less brave than overbearing.
The inhabitants of the country of el-Maujah

x^.U which comes next, are of a white complexion

and handsome; they do riot slit their ears. They
have horses and the necessary warlike equipment
for defence. Their country is rich in musk. We
have described the musk-deer in the preceding pages.
The inhabitants dress like the Chinese. Their
country is defensible against invasion by its moun-
tains, the summits of which are white; and there
are no higher mountains, either in India or in
es-Sind, than these. The musk of their country is
 394 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

celebrated and is named after it, for sailors and

merchants, who export this article and carry on
commerce with it, call it Maujahian musk

Beyond el-Maujah kingdom of el-Mayid

is the

jolU or JulU), which has a number of towns,

extensive cultivated districts, and numerous armies.
Their kings employ eunuchs in their service, and
for the administrationof their provinces, which

yield very many natural products*, for levying the

revenues, and as governors ; as it is the habit with
the kings of the Chinese, which we have described in
their history. El-Mayid borders on China, and
there pass constantly ambassadors from one country
to the other with presents, which are exchanged
between the two courts. But these two kingdoms
are separated by great mountains, which are very
difficult of access. The Mayid are very brave and
strong. The messengers
of the king of the Mayid,
which are sent to China, are watched lest they should
spy out the country, and take advantage of the
weak points and lest they should know the roads of
;

the extinsive dominions of the Chinese.

Literally, "they are mines." The word

^J1
mine is used in Arabic, as well for places which yield perfumes and

as for such as yield metals. Another copy has

spices, ^UlJ
*'
instead of slxU, an(l gives to the sentence the meaning, as,

for instance, the province of el-Mawan."

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 395

The Hindu and Chinese nations, which we

have mentioned, have their own manners and usages
in eating, drinking, husbandry, dressing, and in the
art of healing. They use actual cautery ^UJL
^\,
&c. An example of their manners is, that their
kings do not think it prudent to prevent the free
passage of wind, "for," they say, "it is a noxious
matter," and they do not think it at all improper to
let it freely escape under any circumstance. Their

sages had the same opinion and practice. They

thought, that restraint in this matter was unwhole-
some and productive of illness ; whilst they con-
sidered it as a cure, to give free psssage to the

wind. This they considered as the greatest remedy

as a preservative against cholic and constipation,
and as a relief for complaints of the spleen. Hence
they pass wind both gently and aloud, without any
restraint nor do they consider it to be against
;

good breeding. The ancient Hindus were well

skilled medicine, and curious anecdotes
in are
related of them, which are connected with this

subject. An historian says of the Hindus, that

they consider it less genteel to cough,, than to
break wind aloud. An eructation is considered as
the same thing, as smothered effects of flatulency,,
for the noise in breaking wind loudly deprives it of

the offensive smell. The historian shows that what

he says respecting the Hindus is generally known,
and has been acknowledged in biographical, histo-
396 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

rical, miscellaneous, and poetical works, as in the

poem which has the title jAit cMi, which he quotes.

"The wise and eloquent Hindu pronounces an
opinion which I am embellishing with the charms
of poetry. Do not restrain loud wind whenever
you may feel it, but break it and open the doors to
it, for restraint in this matter is unwholesome ; but,
to give to wind free passage, brings you rest and
health. Coughing and blowing the nose is indecent
and ill-bread but not breaking wind aloud.
; Eruc-
tationsand genteel winds are the same thing, with
the only difference, that a genteel wind has a more
offensive smell."
The wind in the bowels is, indeed, in both cases
the same, and only different with reference to the

way by which it is which comes up

expelled ;
that
is called eructation, and that which goes down is

called flatulency it is the same as the distinction

:

between slapping (the face),, and a thump (on the

back of the head) (wyUaJ!^ X*kMi), the one is on the
face, the other on the occiput, but in reality they
are the same thing ;
it is
only a distinction of the
region of the body.
Man is subject to many affections, constant

accidents,and long diseases, as cholic, pains in the

stomach, and other accidents,, which arise from an
accumulation of impurities in the primes via, which
are not discharged when they are mobile, and when
nature makes its regular efforts to discharge them.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 397

Other animals are free from these evils ;

for matters

which create disorders in the bowels are with them

immediately discharged, since they oppose no con-
straint. Ancient philosophers and the sages of the
Greeks, like Democritus u^^H**, Pythagoras
u^jys. UL5,Socrates k^Ju*, Diogenes u*jUjS, and
other sages of all nations rejected every restraint
in these things, because they knew what harm
arises from it; and everybody who has the talent of

observation will have noticed in himself, that they

were right in their opinion for it is a rule, esta-
;

blished by experience, and confirmed by reasoning.

But moralists find fault with it, for different rea-

sons, although has nothing to do with them.

it

El-Mas'udi says, we have related the history of

the kings of India, their usages, interesting anec-

dotes, showing their manners j^~>, and their social

habits, in our Akhbar ez-zeman, and in the Kitab

el-ausat, where we have entered into details res-

pecting the Maharaj, who

the king of the islands
is

from which drugs and spices are exported, as well

as on other kings of India, as the king of el-Komar,
and other sovereigns of the mountainous districts,
which are opposite these islands, as ez-Zanij, and
others; and the history of the kings of China, of
the king of Serendib, and of the country of Man-
dura u^JsLo (&* (jjuy***)> which is opposite to
the island Serendib, as Komar is opposite the
islands of the Maharaj, to which ez-Zanij belongs.
398 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

Every king of the country of Mandura has the

title el-Kay idi JuUH-
We shall give notices of the kings of the east

and west, south (^.j^l) and north, in this book,

speaking of the kings of Yemen, and of the Per-
sians,Romans, Greeks, the Maghrib and the differ-
ent Abyssinian and Negro nations, and of some
nations who have descended from Yafeth.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 399

SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER.

On the Caucasus; account of the Alans, Khazar ;

of the different races of Turks, and the Bulgarians;
also a notice of Bab el-Abwdb (Derbend), and the

neighbouring nations.*

THE mountain of el-Kaikhf *&! (Caucasus) is a

large mountain, and is of such extent that it com-

* This
chapter of our author, for the most part, is translated
into French in Klaproth's Magazin Asiatique, Paris, 1835. I

made this translation without being aware that there already

existed one ; but, subsequently, when I had seen the French
version, I compared mine with it, and, in several instances where
I differ from it, put the Arabic text, to justify myself.

f Caucasus means the lull mountain, from the Persian words

Hjfr^gdw Koh. It is therefore not to be considered as a mis-

take, if Herodotus gives to the Caucasus the name Taurus, but

as a translation of the Persian name. The Boun-Dehesh offers a
sufficient explanation, why so many mountains were called Taurus
or Bull mountains. The Persians took the same view of the
mountains as of the rivers, which has been shown p. 243, supra,

attaching religious ideas to these natural fortresses, with which

Providence had protected their country on some parts. As
long as the empire had narrow limits, the Taurus was the end of
400 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

prizes a number of kingdoms and nations. In this

their world; when it extended further to the north, it was the

Caucasus, and the Imaus in the south, both of which received
therefore the sacred name of Bull mountain, which was con-
nected with star worship, for the Bull mountain was evidently

sacred to el-Borj _ oJj. The first meaning of this word is

stronghold ; and it has been applied to the signs of the zodiac,

for a reason which has been stated in page 205, supra, note.

These natural fortresses or strongholds of Iran were naturally

compared with the strongholds of heaven, and hence they are

simply called Alborj in the Zend-Avesta, whilst other writers call
them simply the Bulls (el-Kaf, i,e., Gaw).
Providence considered the welfare of Iran or Khunnerets,
at the moment of the creation, protecting this sacred country by
rivers and mountains; hence we find, even in Mohammedan cos-

mogony, that their world (the Khunnerets) is based upon a fish,

(/.<?.,
the four rivers, see p. 243, supra) which rests upon a bull,

on whose back stand the mountains, (see the third note to p. 44,

supra).
The name Mas'udi so variously
of the Caucasus
^\ in is

punctuated, that we can little

rely on the correctness of the read-

ing of it
by later authors. They make generally ^XiM
of it,

because this word has a meaning in Arabic. I read it

^vxiJI
el-Ka'ikh, considering the word as a contraction of Gaw-Koh. This
suggestion is founded upon the authority of several Arabic authors,

(MS. of the Royal Library at Paris, No. 847, anc.fonds, fol. 22,
recto; en-Nowairi; Kamus, p. 1330; Isstachri, tabula xv.,and el-

Kazwini aja'ib el-Makhlukat, where by a mistake cJixXM is

written),
who derive their knowledge of the Caucasus from a different source

than el-Mas'udi, and write jJuxM el-Kaik, which is

only a dif-

ferent mode for expressing the same sound.

The passage to which I am alluding of the MS. 874, anc.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 401

mountain live seventy-two nations*, and every nation

has its own king and language which differs from
the others. This mountain has several passes and

valleys; in one of them, Kisra Anushirwan has

built the town of Bab el-Abwab. He constructed
also a wall between this town and the sea of the
Khazar (the Caspian sea) which runs even one mile
into the sea. This wall, which extends to the sum-
mit of the mountain of el-Kaikh, is about forty

farsangs long, and crosses mountains and valleys.

At the other end stands the fortress of Taberistanf
^(X*j^3. Anushirwan made at every three miles,

more or less, according to the importance of the

way which leads to it, a gate of iron and he settled;

fonds, is curious :
" A man (whose name is not clear in the MS.)
related to me, that he had been sent by some king of the Cau-
casus i_JuxJ\
Jj^ to the king of the Russians, for he believed
that they had an inscription, engraved on wood. (When I came
there) they showed me some white pieces of wood, with drawing

.jifcju
on them. I do not know whether they were the signs for

whole words or separate letters. They looked like this" here

follows a drawing.
* Timosthenes finds in
Diuscurias, the capital of the Colchians,
three hundred different nations and tongues. Pliny vii., 5.

f Taberistan is a wrong reading met with in other authors as

well as in el-Mas'udi, instead of / .

^U^jJo Tabasseran, which is

the name of an ancient fortress, and of a province of Daghestan.

It has with the Persians, also, the name Taberseran

U^xls
(Klaproth).
2 D
402 EL-MAS'lJDi's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

at every gate, within the wall, people who were to

guard the gate and the wall near it, to check the
incursions of the nations who live on these moun-
tains: as the Khazar, el-Lan, the different Turkish
hordes, the Serir, Targhiz*,and other unbelieving
nations. The jebel el-Kaikh extends in length and
breadth about two months' journey and the people ;

who liveupon and about it can only be counted by

Him who created them.
One
pass of this mountain *jU Je^l leads
towards the sea of the Khazar (Caspian), and is not
far from Bab el-Abwab as we have mentioned.
Another runs towards the sea Mayotis, with which
the strait of Constantinople communicates as
we have before said. On this sea is the town
of Trebizond
k'Joyj^k.
There is a fair once a year,
at which merchants assemble from all nations

Moslims, Byzantines, Armenians, and others from

the country of Kashakf S.ZS.

* All
copies read ..cjjJJ. Klaproth reads JfcX>JJ Bulgarians;
and this seems to be correct, for there are some passages further

on in this chapter where our author speaks of the wars of this

nation against the Byzantines. And the comparison of his ac-

count with Greek authors shows, that he means the Bulgarians.

In the copy of Cambridge, JLL is written in some instances as a

correction on the margin. I thought it better not to change this

error, for, in some instances, it
may be that our author means not
the Bulgarians, but a different nation.
One
f reads " Alans."
copy
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 403

When Anushirwan had built this city, which

bears the name of Bab el-Abwab, and the wall
which runs over land, water, and mountains, and
when he had settled people there, (a military
colony,) and kings, he assigned to them (the kings)
their ranks
v^'lr*
an ^ districts, and marked the
boundary, as Ardeshir Ben Babek had done when
he assigned to the kings of Khorasan their ranks.
One of the kings in those districts which border on
the country of the Moslims, near the province of

Barda'ah Xc^j, to whom Anushirwan assigned his

rank, was a king of the name Sharwan (jj^>
of
and from him his dominions have this name*. His
title was Sharwan Shah *L2
(jj\-^,
and
every
king who is in possession of those districts has the

name Sharwan, (which sounds Sharwan-Shah with

the His kingdom has at present [332 A.H.]
title).

about one month's journey in circumference, for he

has conquered several provinces which had not been

assigned to him by Anushirwan and these new ac-

;

cessions are now considered as part of his dominions.

The present king [we have just mentioned the date
in which we write] is a Moslim of the name of Mo-
hammed Ben Yezid. He is a descendant of Behram
Gur j^ -l^j. The ruler of Khorasanf at present

f This is probably an error instead of Khosru Shah ( Abulfeda,

page 387).
2 D 2
404 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

[we have just mentioned the date] is one of the

descendants of Isma'il Ben Ahmed ;
and Isma'il
derived his origin also from Behram Gur. Nobody
who knows genealogy will contradict it.
The king of the Serir, Mohammed Ben Yezid,

equally a descendent of Behram Gur who is the

Sharwan, is in possession of the city of Bab el-

Abwab, since the death of a near relation of his, of

the name of 'Abdul-Melik Ben Hesham <XXUx*c

-Uob
(JL^j
? who was a man of the Ansar. He and
had been the governors of Bab el-
his forefathers,

Abwab, and had been settled there since the time

when Moslemah Ben 'Abdul-Melik xxc
^j.j '&***

c^XU and other Moslim leaders, conquered that

country in the beginning of the Islam.
On the kingdom of Sharwan borders another
kingdom of the mountains of el-Kaikh, which has
the name Layidan* j,1x^ ( e ^W). The king is

called Layidan-shah sLS^Utf (*l-S ^)- It has

recently been conquered by Sharwan Mohammed
Ben Yezid. He has also subjugated the kingdom of
the Mukanians *ol*jXi. The king of el-Kizf

*
Klaproth found this name spelt LjJ Abran.

f El-Kiz seems to be a wrong reading, instead of OCXM el-Lakz.

This seems to be the Arabic name for the Lesghiz, which has
some resemblance to the Georgian name of the same nation,
Lek'hethi : and the Lekos, mentioned in Vakhthang (apud St.
Martin, vol. ii., page 182) as one of the fathers of the Caucasian
nations, is in all likelihood the father of the same nation.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 405

is
equally a vassal of Sharwan. The population
of this kingdom, which is situated on the mountains,
is innumerable. Some of them are unbelievers, and
do not acknowledge the Sharwan as their master:

they are the Dudanians 2Lob^xM (X/Jb^JM or XiA^l),

who are pagans, and have no king. The usages
which they are said to have in their marriages and
traffic, are very singular.
There are passes and valleys in this mountain
which are inhabited by nations who are unac-
quainted with each other, on account of the diffi-
culty of communication, which is impeded by the
height and roughness of the mountains, by marshes
and forests, by the waters which flow down from
the summits, and by the immense rocks and stones.
This man, named Sharwan, has subjected many
kingdoms mountains which had been given
in these
to various chiefs by Anushirwan and others who

organized that country. They are now all under

the sceptre of Mohammed Ben Yezid amongst ;

them is Khorasan Shah (Khosru Shah) and Rawan

Shah ^Lfc ^j (*t gUb). We shall relate how
he became master of the kingdom of Sharwan. He
and his father were in possession of Layidan, and
had no other kingdom*. The king of Sharwan is

Jj a
406 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

the neighbour of the king of Taberistan ^.jU^x^,

who is, in our time, a Moslim of the name of Ibn
Okht 'Abdul Melik JiJH XAC ^J ^J, who has been
Emir of Bab el-Abwab.
The nation nearest to Bab el-Abwab are the Hai'dan

(^.jjj^ ((^oyc*). They form one of the kingdoms

of the Khazar. Next to Haidan is the kingdom of
the Khazar. Their metropolis was the city of Se-
mender * ^*x;*~>,
which is eight days' journey from
the town of Bab el-Abwab.
This city has a nume-
rous population of Khazar, but it is no longer the

capital, for when Solaiman Ben Rabi'ah el-Bahili

^Lfc
UJi ***j;^UxX*d conquered Semender in the
>

beginning of the Islam, the king transferred his

residence to Itil JJJ, which seven days' journey
is

from Semender ;
and since this time the kings of
the Khazar reside there.
This town (Itil) is divided into three parts, by
a large river, which rises from the higher regions
of the country of the Turks, and from which an
arm branches somewhere near the country of
off,

the Targhiz
y*j&\ (Bulgarians),
and falls into the
sea of Mayotisf. This town has two sides. In

* Acad. Imp. Scient.

Compare Fraehn, de Chasaris, in Actis

Petersbourg, 1822, vol. viii.

Klaproth informs us, that the
modern name of Semender is Tarku, or Tarkhu ^.jjN
f The error that the Don is a branch of the Wolga is also
met with in
Byzantine authors. (Klaproth.)
 AND MINES OP GEMS. 407

the middle of the river is an island, in which the

king resides. The palace of the king stands on the
extremity of this island, and is connected by a
bridge of boats with one of the two sides of the
town. In this town are many Moslims and
Christians, Jews and Pagans. The king, his suite,
[and the Khazar of his army*,] embraced the
tenets of the Jews, in the reign of er-Rashid. To
this king flock the Jews from all the Moslim dis-

tricts,and from the Byzantine empire for the em- ;

peror forced the Jews of his dominions to turn

Christians, and loaded the converts with favours.
The present [332, A.H.] Byzantine emperor is Ar-
manus u-^JU;! (Romanus II.). We shall speak in
another chapter on the Byzantine emperors ; how

many there were ; and we shall also give the history

of Romanus and his colleague. Under these cir-

cumstances, many Jews took flight from the By-

zantine empire into the country of the Khazar. As
we cannot book the history of the
insert in this

conversion of the king of the Khazar to Judaism,

we refer the reader to our former works.
One of the various Pagan nations who live in

his country are the Sekalibah XxJlx*^ (Sclavonians),

and another the Rus y*^ (the Russians). They

one of the two sides of this town they burn
live in :

* These words are left out in some copies.

408 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

the dead with their cattle, utensils, arms, and orna-

ments. When a man dies, his wife is burnt alive
with him; but, when the wife dies, her husband is

not burnt. If a bachelor dies, he is married after

his death. Women are glad to be burnt; for they
cannot enter into paradise by themselves. This
usage prevails alsoamong the Hindus,, as we have
said. But the Hindus never burn a woman with
her husband, unless it is her own wish.
The majority of the population of this country
are Moslims; for the standing army of the king
consists of Moslims. They are called al-Larisians
L^SUi (XAA*.^), and come from Khowarezm;
whence they emigrated atan early period, after the
spreading of the Islam ;
on account of drought and
plague which had visited their country. They are
brave, good soldiers, and form the strength of the

king of the Khazar in his wars. They fixed certain

conditions under which they would establish them-
selves in his country; one of these conditions was,

that they should be allowed to profess publicly the

Islam; to build mosques and call out the prayers;

and that the vizier of the kingdom should be a man
of their religion and nation. The vizier there is at

present from amongst them; his name is Ahmed

Ben Kuwaih &*
(Jj.j *x^. Another condition is,
that if the king of the Khazar should have a war

against the Moslims, they would remain separate in

his camp, (observe neutrality,) and not fight against
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 409

a nation who profess the same religion; but they

would fight for him any other nation.
against
There are, at present, seven thousand horsemen
of theirs, in the army of the king, armed with bows
and equipped in cuirasses, helmets, and coats of
mail: he has also some spearsmen. In point of
arms, they are like the soldiers in Moslim coun-
tries. Their supreme judges, in religious and civil
matters, are Moslims.
In accordance with the constitution of the king-
dom of the Khazar, there are nine supreme judges in
the country; two of them for the Moslims; two for the

Khazars, who follow the laws of the Pentateuch in

passing sentence ; two for the Christians, who follow
the laws of the gospel in their decisions ; and one
for the Sclavonians, Russians, and the other pagan
population. The pagan judge decides after the
heathen laws; that is to say, the dictates of reason,

(not revelation). If any important case comes

before him, he refers to the Moslim judges, and lets
them decide after the law of the Islam.
There is no other king in these parts who has
paid troops, except the king of the Khazar. Every
Moslim has there the name Larisian, (although he
may not be of this nation,) and it is even extended
to such Russians and Sclavonians as serve in the

(standing) or household of the king; although

army
they are pagans as we have said*. But there are
410 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

many Moslims in this kingdom besides the Larisi-

ans; they are artisans, tradespeople, and merchants,

who have been attracted by the justice and security (of
persons and property) afforded by the government.
They have a great public mosque U-f> the Minaret
of which rises above the royal palace ;
and several

private mosques xsaJlf, where children are in-

structed in reading the Koran. If the Moslims
and Christians, who are there, agree, the king has
no power over them.
El-Mas'udi says, What we have said does not

refer to the king of the Khazar himself, but we

mean the Khakan
(jjbA^ (Major domus)-,
for there

is a king in the country of the Khazar, besides the

Khakan. He is shut up in his palace he never :

makes a public procession, nor does he show him-

self to the nobility or the people, and he never
goes out from his palace. His person is sacred,
but he has nothing to do with the affairs of the

state, either to command or forbid. Everything

is administered by the Khakan for the king, who
lives with him in the same palace. If a drought,

or any other misfortune, befals the country of the

Khazar, or if a war or any other accident happens

to them, the lower and higher classes of the nation
run to the king, and say, "The administration of
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 411

tliis Khakan upon us: put him to

brings misfortune
death, or deliver him to us, that we may kill him."
Sometimes he delivers him to them, and they put
him to death; he takes charge himself
at other times
of the execution; and sometimes he has pity on

him, protects him, and sets him free without doing

him any harm, although he might have deserved it.

I do not know whether this institution dates from

ancient times, or whether it has been recently
introduced. The Khakan is chosen from among
the nobility * by their chiefs but I think that the ;

royalty of the present dynasty takes date from a

remote period.
The Khazar have boats, with which they go on
a river, which falls above their city (Itil) into the
river (Wolga) that runs through their capital (Itil).

)\ cf iU
Ahl bait, or ahl el-boyutdt

means, I believe, generally persons of family, or the nobility.

Klaproth and Frsehn differ from my opinion : the latter translates

the words
(^yu* d^ J^l J $\ XxJlXiU <*** $3
"
Dignitas autem non nisi certse alicui families competit," which I
should have rendered by " To the Khakanship only men of family
are competent, who have distinguished themselves." With the
Alites I^IAAJ ^&>\ means the members of the family of Moham-
in the note
med; and thus I ought to have explained it
page 52,
*
In Persian history, t are the ancient
supra. AJ'^AJI JjM
nobility.
412 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

On the banks of this river, which has the name of

Bortas u-U^j, Turks have settled, who form part of
the kingdom of the Khazar. Their country is well-
cultivated, and lies between the Khazar and the

kingdom of the Targhiz (Bulgarians). The river

(Bortas) comes from the Targhiz (Bulgarians),
and there an active navigation carried on be-
is

tween the Targhiz and Khazar. Bortas is origi-

nally the name of a Turkish nation, as we have
before said, who live on this river, and give to it
their name. From their country come the furs of
black and red foxes, which are called the Bortasian
furs. A black fur of this kind costs one hundred
dinars, and more; but the red are cheaper. Dresses
of these furs are worn by the kings of the Arabs
and the Barbarians ; and they form part of their
vanity; for they are considered more valuable than
the furs of sable jye*> herrneline <*&*!!, and the like.

The kings wear tiaras (j*J&S, khaftans, and robes

g\j*,
of these furs. If kings have their khaftans
and robes lined with black Bortasian foxs' fur, it is

excusable (although it is against the divine laws).

From the upper course of the river of the
Khazar (Wolga), an arm branches off (the Don),
that falls into a narrow gulf of the sea, Pontus,
which is the sea of the Russians for no nation,
;

excepting the Russians, navigates this sea. They

are a great nation, living on one of the coasts of
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 413

this sea. They neither have a king nor do they

acknowledge a positive law (revelation), X*j^.

Many of them are merchants, and trade with the

kingdom of the Targhiz. The Russians are in

possession of great silver mines, which maybe com-

pared with those in the mountain of Lahjir jsa&y
(^acuj) in Khorasan. The capital of the Targhiz
is situated on the coast of the sea Mayotis*. In

my opinion, this country belongs to the seventh

climate. The Targhiz are of Turkish origin. Their
caravans go as far as Khowarezm in Khorasan, and
from Khowarezm caravans go to them ; but there
live several wandering hordes of Turkish origin,
who are distinct from the Targhiz, between these two
countries which render the road of the caravans
unsafe.
The present king of the Targhizf [in 332 A.H.]
is a Moslim. He embraced this religion, in the

time of el-Moktader Billah after 310 A.H., in con-

sequence of a vision. His son has made the pil-

* The town of the

Bulgarians, says Klaproth, is situated on
the Wolga, under the place where it unites with the Kama, and
not on the Black Sea. El-Mas'udi confounds the Bulgarians
who live on the Wolga with those on the Danube. So far Klap-
roth. I think that el-Mas'udi made a distinction, calling the one

nation Targhiz, and the other Bulgar JfcXjj and that some copy-

ists wrote in both instances Bulgarians, and others Targhiz.

f One copy reads Bulgarians, and this name agrees with the
Byzantine historians.
414 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

grimage Mokka), and was at Bagdad. Moktader

(to
sent him one great and several small standards, and

presents of money. They have a great public

mosque. This king has made a holy expedition

against Constantinople, with about fifty thousand

horsemen. His predatory corps spread as far as

the territory of Rome, Spain, the country of Borjan

^U^j (Burgundy?), and France*, which is

Galicia,
about two months' journey from Constantinople ;
the intermediate country is partly cultivated and

partly uncultivated. The Moslims had made a re-

ligious war from Tarsus, on the Syrian frontier,

against Jarkendiyah &<xj^*, under the minister f

Thaml $, the governor of the frontier, who is

known under the name ed-Daksi ^A^JA!! (^xJAll),

with the Moslim and Christian { vessels which he

*
X-xr'w^! El-Ifranjah. I suppose this word means the French
in authors who wrote before the crusades, for the eastern Arabs

derived their knowledge of Europe from the Moors in Spain, who

were best acquainted with the French amongst all European na-
tions, if they were not the only Christian nation beyond the

Pyrenees of whom they had a precise knowledge. Since the

Crusades, the word Ifranjah means any European.

t ..tJliLj means that he had a place in the household of the
khalif. First, slaves were employed to serve the khalif ; subse-

quently, they took advantage

of the weakness of the sovereign,

and the menial offices in his household became of more importance

than right or talent. Thus, Khadim, or servant, became a title

as minister with us.

J One copy reads

xjljj^ (.jytu^U ^S\^ "The
9
Mos-
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 415

commanded, in A. H. 312; they passed through

the strait of Constantinople and entered a gulf of
the Mediterranean, which has no communication
with any other sea, and then they came into the

country of Jarkendiyah. On land they met a num-

ber of Targhiz who came to their aid and they said ;

that their king was not far off. This proves what
we have said, that the Targhiz had extended their
military expeditions as far as the Mediterranean.
Some went with the Moslims on board the Tarsian

vessels, and came to Tarsus.

The Targhiz (Bulgarians) are a great and power-

ful nation they are brave and have subjected their
:

neighbours; and one horseman of theirs, who has

turned Moslim,to the number of which belongs the

king, can oppose three other horsemen and two

hundred unbelievers. The inhabitants of Constan-

tinople are not able to defend themselves against

them, excepting by their walls; the same is the
case with other districts in that neighbourhood ;

their only protection are their fortresses and walls.

The night exceedingly short in the country of
is

the Bulgarians all the year round; some believe

that a Bulgarian cannot boil (meat in) his kettle

lim and 'Omanian vessels ;" and another

^ juyoLUi t-f]^
" the
/.yAJj^AjJ Syrian and Basrian vessels." As they could
not bring the vessels from the Persian Gulf into the Mediterra-

nean, I read the last word

416 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

before the morning comes. We have explained the

reason of this
phenomenon in our former books, as
depending upon the spherical form (of the earth);
we have also said, that the night lasts in some
parts of the world six months without interruption ;

and then again, that they have six months' day,

and no night. This is about (the time when the
sun is
capricornus cf<x^.
in) The reasons which
are connected with the spherical form (of the earth)
are also stated by the authors of the astronomical
tables.

The Russians cr^t consist of several different

nations and distinct hordes ;

one is called *Ate^JM

(*>l*jjXJ() (Lithuanians?). They go on their mer-

cantile business as far as Spain, Rome, Constan-
tinople, and the Khazar. After the year 300, they
had five hundred ships, every one of which had one
hundred men on board they passed up the estuary
:

(of the Don) which opens into the Pontus, and is in

communication with the river of the Khazar
(Wolga). The king of the Khazar keeps a garrison
on this side the estuary, with efficient warlike

equipments to exclude any other power from this

passage, and to prevent them from occupying, by
land, that branch of the river of the Khazar
which stands in connection with the Pontus ;
for

the Nomadic Turks, who are the Ghozz yai, try

frequently to winter there. Sometimes the water
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 417

(the Don) which connects the river of the Khazar

(Wolga) with the above-mentioned estuary is frozen,
and the Ghozz cross it with their horses, for although
it is a great water, the ice does not break under them.
The king of the Khazar himself frequently takes
the field against them, if his garrison is too weak
to drive them back, and he prevents them from

going over the ice, thus defending his dominions. It

is impossible for the Turks to cross the river
in summer.
When the Russian vessels came to the garrison,
on the entrance of the estuary, they sent to the

king of the Khazar to ask his permission to pass

through his dominions, to go down his river, and

enter into the sea of the Khazar, which is the sea
of Jorjan, Taberistan, and of other places of the

Barbarians
^U^t as we have stated, promising
him half the plunder which they should make from
the nations who live on the coast of this sea. He
gave them leave. They entered the estuary, and,
continuing their voyage up the river (Don) as far ,

as the river of the Khazar (Wolga), they went

down this river, passed the town of Itil, and
entered through its mouth into the sea of the
Khazar. This is a very large and deep river. By
these means the Russians came into this sea, and

spread their predatory excursions over el-Jil, ed-

Dailem, Taberistan, Aboskun, which is the name

for the coast of Jorjan, the Naphtha Country
2 E
418 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

uIl, and towards Aderbijan, the town of Ardobil

J.AJ^J
which is in Aderbijan, and about three days'

journey from this sea. They shed blood, plundered

property, made children prisoners, and sent out
predatory and incendiary corps in all directions.
The inhabitants of the coasts of this sea were
thrown into consternation, for they had never had
to contend with an enemy from these quarters for ;

the seahad only been frequented by peaceful traders

and fishing-boats. They had been at war with
el-Jil, ed-Dailem, and the leader of the forces of
Ibn Abi-s-Saj ^L? g] ^>\, but with no other
nation. The Russians landed on the coast of the

Naphtha Country, which is called Babikah XLL

(Baku), and belongs to the kingdom of Sharwan-
Shah. On their return from the coast, the Russians
landed in the islands which are near the Naphtha

Country, being only a few miles distant from it.

The king of Sharwan was then 'Ali Ben el-Haithem.
As the merchants sailed in boats and vessels in
pursuit of their commercial business to those islands,
the Russians attacked them ;
thousands of Moslims

perished, and were partly put to the sword, partly

drowned. The Russians remained several months
in this sea, as we have before said. The nations
on the coast had no means of repelling them, although
they made warlike preparations and put themselves
in a state of defence, for the inhabitants of the
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 419

coasts on this sea are well civilized. When they

had made booty and captives, they sailed to the
mouths of the river of the Khazar (Wolga), and
sent messengers with money and booty to the king,

in conformity with the stipulations which they had

made. The king of the Khazar has no ships on
this sea, for the Khazar are no sailors; if they were,

they would be of the greatest danger to the Moslims.

The Larisians * and other Moslims in the country
of the Khazar heard of the conduct of the Rus-
" The Russians
sians, and they said to their king:
have invaded the country of our Moslim brothers ;
they have shed their blood and made their wives
and children captives, as they were unable to resist ;

permit us to oppose them." As the king was not

able to keep them quiet, he sent messengers to
the Russians, informing them that the Moslims
intended to attack them. The Moslims took the
field and marched against them, going down the
banks of the river. When both parties saw each
other, the Russians left their vessels and formed
their battlearray opposite the Moslims. In the
ranks of the latter were many Christians of Itil

ys\. The number of the Moslim army was about

AM,Jl al-Larisiah, or Allaris, for the syllable iah expresses

sometimes the plural; they are the Alares of the middle ages,
as Klaproth correctly supposes.

2 E 2
 420 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

fifteenthousand men, provided with horses and

equipments. They fought three days, and God
gave victory to the Moslims: they put the Russians
to the sword, others were drowned, and only five

thousand escaped who sailed (first) along the bank

;

of the river, on which Bortas* is situated; (then)

they left their vessels and proceeded by land. Some

of them were slain by the inhabitants of Bortas, and
others came into the country of Targhiz, where they
fell under the sword of the Moslims. There were
about thirty thousand dead counted on the banks
of the river of the Khazar. The Russians did not
make a similar attempt after that year.
El-Mas'udi says, we have related this fact in
proof (of our statement that the Black sea and
Caspian are separated) against those who maintain
that the sea of the Khazar is connected with the sea

Mayotis and the strait of Constantinople, through

the Mayotis or Pontus for if this was the case, the
;

Russians would have made their voyage by this way,

being the masters of the Black sea, as we have

said. Besides, the merchants of all the nations
who live near this sea state, unanimously, that the
sea of the Barbarians
^U^ has no strait by which
it is connected with any other sea ;
and as this
sea is but small, it can be known in its whole ex-

* One copy reads Autas

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 421

tent. Thehistory of the Russian ships, which we

have related, is generally known amongst all nations
who live there.have forgotten the exact date of
I

their expedition, but it happened after 300 A. H.

Perhaps those who maintain that the sea of the

Khazar is connected with the strait of Constanti-

nople mean, under the sea of the Khazar, the sea

Mayotis, and the Pontus, which is the sea of the
Targhiz and Russians ;
God knows how this is.

The coast of Taberistan extends along this sea

(the Caspian) ,
and there is the town called es-Samer

^**J\ (*jdO>
a seaport, and one hour of the
which is

day from the town of Itil. On the coast of Jorjan

is the town Aboskun*, about three days' journey

from (the town of) Jorjan. On this sea are also

el-Jil and ed-Dailem. There is a constant naviga-
tion carried oa between the above-mentioned towns
and Itil.
They go up the river [Wolga] as far as

Itil; they sail also to Bakah (Baku) XTL, which

yields white and other naphtha white naphtha is ;

found no where on earth but there. Baku lies

on the south of the kingdom of Sharwan. In this

naphtha country is a crater (chimney) from which

fire issues perpetually, throwing up a high flame.
Opposite this coast are several islands one of them :

is three days distant, in which there is a great vol-

*
All MSS. write this name invariably
422 EL-MAs'tJDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

cano which often throws out fire, at all seasons

of the year. The fire rises like ahigh mountain
in the air, and its light spreads over the greater part
of the sea, so that it is seen at a distance of one

hundred farsangs. This volcano is like el-Borkan

(jo^j-jJJ
in Sicily, which is between the country of
the Franks and Afrikiyah. There is no volcano on
earth which makes a greater noise, nor any the
smoke of which is more black, or the flames more
copious, than that which is in the kingdom of the
Maharaj. Next comes the volcano of Barahiit

yt^j, which is not far from Asfar and Hadhramaut,

in the country of esh-Shihr, which is in the province
of Yemen and 'Oman. The noise is heard like
thunder at a distance of several miles, and it throws
live coals up from its depth like mountains, and
pieces of black rock which rise so high in the air
that they can be seen at many miles' distance; then

they fall down again, partly into the crater, and

partly round it. The live coals which are thrown
out are stones which have become red by the par-
ticles of heat which they have absorbed. have We
explained the cause which produces volcanoes
(springs of fire) in our Akhbar ez-zeman.
In this sea are islands opposite the coast of

Jorjan, where a sort of white falcons *!j.j

are caught.

These falcons are soon made tame ;

and one has
little to fear that they will associate (with the wild
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 423

birds) ;
but they are rather weak, for the sports-
men who catch them in these islands feed them with
fish; and, if
any other food is given to them, they
become reduced in strength. Men who distinguish
themselves by their knowledge of falconry ^j\yd\9
and of the different sorts of rapacious birds which
have been employed for the same purpose, among
the Persians,, Turks,, Byzantines, Hindus, and Arabs,

say, that falcons of a white colour are the quickest

and handsomest ;
that they have the best shape and

chest; and that they are soonest tamed, and the

strongest of all falcons to rise in the air that they ;

have the longest breath, and fly furthest, for they

are very light and spirited*, and they have a hotter

temper than any other species of falcons. The dif-

ference of colour depends upon the difference of
climate. Hence, they are of a pure white in Ar-
menia, in the country of the Khazar, in Jorjan,
and the neighbouring countries of the Turks, on
account of the great fall of snow in those climates.

A sage of the Khakans ^^\^

(J
9 or kings of

the Turks, to whom all other kings of the Turks

" When the falcons of our
pay submission, says,
country bring out their young from the nest into
the open field, they rise in the air till they come to
a cold and dense atmosphere, where there are insects

* " there are

Literally? parts of warmth in them."
424 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

with which they feed them this soon makes them ;

strong, and they learn to use their wings and to fly

high to find their food. Some times fragments of
those insects are found in the nests of falcons."

According to Galen's classification, the air is warm

and moist so that the cold of the air is owing to
;

the intenseness of winds which rise. The air is not

without beings which inhabit it. Balinas cr-U^L
"
(tjAolJb)* (Pliny) says, Since in these two ele-
ments, viz., earth and water, are beings and inhabit-

ants, the two upper elements, i.e., air and fire, must
also have beings and inhabitants."
I have found in some anecdotes of er-Rashid,

that he went out hunting one day in the country

near el-Mausil, with a white falcon on his hand.

* This author is in the at Paris. I shall have an

Royal Library
opportunity of inserting the leading points of the contents of this
curious and very philosophical book in another volume. M. De
Sacy supposes, that the word is a corruption of Apollonius this, ;

however, seems not to be well founded. There are many instances

in which the Arabs put an \ at the beginning of foreign names; but

perhaps, none where they omit it. Dr. Nicolls found this author

quoted in a MS. of the Bodl. Library (see Catal. Bill. Bodl).

In a geographical work in the British Museum, which was
composed under Mo'tadhed, he has the surname ^vcjJJ
the

Roman, and is said to have constructed talismans. It seems that

the fame of the Latin naturalist penetrated to the Arabs, but as

they had no translation of his works, they connected marvels with

his name, and put it on the head of their own compositions.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 425

The bird became uneasy on his hand, and he let

it off: it rose in the air till it disappeared from

his eyes. After he had despaired of seeing it
again, he perceived it with an insect, which was
like a serpent, or a fish, with wings like the fins of

a fish. put on a plate; and, when

Er-Rashid had it

he had returned from his sport, he called learned

men, and asked them whether they were aware of
"
a being living in the air. O, Commander of
" a tradition
the Faithful," answered Mokatil JJUU,
of thy ancestor 'Abdullah Ben el-'Abbas informs
us, that the air isinhabited by people f\ of different

forms; and nearer to us than these people live

white insects, which breed in the air, being kept
aloof by the thicker atmosphere. They grow to

the shape of a serpent, or a fish, with wings ; they

have, however, no feathers. These insects are

caught by the white falcons, which live in Arme-

nia." The Khalif produced the plate, showed the
insect,and made rich presents to Mokatil.
Some good observers have told me in Egypt
and other countries, that they have seen white ser-
pents in the air, which moved from one place to
another with a celerity that was equal to lightning;
that they fell sometimes upon an animal on the
earth and killed it; that they are sometimes heard

flying by night ;
and that their locomotion in
the air accompanied with a noise like that which
is

is produced when a new cloth is unfolded. Persons

426 EL-MAs'uni's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

who have no knowledge of this subject, or other

women (superstitious and ignorant persons), are
frequently heard saying, that this sound proceeds
from witches, who fly on wings of quills through
the air. Various opinions have been stated on these

topics ;
and such proofs have been adduced of the
existence of animals in the two (upper) elements,
as leave no doubt that animals are generated and

grown in the two light elements, which are air and

fire, as there are generated and grown in the two
denser elements, earth and water.
El-Mas'fidi says, the sages and kings have
described the falcons, and dilated on their praise.
The Khakan, or king of the Turks, says, " The
falcon is courageous and well-behaved." Kisra
Anusharwan this bird in these words: " He
praises
is active and watchful, and he seizes the opportunity

when he can." The Csesar says, " The falcon is a

noble king when he is in need he takes, and when
;

it is expedient he relinquishes." The philosophers

"
speak thus of the falcon: You may expect that a
falcon will pursue his prey with great velocity,
attack it
powerfully, and fly very high, if he have
long legs and a wide chest ;
for this is a sign of

strength, and that he is light and quick. You will

observe in birds of prey, that their strength is in

proportion to the width of their chest, whereas

their velocity and
turning round (in vertical
skill in

motion) are in proportion to the length of their

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 427

legs and the compactness of their bodies ; for the

strength of the falcon is reduced if the wings are

short, and the body thin (delicate) ;

but if they are
too long he is rendered weak and soon fatigued.
Birds of prey cannot overtake any other birds than
such as have short legs, and you will find that the
strength of woodcocks, quails,, and partridges, is

in an inverse proportion to the length of their

legs.

Arsijanis says, the falcon a rapacious bird,

is

but he is not provided with any sort of protection

by nature; his strength consists in the slenderness

(of the hind part of his body and the length) of his
feet;and although he is the weakest of all birds in
body, he is the most courageous, for he possesses a
degree of heat which is not found in other birds.
We found that his chest consists of a tendinous
texture, and is not swelled with flesh. The words
of Arsijanis are confirmed by Galen. The former
author says further, that the falcon builds his nest
on which he puts together at differ-
trees of thorns,

ent intervals; and he protects himself by these

means against heat and cold. If he is breeding he
builds for himself a house (nest), with a roof that
shuts out rain and snow, that he may be comfort-
able and protected against cold.

Adham Ben Mohriz j^sz ^j

f&&\ says,
that
the who amused
first himself with birds of prey was
el-Hareth Ben Mo'awiyah Ben Thaur, who was the
428 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

father of Kindah ^
>*r. He went out one day sporting, and laid

snares for sparrows (small birds). An akdar bird

^^n upon one of the sparrows, which had already

fell

been caught in the snares. Akdar has the same ^\

meaning as Sakr* jLa, and is also called the Ajdal

J<>c.3!. He ate the sparrow although he was him-

self caught. The
king, surprised at his devouring
the sparrow, although his wings were broken, shut
him up in a large cage, and he saw that he was
quiet, and that he did not make any efforts to
escape. If food was given to him he ate it if he ;

saw meat he jumped on the hands of his master;

and he became so tame that he did what was said to
him, that he ate from the hand, and was carried
unconfined. One day he saw a dove ; he flew
after it, from the hand of his master, and caught
it. The king ordered therefore to use the falcon
for hunting. One day when the king was going
with the falcon and saw a hare, the falcon flew upon
the hare and took it. The king used it therefore for

sporting and killing birds and hares. Since this

time falcons have been employed amongst the
Arabs, and their use became more general.

Arsijanis y^JUzv^l the philosopher, relates res-

* This is a species of hawk. Baron v. Hammer- Purgstall

(Falkner-Klee) renders this name in German by Sakerfalke.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 429

pecting the hawks ^/jMyLM, in his book which the

Byzantine emperor, who had the name Nisban(?)
^UMU (^U*A*), sent to el-Mahdi as a present from
his country, that is to say, the Byzantine dominions,
one day a hawk ^M-* descended upon a water-fowl
and caught it then he rose
;
in the air and repeated
the same movements The king said,
several times.
" This is a sporting bird; he has shown his skill in

flying down on the water-fowl, and this makes him

fit for sporting; and he has shown us his quickness
in rising in the air,which speaks for his agility."
He was surprised when he saw how well he could
turn round (in vertical motion), and was the first
who used hawks ^/jfc^-*
for sporting.

Sa'id Ben 'Ofair ( j*s) j>* ^^t V~> relates,

on the authority of Hashim Ben Khadij ^U

that Constantine, the king of
^.Xi. QJ.J QM*U),
Amariyah, went out sporting with a falcon, and
came as far as the strait of the Pont us, which joins
this sea with the Mediterranean. He crossed it,

and went to the plains between the strait and the

sea. Seeing a hawk persecuting a water-fowl, he
admired him for his quickness, violence, and cou-
rage, in pursuing his prey, and he ordered him to be
caught and tamed and he was the first who used
;

kawks. Observing that the meadow was extensive,

and covered with flowers of different colours, he
said, this is a strong place, between the sea and a
430 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

river (the strait), and fit for a town: and this in-
duced him to build Constantinople.
We shall relate the history of Constantine, the
son of Helena,, who made the Christian religion vic-
torious, in the chapter which treats on the history
of the Byzantines. This is one version of the his-
tory of the construction of Constantinople.
Ibn 'Ofair relates, upon the authority of Abu
Yezid el-Fehri cs^\ Jo ^j #\ (V?.?Ji Joj ^\) 9 that

itwas the usage with the Lodriks A^jJlH, of Spain,

that the king had hawks flying over the army, and
over the cavalcade, whenever he went out on an

expedition, or in procession. The birds were

taught to fly sometimes high and sometimes low;
so they went on till he took his quarters then they ;

sat round him. One day one of their kings set

out ;
the hawks were with him, in the described

manner, and one of them pursued and caught some

birds which flew up. This induced the king to dress
them for sporting; and he was the first who used
them for this purpose in the Maghrib and in Spain.

El-Mas'udi says, it is the account of many

persons who are well- versed in this subject, that the
inhabitants of the Maghrib were the first who
amused themselves with vultures ^1>J^. When
the Byzantines (Romans) observed the robust con-
stitution of their body and the abundance of their

excrements l^-ob!? their wise men said no bird

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 431

is more fit for mischief than this. It is related that

the emperor sent a vulture to the Kisra, and wrote

him, that he was more efficient than the falcon

which he was so delighted.
uaM, with the sport of
The Kisra ordered him to be set against a wild buck
csvk, and the bird got the better of him, notwith-
standing his resistance. The Kisra returned, full
of joy, from this sight. When
he hungered him
for sporting, the bird fell upon a boy, and killed

him. The Kisra said, " The emperor deprives us

of our children without an army." The Kisra pre-
sented the emperor in return with an eagle, and
wrote to him that he had killed wild bucks, and
similar animals ;
but he did not mention that the
vulture had killed a boy. The emperor admired
the eagle, which was like a hyena *x$3; but as he
was not on his guard, several boys were torn to
pieces by the bird. The emperor said, " The
Kisra takes us for his game; but, since we have
made a game of him, it does no harm."
In speaking of the sea of Jorjan and its islands,
we went beyond our limits, and treated on the
different sorts of birds of prey ;
we shall give a

summary account of the falcons, and how many

different species of birds of prey there exist, in the

chapter on the Byzantine kings. Now we return

to our account of Bab el-Abwab, and the nations
which live in the neighbourhood of this wall, and of
the Caucasus.
432 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

We
have already stated, that the population of
Haidan is one of the worst nations near Bab el-
Abwab ;
their king is a Mohammedan, and con-
siders himself as descended from Kahlan. His
children and his household are the only Moslims
in all his dominions. The name of the present
[332 A.H.] king is Salman* j,UL* (^IxXA-j) ;
and
I believe this is the title of every king of this

country. Between the kingdom of Khaidan

- O ,-

(^U/^ (Hai'dan) and Bab el-Abwab, is a Moham-

medan population of Arabian origin f who speak
only Arabic. They live in villages situated in

forests, jungles, valleys, and on large rivers. They

have been there since the time when the country
was conquered by them. Although their country
is on the frontier of the kingdom of Haidan, they
are independent ; for it is inaccessible on account

of its forests and rivers. The distance from the

town of Bab el-Abwab to this country, is only
three miles. The inhabitants of Bab el-Abwab
call them sometimes to their aid.
On the frontiers of the kingdom of Haidan,

* M.
This, observes Klaproth, is
probably a fault instead of

ioi Shamgal, which is, to this day, the title of the prince of

Kormik, who resides at Tarkhu.

f These Arabs live to this day in the neighbourhood of

Sharwan as nomades. See Klaproth.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 433

towards the Caucasus and the wall, is a king called

Birzoban j,L^j, he is a Moslim, and the name of

his country is el-Karaj g^tfi. The inhabitants are

armed with clubs. Birzoban is the title of every

king who rules over this country.

Next to the Birzoban is a nation called

Ghumik < **$ (< They are

5u*e). Christians, and
have no king, but chieftains, who are on friendly
terms with el-Lan. Next to them, towards the
wall and the mountain is the kingdom of Zarikeran
"
6b^d;!> which means coat of mail manufactory,"

for most of the inhabitants are employed in making

coats of mail, stirrups, bridles, swords, and similar
instruments of iron. They have various religions;
some are Moslims, others are Jews and Christians.
Their country very rough and inaccessible to the
is

neighbouring nations. Beyond them are the do-

minions of Filan Shah *U> ^^/J, who is a Christian;
and, as we have already stated, he is descended from
Behram Gur. He has the name of king of the
Serir (throne), for Yezdejerd, the last of the Sasa-
nian kings,, sent, when he took flight, his throne of

gold and his treasures, with one of the descendants

of Behram Gur, to this country, and there they
were preserved till his death; for Yezdejerd went to
Khorasan, where he was killed during the khalifat
of 'Othman, as we have related in this book and in
our other works. They remained in this coun-
2 F
434 EL-MAS'UD1'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

try; he made himself master of it, and his succes-

sors have therefore the name Sahib es-Serir* to this

day. The capital of this king is called Khomikhf

j**- Twelve thousand villages obey him, and
it is in his choice to make any of their inhabitants
slaves. rough, and therefore well
His country is

protected against any invasion it occupies a valley ;

of the Caucasus. He some times overruns the

country of the Khazar, for they live in plains, and
he in mountains.
Next to this kingdom comes the kingdom of el-

Lan, the king of which has the name of el-Ker-

kendaj ^\^S^\ (^jarjJft), which is a general

title for all kings of this country, as Filan-Shah is
the title of all kings of es-Serir. The capital of
el-Lan is Ma's oax^ (<_,***>), which means " obser-
vation of religion," 2wLx He has several magnifi-
cent palaces, besides his residence in the capital, in
which he occasionally resides. He is related to the

king of es-Serir, one having married the sister of

the other. The kings of el-Lan embraced, after the
rise of the Islam, during the 'Abbaside dynasty, the

* Serir name of the nation, who are probably

is
evidently the
the same as the Serri of Pliny, (lib. vi., cap. 5,) who wrote
nearly six hundred years before Yezdejerd. As Serlr happens

to mean throne in Arabic, the above fable was invented.

f Klaproth's MS. reads Homraj he identifies therefore this

;

town with Humry, in the territory of the Uzmei of the Kaitak,

now called Kavah Kend.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 435

Christian religion previously they were Pagans ;

;

and after 320 A. H., they returned to their former

faith, giving up Christianity, and expelling the
bishops and priests who had been sent to them by
the Byzantine emperor.
Between the kingdom of el-Lan and the Cau-
casus is a fortress, and a bridge over a large river.
The fortress has the name of Kal'ah Bab el-Lan (the
citadel of the Alan gate or pass), and was built by a
king of the first Persian dynasty, called Isfendiar. He
placed there a garrison, to prevent the Alans from
entering the Caucasus ;
for no other road leads
there but that which goes over this bridge, which is

commanded by the castle. It is built on live rock^

which renders it impregnable, and it is impossible

to cross the bridge, opposed by the garrison.
if

This castle, which stands on the summit of the

rock, has a spring of fresh water in its centre.

This is one of the most famous fortresses on earth,

both for strength and for the historical recol-
its

lections which are connected with it, and related by

Persian poets, who describe its construction by

Isfendiar.

Isfendiarhad many wars with various nations

of the eastern countries: he marched to the country
of the Turks, and destroyed the city of es-Safr

^ju^JI,
which was very extensive, fortified by nature,
and considered as impregnable ;
so that it had be-
come proverbial with the Persians. The exploits
2 F 2
436 EL-MAS'lJDi's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

of Isfendiar, and the details which we have given,

are related in the book y^X**!! i^UT (^xCuJl or

LtAxJI or (5V&JJ1), which has been translated by

Ibn el-Mokaffa' into Arabic. When Moslemah
Ben 'Abd el-Melik Ben Merwan penetrated to those

countries, he settled some Arabs in this fortress,

after he had made peace with the nations, whose

posterity defend the place to this day. Sometimes

they receive their provisions from the plains which
are near Tiflis. This town is five long days' jour-

ney distant from this fortress. One man can op-

pose all the unbelieving kings, in this castle, so
is its it
advantageous commanding position, being
(as it were) suspended in the air, over the bridge
and valley.
The king of the Alans * musters thirty thousand
brave and stong horsemen: this force gives him
the supremacy over other kings. The cultivation
of his kingdom is uninterrupted, so that when the
cock crows, he is answered in the whole of his
dominions, the country being all covered with inha-
bitants and cultivation.

Next to the Alans live a nation called Kashak

^S: their country extends from the Caucasus to

the Mediterranean are a
^\ ^sr. They great
nation, and follow the Magian religion. They are,

among all the nations whom we have mentioned,

* One copy reads, the king of es-Serir.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 437

the cleanest, and the most handsome in their ap-

pearance, both men and women. They have good

persons, are slender round the waist,, have well-
shaped hips, and are of a comely form. The Kashak
women are celebrated for their charms. They dress
in white, in Greek brocade ^^ ^UjjJJ,
in cloth

of scarlet ^^k&JLJ! colour, and other sorts of

cloth, as gilt In their country various

brocade.
sorts of cloths are manufactured of hemp and other

materials: one sort is called et-Talli cloth ^XkJI

(jUl): it is finer than damask (silk) <j^.jx!!,

and
stouter than (our) hemp cloth JulT
(<xT).
One piece
of this sort of cloth costs about ten dinars; and is

exported to the neighbouring Moslim countries.

The same cloth is exported from other nations, who
live near the Kashak ;
but the best comes from them.
The Alans are much stronger than this nation.,
and they cannot maintain
their independency,

except by fortifying themselves against the Alans

in the citadel which they have erected on the sea
coast. There some controversy respecting the
is

sea on which they live some take it for the

;

Mediterranean, whilst others consider it to be the

Pontus. I have only to observe, that their sea is

not far from the country of Trebizond, and that a
constant navigation and trade are kept up between
them and this city.

The reason why they are too weak to oppose

 J
438 EL-MAS UDi's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

the Alans is, that their power is not concentrated

under one king. If they were united, neither the
Alans nor any other nation would have power over
them. The word kashak is Persian, and means
pride and arrogance c^X^St, for a person who
&*jil\

has these two qualities is called JiS in Persian.

Next to this nation comes another, the country
of which is called the Seven Lands * ^taXj x*JI,
and lies on the sea. They form a large and power-
ful nation, who are in possession of an extensive
country. I know nothing respecting their religion

and government. On the Seven Lands border a

large nation,, who are separated from the Kashak
by a great river which falls into the Mediterranean,
or into the sea Mayotis. On this river live nu-
merous hordes, of a nation of the name of Irem

-j\ They are Pagans, and strange looking

(fttl)'

people. There is a curious story related of fish

which come every year to this country. They cut
flesh off from them. When they come back the
next year, the flesh has grown again, and they cut it
off from the other side. This story is well known
amongst the unbelievers of that country f.

* The German name for Transylvania has

Siebenbiirgen
nearly the same meaning, but is not as ancient as el-Mas'udi.

f Klaproth remarks, that the inhabitants of the coast of the

Caspian, on the mouth of the Korr, cut the eggs out from the
belly of the fish for caviar, and throw the fish back into the
water.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 439

Not far from this country is another between

four high and inaccessible mountains, which include
a plain of nearly one hundred miles. In the centre
of this plain is a circle, as exact as if it had been
marked out with compasses in solid stone.
J^ 9

The circuit is formed by a complete ring hewn in

stone, which is fifty miles in circumference. The
pieces [of rock by which this ring is formed] go
vertically down like a wall which is raised from be-
low upwards, two miles high.* These rocks render
it impossible to go within the inclosure. By night,

you see many lights in it in different places and ;

by day, you discover villages, cultivated grounds,

rivers which water those villages, men, and cattle f;

but every thing appears little, on account of the

height from which you look down. Nobody knows

what nation they are, for they are unable to climb

'
r

f A similar story is related in Abul-ghazi Khan, who fol-

lowed Mongolish traditions. It seems, therefore, to be a widely

spread tradition of Central Asia. Perhaps such places were se-

cluded from the world to give to them, and those who inhabit them,

through remoteness, a degree of sacredness. Any one who has

passed the dreary and solitary plains extending many miles round
Stonehenge, a sacred place of the Druids, near Salisbury, must be
struck with this idea. Perhaps a comparison might be drawn,
and even an affinity and connexion might be discovered, between
those Tatar places of worship and the sacred forests of the

Druids.
440 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

up mountains from within), and no

(the surrounding
one who ascends to the top (from without) can go
down to them.
Behind these four mountains on the sea coast
isanother ring near the precipice in it are forests ;

and jungles, which are inhabited by a sort of mon-

keys who have an erect stature and round face they ;

are exceedingly like men, but they are all covered

with hair. Sometimes it happens that they are
caught. They show very great intelligence and
docility;but they are deprived of speech, by which
they could express themselves, although they un-
derstand* what is spoken. But they express them-
selves by Sometimes they are brought to the
signs.

kings of those nations, and they are taught to stand

by them and to taste what is on their table for the ;

monkeys have the peculiar quality of knowing if

poison is in food or drink. Some part of the food

is given to the monkey who smells it, and, if he
eats of it, the king eats: but, if not, he knows
that it contains poison. The same is the practice
of most Chinese and Hindu sovereigns. We have
given in this book an account of the Chinese
embassies which came to el-Mahdi and we related ;

what they said of the use which their kings make of

monkeys for tasting their food. We have also

* One copy reads that they do not understand what is

spoken.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 441

mentioned the tale of the monkeys in Yemen, and

of the plate of iron on which Solaiman Ben Dawud
wrote a treaty to the monkeys of Yemen; and of
the governor of Mo'awiyah Ben Abi Sofyan, who
wrote a document respecting them: and we have
given the description of the great monkey who had
a table on his neck.
There are no monkeys on earth who are so clever
and mischievous as this species. Monkeys live in

warm climates, as in Nubia, and in the most northern

part of Abyssinia, on the banks of the upper course
of the Nile. They are called Nubian monkeys, and
are of a diminutive size, have little faces, and their
body is as black as pitch, as the Nubians themselves
are. This is the species which the monkey men
j^jjXH have. They mount on
a spear and go

through their exercises on the top of it. Another

species of monkeys are in the northern regions,
forests,and jungles, in the country of the Sclavo-
nians and of other nations, of which we have said,
that they approach in their appearance, to the figure
of man. Monkeys are also found on the coasts of
the straits of el-Zanij, in the Chinese sea, and in
the dominions of the Maharaj, who, as we have al-

ready said, is king of the islands opposite the king-

dom of China, being situated between the kingdom
of el-Ballahra and China. The monkeys of those
countries are very numerous, and famous for the

perfection of their figure. From thence monkeys

 J
442 EL-MAS'UDI S MEADOWS OP GOLD,

and serpents were brought to el-Moktader, They

were in long chains, and some of the monkeys had
beards and long whiskers ;
some were young, and
others old. The present was accompanied by many
other curiosities of the sea ; they were brought by
Ahmed Ben Hilal j^fc
^j <x^!, who was then
governor of 'Oman. These monkeys are very well
known to the sailors of Siraf and 'Oman, who
trade with the countries of Kolah and ez-Zanij ;

they are also acquainted with the way of hunting

the crocodiles (alligators), which live at the bottom
of the water. El-Jahit believes they are only found
in the Nile of Egypt, and in the river Mihran of
es-Sind. We have related what is said on this sub-

ject, and where crocodiles are found, in the previous

pages of this book. In many places of Yemen, the
traveller is not able to fight his way through the

monkeys, they are so numerous; so, for instance,

in the valley of Nakhlah aXis? <ss\j, which is between

el-Jenned and Zabid, which is now [332 A.H.] under
Ibrahim Ben Ziyad *L>) ^j ft*jri>
the governor

of el-Harmali This valley is one day's

JU^J.1.
journey, or more, from Zabid. It is well cultivated,

and has abundance of flowing water and musa trees

^JU. surrounded by two mountains. The

It is

monkeys form there two corps; each is lead by a

Hazr which means a male monkey, who
j,yfc (jj&\
is distinguished by his superior size and virility,
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 443

and who is the leader of the rest. A she ape gives

birth to a dozen young monkeys at once, as the
sow brings forth many 'pigs. Some of the young
monkeys and carried by the mother just
are nursed
as women carry their children, and the male takes
care of the rest. They have parties and meetings,
which are numerously attended. There you may hear
them speechify, and discuss matters. The female
monkeys chatter like women, when they are alone.

If a man hears their conversation and does not see

them, in those mountains, in musa and other trees,

and by night, he has no suspicion but that they are
human beings. The monkeys of Yemen are the
wildest, most mischievous, and have the greatest

docility. The Yemenites call the monkeys ^yi-

The male and female animal have long ringlets of
hair flowing over their shoulders, which are as black
as possible. When they meet, they sit according to
their rank, after their leader; and they imitate man
in all their doings.
In the valleys, plains, and mountains at Marib,
which is between the country of San'a and the castle

of Kahlan ^^T **Xi', the monkeys are so numerous,

that they may be compared with clouds.

Kahlan ^%r is one of the fortresses of Yemen,
where now As'ad Ben Ya'fur jy.*.* ^> <x**~t

(yL*j), the king of Yemen, lives; separated from

society, only with his court. This king is a rem-

444 EL-MASU'DI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

nant of the Himyarite sovereigns, and has an army

of about fifty thousand men, infantry and cavalry,
in pay. They receive their pay every month at a

fixed time, which is called

XJ^JM*. They assemble
here, and then they return into the Mikhalif of that

country: Mikhalif means fortresses &xM cjl^L^OL^t-

This prince had wars in Yemen with the Kar-
matians, and the Lord of the Zanj J, who was 'Ali

Ben el-Fadhl >UM ^

JL*, after 270 A.H.- 'Ali
acted a great part in Yemen until he was killed:
then Yemen surrendered to As'ad.
The monkeys are in several places of Yemen,
and in other regions of the earth, which we forbear
to mention; for we have explained the reason why

* means
JyS
to encamp and to quarter. They were pro-

bably drawn up in review when they received their pay :

would therefore mean here, the being drawn up.

XJyJi

f o&sS cjUJl^j means, with other Arabic

1

plural authors,

a district of Yemen, of which there were seventy-two or seventy-

three. Some of the names of these districts are found in Johann-
sen (Hist. Jemanae, p. 34) ; but the list of all of them is in Ibn
Khordadbeh's Geography (MS. of the Bodleian Library). This

passage of el-Mas'udl's leads us to suppose that in every such

district was a fortress, inhabited, as one may presume, by one of

the Abna ^Uj^J or chiefs of the Persian expedition, which con-

quered the country under Anusharwan, and introduced a sort of

feudal system as it would appear.
The MSS. read S^U and S
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 445

they live in some quarters of the world, whilst they

are not met with in others, in our Akhbar ez-

zeinan, where we have also given an account of the

nisnas* ^UwJM, and the 'irbid J^^xM, which are a
sort of animals like serpents, in the Hajrf
j.ar of
Yemamah: the singular is, according to the opinion
of some lexicographers, ^^. El-Motawakel asked,
in the beginning of his Khalifat, Honain Ben Ishak
to bring him, amongst other species of animals,
some nisnas: only two specimens were brought for
him to Serrmenray but he did not think to send
;

for an 'irbad; perhaps because this animal perishes

if it is removed from Yemamah,, at a certain dis-

tance from this province, in the cage in which it is

carried. The people of Yemamah use it against
serpents, scorpions, and other vermin, as the people
of Sijistan make use of the urchins Jolo for this
purpose. In ancient times no urchin was killed

in that country. This town was built by Alex-

ander, in an open and sandy country, and it is sur-
rounded by sand hills, which are supported by
wood arid reeds. There are a number of vipers,

* A kind of ape or satyr, which are said to inhabit the desert

of el- Ahkaf.

f This town is to be distinguished from el-Hijr, which is the

Petra of ancient geographers there is for the rest a passage in
:

Pliny, lib. iv., cap. 32, where this town of Yemamah is to be

understood under Petra.

 446 EL-MAS'tTDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

and several species of serpents so that if they had

;

not many urchins, the inhabitants would be over-

come by them. In the same situation are the

Egyptians, in upper Egypt, and elsewhere. They

have a animal, which they call el-'iras u^-ty^l
little

it is larger than a locust and smaller than a weazel,

of a red colour, with a white belly and, if it was ;

not for this reptile, the Egyptians would be over-

come by basilisks
^UA!!, which are a sort of great
serpents. When the basilisk forms a ring round
this little animal, it emits an air, by which the
basilisk bursts. This air is peculiar to this little

animal. The east has several peculiarities in land

and sea, in animals, vegetation, and such as are
caused by the destructive effects of the hot season.
The same can be said of the west, the Tayammon
(J<yM, i.e.,
the south, and the Jari i^y*, which means

the north. We have

given an account of the nature
of the quarters of the world, and it would be a di-

gression from the plan of our work to enter into

details on those subjects in this chapter.

We will therefore return to the account of the

nations which live in the neighbourhood of Bab

el-Abwab, the wall, the Caucasus, the country of

the Khazar, and the Alans. On the frontiers of
the Khazar towards the west, live four Turkish

nations, which derive their origin from the same

forefather. Some of them are settled, whilst
others are nomads. They are all brave and can
 'AND MINES OF GEMS. 447

any nation
resist Each of them has its own king,
.

whose dominions have an extent of several days,

and they are contiguous to each other. Some of
them are on the Pontus. They extend their pre-
datory excursions as far as Rome ***,; XijtX-o
which is in the direction towards Spain. They are
victorious over all the nations who live there.

Between the king of the Khazar and the lord of

el-Lan a friendship exists. They are immediate

neighbours of the former. The first of these

o
nations has the name Bajna Us? (<s? or tf^sr).
^0^0
The second is called Bajkord <^x==:,
the next

following nation is called Bajinak JU^ (Uar^v-

a/arot), and is the bravest of the four. The fourth
is called Nukerodah (Novgorod?) *<^Ty. Their

kings have sovereign power*, they had wars with

the Byzantines after the year 320 A.H. (932 A.D.)
or in that yearf. The Byzantines have, oir"the~~
frontiers towards these four nations, a large Greek

city which is called Walender^j^ ($OuJj or \jjj),

which has a great population (garrison), and is

protected by the sea on one side, and by mountains
on the other. The inhabitants (garrison) of this
town defended the country against the invasions of

_5^j

f Compare Cedrenus ad annum .934.

448 EL-MAS'UD1'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

the before mentioned four Turkish nations, and

they were unable to penetrate into the country of
the Byzantines, being precluded by mountains, the

sea, and this town. These four nations have been

at war with each on account of a dispute
other,

respecting a Moslim merchant of Ardobil, who,

although he enjoyed the protection of hospitality of
one of these nations, was injured by another. This

gave rise to disunion. The Byzantines of Walen-

der took advantage of invaded their country
it,

whilst they were disunited they took many of

;

their children prisoners, and plundered their pro-

perty. When
they heard of this, as they were
occupied in their war, they united under one com-
mander, proclaimed a mutual amnesty, remitting
blood revenge and the whole nation, about six
;

thousand horse strong, at once repaired to the

town of Walender, and this without being called
out, and without collecting the men. If they had

men, they would have mustered

called out their
about one hundred thousand horsemen. When
Romanus who is the present emperor of the Byzan-

tines, that is to say, in 332 A.H., had received

intelligence, he sent against them twelve thousand

(Arabic) horsemen* who had embraced the Chris-

* The Taghlebites, some of the Rabi'ah, and other tribes of

Syria and Mesopotamia, used to serve in the army of the Byzan-

tine emperors.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 449

tian religion, with spears in the Arabic costume

(Sj,
and fifty thousand Byzantines.
- o
They came
.-
in

town of Walender^ja^, encamped

eight days* to the
beyond the town, and took (partly) their quarters
in the houses of the inhabitants. The Turks had
already killed a vast number of the population of
Walender, but they defended themselves with their
walls till this reinforcement reached them. When
the four kings had oberved that their enemies had
received the aid of those (Arabs) who had turned

Christians, and of the Byzantines, they sent unto

their own country, which lies towards the country
of the Khazar, Alans, Bab el-Abwab, and others,
and collected the Moslim population j* who did not
enlist except in wars against unbelievers.
When the two armies had drawn up in battle

array, the Christian Arabs advanced in front of the

ranks of the Byzantines; and, on the side of the
Turks, the merchants who were in their army pro-
ceeded from the ranks, and invited them to the
Mohammedan promising to bring them
religion,
into the Moslim territory, if they would take quar-
ter from the Turks. They refused to accept these

* One copy reads eighteen days.

f One copy reads, they collected Moslim merchants who were
resident in their country, in that of the Khazar, Bab el-Abwab, of
the Alans, or any other country, and that portion of the four
Turkish nations who had embraced the Islam.

2 G
450 EL-MAS'UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

terms, and they fought a general battle, in which

the Christian Arabs and Byzantines were superior
to the Turks; number was many times
for their

greater than that of their enemies. They remained

that night at their posts. The four Turkish kings
held a council, in which the king of the Bajinak
"
said, Give me the command to-morrow morning."
They agreed to give it to him; and the next morn-
ing posted many close bodies of troops
they
(squares), of a thousand men each, on the extremity
of the right wing, and on the extremity of the left

wing. When the soldiers were drawn up, the

bodies of troops (squares)* of the extremity of the

right wing advanced, and fell upon the centre of

the enemy, fighting their way to the place of the

squares which had been posted at the extremity of

the left wing, and the latter advancing upon the

right wing, fell equally upon the centre of the enemy,

and fought their way to the right wing: an uninter-
rupted shooting (of arrows, stones, &c.) ensued, and
these bodies of troops ground the enemy like a mill-

stone, following each other; but the centre, and the

right and left wings of the Turks stood quiet, whilst
the squares were in action. They fought thus: the
squares of the Turks who went out from the extre-

(j~*$S means the squares or close bodies, as they were

in the Roman order of battle. But here it seems to mean light

cavalry in contracjjstinction to the troops of the line.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 451

mity of the right wing opened their operations by

shooting on the left wing of the Byzantines: they
passed their (own) right wing, keeping up the shooting
and came to the centre. The squares which came
from the extremity of the left wing began to shoot
on the side of the right wing of the enemy, proceeded
to the left wing,and continued to shoot, advancing
to the centre where the squares (of both sides) met,

grinding the enemy, as we have said. When the

Christian (Arabs) and the Byzantines saw their

.state, and the breaking up of their ranks under the

uninterrupted shower of arrows which came from

their enemies, they charged the loose troops in front

of the army. Thus they came close on the line of

the Turks, which stood firm to receive them. The
squares opened before them, and the Turks fell all
at once en masse upon them ; this had the effect of

putting the Byzantines to flight. The Turkish line

[not the loose troops (or squares) of their battle
array] charged, after this attack, the line of the
enemy without intermission ;
same time,
and, at the
the squares fought them from the right and left.

They fell under the sword, and were in the greatest

difficulty ;
the cries of men and horses were terrible ;
and about thousand Byzantines and Christian
six

(Arabs) were killed, so that they could almost

ascend to the walls of the town over their carcases.
The town was taken, the sword made several
days' ravages ;
and the inhabitants were made pri-
2 G 2
452 EL-MAS'tJDl's MEADOWS of GOLD,

soners. After three days, the Turks proceeded

towards Constantinople. They passed a number of

meadows, and estates, spreading

cultivated districts,

slaughter and taking prisoners, till they came to the

walls of Constantinople. There they staid for
about forty days, and sold the captive women
and children for linen, cloths of brocade, and
silk. They put the men to the sword, none
received quarter ;
sometimes they did not spare even
women and children. They made predatory excur-
sions all over these countries, and as far as [the

country of the Sclavonians and Rome. At present

their invasion extends even to*] the frontiers of

Spain, France, and Galicia. The predatory incur-

sions of the above-mentioned Turkish nations con-
tinue to this day to infest Constantinople, and the
above-mentioned kingdoms.
We return to the account of the Caucasus, the
wall, and Bab el-Abwab, having given a concise
account of the nations who live in those countries.

One of these nations lives on the frontiers of the

Alans, and has the name el-Abkhaz jLs?5N. They

are Christians, and form a monarchy: the present
king has the name et-Tobili ^X^LM (Theophilus?)f.

* These words are out in some MSS. and by

left Klaproth; and
it is
very likely that they are interpolated.
"
f The MS. of Ley den reads thusThey have at present
:

their own king, but they are, nevertheless, under the supremacy
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 453

The dominions of this Tobili are called Mesjid of

Dul-Karnain (Alexander). The Abkhaz and Kha-
zarians used to pay tribute to the governor of the
frontiers of Tiflis, since the time when this city
was subjected by the Mohammedans, who settled
there (a military colony), which continued up to

the reign of el-Mot awakel. There was a king in

these frontiers, of the name of Ishak Ben Isma'il,
who had subjected, with the Moslims whom he
had under his command, the nations of that neigh-
bourhood. They acknowledged their submission to

him by paying the His power was

capitation tak.
in the ascendant (and he considered himself as an

independent prince), until el-Motawakel sent an

army against the frontier of Tiflis, which took the
country by force, after some battles. Ishak was
killed; for he had made himself independent in
that country. It would be too long to relate his

whole history, which is pretty well known in

of the king of the Alans. Their country extends as far as the

Caucasus. Next to them live the Khazarians j iV^U? wno are

a great nation and profess the Christian religion. They are also

called el-Hazran J
jV^* They have at present a king of the

name of Tobl'a ju/,yj, whose dominions occupy the place called

Mesjid Dul-Karnain. The Abkhaz and Khazarians used to pay

tribute to the governor of the frontiers of Tiflis," etc.

Klaproth observes, that the Hazran occupied a part of Min-

is still called Kadzaro by the Turks.
grelia and Guria. which
454 EL-MASU'DI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

those countries and elsewhere, amongst persons

possessed of a knowledge of history. He pretended
to be a KoraTshite and of the Omaiyde family ; but
it is not true. Since that time the Moslims have
lost their power on the frontiers of Tiflis, and have
never recovered The neighbouring kingdoms
it.

refused their submission, and they encroached upon

the principal estates (villages) of Tiflis. You
are obliged to pass through those unbelieving-
nations you wish to go to the most distant Mo-
if

hammedan dominions about Tiflis, since they live

all round this Moslim province, the inhabitants of
which are a people of great strength and bravery;
but they are surrounded by the said kingdoms.

Beyond the Kharzan (j_>V^ (Hazaran), is the

country of the Samsaha l^ua^!, who are Chris-
tians, mixed, however, with Pagans they have no :

king. Next to the Samsahians, between the fron-

tier of Tiflis and the fortress Bab el-Lan, which we

have described, is the kingdom of the Senarians

x>^UxaJ! (Xj^U*a!l): their king has the name Ke-

reskus u jjS' (^^fj.r). They are Christians,

and believe that they are of Arabic origin, and
a portion of the 'Oka'il* tribe (which belongs to the

* One copy reads

and another copy reads

^ic <>,
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 455

confederation) of the Modhar tribes (which have

the same origin as the other) Nizar tribes. They
have lived there from ancient times, and have
subjected many nations of the Caucasus. have I

seen in the country of Marib, in Yemen, several

men of the 'Ok ail tribe, variously accoutred, and
did not find any difference between them and the
manners of their brethren on the Caucasus. This
tends to strengthen their assertion. They have
many horses and great wealth, and there are no
people in all Yemen of the tribe of Nizar Ben
Ma'add besides the Ok ail family, except the ac-
'

counts which are given of the children of Anmar

Ben Nizar Ben Ma'add, of their immigration into
j{f\
Yemen, of the interview which Jarir Ben 'Abdullah
el-Bajaliy ^X-rsOJ <*MUxc ^i jj.j^- had with the Pro-

phet, and the history of the Bajilah ^X^s:. The

Sinarians believe that they had lived with the 'Okail
in the country of Marib, and that they sepa-
rated from the 'Oka'il, who still live in Yemen, in

ancient times, under several circumstances which

are related in history.
Next to the kingdom of the Sinarians lives a na-

tion called Shakin * ($& who are Christians, inter-

spersed with Moslims who are mostly merchants,

* This is the country of Shakhi, which lies north of the Korr

and Karabagh. (Klaproth.)

456 EL-MAS'lJDl'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

or employed in other trades Their king

^3^.
is at present, when we publish this book, Ader Ben

Samah Ben Homayir (^U>) jj\$ ^j *v* ^j j\-

Next to them
the kingdom of Ka'ilah XXo.
is

The population of the capital consists of Moslims,

whilst the villages, and estates about the town, are
inhabited by Christians. Their present king is
<j"

A'anbasah x*j^\ (***) The Lame. He gives

shelter to robbers, vagabonds, and highwaymen.
Next comes the kingdom of the Mukanians

3USb>U. We
have already mentioned this country,

saying that it has been conquered, and now forms

part of the dominions of Sharwan-Shah. But it is
to be distinguishedfrom a country on the coast of
the sea of the Khazar, which has the same name.
Mohammed Ben Yezid who is at present known as

Sharwan-Shah sli
{Jsj***
had been King Layidan-
Shah *L3 j,JX)^, and his ancestors had the same
Ben el-Haithem had the
title; for, at that time 'Ali

title of King Sharwan-Shah. But when 'AH was

dead, Mohammed made himself master of (the
dominions and title of) Sharwan-Shah and other
countries, as we have related, after he had killed
his uncles, and occupied the said kingdoms. He
is in possession of a fortress, called the fortress of

Tiar
^Uj,
which is situated on the Caucasus, and
the strongest known on earth, excepting a fortress
in Paris not far from Siraf, on the sea coast, in a
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 457

place called ez-Zirobad Jo^yi, which belongs to

'Abdullah Ben Tmarah. This fortress has the name
ofed-Dikdan ^JjXjjJl.
There are many fortresses on earth of which
strange stories are related, which have been collected
by Abu-1-Hosa'in el-Medaini, in a monograph on
this subject, which he has entitled, "The book of

the Fortresses" &*tt ^UT. In this book are select

stories respecting fortresses,some of which we have
given in our Akhbar ez-zeman.
Ei-Mas'udi says, this is a view of the account of
the town Bab el-Abwab, the wall, Caucasus, and
the inhabitants of these countries. We have given
a detailed narration of their manners and modes in

warfare, and of the stratagems of their kings, in our

Akhbar ez-zeman. The accounts which we have

given of them, and the descriptions of their kingdoms,
dwell on objects which are palpable (i. e., the pre-
sent state), and not on abstractions (or the history
of past times), and which anybody who chooses to
visit the countries which we have described may see*.

'Oba'id Allah Ben Khordadbeh gives in his book

which has the title of, "The Roads and the King-

doms," the distances of places by the road (not as

 458 EL-MAS'UDI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

the crow flies), but he does not give any account of

the kings and kingdoms. There is no use in show-
ing merely the distances and roads, for this regards
only sending couriers* and despatching parcels and
letters. The same author mentions how great the
revenue of the villages of elTrak was. Such
account, however, cannot be correct, for the
revenue is
always sinking and rising, disminishing
and increasing, according to circumstances f ;
and he
states, mount el-'Arij gj*$\ which is
that the
between Mekka and Medina coheres with the
mountains of Syria, so that it is connected with the
mount of el-Akra' at Antiochia, which is again in
connexion with the mount el-Kam -\&J. This is a
curious notice, and shows that he knew, that the
various parts of the earth are connected, and no
where interrupted nor separated, except, that in some
places there are low, in others high, countries. His

* The MS. word doubt-

of Ley den leaves the reading of this

ful, and others write _ .X5, instead of ^o. The reader may
refer, respecting Ibn Khordadbeh, to the note to page 331. Here
is confirmed what has been said there partly as conjecture, without

being aware of this passage, namely, that Ibn Khordadbeh 's work
was intended as a road and post book. Perhaps it was even the
official directory.

t I published the whole of this account of the land-tax of

Ibn Khordadbeh, from the MS. of Oxford, with the accounts of

some other authors on the same subject, in the Asiatic Journal
of 1839.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 459

book may be considered as the best work in its way.

Of equal merit is his book on the chronology and
history of the nations before the Islam.
Ahmad Ben et-Taib, the companion of el-Mo'-
tadhed Billah, wrote a book on the same subject, in
which he gives an account of the whole world but ;

what he says, is, for the most part, contrary to

truth ;
and I believe that it is a pseudonym work
to which name is prefixed, for he was possessed
his

of much more knowledge than what this book be-

speaks; and if it is genuine, we must consider that

God, the Almighty, gives, by his infinite wisdom,
absolute power and mercy to his servants to

those success in their labours to whom he thinks

best.

Oneof the Persian kings built the town of Bab

el-Abwab, of the wall of which we have said, that it

extends over land, sea, and mountains, and several
fortresses:he settled military colonies there, and he
defined the ranks of the kings. He wrote to the
king of the Khazar, el-Lan, and Turks, and to the
kings of other nations, who ruled over Berda'ah er-
Rum, el-Bailakan, Aderbijan, Zanjan ^U^, (sic, or

y^j), Abhar ^\ (^^0* Kazwin, Hamadan, ed-

Dainawar, Nohawand, and other places which were
under the dependency of el-Kufah and el- Basrah
(after the Arabic conquests),, and form part of el-
'Irak. God may keep the said nations within their

limits, particularly since the Moslim power has been

460 EL-MAS'UOI'S MEADOWS OF GOLD,

so reduced, and is in such a decline that the Byzan-

tines are victorious over the Moslims; the pilgrim-
age to Mekka is in a bad state; holy warfare
is neglected; the highways are unsafe, and the
roads bad every chief makes himself the independ-
;

ent master of the provinces in which he is, as was

the case under the kings of the Satrapies, after the
death of Alexander, until Ardeshir Ben Babek Ben
Sasan united the empire. He restored order, he
rendered religious service safe, and promoted the
cultivation of the country (by paying attention to

irrigation, and thus it continued) until God sent his

prophet, through whom he dispelled the darkness of

wrong religions, and destroyed the services ordained

by false creeds. The Islam was victorious till at
present, but now, that is to say, in 332 A.H., under
the Khalifat of Abu Ishak Ibrahim el-Mottaki Lilian
its pillars give way, and its foundations are sinking.
God isthe helper in human affairs.
There are many curious accounts connected
with Bab el-Abwab, and the various fabrics which
have been raised by Kisra Ben Kobad Ben Fairuz,
that is to say*, Kisra Anusharwan: as the town
of stone 2,lilXijjco near a place called el-Masit

* The MS. " Who was the father of Anu-

of Ley den reads,
"
sharwan." If this reading is adopted, the word " Ben before
" "
Kobad is to be left out. This alteration, however, is not con-

firmed by any MS.

 AND MINES OF GEMS. 461

(kjuJU)- The wall which he raised in the

country of Sharwan and which is called the wall of

clay, and the wall of stone which

has the name el-

Bermeki u *
riJ!;
other accounts refer to the coun-

try of Berda'ah Xc<^j. We

will not enter into fur-

ther details, having spoken on this subject in our

former works.
The river el-Koru ^\
(jjfy (Korr or Cyrus)
rises in the country of Khazaran in the kingdom of

Jerir jjj^ ;
it takes course through the country
its

of Abkhaz* to the province of Tiflis, which forms

the Moslim frontier ;
in the middle of this province

it is divided and runs to the Solawerdians Xj^LJI,

(XjJ^UJJ
or XjjjUJ!) (Shulawerdi) who are a
brave and strange nation of Armenian origin,
as we have said. From these the hatchets called

Xj^ *U*J1 (we) i^UL, have their name ;

which
\f&>
are in use with the Siabihah X^L**]! (Xx^UiJ!)

and other Barbarian corps This river,

p^U^ JJ^..

which has the name el-Korr^Xl!, passes through Bar-

daj TT^JJ a place of the province of Berda'ah, and

a few miles distant from this capital ; then it receives

near es-Sinarah iT,l,Ldt (sJlyaJJ) the river es-Ras

u*y (ur^l^)> which runs near Trebizond. And

after these two rivers are united, they fall into the

sea of the Khazar.

* The MSS. read and ,^\A\.

. .Ur*\
462 EL-MAS'uDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD,

The river er-Ras comes from the dominions of

Babek el-Khorrami ^j^ joL, which are called the

country of Badin ^jjXf, and belong to Aderbijan,

and from a mount, which has the name of Jebel
Abi Miisa, in el-Gharat* ci^U!i: on this moun-
tain live several nations, belonging to er-Ran, in
Armenia. It passes the town Warthan ^lij^
and it comes to the place where it falls
(^ydjj),
into the Korr, near the village called Sinarah, as
we have said.

The river Isfedrtid j^JujU, which means the

White River, by the way of the transposition of the
words, according to the genius of each of the two
languages, the Persian and the Arabicf, passes
through the country of ed-Dailem, and washes the
castlewhich has the name Kal'ah of Salar ^^U-
(&*)) which is the name of Ibn Aswar the Dai-
lemite
^JbAJJ j\y*\ (jj^^ wno *s one f the kings of
ed-Dailem, who has at present [that is to say, in
the date when we write this book] rendered himself

* Some copies read er-Ran.

-j-

"
literally,According to the putting before and behind between
the two languages, namely, the Persian and the Arabic." That
is to say, the Persians put the adjective before the substantive,
and say the white river ; whilst the Arabs observe the reverse
order, saying the river the white.
 AND MINES OF GEMS. 463

master of Aderbijan. Then this river takes its

course from ed-Dailem to el-Jil J/Jj [from Jil is

derived Jilan j,3U>], and there it receives another

river from the country of ed-Dailem, which is called

Shahanrud ^5ll (^.j^jfcLi) ,

that is to say, the

King of Rivers : it is so called on account of the

purity, white colour, limpidness, and abundance of
its waters. These two united rivers fall into the
sea of the Dai'lem, the Khazar, and other nations
who live on its coasts. The majority
of the popu-
lation on the banks of these rivers form the Dailem

and the Jil, who have conquered and subjected a

great part of the country.
Having given an account of the Caucasus, the
nations who live on it, and round it, of Bab el-

Abwab, and the Khazar, we will proceed to speak

of the kings of the Assyrians, who are considered
as the first monarchs in astronomical tables (observa-

tions) and chronology ;

then follow the kings of
el-Mausil and of Ninive ;
then the kings of Babel,,
who are the cultivators of the earth, who have dug
canals, planted trees, converted waste lands into
fields, and made roads. These are followed by the
first series of Persian kings, who are the Jahan

w llj^ (..jljfclJ^), which means Lords, down to

Feridun : then follow the Askan ^IsCJ, the last of

whom was Dara Ben Dara, which is the same as
Darius: the are the Soki'm
 EL-MAS UDl's MEADOWS OF GOLD.
J
464

(Kaianians). After them follow the kings of the

Satrapies, who are the Ashghan ^UliSM.

Then
comes the second series of Persian (kings), that is

to say, the Sasanians : then the Greeks : then

follows the Roman empire. We shall add the
kings of the Arabs (or Maghrib) who followed
them. We shall also give an historical account of
the Sudan, of Egypt, Alexandria, and of other places
of the earth, if it is the will of God for there is no ;

strength but in God.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

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&
 RETURN TO the circulation desk of any

University of California Library

or to the

NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station
University of California
Richmond, CA 94804-4698

ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS

2-month loans may be renewed by calling
(415)642-6233
1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books
to NRLF
Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days
prior to due date

DUE AS STAMPED BELOW

U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES