The History, Poetry, and Genealogy of the Yemen: The Akhbar of Abid b. Sharya Al-Jurhumi 9781463235673

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The History, Poetry, and Genealogy of the Yemen

Gorgias Islamic Studies

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Gorgias Islamic Studies spans a wide range of subject areas, seeking to understand Islam as a complete cultural and religious unity. This series draws together political, socio-cultural, textual, and historical approaches from across disciplines. Containing monographs, edited collections of essays, and primary source texts in translation, this series seeks to present a comprehensive, critical, and constructive picture of this centuries- and continent-spanning religion.

The History, Poetry, and Genealogy of the Yemen

The Akhbar of Abid b. Sharya Al-Jurhumi

Elise W. Crosby

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34 2013

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright © 2013 by Gorgias Press LLC

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. 2013

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ISBN 978-1-59333-394-2 Second Printing

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A Cataloging-in-Publication record is available from the Library of Congress. Printed in the United States of America

TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments Abbreviations

vii ix Part I: Introduction

1 2 3 4 5

The AkhbĆr al-Yaman ȧAbĩd b. Sharya and His AkhbĆr The Contents of AkhbĆr The Poems Authenticity and Dating The Manuscripts and Editions of AkhbĆr

1 5 15 45 51 61

Part II: The Complete & Perfect History of ȧAbĩd b. Sharya al-Jurhumĩ on the History, Poetry, and Genealogy of the Yemen

6 7 8 9

Remarks on the Preparation of the Translation The Introduction of AkhbĆr and the Cycle of the Dispersion of SĆm’s Descendants The Story of the Destruction of the ȧąd The Story of the Last ȧąd The Story of the Thamşd

67 69 87 137 141

Part III: Comparative Register of Poems

10 11

Introduction Poems Occurring in AkhbĆr and TĩjĆn Poems of Well-Known Poets Quoted in AkhbĆr

177 179 191

Part IV: The Arabic Text of ȧAbĩd’s AkhbÂr

Pages 311–496 of the Hyderabad edition

203

Bibliography Index of References

385 393

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In 1980, the late Professor Franz Rosenthal of Yale University first suggested to me the topic of ȧAbĩd’s History, Poetry, and Genealogy of the Yemen. I acknowledge my indebtedness for his comments, advice, and instruction during the preparation of this translation and express my gratitude to him for everything he has taught me. I also owe thanks to my teachers and the readers of my dissertation at Yale, Professor Dimitri Gutas and the late Professor Marvin Pope. As well, I also gratefully acknowledge the education and inspiration from all my teachers and colleagues at the following institutions: Stanford University; the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA; the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literatures at Yale University; the American Institute of Yemeni Studies, which supported my research in the Yemen Arab Republic 1980–1982; and the Fulbright Scholarship Committee. Among the other scholars who generously gave time and attention to this translation, and whom I acknowledge, are Qadi Ismaȧil al-Akwaȧ, Professor Yusuf ȧAbd Allah, Professor Ibrahim al-Silawi, and Father Albert Jamme. I also thank Mr. Peter T. Daniels for his incisive editing and high professional standards. Of course, any errors of interpretation, fact, or translation remain entirely my own. Finally, I thank Taylor, Benjamin, Isabel, and Louisa for their support, love, and encouragement through the years. Elise Werner Crosby

vii

ABBREVIATIONS Full references for the works listed here are given in the Bibliography. AkhbĆr B Bad’ BuldĆn EI2 ESA GAL GAS Iklĩl Jamhara KĆmil MaȧĆrif Muȧammarĩn Mulşk MuntakhabĆt Murşj Nashwa Qur’ćn ʝab., Tafsĩr Ta’rĩkh Tanbĩh TĩjĆn

ȧAbĩd b. Sharya al-Jurhumĩ, AkhbĆr al Yaman … British Library ms. Or. 2901 (see Rieu, Supplementary Catalogue …, 365) al-Maqdisi, KitĆb al-bad’ wa-’t-ta’rĩkh YĆqşt, Mu’jam al-buldĆn Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition Epigraphic South Arabian Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur Sezgin, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums al-HamdĆnĩ, al-Iklĩl al-Qurashĩ, Jamharat ashȧĆr al-ȧarab Ibn al-Athĩr, al-KĆmil fĩ t-ta’rĩkh Ibn Qutayba, KitĆb al maȧĆrif Abş ʗĆtim as-SijistĆnĩ, KitĆb al-muȧammarĩn NashwĆn al-ʗimyarĩ, Mulşk ʙimyar wa-aqyĆl alYaman NashwĆn al-ʗimyarĩ, MuntakhabĆt fĩ akhbĆr alYaman … al-Masȧşdĩ, Murşj adh-Dhahab wa-maȧĆdin al-jawhar Ibn Saȧĩd al-Maghribĩ, “Die Geschichte der ‘Reinen Araber’ …” citations after Arberry, Koran Interpreted aʜ-ʝabarĩ, Tafsĩr al-Qur’Ćn aʜ-ʝabarĩ, Ta’rĩkh ar-rusul wa-’l-mulşk al-Masȧşdĩ, KitĆb at-tanbĩh wa-’l-ishrĆf Ibn HishĆm, KitĆb at-tĩjĆn

ix

PART I:

INTRODUCTION

THE AKHBĆR AL-YAMAN The AkhbĆr al-Yaman or, to give it its full title, AkhbĆr al-Yaman wa-ashȧĆruhĆ wa-ansĆbuhĆ [The history, poetry, and genealogy of the Yemen] (hereinafter AkhbĆr), is a work on the pre-Islamic history of Southern Arabia. It is attributed to ȧAbĩd b. Sharya al-Jurhumĩ, who reportedly lived in the seventh century A.D. We are told that ȧAbĩd was an expert on South Arabian matters, and that MuȧĆwiya I summoned him to the Umayyad court on the suggestion of ȧAmr b. al- ȧąʛ, who considered ȧAbĩd to be “the most knowledgeable of those still alive … concerning the tales and the genealogies of the Arabs and the one best qualified to describe the vicissitudes of fortune that have occurred.” 1 The basis of this study is the text which purports to preserve ȧAbĩd’s presentation to MuȧĆwiya. It was published in 1928 in Hyderabad, together with Ibn HishĆm’s KitĆb at-TĩjĆn (hereafter referred to as TĩjĆn). AkhbĆr claims to be. a record of nightly conversations between ȧAbĩd b. Sharya and MuȧĆwiya. On these occasions, ȧAbĩd related to MuȧĆwiya the pre-Islamic history of the Arabs on the Arabian Peninsula, and everything about that subject the caliph wished to know. Islamic scholars have debated both the author and his work. Modern scholars question ȧAbĩd’s existence as well as the attribution of AkhbĆr to him. Fritz Krenkow, in particular, the editor of TĩjĆn and AkhbĆr, cast doubt on ȧAbĩd’s existence, his authorship of the work, and the historical validity of the material in AkhbĆr, which he dismissed as merely “Arabic folklore.” 2 AkhbĆr is couched in the form of stories intended to entertain the caliph and inform him about one of his great interests, the events and men of the JĆhiliyya. The lengthy dialogue between MuȧĆwiya and ȧAbĩd records 1 AkhbĆr, 312.8–11. References to AkhbĆr are by page and line of the printed edition, reproduced on pp. 203–388 below; references to the translation are by page numbers in this volume. 2 Fritz Krenkow, “The Two Oldest Books on Arabic Folklore,” 236. 1

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

ȧAbĩd’s narration of six major sagas, embroidered by many poems which enliven his account and are meant to boost their credibility. MuȧĆwiya’s secretaries presumably wrote down the conversations, which were edited later by an unknown editor or editors. Some material which is obviously of a later date also entered the text. The exact chain of AkhbĆr’s transmission from the Umayyad court to its last transmitter, Ibn HishĆm’s student Abş ȧAbd AllĆh al-Barqĩ (d. 249/863), is not clear. No isnĆd is indicated at the beginning of the work. 3 The earliest preserved manuscripts date from as late as the eleventh/seventeenth century. 4 The history of the text is therefore uncertain from the time of its oral presentation to the date of al-Barqĩ’s transmission and its appearance more than nine centuries later in manuscripts. With respect to persons and events, the text contains many anachronistic references. Such references, for example, include allusions to a Mahdĩ figure and to the Tubbaȧ kings as heralding the coming of Muʘammad. In MuȧĆwiya’s presence, ȧAbĩd is dubiously recorded using Shĩȧite formulae. Allusions to distant peoples little known in ȧAbĩd’s and MuȧĆwiya’s time 5 also cast suspicions on the dating and authenticity of the text as it is preserved. ȧAbĩd might easily be considered nothing more than a name and a figment of the imagination, so little concrete information do we have about his life and writing. Islamic sources from the centuries after his presumed time of death during the caliphate of ȧAbd al-Malik b. MarwĆn (65/685 – 86/705) mention only his name and a few biographical data and give neither his birth nor his genealogy. 6 ȧAbĩd does not introduce himself in the text. It only records that he was in ar-Raqqa when MuȧĆwiya summoned him. 7 Ibn an-Nadĩm reports, however, that MuȧĆwiya summoned ȧAbĩd from ʙanȧĆ’ in the Yemen. Islamic authors do not usually attribute titles of specific works to ȧAbĩd. They describe him as a sage versed in South Arabian matters, genealogy, and general events of the JĆhiliyya. They refer to his “Book” as extant and in circulation. Ibn an-Nadĩm specifically refers to a KitĆb al-amthĆl and a 3

See n. 1 to chap. 6 on AkhbĆr, 312.4, p. 69 below, and chap. 4 below, p. 51, for a discussion of al-Barqĩ and his role in the transmission of the text. 4 The British Library manuscript is dated 1031/1622. The Hyderabad manuscript is dated 1034/1625. See chap. 5 below, pp. 61f. 5 See chap. 4 below, pp. 53–58. 6 See chap. 1 below pp. 5f., and especially Ibn an-Nadĩm, al-Fihrist, 89. 7 AkhbĆr, 312.9, trans., 70.

INTRODUCTION

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KitĆb al-mulşk wa-akhbĆr al-mĆʘĪn, but not to any title corresponding exactly to the one in the preserved manuscripts. ȧAbĩd’s work treats six sagas or cycles. Their subject matter by and large lacks outside confirmation. Except for the South Arabian inscriptions, a limited number of North Arabian pre-Islamic inscriptions, the poems of pre-Islamic poets, and the allusions of the Qur’Ćn, we have little information on pre-Islamic Arabia relevant to the events ȧAbĩd describes. Apart from Jewish and Christian religious literature, sources originating outside Arabia provide only negligible information. The detailed accounts of the subjects ȧAbĩd presents to MuȧĆwiya first become available for us in AkhbĆr. Nothing but their names is known about the several ancient transmitters Ibn anNadĩm lists as ȧAbĩd’s sources. Internal evidence in AkhbĆr clearly reveals Qur’Ćnic and Biblical bases for the work. Further points of departure for determining how ȧAbĩd’s work took shape are references scattered in preIslamic poetry and Epigraphic South Arabian (ESA).

1 ȨABĩD B. SHARYA AND HIS AKHBĆR Bibliographical information about ȧAbĩd is scant. Even the correct vocalization of his name is uncertain. The Islamic sources disagree as to whether his name was ȧAbĩd or ȧUbayd. The British Library manuscript, dated 1031/1622, gives ȧUbayd b. Sharya. 1 Ibn KhallikĆn, however, specifically vocalizes ȧAbĩd b. Sharya, 2 though he does not indicate how he knows that the name is ȧAbĩd rather than ȧUbayd. In the Yemen nowadays, the common pronunciation of this name is ȧUbayd. Nonetheless, the contemporary historian QĆʡĪ Muʘammad al-Akwaȧ of ʙanȧĆ’, editor of volumes 1 and 2 of al-HamdĆnĩ’s al-Iklĩl, 3 follows Ibn KhallikĆn’s reading. The form Sharya, which is often not given properly, is confirmed by a verse in ʞawĩl meter by al-HamdĆnĩ in the first volume of al-Iklĩl. 4 The meaning of sharya is a colocynth, a palm tree, a mountain lote tree from which bows are made, or a creeping plant such as a melon or cucumber. Sharya is the nomen unitatis of sharyĆn, shiryĆn, or shary. Ibn Durayd 5 gives Sharya as a proper name meaning colocynth. ȧAbĩd’s nisba al-Jurhumĩ 6 refers to the Jurhumite tribe that migrated to Mecca and settled around the Kaȧba in pre-Islamic times. Though his tribal affiliation seems generally acknowledged, ȧAbĩd’s origin and residence are not known. The only biographical information AkhbĆr supplies is that ȧAbĩd was the last of the Jurhumites, 7 and, as noted above, that he was in arRaqqa on the Euphrates when MuȧĆwiya summoned him. A tradition in TĩjĆn records ȧAbĩd as saying, “… a Yemenĩ shaykh in ʙanȧĆ’ told us in the year of the ridda …” a story about a man from the ȧąd al-Aʛghar. 8 YĆqşt ȧUbayd b. Sharya appears on folio 111a of the ms. See Charles Rieu, Supplementary Catalogue to the Arabic Manuscripts of the British Museum, 365 no. 578, Or. Ms. 2901. 2 Ibn KhallikĆn, WafayĆt al-aȧyĆn wa-anbĆ’ abnĆ’ az-zamĆn, 4.420. 3 Cairo, 1383/1963, and Cairo, 1386/1966. 4 Iklĩl, 1.6. 5 KitĆb al-IshtiqĆq, 328. 6 See W. Montgomery Watt, EI2, 2:603, s.v. “Djurhum.” 7 AkhbĆr, 313.13, trans., 71. 8 Ibn HishĆm, KitĆb at-tĩjĆn, 66.2. 5 1

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

quotes Ibn ȧAsĆkir as saying that MuȧĆwiya met ȧAbĩd at al-ʗĩra in Iraq. 9 QĆʡĪ Muʘammad al-Akwaȧ states that Raʘba, on the ʙanȧĆ’ plain, may have been ȧAbĩd’s residence, 10 but written tradition does not substantiate this. These traditions suggest that ȧAbĩd’s origin was in the Yemen, and that he lived there until, for unknown reasons, he traveled north to Syria. ȧAbĩd’s fate after his sojourn at MuȧĆwiya’s court is unknown. No reference exists to the precise year or place of his death. He is credited with a very long life. The fancy of some later scholars attributes to him a life span of 220, 240, and even 300 years. ȧAbĩd’s own claim when asked his age by MuȧĆwiya of 150 years is likewise not credible. 11 Nevertheless, Abş ʗĆtim as-SijistĆnĩ included ȧAbĩd in the list of muȧammarĩn, indicating wide acceptance of the tradition that he lived a long time. 12 We have no clear information about ȧAbĩd’s birth. In TĩjĆn, Ibn HishĆm states that he was alive when the war of DĆʘis took place in Central-Arabia (ca. A.D. 575–595). 13 In AkhbĆr, ȧAbĩd states that he heard “a ʗimyarite before IslĆm” report a tradition about Tubbaȧ al-Aqran. 14 Ibn anNadĩm reports that ȧAbĩd was alive during the Prophet’s lifetime, but that he never heard him make a statement (ʚadĩth). ȧAbĩd was probably born around the end of the sixth century or the beginning of the seventh in the Yemen, where he spent most of his life. He traveled north and visited the court at Damascus before 42/663, the year of the death of ȧAmr b. al-ȧąʛ, who had suggested his attendance to MuȧĆwiya. Because Ibn an-Nadĩm reports that ȧAbĩd died after MuȧĆwiya during the reign of ȧAbd al-Malik b. MarwĆn, these dates suggest that he lived fewer than one hundred years, a likely life span. Another fragment concerning ȧAbĩd’s identity comes from Krenkow’s suggestion, adopted by Sezgin, 15 that ȧAbĩd was a rĆwĩ of the poet al-AȧshĆ (ca. A.D. 570–625), who transmitted poems of ʝarafa (fl. later 6th century). Ibn al-AnbĆrĩ’s Sharʚ muȧallaqat ʝarafa lists an isnĆd which Ibn al-AnbĆrĩ uses to begin a report on a tradition about al-Mutalammis and ʝarafa. It reads in YĆqşt, IrshĆd al-arĩb ilĆ maȧrifat al-adĩb, 5.10. QaʡĪ al-Akwaȧ mentioned this tradition to me in ʙanȧĆ’ in 1981. I have not found it documented by any other source. 11 AkhbĆr, 313.13, trans., 71. 12 Abş ʗĆtim as-SijistĆnĩ, KitĆb al-muȧammarĩn, 40ff. 13 TĩjĆn, 209.17. 14 AkhbĆr, 435.10–11. 15 Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums (GAS), 1:260, 2:117, 131, although, as the index of vol. 2:766 seems to indicate, Sezgin had some reservations about the identification. 9

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ȧABĨD B. SHARYA AND HIS AKHBąR

7

part: ʚaddathanĩ (SimĆk b. ʗarb) ȧUbaydun riwĆyata ’l-AȧshĆ qĆla ʚaddathanĩ ’lAȧshĆ …. 16 Only the ism for ȧAbĩd/ȧUbayd is given. The conclusion that this person was ȧAbĩd b. Sharya al-Jurhumĩ is highly conjectural as based solely on the name ȧUbayd in this isnĆd. Though Ibn al-AnbĆrĩ’s statement is not sufficient proof, it is possible that ȧAbĩd and al-AȧshĆ had a professional association. YĆqşt locates ȧAbĩd at al-ʗĩra, where al-AȧshĆ lived. Al-AȧshĆ died around 625, when ȧAbĩd was a young man, and ȧAbĩd thrice quotes verses from al-AȧshĆ’s DĩwĆn in AkhbĆr. 17 Of course, none of this definitely proves their association. Sezgin (GAS, 1:260, no. 3) gives the impression that ȧAbĩd was quoted by Wahb b. Munabbih in his KitĆb al-mulşk (GAS, 1:306, no. 1), in the tradition preserved by Ibn HishĆm in TĩjĆn, 65ff. There, qĆla Wahb, line 21, is probably meant to indicate the end of the previous paragraph and is not a quotation by Wahb of a tradition from ȧAbĩd. It is tempting to draw a connection between ȧAbĩd and Wahb based on their Yemenĩ backgrounds. Both of them came from the Yemen. Wahb was born in 34/654 in DhamĆr, south of ʙanȧĆ’, and died ca. 110/728. Therefore, Wahb reached maturity near the end of ȧAbĩd’s life. Raif Khoury 18 reports the tradition from ath-Thaȧlabĩ that Wahb visited Damascus before the death of MuȧĆwiya (d. 60/680). In that case, this event would have occurred before Wahb was thirty years old. If Wahb really did visit MuȧĆwiya’s court, he might have come in contact with ȧAbĩd or have learned about his traditions; but surely then Wahb would have attributed this tradition in TĩjĆn directly to him or would have cited ȧAbĩd as his authority elsewhere. In fact, ȧAbĩd’s two traditions in TĩjĆn (66.2, 209.17) are not given on Wahb’s authority. No real evidence exists which allows us to associate Wahb directly with the transmission of traditions from ȧAbĩd or from AkhbĆr. Ibn al-AnbĆrĩ, Sharʚ muȧallaqat ʝarafa, 1. For SimĆk b. ʗarb, see Ibn ʗajar, Tahdhĩb at-tahdhĩb, 4.232. SimĆk reportedly died in 123/740–1. His authorities ȧAbd AllĆh az-Zubayr and ȧIkrima flourished in the 7th century, and therefore it might be possible that SimĆk was also a rĆwĩ of ȧAbĩd, although Ibn ʗajar does not mention him. 17 AkhbĆr, 354, 355, trans. 132f., and 367, but ȧAbĩd attributes the poem on p. 355 to Asad b. Rabĩȧa al-KilĆbĩ, whom I have not been able to identify. The poem, however, belongs to al-AȧshĆ. See chap. 11 §7, p. 193. ȧAbĩd’s misattribution of the poem and the plethora of variants to the text of the DĩwĆn indicate that, assuming that this misattribution was his and not a mistake in transmission or a scribal error, he probably was not a rĆwĩ of al-AȧshĆ. A rĆwĩ of a famous poet would not knowingly attribute a poem of his master to a lesser poet. 18 Raif Khoury, Wahb b. Munabbih, 287. 16

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

During the century following his death, ȧAbĩd was known by name to Muslim transmitters and scholars. Ibn HishĆm 19 reports a tradition, on the authority of Makʘşl ad-Dimashqĩ (d. ca. 112/730), from Abş ʙćliʘ DhakwĆn as-SammĆn al-Madanĩ (d. 101/719), who mentions ȧAbĩd’s report on the sixth-century Meccan ȧAbd AllĆh b. JudȧĆn. Also in TĩjĆn, ȧAbĩd’s report on the ȧąd al-Aʛghar is preserved by Ibn HishĆm in the long tradition Ibn IsʘĆq (d. 150/767) received indirectly from ȧAbĩd. 20 Muʘammad b. as-SĆ’ib al-Kalbĩ (d. 146/763) also knows about ȧAbĩd. According to Ibn ʗajar, 21 al-Kalbĩ reports that ȧAbĩd lived 240 or 300 years, and that he was a Muslim. He then gives the account of ȧAbĩd informing MuȧĆwiya about the strange event at a funeral during the JĆhiliyya (see the following paragraph). Many later scholars refer to him and his works. Abş ʗĆtim asSijistĆnĩ 22 (d. 255/809) lists ȧAbĩd as one of the muȧammarĩn, and as an aged sage of 300 or 220 years who came to MuȧĆwiya’s court to answer the caliph’s questions. MuȧĆwiya asked him about the best kind of wealth, gold and silver, and about what we would call the secret of his longevity, that is, how he stood up and how he sat down, what were his eating, drinking, and sleeping habits, and related matters. At the caliph’s request, ȧAbĩd also described the strangest event he had observed during the JĆhiliyya: He once passed by the funeral procession of ʗurayth b. Jabala of the Banş ȧUdhra, without knowing the deceased personally. ȧAbĩd recited a poem. When he finished, a mourner told him that the poem’s original author was the dead man, who had described in it a stranger weeping at the bier, thus foretelling ȧAbĩd’s role at the funeral. Al-JĆhiz. 23 (d. 255/869) speaks of ȧAbĩd as a genealogist, transmitter, and scholar of the JĆhiliyya. He also calls him a sage and orator. He recognizes ȧAbĩd as an authority on the Arabian past, yet he does not refrain from mentioning KhĆlid b. Yazĩd’s opinion that ȧAbĩd knew only the exterior aspect of history.

19 See n. 13 above. This same tradition also occurs in Iklĩl, 8.161. See GAS, 1:404, for Makʘşl; and Ibn ʗajar, Tahdhĩb, 3.219, for Abş ʙćliʘ DhakwĆn asSammĆn. 20 See n. 8 above. 21 Ibn ʗajar, al-Iʜćba fĩ tamyĩz aʜ-ʜaʚĆba, 5.115. 22 Muȧammarĩn, 40ff. 23 al-JĆʘiz, ȧAmr b. Baʘr: al-BayĆn wa-’t-tabyĩn, 1.361, and KitĆb al-bukhalĆ’, 67. .

ȧABĨD B. SHARYA AND HIS AKHBąR

9

Ibn Qutayba 24 describes ȧAbĩd as MuȧĆwiya’s conversational partner and reports the strange story of ȧAbĩd’s recital of ʗurayth b. Jabala’s poem at his funeral. He also credits ȧAbĩd with the tale of LuqmĆn and the seven vultures, observing that it is neither found in a revealed book nor reported by other authorities. He states that ȧAbĩd is the first to elaborate LuqmĆn’s tale. Al-HamdĆnĩ 25 (d. 334/945) often cites ȧAbĩd (Ibn Sharya) in his works as an authority for traditions. He reports in a tradition preserved by Ibn ʗajar 26 that because ȧAbĩd’s work passed through a constant process of additions and deletions, no two manuscripts of it contained identical texts. Al-HamdĆnĩ reports traditions from ȧAbĩd on the ʗimyar and the Jurhum in every extant volume of al-Iklĩl, except the tenth. These traditions also appear in al-HamdĆnĩ’s Südarabisches mushtabih. Al-Masȧşdĩ 27 (d. 345/956) refers to ȧAbĩd as an authority on past civilizations and the history of the ʗimyar and the KahlĆn. He quotes ȧAbĩd extensively on the chronology of the ʗimyarite kings in the Yemen and the tales of the ʝasm and Jadĩs. Al-Masȧşdĩ describes ȧAbĩd as MuȧĆwiya’s informant on the persons, events, and genealogies of ancient times. He says that ȧAbĩd’s work was well known and in the public domain but adds that some scholars held a low opinion of it, considering that it had been conceived as entertainment for a ruler. Though al-Masȧşdĩ questions the veracity of ȧAbĩd’s reports, he obviously believes that he was a historical personality. He lends credence to his traditions on the ʗimyarite kings as well as the ʝasm and Jadĩs by including exerpts from them in his own writing. Ibn an-Nadĩm 28 (d. 385/995) is, to our knowledge, the first to detail ȧAbĩd’s biography. He indicates ȧAbĩd’s authorities al-Kayyis an-Namarĩ, Zayd b. al-Kayyis an-Namarĩ, al-Lusayn al-Jurhumĩ, and ȧAbd Wadd alJurhumĩ. Sezgin 29 lists Zaid b. al-Kaiyis an-Namarĩ as an early transmitter who wrote a book on genealogy. Al-HamdĆnĩ 30 quotes a poem which mentions his father, al-Kayyis, the genealogist of an-Namr. Both al-Lusayn and ȧAbd Wadd were fellow Jurhumites, but I have not been able to identify any Ibn Qutayba, ȧUyşn al-akhbĆr, 2.305, and KitĆb mukhtalif al-ʚadĩth, 313. See n. 4 above; also Iklĩl, 8, trans., 18, trans. and 19; Iklĩl, 2.47, 410; and Südarabisches mushtabih, 16. 26 See n. 21 above. 27 al-Masȧşdĩ, KitĆb at-tanbĩh wa-’l-ishrĆf, 82; al-Masȧşdĩ, Murşj adh-dhahab wamaȧĆdin al-jawhar, 2.208, 264, trans., 2.392, 434. 28 Ibn an-Nadĩm, al-Fihrist, trans., 1.194trans. . 29 GAS, 1:263. 30 Iklĩl, 1.6. In the meter ʞawĩl, the form occurs as an-Namrĩ. 24 25

10

HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

of them further. As we have seen above, Ibn an-Nadĩm attributes two books to ȧAbĩd: KitĆb al-amthĆl [The book of proverbs], and KitĆb al-mulşk wa-akhbĆr al-mĆʘĪn [The book of kings and the history of men of the past], neither of them preserved. The second title could possibly refer to AkhbĆr, but this is quite uncertain. Abş ȧUbayd al-Bakrĩ 31 (d. 487/1094) quotes proverbs, and explanations of proverbs, on ȧAbĩd’s authority. He does not attribute a special amthĆl book to him. The quoted proverbs were no doubt derived from the work to which Ibn an-Nadĩm refers. NashwĆn al-ʗimyarĩ 32 (d. 573/1117) in Mulşk ʙimyar wa-aqyĆl alYaman quotes extensive passages of AkhbĆr almost verbatim. The passages concern the sagas of the ȧąd, Thamşd, ʝasm and Jadĩs, and the ʗimyarite kings. They contain both prose and poetry and are introduced by qĆla ȧAbĩd fĩ kitĆbihi. In his MuntakhabĆt fĩ akhbĆr al-Yaman, 33 NashwĆn reports ȧAbĩd’s quotation of a verse from Tubbaȧ Asȧad Abş Karib. Al-MaydĆnĩ 34 (d. 518/1124) cites ȧAbĩd b. Sharya’s collection of proverbs as a basis for his own Majmaȧ al-AmthĆl. He does not specifically mention its title. Al-MaydĆnĩ’s reference shows that ȧAbĩd’s collection was in circulation as late as the sixth/twelfth century, more than a century after Ibn an-Nadĩm first noted it. YĆqşt 35 (d. 626/1229) lists ȧAbĩd b. Sharya in his IrshĆd al-Arĩb, giving alternate forms for Sharya, such as Sariyya and SĆriya. He also recounts the information contained in Abş ʗĆtim as-SijistĆnĩ’s KitĆb al-Muȧammarĩn about MuȧĆwiya’s questions to ȧAbĩd and the story of the funeral procession. Ibn KhallikĆn 36 (d. 681/1282) reports that ȧAbĩd was credited with a life 300 years long. More significantly, he indicates what he considers the correct vocalizations of ȧAbĩd and Sharya, an a vowel in the first syllable of ȧAbĩd and vowellessness of the r of Sharya. Ibn ʗajar 37 (d. 852/1449) has ȧAbĩd’s name as ȧUbayd, a vocalization his editor presumably derived from indications in the manuscripts. He specifically vocalizes Shariyya, on the pattern of the name ȧAʜiyya. Concerning Abş ȧUbayd al-Bakrĩ, Faʜl al-maqĆl, passim. NashwĆn, Mulşk ʙimyar wa-aqyĆl al-Yaman, passim, esp. p. 143 for the reference to “his [ȧAbĩd’s] book.” 33 NashwĆn, MuntakhabĆt, 103, and AkhbĆr, 404.6. 34 al-MaydĆnĩ, Majmaȧ al-amthĆl, 1.6. 35 YĆqşt, IrshĆd al-arĩb, 5.10ff. Ta’rĩkh Dimashq by Ibn ȧAsĆkir, referred to by Franz Rosenthal, EI2, 3:937, s.v. “Ibn Sharya,” is not available. 36 Ibn KhallikĆn, WafayĆt al-aȧyĆn, 4.417, 420. 37 Ibn ʗajar, Iʜćba, 5.115. 31 32

ȧABĨD B. SHARYA AND HIS AKHBąR

11

ȧAbĩd’s life, Ibn ʗajar reports the traditions mentioned above from Muʘammad Ibn al-Kalbĩ and al-HamdĆnĩ and recognizes him as one of the muȧammarĩn. He also records a tradition that his name is ȧUmayr, adding, however, that this may be a corruption of ȧUbayd. Modern bibliographers identify several works attributed to ȧAbĩd, as well as manuscripts of the extant works. Brockelmann 38 lists the extant AkhbĆr and the non-extant KitĆb al-mulşk wa-akhbĆr al-mĆʘĪn as known from Ibn an-Nadĩm. He states that AkhbĆr is found together with TĩjĆn in a ʙanȧĆ’ manuscript, copies of which are preserved in Hyderabad’s ąʛafĩya mosque, the Berlin Library, and the British Library. The contents of these manuscripts and the Hyderabad edition based on them is examined in chapter 5 below. Sezgin 39 lists AkhbĆr as extant in the British Library manuscript and refers to the non-extant KitĆb al-amthĆl. He refers to TĩjĆn as containing historical quotations from ȧAbĩd through Wahb b. Munabbih(?) and Ibn IsʘĆq. As far as Wahb is concerned, this may not be correct. Other modern scholars have recognized ȧAbĩd’s importance. Von Kremer 40 was the first to appreciate ȧAbĩd as an author. He describes him as a transmitter of folklore whose material on the ancient history of the Yemen must not be ignored. In ȧAbĩd’s work he sees a historical romance that has preserved the names of historical kings and reflects, more or less correctly, actual events transformed into literature. Goldziher 41 recognizes ȧAbĩd as a South Arabian scholar whose work was already widely known among Islamic writers during the first three centuries of Islam. He classifies ȧAbĩd’s writings as historical, or as belonging to the awĆ’il literature, but specifically not part of Islamic religious literature. Dating to the first century of Islam, ȧAbĩd was among the first to transmit traditions that record the earliest events of Arab history. Sellheim 42 concerns himself with ȧAbĩd’s KitĆb al-amthĆl, which he places in the classic genre of proverb collections already popular in Umayyad times. Later authors who wrote books on proverbs, such as Abş ȧUbayd al-Bakrĩ and al-MaydĆnĩ, list ȧAbĩd as a source. ȧAbĩd’s collection, were it preserved, would no doubt turn out to be a compendium of wisdom

38

Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur (GAL), Supplementband, 1:100, 1a. GAS, 1:260. 40 A. von Kremer, Über die südarabische Sage, 46ff. 41 I. Goldziher, Muslim Studies, 1:169, 2:189. 42 R. Sellheim, Die klassisch-arabischen Sprichwörtersammlungen, 29, 149. 39

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

sayings of the pre-Islamic and earliest Islamic periods. It definitely was a source for the later amthĆl collections. Fritz Krenkow and Nabia Abbott started the serious debate about the historicity of ȧAbĩd b. Sharya, his credibility as an author, and the authenticity of AkhbĆr. They assume diamterically opposite positions. Krenkow, 43 who collated the manuscripts (see ch. 5 below, p. 64) for the Hyderabad edition of TĩjĆn and AkhbĆr, dismisses ȧAbĩd as a fictitious person. He reasons that he cannot have existed as a person or as an author because ȧAbĩd is not included in the biographies of the traditionists. Yet, as shown above, ȧAbĩd’s traditions in TĩjĆn were known to other transmitters in the century after his death. Krenkow believes Ibn IsʘĆq to be the author of AkhbĆr, and Ibn HishĆm to be its editor. His reasoning is as follows: Muʘammad al-Barqĩ, a student of Ibn HishĆm, was the main authority for the transmission of Ibn HishĆm’s edition of Ibn IsʘĆq’s Sĩrat Rasşl AllĆh, and he is also mentioned in the opening isnĆd of AkhbĆr as its transmitter. Therefore AkhbĆr, transmitted by al-Barqĩ, may also have been edited by Ibn HishĆm, whose interest in the subject matter of AkhbĆr is also indicated by his authorship of TĩjĆn. Krenkow also refers to Asad b. MşsĆ (d. 212/827), one of Ibn HishĆm’s shaykhs and his authority for TĩjĆn, and says that one could attribute the authorship of AkhbĆr to Asad because he was an AkhbĆri and a Yemenite and could be interested in “showing up the glories of the South Arabians,” along the example of TĩjĆn. 44 Krenkow then concludes that Ibn IsʘĆq is the real author of AkhbĆr because in its preserved form it contains five additional traditions in Ibn IsʘĆq’s name (see ch. 4 below, p. 52). Abbott 45 defends ȧAbĩd’s authorship and the authenticity of the work. She explains that though ȧAbĩd is considered a historian, he did not receive any traditions from Muʘammad, as Ibn an-Nadĩm reports, and for this reason his exclusion from the body of traditionists is not unusual. She contends that Krenkow was mistaken in crediting Ibn HishĆm with the editorship of the work because Ibn HishĆm is not once mentioned as either a transmitter or an editor of AkhbĆr. Krenkow assumed that Asad b. MşsĆ was a Yemenĩ. Abbott points out that he was not a Yemenĩ, but that he was an Umayyad and a resident of Egypt. It is therefore not necessary, or even plausible, to assume that Asad b. MşsĆ had authored AkhbĆr.

43

Fritz Krenkow, “The Two Oldest Books on Arabic Folklore,” 234–36. Ibid., 236. 45 Nabia Abbott, Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri, vol. 1: Historical Texts, 10ff. 44

ȧABĨD B. SHARYA AND HIS AKHBąR

13

Abbott also rejects Ibn IsʘĆq’s authorship of AkhbĆr. She contends that some anonymous transmitter or transmitters added material from Ibn IsʘĆq’s writings to the text of AkhbĆr. Had Ibn IsʘĆq been the author of the whole work, he would not have failed to use terminology indicating his authorship. Only once does the text read qĆla Ibn IsʚĆq. 46 The other additions read dhakara Ibn IsʚĆq, 47 indicating quotations from writings, rather than primary authorship. Thus Abbott disassociates both Ibn HishĆm and Ibn IsʘĆq from AkhbĆr. Independent of Abbott’s reasoning, additions in the text are clearly marked as such where they occur. 48 They do not pretend to be integral parts of ȧAbĩd’s narrative which they interrupt. These additions are explicitly identified as such by the statement, at the conclusion of each one, that at that point ȧAbĩd’s narrative resumes. A great gap remains nonetheless between the first-century ȧAbĩd and the third-century al-Barqĩ, unbridged by any isnĆd. Abbott suggests that Asad b. MşsĆ, shaykh of both al-Barqĩ and Ibn HishĆm, might provide the link. She speculates that Asad b. MşsĆ, a great-grandson of the Umayyad caliph al-Walĩd, may have had a copy of AkhbĆr which came to him through his association with the Umayyad family.If it was an old copy, or even the original copy, it might well have lacked indications of any oral transmission. After Asad moved to Egypt, it could eventually have fallen into the hands of his student al-Barqĩ. As the final transmitter, al-Barqĩ would give no full isnĆd because the material came to him from his teacher, and nothing more was known of its earlier history. The following stemmata indicate both Abbott’s and Krenkow’s proposals for the isnĆd of the text:

46

AkhbĆr, 382.1, trans., 156. AkhbĆr, 350.6–7, 378.5, 381.18, 394.1. 48 AkhbĆr, 350.13, 378.11, 379.6, 382.5, 394.13, trans., 126, 151, 152, 156, 173. An exception is the interpolation on the authority of ash-Shaȧbĩ about the conquest of Samarqand by Qutayba b. Muslim, 430.5ff.; at its end (line 16), there is no explicit statement to the effect that ȧAbĩd’s tale is now resumed. 47

14

HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN Abbott ȧAbĩd, author

Krenkow Ibn IsʘĆq, author (d. 150/767)

unknown transmitters

unknown transmitters

Asad b. MşsĆ (d. 212/827)

Ibn HishĆm, editor (d. 213/828)

al-Barqĩ (d. 249/863)

al-Barqĩ

Franz Rosenthal, in EI2, s.v. “Ibn Sharya,” 49 expresses skepticism about the attribution of AkhbĆr to ȧAbĩd and points to some anachronisms in the work. Rosenthal suggests that “the use of [his] figure as a historical narrator does not antedate the early third/ninth century.” Citations by historians as early as the second/eighth century to ȧAbĩd’s presence at MuȧĆwiya’s court, and their quotations of traditions attributed to him (above, p. 8) provide strong evidence that he was more than just a name. As a person, ȧAbĩd can be separated from the material preserved for us as AkhbĆr. His historical existence neither proves nor disproves AkhbĆr’s historical content. And those dubious historical accounts which occur in the text of AkhbĆr, as we have it, negate neither ȧAbĩd’s existence nor the circumstances reported for AkhbĆr’s composition. Here, I accept the historical reality of ȧAbĩd b. Sharya as the author of AkhbĆr.

49

EI2, 3:937.

2 THE CONTENTS OF AKHBĆR In its present form, AkhbĆr consists of six saga cycles: (1) A report (after a brief introduction describing ȧAbĩd’s arrival at MuȧĆwiya’s court) on the dispersion of the tribes from BĆbil, and the descendants of SĆm, ʗĆm, and YĆfith (312–25); (2) The story of the first and the last ȧƖd, and the Thamşd (325–56, 367–96); (3) The tale of LuqmĆn b. ȧąd and the seven vultures (356–67); (4) The story of SulaymĆn and Bilqĩs (411–25); (5) The saga of the ʗimyarite kings (396–411, 425–83); (6) The legend of the ʝasm and Jadĩs (483–88). Most of the first cycle and all of the second cycle are given in translation below, so the synopsis of the contents here concentrates on those cycles that are not translated. The work begins with the invocation and a reference to the role of alBarqĩ in the transmission of the work. An editor states that MuȧĆwiya was a governor for both ȧUthmĆn and ȧUmar, and he ruled by himself over all the earth for twenty years. Because of MuȧĆwiya’s great interest in the days and men of the past, ȧAmr b. al-ȧąʛ suggested that he summon ȧAbĩd from arRaqqa, as ȧAbĩd was known to be an authority on the JĆhiliyya. MuȧĆwiya sent for him, installed him at court, and instructed his secretaries to record ȧAbĩd’s presentation in writing. The first cycle begins with a description of the JĆhiliyya in the Yemen. ȧAbĩd gives MuȧĆwiya the names of the true Arabs and the arabicized Arabs and describes how the four winds dispersed the children of Nşʘ from BĆbil. He recites poems by the descendants of SĆm, beginning with Yaȧrub, the first of them to speak Arabic. Poems of ȧąd, Thamşd, Jadĩs, ȧImlĩq, ʝasm, and their descendants follow Yaȧrşb’s poem. This part is translated below, chapter 6. 15

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

After the descendants of SĆm, this cycle treats the descendants of YĆfith and ʗĆm 1 (321.9–324.11) and the prophets IbrĆhĩm, ʙaliʘ, Hşd, and the descendants of QaʘʜĆn (324.11–325.4). ȧAbĩd reports that all the races of Persia descended from YĆfith, who was also the forefather of the Turks, Slavs, Gog and Magog, Bulgars (BurjĆn), Greeks, and Spaniards (AsbĆn). The Berbers, descendants of ʗĆm, left BĆbil for Palestine.They later spread all over the earth. DĆwşd and SulaymĆn (322.1) had founded Jerusalem (al-bayt almuqaddas). SulaymĆn asked God to provide for it that upon entering the temple in Jerusalem, everyone who believed in Him should be absolved of his sins and become sinless as he was on the day of his birth. SulaymĆn was the only human being ever served by the wind, devils, demons, and birds. DĆwşd called the Berbers to God and fought them. Yşshaȧ b. Nşn battled them after DĆwşd. A ʗimyarite king, Ifrĩqĩs (322.9–10), started the process of removing the Berbers to the end of the earth. The next king, Abraha Dhş al-ManĆr, raided the land of Ifrĩqiya, named after Ifrĩqĩs. He continued the removal of the Berbers to the farthest West while their brothers, the descendants of Qibʜ b. MiʛrĆyim 2 b. ʗĆm, settled the western deserts. The Berbers claimed descent from the Qays (322.15ff.), who were descendants of SĆm. ȧAbĩd explained that this claim was false because the Berbers were descendants of ʗĆm and brothers of the Nubians. A certain Qauʜ 3 was the ancestor of the Ethiopians, who shared many traits with the Berbers (322.20–21, 323.1–13). The Berber women were more merciful than their men. Among the Berbers one could find inhumane behavior and lying. Their level-headedness was whimsical, for when they became angry, they denied their religion and became unbelievers. The men practiced treachery and witchcraft. Whether a newcomer among them was in the right or in the wrong, they would not welcome such a man if they could not tell what he wanted. They never obeyed one another. While their reputation was that of a unified people, they were in fact fragmented. Though not made to be conquerors, they nonetheless could be courageous

TĩjĆn, 25.10–26.2, briefly lists some of the children of YĆfith and ʗĆm. My translation of the first cycle stops at the story of ʗĆm and YĆfith’s children. 2 MiʛrĆyim: b. Naʛr B. Qibʜ b. ʗĆm occurs in TĩjĆn, 25.3. 3 Qauʜ: also B. ȧAbĩd does not mention him again. TĩjĆn, 25.11, says that Kaush b. ʗĆm fathered the Ethiopians. Ibn Qutayba, KitĆb al-maȧĆrif, 26, reports that Qauʜ settled India and Sind and was the forefather of the people of these lands. 1

CONTENTS OF AKHBąR

17

and patient. They made profit but forbade others from doing so; they did not lend money to others. When the Berbers were victorious in battle, they would follow their passions. Rage and argumentativeness without cause came easily to them. They followed those who disobeyed God and as a people were given to amusement and pleasure. They neither honored their elders nor had mercy on their young. The Berbers were easily misled by those who used deceptive language. They despised property, moved frequently, and rejected affection and friendship. Their men were harsh, and their women were clement. ȧAbĩd reports (323.14–18) that he had received information that the Berbers would go to war for a descendant of FĆʜima in order to accomplish his return to Mecca. He would be the master of justice (ʜćʚib al-ȧadl) at the end of time and would have companions called al-ghurabĆȧ. 4 ȧAbĩd refers to an ancient time when the (supreme) ruler on earth was FĆris b. Iram b. SĆm. At a later time, Yaȧrub ruled all the descendants of SĆm, and their descendants were the kings of every race. The king of the Copts, descendants of ʗĆm, was DĆrĆ b. DĆrĆ, who was killed by Alexander (324.3ff.). Another Coptic king, Namrşd, refused to heed the prophet IbrĆhĩm when IbrĆhĩm called him to worship God. God therefore destroyed him and his fellow disbelievers. IbrĆhĩm was 120 years old when he was circumcised (324.12ff.). He initiated the pilgrimage to the Kaȧba in Mecca, where he established his son IsmĆȧĩl and IsmĆȧĩl’s mother. Five hundred years elapsed between the prophets Hşd and ʙćliʘ, who preceded IbrĆhĩm by two hundred years. In IbrĆhĩm’s time the residents around the Kaȧba were the ȧAmĆlĩq (Amalekites) and the Jurhum. The Jurhum had settled in Mecca after leaving the Yemen, which had become too confining for them (324.17–18). The oldest among the sons of QaʘʜĆn (enumerated by ȧAbĩd) was Yaȧrub, who was the first to speak Arabic and to use the royal salutation abayta ’l-laȧna, “May you avoid malediction” (324.20–21). QaʘʜĆn had twelve other sons, whose mother came from the ȧąd (325.1–4). Each son ruled a great kingdom. The second cycle, which is translated below, chapters 7–9, covers the stories of the first and the last ȧąd (325.5–356.5, 367.19–370.3), and the Thamşd (370.4–396.11).

4

See ch. 4 below, p. 53.

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

God sent Hşd the prophet to call the bedouin ȧąd to Islam. They refused to heed his warnings, and God inflicted a punishing drought upon them which ruined their livelihood. The ȧąd dispatched a delegation of their prominent tribesmen to Mecca to beg for rain. We find the first mention of LuqmĆn b. ȧąd at this point (332.3–4). His tale constitutes the third cycle (356.5ff.), which is described below. The ȧąd delegation traveled to Mecca and lingered there in the camp of MuȧĆwiya and his father, Bakr, of the ȧAmĆliqa tribe. After a long while, their great men approached the Kaȧba asking for fulfillment of their wishes. A voice was heard to ask their leader Qayl to choose one among three clouds, variously colored white, red, and black, to obtain rain for his people. Thinking it to be full of rain, he chose the black one, but in consequence a violent wind 5 appeared that destroyed the ȧąd. Hşd and the other Muslims were saved from the raging gale by escaping to the seacoast. Abş Saȧĩd, a Muslim, and his descendants joined Hşd there. These descendants became known as the “last ȧąd” (367.19ff.). They multiplied and grew wicked. Two tribes, the Banş ȧUfayr and the Banş ȧAmr, fought among themselves because of a family quarrel. Led by their chief LuqmĆn b. ȧąd, the Banş ȧAmr won. Some time later a Thamşdĩ visited the household of Manĩȧa, an ȧądite woman who had once married among the Thamşd but had by then returned to her own family (368.19ff.). An ȧądĩ killed him. In turn, Manĩȧa’s two sons killed the murderer. Manĩȧa and her children fled to the Thamşd and sought refuge with their chief Ghanm b. ȧAmr. The ȧąd pursued and fought them because of their protection of Manĩȧa. A certain Radam aʜ-ʝasmĩ arranged a reconciliation. Later, a man from the ȧąd killed a Thamşdĩ, and war broke out again during which the Thamşd destroyed all the remaining ȧąd. This story leads to the tale of the bedouin Thamşd and their prophet ʙćliʘ (370.4ff.). The Thamşd spurned ʙĆliʘ’s warnings of the catastrophe that would befall them if they did not obey God. They dared him to produce a sign confirming his message, asking for a magnificent she-camel. 6 God produced such a sign when a huge boulder broke apart, and from it emerged a lofty she-camel. Some of the Thamşd, however, still refused to accept ʙĆliʘ and his message. They hamstrung and butchered the camel. Her calf escaped by 5 The natural phenomena of destructive drought and rainstorms, accompanied by black clouds and violent winds, are common in South Arabia. The story reflects an often-experienced situation. 6 Camels are central to bedouin life also in South Arabia.

CONTENTS OF AKHBąR

19

climbing a high peak, which was inaccessible to its pursuers. Some of the Thamşd, nine in number, who were not satisfied just with what they had done to the she-camel, and who were upset by ʙĆliʘ’s dire prediction of the punishment awaiting, conspired to kill ʙĆliʘ and his companions. He threatened that the faces of the Thamşd would turn yellow on Thursday, red on Friday, and black on Saturday. On Sunday the “shout” (ʜayʚa) 7 would come to them. The conspirators were pelted to death at ʙĆliʘ’s doorstep by angels with fiery stones. ʙĆliʘ and his companions fled to Syria. The “shout” struck the Thamşd, destroying them all except for a young girl, adh-Dharĩȧa, who fled to the people of Qurʘ. She too died after informing them about her tribe’s destruction. The third cycle 8 (356.5–367.18) treats the famous LuqmĆn b. ȧąd 9 (Qur’Ćn 31:12–13), the descendant of ȧąd b. ȧAwʛ b. Iram b. SĆm, who served as chief of the ȧąd delegation to Mecca. At the Kaȧba he prayed: “O God, Lord of the greenish-blue seas and of the earth covered with plants after the

7

The “shout” (ʜayʚa) refers to Qur’Ćn 54:31, etc. It may represent the violent earthquake (rajfa) of Qur’Ćn 7:78 which destroyed the Thamşd. A similar earthquake, reported to sound like a great roaring wind, shook the Yemen in December 1982. Its center was south of ʙanȧĆ’, and it flattened the rock houses in the DhamĆr region, killing thousands. See AkhbĆr, 388.9–10, trans., 163. 8 This story occurs in the second cycle between the stories of the first ȧąd and the last ȧąd. 9 TĩjĆn’s version of LuqmĆn’s tale, 69–78, is brief. It states that at the Kaȧba he prayed for a long life. He was given the choice of living the duration of seven dustcolored cows on a rough mountain untouched by fear, of seven date pits set on a boulder untouched by dew or rain, or of seven vultures in succession (70.9–13). He chose the vultures. TĩjĆn does not mention their names or aeries but does introduce quite a number of other elements, including that of LuqmĆn being a king of the ʗimyar who ruled after his brother ShaddĆd b. ȧąd (69.17–18). He expelled the Banş Karkar b. ȧąd (71.1ff.) from the land of the ʗimyar because of their misdeeds (75.2–3); they were the one afflicted by drought. LuqmĆn and one Qayl b. al-Kuthayyir traveled to Mecca to ask for rain, and it was on that occasion that LuqmĆn asked for a long life (77.18–20). At the end of his life, LuqmĆn went to Ma’rib, the royal capital, with his last vulture Lubad (75.4– 5). After Lubad’s death, he died and was buried in al-AʘqĆf (76.3). See also Josef Horovitz, Koranische Untersuchungen, 132, and Dimitri Gutas, “Classical Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope.”

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

rain, I ask you for a [long] life surpassing every [other] life” (356.14–15). His request was granted. God gave him the choice of either surviving as long as would seven pieces of dung from dust-colored gazelles on a rocky mountain untouched by rain, or living until the lives of seven sand-colored vultures were spent (356.16–18). LuqmĆn chose the life spans of the vultures. The circumstances of each vulture’s birth are described in detail. We are told where LuqmĆn found its egg, the name he gave to each hatchling, and how he fed and cared for it. He expressed in long poems the great grief he felt when each vulture eventually died. The stories of all of the first six vultures are essentially similar. Expected!y, the tale of Lubad, the seventh and last vulture, is different. Briefly sketched, the information given about the vultures is as follows: LuqmĆn was walking one day on the mountain of Abş Qubays in Mecca (356.20ff.) when he heard a voice calling him to climb up to the top of the mountain of Thabĩr. He ascended it and found a vulture’s aerie containing two cracked eggs from which chicks were emerging. Because he thought it was stronger and would live longer, LuqmĆn chose the male with the larger head and the bigger bones.To identify it, he tied a thong onto its leg and named this first vulture “Guarded one” (al-maʜŠn). LuqmĆn cared for it and daily fed it chopped meat. It eventually grew old and so feeble that it could not fly. One day it choked on a piece of chopped meat and died, leaving LuqmĆn greatly aggrieved. 10 He found the second vulture chick at aʜ-ʝĆ’if above an ibex pasture on the top of as-SirmĆj (358.3ff.). He named it “Compensation” (ȧiwaʘ ).It eventually died after flying rapidly through the branches of a tree (probably breaking its wings). 11 Some while later near Mecca, LuqmĆn was mourning for himself (the waning of his own life span with each vulture’s death), walking in the mountain range of as-SarĆt. He heard a voice command him to climb up to a high place where there were ȧaratşn 12 shrubs on aʛ-ʙafĆ mountain (359.7ff.). There he found a hatchling vulture he named “Successor” (khalaf ), for which he built a cage. It was said that LuqmĆn was the first to carry a caged bird. While LuqmĆn and his birdcage were at the ȧUkĆz. sşq, some bedouins 10

The poem in the meter khafĩf appears at 357.14ff. I have not been able to restore the meter of the poem at 358.14ff. 12 The dictionaries have ȧaratşn or ȧurtşn, a plant or tree resembling the boxwood. Al-Aʛmaȧĩ, KitĆb an-nabĆt, does not list it. 11

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asked to examine the vulture. It died when they handled it. A Lakhmid king, ȧAmr b. NamĆra b. Lakhm, was present when this happened and later recalled the event in a poem of exhortation to his people (360.19ff.). 13 On another peak with ȧaratşn shrubs, a place called as-Sahşr(?), LuqmĆn found the fourth vulture, which he named “Absent” (or, “place of absence,” maghyab?). 14 One day, after it had aged, LuqmĆn called it from a mountain top. It did not respond, and when he climbed up, he found it dead. 15 On the shining high peak (ash-shĆhiq al-agharr) of Jabal al-Aysar, LuqmĆn found the fifth vulture among some trees and juniper bushes (362.12ff.). He named it “Prospero” (muyassar). LuqmĆn called the bird to feed it one day toward the end of its life, but it could not fly when he tried to rouse it. He gathered wood in order to make a birdcage, but it was too late for that. The fifth vulture was already dead. 16 LuqmĆn found his sixth vulture, as he had his third, atop the mountain of aʛ-ʙafĆ by a crack in a rock (363.13ff.). He named it “Friendliness” (anas). While he was traveling from aʜ-ʝĆ’if to Mecca one day, the vulture was hovering above him waiting for its meat. It swooped down toward him and fell dead. 17 Greatly saddened by having seen six vultures die, LuqmĆn heard a voice instructing him to climb up aʛ-ʙafĆ (364.11ff.) to a clump of leafy trees containing a khalaʜa bush (fragrant, red-berried). He ascended the mountain and found a vulture chick, which he named Lubad (“Abundance”). ȧAbĩd explains that Lubad means “Fate” (dahr) in the language of the bedouins. According to ȧAbd AllĆh b. ȧAbbĆs, lubad also means “abundant,” as in ahlaktu mĆlan lubadan, “I have consumed wealth abundant” (Qur’Ćn 90:6). LuqmĆn’s end came when he was about to give Lubad its customary feeding. The vulture was unable to fly. Suddenly, its feathers disintegrated, and it dropped dead. 18 Veins in LuqmĆn’s back throbbed, and, as had been foretold, he expired. A son-in-law of LuqmĆn called al-MuthannĆ, a poet of the ȧAmĆliqa, eulogized him in a poem. 19 He informed his tribe of Luq13

Both LuqmĆn’s poem, 360.1ff., and this poem are in the meter munsariʚ. I do not know the accurate vocalization of the vulture’s name. At 362.6, the name appears in the meter munsariʚ. In this hemistich, the meter does not correctly scan as maghĩb, mughayyab, or maghyab. 15 The poem in the meter munsariʚ appears at 362.1ff. 16 LuqmĆn’s poem in the meter ʞawĩl occurs at 363.2ff. 17 The poem at 364.3ff. is in the meter munsariʚ. 18 LuqmĆn grieved in a poem in the meter munsariʚ, 365.13ff. 19 At 366.7ff., the meter ʞawĩl. The poem also occurs in Iklĩl, 8.185. 14

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

mĆn’s death, and they buried him. ȧAbĩd quotes poems by Labĩd, anNĆbigha, and al-AȧshĆ on LuqmĆn and his vultures (367.3ff., 11, 15). 20 The fourth cycle (411.12–425.14) deals with the tale of SulaymĆn and Bilqĩs. 21 It is inserted in the middle of the fifth cycle about the kings of the ʗimyar. The fourth cycle expands the Qur’Ćnic version of their encounter (Qur’Ćn 27:15–44), wherein the Queen of Sheba is not named. ȧAbĩd gives her name as Bilqĩs. He describes her as the wise and sagacious daughter of a female jinn named RawwĆʘa and a ʗimyarite king, al-HadhĆd b. Sharaʘbĩl, in the land of Saba’ (411.13ff.). 22 This associates the Qur’Ćnic queen of Saba’ and SulaymĆn with the ʗimyar dynasty. Its kings and the South Arabian past gained distinction by this connection. 20 See chap. 11 below §8, p. 194, for Labĩd; §9, p. 195, for an-NĆbigha; and §6, p. 193, for al-AȧshĆ. 21 The story occurs in TĩjĆn, 137–62, on the authority of Ibn HishĆm. There, a king of the ʗimyar, al-HadhĆd, had bequeathed his kingdom to his daughter Bilqĩs (137.10ff.). A tyrannical king, ȧAmr Dhş al-IdhȧĆr, opposed her (138.1–2). She fled to the castle of the ʗimyarite Jaȧfar b. Qurʜ on the river al-ʗufayf in al-AʘqĆf (138.10–12). Jaȧfar also protected her brother ȧAmr, while ȧAmr Dhş al-IdhȧĆr searched for them (139.10–14). Meanwhile, a famous brigand from Ma’rib, ȧAmr b. ȧAbbĆd (140.6–7), had caught up with Jaȧfar when he was on pilgrimage to Hşd’s grave. After a time of alternately opposing and being generous to one another, the two men reached a truce, but ȧAmr eventually succeeded in killing Jaȧfar (147.14–15). Bilqĩs, strong and wily, managed to be alone with ȧAmr. Repelling his advances, she drew a bejewelled dagger she had prepared and which she had artfully hidden in her hair (147.21– 148.1ff.) and stabbed him in the chest with it, killing him (148.6–8). When the news of Jaȧfar’s death spread among the bedouins, ȧAmr Dhş alIdhȧĆr learned her whereabouts (148.13–14). He caught up with Bilqĩs and made her his prisoner. She prepared to deceive him and brought him wine. When he was sufficiently intoxicated, she pulled out the bejewelled dagger and killed him (148.17–21, 149.1). Bilqĩs summoned the leaders of the ʗimyar and lied to them, saying that ȧAmr had married her and left the kingdom to her (149.6ff.). They vowed their allegiance to her, and she began her rule. Bilqĩs traveled to Mecca, BĆbil, NihĆwand, and Azerbayjan (151.9–10). During his journey to the land of Saba’, SulaymĆn met her deputy at Mecca, al-Bishr b. Mubligh al-Jurhumĩ, and her deputy at NajrĆn, alQalammas b. ȧAmr (153.9–18). The rest of the story in TĩjĆn agrees closely with the one in AkhbĆr. For SulaymĆn, see Horovitz, Untersuchungen, 116. 22 The vocalization of Sharaʘbĩl (often Shuraʘbĩl) is indicated in al-HamdĆnĩ, Mushtabih, 16, no. 35. ȧAbd AllĆh, “Die Personennamen in al-HamdĆnĩ’s al-Iklĩl,” 69, also has Sharaʘbĩl. For Saba’, see Horovitz, Untersuchungen, 115.

CONTENTS OF AKHBąR

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ȧAbĩd mentions that at the end of his life al-HadhĆd passed over the wise men of his kingdom and appointed Bilqĩs to be the ruler. He bequeathed the kingdom to his young maternal cousin NĆshir b. ȧAmr, who was to rule when he reached majority. Bilqĩs was a very patient and discerning woman. She never married (412.11ff.) and took as servants noble ʗimyarite maidens who did not wish to marry or be separated from her. She had been ruling for ninety years when SulaymĆn visited her kingdom. When he visited her, SulaymĆn rode the wind, accompanied by his servants, human beings and jinn (413.17ff.). During the journey he passed by Medina. From there, he informed his companions, would emerge a prophet called Aʘmad, the Seal of the Prophets. He traveled to Mecca, where he identified the Kaȧba as the house originally constructed by Adam which IbrĆhĩm had rebuilt. He finally landed in the Yemen. His hoopoe, which was (amphibious?) 23 like a duck had preceded him and had met the hoopoe of Saba’, which described the queen Bilqĩs and her people and that she ruled a vast kingdom of sun-worshippers. SulaymĆn’s hoopoe returned to him and reported what it had learned. SalaymĆn commanded his hoopoe to return and drop a letter into Bilqĩs’s lap asking for her submission (IslĆm) (416.1ff.). In response to SulaymĆn, she sent a delegation of forty men with three riddles for him to answer so that she could determine whether he was merely a king or, instead, a prophet (of God). The first riddle required him to distinguish between one hundred servants, maids and youths, who all dressed and appeared alike. The second riddle asked him to give the bloodline genealogies of one hundred horses of the same color whose birthdays SulaymĆn did not know. The third riddle challenged him to pierce an unbored gem, without using iron (tools) or any process used by men or jinn, and also to thread a gem already bored with a twisted hole. Bilqĩs furthermore sent SulaymĆn a leaden box, soldered shut, which contained precious jewels. She asked him to identify its contents without opening it. With God’s help, SulaymĆn solved all these riddles (417.8ff.). He had the maids and youths all individually wash their hands in a basin, so that by observing how each did so, he could distinguish one from the other. 24 He said that the horses were all born on the same day and gave their blood23

The Arabic has kĆna mithla ’l-baʞʞa. The text (417.8–11) seems to say that the boys put their hands into the basin and then poured the water into it, while the girls filled the basin first and then poured the water over their hands. I am not certain that this explanation is correct. 24

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

lines. A worm volunteered to bore a hole through the gem for him. It bored for three days before it came out on the other side. Another worm also volunteered to thread the gem with the crooked bore. He fastened a thread to its head, and it entered on one side and came out on the other. SulaymĆn correctly identified many different and beautiful jewels as the contents of the leaden box. SulaymĆn had a secretary named ąʛaf (418.15ff.). With treachery in mind, ąʛaf asked SulaymĆn’s wives about certain intimate matters. The evil ąʛaf disliked what he found out and renounced SulaymĆn. Meanwhile, the devil ordered a charm to be written (419.2ff.) and buried beneath the royal throne in order to harm SulaymĆn. The devil entrusted it to Ćʛaf, who showed it to the people. Criminals kept on believing in and using the charm after SulaymĆn’s death. SulaymĆn asked for the throne of Bilqĩs, and a jinn got it for him (418.7–9). He decided to disguise it in order to see whether or not she would recognize it (419.11ff.). Her throne was magnificent, encrusted with gold, pearls, and jewels. ȧAbĩd does not say whether SulaymĆn’s ruse was successful. SulaymĆn sent a delegation to Bilqĩs, and she decided to visit him accompanied by 12,000 chiefs and 120,000 horsemen (420.2ff.). She would know that he was a king if he ordered her to sit down in his presence, or that he was a prophet if he neither prohibited nor commanded her to sit. People sat in front of a king only on command. She brought three more riddles for him to answer. If he proved himself a prophet by giving the correct solutions, she would enter his service, SulaymĆn ordered jinn to build a mansion so magnificent that it detracted from the splendor of her own kingdom (420.13ff.). They made a floor of gilded bricks, leaving one missing. When Bilqĩs came into SulaymĆn’s presence, she carried her own golden brick on which to sit should she be commanded to do so. She saw the place in the floor where the brick was missing and hesitated to proceed lest she be accused of having stolen the brick from its place on the ground. She placed her own brick into the gap and stood before SulaymĆn quite a while without being offered a seat. She realized, eventually, that he was a prophet, as he had not commanded her to be seated (421.4). Bilqĩs next asked him for the solution of three riddles (421.9ff.) concerning the origin of water coming from neither earth nor sky, a child’s resemblance to his parents when he could resemble either his father or his mother, and the color of the Lord. God, however, made her forget the last riddle. The men helped SulaymĆn solve the first by galloping horses until

CONTENTS OF AKHBąR

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they dripped sweat, which was the solution to that riddle. SulaymĆn answered the second by explaining that the child resembled the parent whose seed predominated. SulaymĆn proposed IslĆm and expressed his wish to marry Bilqĩs. Some of the jinn, fearing that their favorable position with SulaymĆn would be usurped, became jealous (422.1ff.). One of them, Zawbaȧa (422.5, 9–11), warned him against marrying Bilqĩs because of her hairy legs. It was said that the offspring of female jinn and men had hairy legs like donkeys’ hooves. Zawbaȧa proposed to build for SulaymĆn a crystal palace and a channel filled with water through which Bilqĩs would have to wade to reach him. While crossing the water, she had to lift her skirt, thus revealing to SulaymĆn her hairy legs. When Bilqĩs saw SulaymĆn’s magnificent kingdom, she realized that her own realm was nothing in comparison. Filled with awe, she became a Muslim. Bilqĩs’s submission to Islam confirmed the importance of the South Arabian ʗimyarite dynasty as precursors of Muʘammad. SulaymĆn married Bilqĩs and asked the jinn to prepare a depilatory paste for her legs (423.3ff.). This depilatory, and the bath which SulaymĆn had built for her, were the first in the world. SulaymĆn charged the devils to work for her in the Yemen, making water mills (irrigation channels, probably) and practicing many crafts. Bilqĩs bore DĆwşd (423.6ff.)—a deviation from the Biblical version and Qur’Ćn 27:16. SulaymĆn sent her back to the Yemen and paid her frequent visits that would last seven days. After he died, Raʘbaȧam (Rehoboam) became king and ruled for just one year. ȧAbĩd reports a tradition that Bilqĩs died one month after SulaymĆn, as well as another that she ruled in all for seventy years. 25 The line of the ʗimyar continued with the reign of NĆshir b. ȧAmr, called NĆshir an-Niȧam, who had been chosen by Bilqĩs’s father to rule after her (425.16ff.). The fifth cycle is the longest (396.12–411.12, 425.16–483.4). It contains a generally continuous narrative about the dynasty of the ʗimyarite kings. It begins with ȧAbd Shams Saba’ (397.3–4), a descendant of Yaȧrub b. QaʘʜĆn, and his son ʗimyar b. ȧAbd Shams. It ends with ʗassĆn b. Asȧad al-KĆmil (482.1ff., 483.3ff.), who led a military expedition against the Jadĩs (described below in the sixth and last cycle). ȧAbĩd describes the exploits and travels of each king and intersperses each tale with poems by and about the kings. 25

See chap. 10 §§13–14, p. 185 below, for the two poems recited about SulaymĆn and Bilqĩs (423.18ff., 424.10ff.).

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The cycle begins with an enumeration of QaʘʜĆn’s sons, the most famous being Yaȧrub (396.16ff.). Yaȧrub bore Yashjub, who bore ȧAbd Shams Saba’, the first to rule, who fathered ʗimyar, called “al-ȧAranjaj.” According to Wahb b. Munabbih in TĩjĆn and Iklĩl, 26 “al-ȧAranjaj” means al-ȧatĩq, “the ancient.” According to Ibn Durayd, 27 it is derived from iȧranjaja in the ʗimyarite language meaning “to strive” (from the root ȧ-r-j ), on the pattern ifȧanlala. The next king to rule, al-ʗĆrith b. Dhĩ Shadad, is a very distant descendant of ʗimyar. The relationship is illustrated by a long and complicated genealogical tree of all the descendants of ʗimyar and his brother KahlĆn, great-grandsons of QaʘʜĆn (397.4–398.1–3). This passage contains several grammatically corrupt sentences and does not fully agree with the information in other sources. 28 As far as possible, I have inserted names from this long list in the genealogical table of ʗimyar’s descendants which follows (pp. 28f. below). The story of the Jurhumites follows ȧAbĩd’s list of ʗimyar’s descendants (398.3–18). Jurhum b. QaʘʜĆn was their eponymous ancestor. The Yemen was their original home, where they grew numerous. Eventually, they warred with the Banş ʗimyar, whose numbers were greater. The ʗimyarites expelled the Jurhumites from the Yemen along with the Banş Qabʜşn, a group disloyal to them. Both groups migrated to Mecca. The Jurhum settled in the ʚaram, which at that time was inhabited by the ȧAmĆlĩq (Amalekites). The Banş Qabʜşn settled in Mecca at QuȧayqiȧĆn, a mountain, and in a place called AjyĆd. 29 The chiefs of the Jurhumites and the Banş Qabʜşn, Muʡćʡ and as-Samaydaȧ, recited poems celebrating their arrival in Mecca. 30 ȧAbĩd’s narrative then returns to the descendants of Yaȧrub b. QaʘʜĆn (399.20ff.). ȧAbd Shams Saba’ was the first to rule and to take captives (sabĆ as-sabĆyĆ). ȧAbĩd reports that ʗimyar ruled next, and that all of this was long before the time of the ȧąd. MuȧĆwiya mentions that he thought the ʗimyar came after the ȧąd. ȧAbĩd explains that, on the contrary, the ȧąd had recalled the ʗimyar in their poems. In fact, al-KhullajĆn b. al-Wahm, a poly26

TĩjĆn, 56.9, and Iklĩl, 8.180. IshtiqĆq, 217. 28 For example, see Caussin de Perceval, Essai sur l’histoire des Arabes, vol. 3, tables I and II, for the genealogical tables of the descendants of ʗimyar and KaʘlĆn; and Ibn al-Kalbĩ, Jamharat an-nasab, 1.176, 274. 29 YĆqşt, Muȧjam al-buldĆn, 4.146, 1.138. 30 At 398.20–399.19. Both poems are in the meter rajaz. See chap. 10 §8, p. 182 below. 27

CONTENTS OF AKHBąR

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theist among the ȧąd, recited a poem 31 in which he referred back to the ʗimyar. A long time passed before the kingship came to al-ʗĆrith b. Dhĩ Shadad (400.12ff.). At this point begins the saga of the ʗimyarite kings, their adventures, and their poems. ȧAbĩd mentions the names of many kings. The register that follows is intended to provide a clearer overview of these names and to allow comparisons with their counterparts in other sources. Some of the names are attested in ESA. They date from the end of the third century A.D. until the early fifth century, according to the chronological scheme proposed by Albert Jamme. 32 I have listed the names as they appear in Jamme’s list underneath their counterparts in AkhbĆr. 33 The list of the ʗimyarite kings in TĩjĆn varies significantly from that in AkhbĆr, with respect to the actual names given and, sometimes, with respect to the forms of the names common to both sources, the order in which they appear, and the total number of kings cited. Many kings in the two lists show similar names but place differently in the chronological sequence. The many discrepancies between the two lists have made it necessary to draw up two registers. The first follows AkhbĆr, 34 using asterisks to indicate those kings found also in TĩjĆn.

31

At 400.8ff. See chap. 10 §9, p. 183 below. Albert Jamme, Sabaean Inscriptions, 393–94. 33 I use Jamme’s genealogical table from Sabaean Inscriptions, 394, for the ESA equivalents of AkhbĆr’s last three kings. 34 In the middle column, I use al-ʗĆrith ar-RĆ’ish b. Dhĩ Shadad’s genealogy (400.12–14) to establish the list of kings going back to ʗimyar, QaʘʜĆn’s greatgrandson. Going further back in the genealogical tree, I have taken QaʘʜĆn’s ancestors descended from SĆm b. Nşʘ from ȧAbĩd’s genealogy, AkhbĆr, 316.9–10, trans., 77. After al-ʗĆrith, I have taken the names of the kings who follow him, beginning with Abraha Dhş al-ManĆr, 406.8–9, and ending with Asȧad al-KĆmil and his three sons, 448.3, 482.1–11, from ȧAbĩd’s report in the cycle below. In the right column, Udad (397.3) has the same father as ȧAbd Shams Saba’, and KahlĆn (397.6) has the same father as ʗimyar. Dhş al-IdhȧĆr has the same father as Ifrĩqĩs. The genealogies for the Banş Jurhum and the `Banş Qabʜşn in the left column occur at 398.6–7, 10–12398.. Jurhum has the same father as Yaȧrub (396.19). The genealogy for ʗaydĆn, a son of Qaʜan, occurs at 398.6–7. The men listed in the left column are not otherwise meant to be contemporary with those in the middle column. According to ȧAbĩd, father–son relationships existed between all the individuals in the register, except between Ifrĩqĩs and ȧąmir Dhş BarĆsh, ȧąmir Dhş BarĆsh and al-HadhĆd, Bilqĩs and NĆshir an-Niȧam, and NĆshir an-Niȧam and Shammar Yarȧash. 32

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Register of the Kings of the ʗimyar Based on the Information in AkhbĆr Nşʘ SĆm Arfakhshadh ShĆlikh Hşd (ȧąbir) QaʘʜĆn (Banş) Jurhum b. QaʘʜĆn Yaȧrub Nabt Yashjub Hayy(!) *ȧAbd Shams Saba’ Udad b. Yashjub ar-Raqĩb *ʗimyar (“al-ȧAranjaj”) KahlĆn b. Saba’ Saȧd al-Hamaysaȧ ȧAmr Ayman Muʡćʡ ‘Arĩb Zuhayr Qaʜan ʗaydĆn b. Qaʜan ȧAmr Karkar al-MilʜĆʜ (Banş) Qabʜşn ȧAmr LĆwĩ *Dhş Shadad b. ȧAmr MĆzin *al-ʗĆrith ar-RĆ’ish Hawthar *Abraha Dhş al-ManĆr b. al-ʗĆrith as-Samaydaȧ Ifrĩqĩs b. Abraha *Dhş al-IdhȧĆr al-ȧAbd b. Abraha *ȧąmir Dhş BarĆsh (cf. ȧĆmir Dhş RiyĆsh, TĩjĆn) *al-HadhĆd b. Sharaʘbĩl *Bilqĩs bint al-HadhĆd *NĆshir an-Niǥam b. ǥAmr b. Yuǥfir b. ǥAmr b. Sharaʘbĩl ESA: Yasrum Yuhanǥim (end of 3rd c. A.D.) *Shammar Yarȧash b. Ifrĩqĩs b. Abraha ESA: Shamir Yuharȧish (b. Yasrum) (co-regent with the preceding, early 4th c.) Tubbaȧ al-Aqran Dhş al-Qarnayn b. Shammar Yarȧash Tubbaȧ ar-RĆ’id b. al-Aqran Malkaykarib b. Asȧad(?) b. Tubbaȧ al-Akbar ESA: Malikkarib Yuha’nim (b. Tha’rĆn Yuhanȧim) (beginning of 5th c.) *Asȧad al-KĆmil Abş Karib al-Awsaʜ b. Malkaykarib ESA: Abkarib Asȧad (b. Malikkarib) (early 5th c.) KhĆlid *ʗassĆn Maȧadd Yakrub ESA: ʗaœan Yuha’min (b. Abkarib Asȧad) (co-regent with father, then ruled alone early 5th c.) *

Asterisk marks kings found also in TĩjĆn. Dotted arrow marks relationships that are filial, but not explicitly fraternal with adjacent king(s), in the text; solid line divides relationships that are not filial.

CONTENTS OF AKHBąR Register of the Kings of the ʗimyar Based on the Information in TĩjĆn QaʘʜĆn Yaȧrub b. QaʘʜĆn Yashjub b. Yaȧrub †ȧAbd Shams Saba’ b. Yashjub †ʗimyar b. Saba’ WĆ’il b. ʗimyar as-Saksak b. WĆ’il Yuȧfir b. as-Saksak BĆrĆn b. ȧAwf b. ʗimyar (a usurper) †ȧƖmir Dhş RiyƗsh b. BƗrƗn b. ȧAwf b. ʗimyar an-NuȧmĆn al-MaȧĆfir b. Yuȧfir b. as-Saksak ShaddĆd b. ȧąd b. MilʜĆʜ (a descendant of WĆ’il b. ʗimyar) LuqmĆn b. ȧąd (brother of ShaddĆd) †Dhş Shadad al-HammĆl b. ȧąd (brother of Shaddad) †Dhş MarĆthid al-ʗĆrith b. al-HammĆl ar-RĆ’ish aʛ-ʙaȧb Dhş al-Qarnayn b. al-ʗĆrith †Abraha Dhş al-ManĆr b. aʛ-ʙaȧb †Dhş al-AshrĆr al-ȧAbd b. Abraha Dhş al-IdhȧĆr ȧAmr b. Abraha (brother of Dhş al-AshrĆr) (at Ma’rib) Sharaʘbĩl b. ȧAmr b. GhĆlib (a descendant of Yuȧfir b. Saksak) †al-HadhĆd b. Sharaʘbĩl †Bilqĩs bint al-HadhĆd †NĆshir an-Niȧam MĆlik b. ȧAmr b. Yuȧfir (a descendant of WĆ’il b. ʗimyar) †Shammar Yarȧash b. NĆshir an-Niȧam ʙayfĩ b. Shammar Yarȧash (at Ma’rib) ȧAmr b. ȧąmir b. MuzayqiyĆ’ Rabĩȧa b. Naʛr b. MĆlik (interregnum before and after Abş Karib) †Asȧad Abş Karib ar-RĆ’ish b. ȧAdĩ b. ʙayfĩ †ʗassĆn b. Asȧad Abş Karib ȧAmr b. Asȧad Abş Karib (brother of ʗassĆn) ȧAbd KĆlĩl b. Yanşf Tubbaȧ b. ʗassĆn b. Asȧad Abş Karib (the last Tubbaȧ) Rabĩȧa b. Marthad b. ȧAbd KĆlĩl ʗassƗn b. ȧAmr b. Tubbaȧ Abraha b. aʛ-ʙabbĆʘ Lukhayȧa b. Yanşf Dhş NuwĆs Zurȧa (the last king of the ʗimyar) †

Dagger marks kings found also in AkhbĆr.

29

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The second table lists the kings as they appear in TĩjĆn. 35 ȧAbĩd thus refers to five kings whose names are attested in ESA. 36 These are, as they appear in AkhbĆr in their Arabicized forms: NĆshir anNiȧam (425.16), Shammar Yarȧash (428.18), Malkay Karib and Abş Karib Asȧad al-KĆmil (439.2, 16), and ʗassĆn b. Abĩ Karib Asȧad al-KĆmil (482.1). Though of South Arabian origin, we presume, ȧAbĩd was not likely able to read and understand ESA. South Arabian inscriptions were so numerous and widespread that he must have seen some of them, even if AkhbĆr nowhere gives detailed information about the South Arabian script. ȧAbĩd does, however, refer to it twice as musnad, 37 indicating that he was aware that the ancient Yemenĩs used a different script. We cannot establish the actual process by which knowledge of these kings, and their names, reached ȧAbĩd over the more than two centuries that had elapsed since the time of the most famous Tubbaȧ Abş Karib and his son ʗassĆn (early fifth century). We may assume that he learned about them through an oral Arabic tradition whose origins and process of transmission are obscure. Chaim Rabin 38 discusses a dialect of South Arabian known as “ʗimyaritic” to al-HamdĆnĩ. It was spoken, according to Rabin, by people during al-HamdĆnĩ’s time who called it ʗimyaritic. Al-HamdĆnĩ believed it represented the ancient language of ESA. Rabin suggests that this ʗimyaritic “was basically an Arabic dialect of the Yemenite type, but with some archaic features, and with a great deal of South-Arabian loanwords.” 39 Therefore, ȧAbĩd most probably never heard the names of these kings pronounced in the language of ESA. He may have heard them in a Yemenĩ 35 TĩjĆn’s treatment of the ʗimyar cycle is much less unified. It begins with ȧAbd Shams Saba’ on p. 47 and with ʗimyar on p. 51, and ends with Dhş NuwĆs, the last king of the ʗimyar, on p. 301. The story is interspersed with many shorter episodes: for example, the GhassĆn’s migration from the Yemen and their settlement in Syria, pp. 270–89. With regard to the genealogy of the ʗimyarite kings in TĩjĆn, I have listed the descendants of Yaȧrub b. QaʘʜĆn and the kings who ruled the ʗimyar in the order in which they appear in the text. The genealogical table is made more complex by the fact that not every father of a listed king was a king himself and therefore may not place in the register. See also Caussin de Perceval, Essai, vol. 3, tables I and II. 36 See nn. 32 and 33 above. 37 At 426.7, 429.21. See chap. 4, p. 57 below. 38 Chaim Rabin, Ancient West-Arabian, 42. 39 Ibid.

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Arabic dialect influenced by South Arabian, unless their forms had become established in Classical Arabic by his time. According to ȧAbĩd, the South Arabian rulers began to expand their martial activities under al-ʗĆrith ar-RĆ’ish, the son of Dhş Shadad (400.12ff.). He was called ar-RĆ’ish because he made the Yemen prosper with plunder he amassed (rĆsha) from his raids during his long rule, said to have lasted 225 years. He undertook far-flung military expeditions and raided India, where he ordered his kinsman Yuȧfir b. ȧAmr b. Sharaʘbĩl to remain behind and build a city. It was named ar-RĆ’ish in his honor. 40 ArRĆ’ish also invaded Azerbayjan and the land of the Turks. In Azerbayjan he commemorated his journey with inscriptions on two rocks, which still existed in ȧAbĩd’s time. He also celebrated his exploits in his own poems. 41 The great Imru’ al-Qays is said to have recited a poem about him. 42 Al-ʗĆrith’s son Abraha Dhş al-ManĆr (406.8–9ff.) ruled after him. Abraha fathered al-ȧAbd, whose mother was a jinn called al-ȧAyşf (406.10). Father and son together raided the West, while Ifrĩqĩs, another son of Abraha, remained in the Yemen to rule. Abraha, who ruled 180 years, was called Dhş al-ManĆr 43 (“he of the lighthouse”), as he ordered lighthouses built and fires ignited in them to guide his armies returning from their raids. Al-ȧAbd’s nickname was Dhş al-IdhȧĆr (“the terrorizer”), for he terrorized the many prisoners brought to his father. Ifrĩqĩs took over after his father and ruled 164 years. He claimed fame for his colonization of the Berbers in the West (407.18ff.). These Berbers were the remnant of the Palestinian Berbers who survived Yşshaȧ b. Nşn’s conquest of Palestine. 44 MuȧĆwiya asks if the Berbers are the descendants of Qays, as some claim (408.2ff.) (and thereby descendants of SĆm). ȧAbĩd replies that he knows nothing of that claim, but he knows that the Berbers are descendants of KanȧĆn b. ʗĆm. MuȧĆwiya then wonders how the Qays can say that some of their descendants are also related to the Berbers (408.9– 10), except on the basis of a poem recited by Ifrĩqĩs. 45

40

See chap. 10 §10, p. 183 below, for the poem that was recited about this

event. 41

At 403.5, 9ff. (the meter wĆfir), and 404.11ff. (the meter basĩʞ). Lines 404.2–3 also occur in MaȧĆrif, 627, and al-Maqdisĩ, KitĆb al-bad’ wa-’t-ta’rĩkh, 3.175. 42 At 405.5ff. See chap. 11 §12, p. 196 below. 43 See chap. 10 §11, p. 184 below. 44 Cf. 322.7–10. 45 At 408.12ff. (the meter ramal ). Cf. p. 16 above.

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Ifrĩqĩs ordered a town built in the West to be called Ifrĩqiya after himself. As-Samaydaȧ b. ȧAmr, a ʗimyarite, celebrated his rule in verse. 46 His brother and successor, al-ȧAbd Dhş al-IdhȧĆr b. Abraha, ruled for only 25 years (409.13ff.). A paralysis of one side of his body forced him to discontinue raiding. His ʗimyarite kinsman al-Muȧtarif eulogized him when he died. 47 ȧąmir Dhş BarĆsh ascended the throne (410.11ff.) and ruled 69 years. MuȧĆwiya remarks that he has never heard of this king, and ȧAbĩd reports that al-Afʜas, a Yemeni poet, mentioned him in a poem. 48 The father of Bilqĩs, al-HadhĆd b. Sharaʘbĩl, succeeded ȧąmir. The stories of her becoming queen and of her meeting SulaymĆn constitute the fourth cycle of AkhbĆr, which has been described above. After the death of both SulaymĆn and his son Raʘbaȧam, the ʗimyarite dynasty reinstated itself when NĆshir an-Niȧam became king (425.16ff.), as Al-HadhĆd had assured NĆshir during his youth of his succession. NĆshir ruled 181 years. He earned his nickname NĆshir an-Niȧam (“spreader of generosity”) by his generosity (anȧama) as a ruler toward his people, and the powerful influence he exercised in their behalf. NĆshir an-Niȧam pushed his military adventures as far West as a place called WĆdĩ ar-Raml (“Sand Valley”). Of the troops he ordered to cross that valley, none returned alive. He commemorated the event by setting up an idol made of copper. It was inscribed in the special ʗimyaritic script with this warning to future travelers (426.10–11): “The ʗimyarite king NĆshir an-Niȧam al-Yuȧfirĩ made this idol. Let no one attempt to go beyond this spot, lest he perish!” 49 Following these lines, four verses repeated the warning. 50 Other poems were written to commemorate this event and the restitution of the kingdom to the line of the ʗimyar. 51 Shammar Yarȧash b. Ifrĩqĩs b. Abraha, who ruled 160 years, succeeded NĆshir an-Niȧam. Yarȧash (vocalization?) received his nickname from his

46

At 409.4ff. (the meter sarĩȧ ). The first line of the poem also occurs in Iklĩl,

2.76. 47 48

See chap. 10 §12, p. 185 below. At 410.15ff. (the meter khafĩf ).The first line occurs in NashwĆn, MuntakhabĆt,

6. 49 These lines also appear in TĩjĆn, 221; Iklĩl, 8.207; Bad’, 3.176, trans., 179; Mulşk, 89; and Ibn Saȧĩd al-Maghribĩ, KitĆb nashwat aʞ-ʞarab, 1.36. In Arabic, they are in the form of sajȧ. 50 At 426.13ff. (the meter wafĩr). The poem also appears in Iklĩl, 8.208. 51 At 427.5ff., 19ff. See chap. 10, §§ 15–16, pp. 186, 187 below.

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constant trembling (428.18–19). 52 He traveled to Iraq and China, passing through Persia, SijistĆn, and KhurĆsĆn (428.20ff.). When he reached the river of Balkh, he was confronted by the non-Arabs who had banded together to fight him. He vanquished them by seizing the boats on shore and by pursuing those that had already left. Shammar’s troops laid siege to the towns on the far side of the river. They entered the capital of as-Sughd and destroyed it. The local population replaced its old Sogdian name with a new one, Shammar kand, after its conqueror, Shammar. This was the way the non-Arabs pronounced it. Later it was known in the Arabic form, Samarqand. Shammar ordered an inscription to be written in ʗimyaritic script on a rock in as-Sughd. It said: “This is the king of Arabs and non-Arabs Shammar Yarȧash, the proud king. He who reaches this place is my equal. He who goes beyond it is better than I” (429.21–430.2). ȧAbĩd expressed the hope that God would show that very place to MuȧĆwiya, so that the caliph would find confirmation of his report. At this point (430.5ff.), AkhbĆr has an interpolation by an anonymous editor. Beginning “I heard from ash-Shaȧbĩ …,” 53 it reports a tradition from one ȧAbd AllĆh of the KhaywĆn of the HamdĆn about the musnad writing on the rock of a gate at as-Sughd. ȧAbd AllĆh mentions that while he was at as-Sughd with Qutayba b. Muslim, the conqueror of Samarqand, Qutayba discovered a rock inscribed in ʗimyaritic script. He had a certain ȧUthmĆn b. Abĩ Saȧĩd al-KhaywĆnĩ decipher the inscription. It turned out to be iden52

The form of the name is yurȧish (“he causes trembling”) in al-HamdĆnĩ, Mushtabih, 19, nos. 134, 138. The name is explained in Iklĩl, 2.53, as that he caused bodies to tremble with fear. ȧAbĩd’s statement that he had the trembling in his own body (irtiȧĆsh), and did not cause it in others, would suggest the vocalization yarȧash (or perhaps yurȧash, “he was made to tremble”). MuntakhabĆt, 41, explains his name as yurȧish because he made those looking at him tremble. Ibn HishĆm’s tradition in TĩjĆn, 220.1, explains that trembling (irtiȧĆsh) seized him because of his winedrinking. 53 Abş ȧAmr ȧąmir ash-Shaȧbĩ was born in 19/640 in Kufa and died in 103/721. See GAS, 1:277. He was associated with the Umayyad court during the reign of ȧAbd al-Malik b. MarwĆn, during whose rule ȧAbĩd reportedly died. The isnĆd states that the anonymous (“I heard”) editor heard from ash-Shaȧbĩ a tradition from ȧAbd AllĆh of the KhaywĆn, a secretary of Qutayba b. Muslim at the conquest of Samarqand (91–93/711–12). The anonymous “I” therefore cannot be ȧAbĩd. The same tradition occurs in TĩjĆn, 237.2–11, on Ibn HishĆm’s authority from ash-Shaȧbĩ. It is very possible that the “I heard” in AkhbĆr’s interpolation refers to Ibn HishĆm. However, the association of Ibn HishĆm with the editorship of AkhbĆr cannot be proven on such a hypothesis. See chap. 4, p. 52 below.

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tical with the one written by Shammar’s order. The original story resumes where ȧAbĩd quotes a lengthy poem written by al-BĆnĩ bin al-MuntĆb about Shammar. 54 Another important event occurring during Shammar’s reign involved KayqĆ’şs, described as a powerful king of BĆbil (431.17ff.). KayqĆ’şs wished to climb to heaven and, for this purpose, built a high castle. Shammar fought him, defeated him, and took him back to the Yemen as a captive. He imprisoned him in a well at Ma’rib. Shammar’s daughter SuȧdĆ took pity on KayqĆ’şs and pleaded with her father to release him. Shammar allowed him to return to BĆbil on the condition that he pay an annual tribute. After Shammar destroyed Samarqand, he ordered the city to be rebuilt (432.1ff.). He continued east toward China. Frightened, the Chinese king consulted his advisors on how best to repulse Shammar’s impending attack. After a period of long silence, one of them spoke up. He asked the king to cut off his nose, confiscate all his property, and seize his servants. The king granted the strange request, and the mutilated advisor left China to join Shammar. He complained about the king’s cruel deeds and promised to become Shammar’s loyal companion and to guide him through the great desert that protected the entrance to China. After a long march through roadless wasteland, Shammar and his troops ran out of water and were completely lost. At this desperate moment, the Chinese advisor revealed his treachery to Shammar and confirmed his loyalty to his king and countrymen. He had deliberately led the army to death by thirst in the desert before it could attack China. When he heard this, Shammar ordered the advisor beheaded and his troops to head off in all directions to save themselves. Most of them perished, but thirty thousand reached Tibet, a fertile land with trees and water (433.2ff.). The survivors settled there and established themselves as the rulers of that country. ȧAbĩd mentions that they are yet in Tibet, dressing as Arabs and acknowledging that they are Arabs of the Yemen, with a great fondness for Yemenĩs. Meanwhile, Shammar awaited death in the desert lying on a bed of iron and shading himself with an iron shield. Indeed, at his birth astrologers had predicted he would die in a house with a roof and a floor made of iron (432.20–433.1). According to another tradition, Shammar returned to the Yemen alive (433.6ff.). He died there “between iron” (bayna ’l-ʚadĩd ) of a tremendous

54

At 430.16–431.1ff. See chap. 10 §17, p. 187 below.

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fever from a disease. 55 His son Tubbaȧ al-Aqran Dhş al-Qarnayn became king in the Yemen (433.12ff.). He was so named for the white hair of his two locks (qarnayn). Al-Aqran was very wise and listened to the astrologers’ judgments drawn from the conjunctions of the planets. 56 He raided the land of Rşm, where the legendary spring full of water of (eternal) life flowed in a wĆdĩ. Al-Khiʡr obtained this water of life, but Dhş al-Qarnayn did not.. He died before reaching this wĆdĩ and was buried somewhere in Rşm territory after a rule of 153 years. Al-Aqran composed a poem about his journey, 57 and he was eulogized by ath-ThĆmir b. ȧAmr, his paternal cousin. 58 Al-Aqran’s son called Tubbaȧ ar-RĆ’id lamented his father in a poem in which he expressed his regret that he had not taken his father back to the Yemen for burial. 59 He continued raiding for a while but then stopped for twenty years. He wanted to settle a revolt among the Turks and Khazars by diplomacy and sent ambassadors to them. When his ambassadors were seized and killed, however, he had no choice but to embark on a military campaign to avenge their deaths. He traveled to the border of Azerbayjan and Mosul, routed the Turks, and pillaged their land. ȧAbĩd explains that Turk (Turkey) and Azerbayjan refer to the country of those people (436.4ff.). He reports that he himself participated in a raid against that region in order to ask the non-Arabs there about the events said to have taken place under Tubbaȧ ar-RĆ’id (436.7ff.). He expresses the opinion that certainty about a matter can be gained only by asking about it. When it is a dimly remembered event of the remote past, and the witnesses are dead, what really happened is no longer evident. MuȧĆwiya, understandably, raises the question as to whether more than one king called Tubbaȧ had existed. 60 ȧAbĩd replies that there were seven. The most powerful of them was Tubbaȧ Asȧad (presumably referring to Asȧad Abş Karib, below) who ruled a long time. Because of that, the previous Tubbaȧs were forgotten, and those after him were identified with him and also called Tubbaȧ (435.13–15).

55 Alexander the Great’s death is similarly described. See J. G. Lloyd, Alexander the Great, 98. 56 He is credited with a verse at 433.16 (the meter wĆfir). 57 At 436.12ff. See chap. 10 §18, p. 188 below. 58 At 434.9ff.(the meter sarĩȧ ). 59 At 434.21–435.1ff. (the meter kĆmil ). 60 The name Tubbaȧ occurs in Qur’Ćn 44:37 and 50:14 as that of the leader of an ancient people who disobeyed God. See Horovitz, Untersuchungen, 102.

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Tubbaȧ ar-RĆ’id returned to the Yemen, where he ruled for 163 years. Because of his victory over the Turks, the Persian and other non-Arab kings feared him greatly (436.21–437.1ff.). He received presents of silk, linen, porcelain, musk, and other Chinese products, and asked the Indian ambassador if it was true that all of it came from India and China. When he was told that this was true, he decided to undertake a military expedition against China. His journey, which lasted seven years and ten months, took him through KhurĆsĆn. When he was finished plundering China, he left a deputy there, BĆriʡ b. an-Nabʜ, with frontier guards numbering twelve thousand horsemen. He resolved not to leave a Persian or other non-Arab land without stationing a garrison in it. The troops left in China continue to claim Arab origin and have a house which they circumambulate seven times and to which they bring sacrifices one month a year. ȧAbĩd says that he learned these things during a raid against the land of the Turks from Khazar territory, where the Khazars told him about their customs and those of their neighbors (438.3– 5). 61 Malkay 62 Karib (439.2ff.) b. Asȧad 63 b. Tubbaȧ al-Akbar (presumably Tubbaȧ ar-RĆ’id) ruled the Yemenĩs for 85 years, but he was a weak ruler. He never once went on a raid, either because he considered bloodshed a sin to be avoided or because he lacked experience, pride, and ambition. He did not change any of the traditions inherited from his forefathers and concentrated on being a strong ruler in the Yemen. The Yemenĩs were tired of traveling and wars, and his attitude therefore matched their need for rest and comfort. Malkay Karib was succeeded by his son Tubbaȧ Asȧad, known as the “intermediate” (al-Awsaʜ) Abş Karib (439.16ff.). Abş Karib combined astrological knowledge with experience in warfare. He would not undertake a raid without consulting the astrologers to determine whether the time was auspicious for him and his troops. He even composed a poem describing 61 Tubbaȧ al-Akbar recites a poem, 438.9ff. See chap. 10 §19, p. 188 below. It is not clear which Tubbaȧ ȧAbĩd intends here. He appears to refer to Shammar Yarȧash as “al-Akbar” at 435.17–18. TĩjĆn, 222.9, states specifically that Shammar was “al-Akbar.” Iklĩl, 2.54.11, 55.1, and Mulşk, 114.3, state that Tubbaȧ b. al-Aqran (i.e. Tubbaȧ ar-RĆ’id) was “al-Akbar.” 62 The vocalization is the one indicated in al-HamdĆnĩ, Mushtabih, 18, no. 94, where he is Malkay Karib b. Tubbaȧ al-Akbar. 63 Read, with B: Malkay Karib b. Tubbaȧ al-Akbar. In the margin, B has Ab(!) Asȧad al-KĆmil next to Malkay Karib’s name. Iklĩl, 2.56, also has Malkay Karib b. Tubbaȧ al-Akbar. Asȧad in the printed text must be an error.

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his journeys and battles as they related to the position of stars in the night sky. 64 He was of a violent and tyrannical disposition, and his inherited wealth and the spoils he gained added to his power (469.12–14). He either led raids himself or let his generals direct them (440.1ff.), and he passed through Persia, Syria, and the land of Maȧadd (that is, North Arabia). He followed every road and stopped at every waterhole. Into every land his ancestors had plundered, he either set foot himself or sent his army. A number of poems, with descriptions of his raids, the lands and nations he conquered, and his illustrious ancestors, are said to be his composition. 65 When Abş Karib returned to the Yemen from his great expedition, he installed his son, KhĆlid, as his deputy in Medina (448.2ff.). When the Medinese killed KhĆlid, an event inspiring Abş Karib to compose a poem, 66 he returned to Medina seeking revenge. MĆlik b. ȧAjlĆn of the Khazraj (who were of South Arabian origin) met him at a well (450.11ff.) and explained to him the circumstances of KhĆlid’s death. KhĆlid’s mother(-in-law) 67 started trouble between him and his wife, and his wife killed him. MĆlik asked him to help his tribe fight the Jews. Abş Karib declined and warned that he had come seeking revenge for KhĆlid, and that he had no intention of helping his murderers. Abş Karib was so enraged that he sent for three hundred Jews and thirty other men (Arabs) and cut off their heads (450.20ff.). An aged Jew, Kaȧb b. ȧAmr, begged Abş Karib to hold his temper because Medina, which Abş Karib intended to destroy, would in the remote future become a sanctuary for a Prophet who would come from the Kaȧba in Mecca. Abş Karib decided not to destroy Medina when he heard these words.

64

At 463.15ff. (in the meter khafĩf ). The poem also occurs in Mulşk, 125ff. See G. Ryckmans, “Inscriptions sud-arabes, 10e série,” 303 no. 509 for Abş Karib. 65 At 440.5ff. (in the meter ʞawĩl ); 441.20ff. (in the meter khafĩf ); 443.15ff. (in the meter khafĩf ); and 445.18ff. (in the meter mutaqĆrib). Lines 445.7, 8 occur in Iklĩl, 2.318. The poem beginning on p. 445 also occurs in Iklĩl, 2.388. See also chap. 10 §21, p. 189 below for the poem at 469.16ff. The verse at 472.7 occurs again, 473.18, as the opening verse of a long poem. A poem attributed to Malkay Karib, 466.10ff., probably should be credited to his son Abş Karib. Here, at line 10 read, with B: Tubbaȧ b. Malkay Karib. 66 At 448.6ff. (in the meter kĆmil ). 67 At 450.16. The Arabic has ummuhu (also B), but KhĆlid’s mother-in-law appears to be meant, as he apparently had married a woman from Medina. His own mother can be assumed to have been in the Yemen.

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MuȧĆwiya mentions (451.7ff.) that he had heard that the Jews in Medina completely dominated the Khazraj, to the extent that a Khazrajĩ could not marry a woman unless a Jew took her first. ȧąbid explains that actually the Aws and the Khazraj had been stronger than the Jews and had expelled them from Medina to Khaybar. He quotes a poem attributed to asSamaw’al b. ȧądiyĆ 68 in which a Jew criticizes his fellows for their behavior in order to illustrate the situation then prevailing. Abş Karib next headed for Mecca, intending to destroy it (451.19ff.). Two rabbis whom he met counseled him. They were followed by two Hudhalites who told him about the veneration of the Kaȧba and the bedouins’ visits to it. They described the jewels, precious stones, and treasures collected by the Jurhumites and stored in it. They flattered Abş Karib with treachery in their hearts and invited him to sack the Kaȧba and carry the jewels to his palace in his capital in the fertile Yemen. This would yield him enormous prestige among the bedouins, who would make the pilgrimage no longer to the Kaȧba but to his palace. However, a strong fever soon seized Abş Karib. The rabbis he summoned explained that God had sent the fever because he had listened to the advice of the Hudhalites for the Kaȧba’s destruction. The intense pain he suffered was punishment for accepting their suggestion. They advised him not to destroy the House, for he could not battle the Lord of the worlds. When Abş Karib drew near the ʚaram, a violent wind began to blow (452.16ff.). The rabbis again explained that this happened because he intended to destroy God’s House; when the Hudhalites advised him to sack the Kaȧba, their real purpose was his destruction. Abş Karib had their heads cut off. The rabbis advised him to profess Islam, don the iʚrĆm, and offer a sacrifice when entering the area of the Kaȧba. He did all of these things, and also shaved his head, stopped at the pilgrimage stations, and circumambulated the House. He slaughtered sacrificial animals, fed the people, and covered the Kaȧba with striped cloth. After staying in Mecca for seven days, he wanted to carry the black stone to the Yemen, but the rabbis told him not to do that. Naturally, there is a poem describing Abş Karib’s visit to the Kaȧba 69 as well as a variety of poems by him about his own great accomplishments and the appearance of the Prophet from the Quraysh. 70 68 At 451.16–17. The poem is not found in as-Samaw’al’s DĩwĆn. See chap. 11 §13, p. 197 below. 69 At 453.9ff. (in the meter ʞawĩl ). 70 At 453.17ff. (in the meter kĆmil ). This poem also occurs in Ibn IsʘĆq, Sĩrat Rasşl AllĆh, 11ff., and aʜ-ʝabarĩ, Ta’rĩkh ar-rusul wa-’l-mulşk, 2.109. See chap. 10 §20,

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39

MuȧĆwiya interjects that Muʘammad’s heirs had inherited the kingdom once ruled by the ʗimyar. God took it away from the ʗimyar after the Prophet’s arrival and gave it to his family (472.8ff.). 71 Another military expedition took Abş Karib and his troops to Iraq where they found life luxurious (472.17ff.). He prepared to march against the Persian king QubĆdh. He advanced to al-ʗĩra and camped along the Euphrates as far as Kufa. The Persians under QubĆdh assembled at BĆbil ready to wage war. Abş Karib sent his nephew Shammar Dhş al-JanĆʘ in the vanguard of his troops to search for QubĆdh, while he himself got lost wandering in the desert of al-ʗĩra. When he finally found himself not far from the place where he had started, he named the place al-ʗĩra because he got lost (ʚĆra) there. He proceeded to BĆbil, where he routed QubĆdh and his army. They fled to ar-Rayy. Shammar pursued them, killed QubĆdh, and defeated his troops. Abş Karib returned to al-ʗĩra after destroying QubĆdh. Abş Karib’s next foray took him to KhurĆsĆn (493.15). He recited a long poem in which he spoke of a man “snatching the kingdom,” yaghtaʜibu ’l-mulka. 72 ȧAbĩd tells MuȧĆwiya, who was curious to know the meaning of this phrase (478.16ff.), that the reference is to a man called al-QaʘʜĆnĩ, a descendant of QaʘʜĆn whose name had three letters. 73 All of the earth will be his, and he will call others to God. This will take place at the end of the kingdom of the Quraysh. MuȧĆwiya asks whether their kingdom will disappear before the coming of the Hour. ȧAbĩd’s answer was: Yes, if the Quraysh have differences, but before Jesus would come to purify Mecca and Medina. The descendant of QaʘʜĆn will emerge at that time. 74 The circumstances of Abş Karib’s death involve, again, two rabbis (481.9ff.). They had come to the Yemen to advise him about religious matters. He decided to accept their beliefs and to believe in their prophet MşsĆ b. ȧImrĆn and the Torah. Further, he asked the rabbis to invite the ʗimyar to accept Judaism. The ʗimyar were insulted and enraged by this idea and p. 188 below, for the poem at 455.17ff. The poems at 457.1ff., 458.4ff., 460.15ff., are all in the meter khafĩf. Verses from the poem beginning on p. 458 also appear in MaȧĆrif, 635; Bad’, 3.180; Murşj, 1.76, trans., 1.56; and Mulşk, 134ff. 71 MuȧĆwiya’s point was that God gave what was once a South Arabian kingdom to the Quraysh, who were of North Arabian origin. 72 At 473.18ff. (in the meter mutaqĆrib). See chap. 10 §22, p. 190 below. The phrase occurs at 478.15. 73 ȧAbĩd refers to a future event of great concern to Muslim eschatology. 74 Two poems by Abş Karib interrupt the narrative, 479.4ff. (in the meter mutaqĆrib) and 480.10ff. (in the meter wĆfir).

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demanded that he kill the rabbis. Abş Karib permitted them to subject the rabbis to an ordeal in order to determine whether they were telling the truth about their religion. They took the rabbis to a famous place in the Yemen, said to be in ʙanȧĆ’, where a roaring fire consumed liars and spared the truthful. The rabbis entered the blaze reciting the Torah and passed through it untouched. The leaders of the ʗimyar walked into it and were burned to death. After this ordeal, the fire went out. The ʗimyar revolted against Abş Karib anyway and wanted to kill him. He asked that he at least be allowed to install his son, ʗassĆn, as their ruler, and that he be buried standing upright so that the kingdom might never leave their hands. If they obeyed him, their power would continue undiminished. He exhorted ʗassĆn to go to a certain mountain in the Yemen and to do what he would be commanded. When he had finished his final instructions, the ʗimyar assaulted Abş Karib, murdering him (482.6ff.). They attempted to bury him upright, but they could not do so and were forced to bury him prone. This made them regret that they had killed him. After his father’s rule of 320 years, ʗassĆn was put in charge of the government. ʗassĆn appointed his brother, Maȧadd Yakrub, 75 to take over for him while he went to the mountain where his father had instructed him to go. A woman met him there and asked him to take a seat. He refused because of the worms he saw on his bed and pillow. Next she presented him with several human heads and asked him to eat them. Again he refused. She offered him a drink from a vessel filled with blood, which he also declined. The woman chastised him for having disobeyed his father’s command to do whatever he was told to do on the mountain. She exhorted him to kill his father’s murderers if he did not want to be killed himself. She also confirmed that his rule would be short. ʗassĆn returned home to his mother and described what had happened to him (482.19ff.). She explained to him that his reign would have been long and easy if he had sat down on the worms; that the ʗimyar and the bedouins would have submitted to him if he had eaten the heads; and that he would have become able to spill the blood of the people of the earth if he had drunk the vessel full of blood. During this time, the two tribes of the ʝasm and the Jadĩs 76 (483.4ff.), descendants of Iram b. SĆm, were living in al-YamĆma, called in those days 75 76

See G. Ryckmans, “Inscriptions sud-arabes, 10e série,” 308 no. 510. Murşj, 2.264–72, trans., 2.433–38, uses ȧAbĩd’s account.

CONTENTS OF AKHBąR

41

Jaww al-Qarya. Their story is the sixth and last cycle. 77 The ʝasm had the upper hand over the Jadĩs and tyrannized them. Previously, the Jadĩs had owned the best land and been very prosperous, but then they were humiliated and abased. Their honor was defiled, their prosperity ruined. One day, Huzayla and QĆshir, a married couple of the Jadĩs, argued about the custody of their son. QĆshir had divorced his wife and wanted to take the child away from her. They brought the case before ȧImlĩq, the oppressive king of the ʝasm (483.11ff.). Huzayla and QĆshir both demanded custody of the child and were unwilling to compromise. ȧImlĩq was unable to settle the issue, so he ordered that the boy become one of his servants. He commanded Huzayla to bear another child for QĆshir and to surrender that child to him after its birth. ȧImlĩq also ordered that after this she never marry again. She repudiated his order, and ȧImlĩq commanded the enslavement of both wife and husband. This harsh verdict moved Huzayla to compose a short poem. 78 ȧImlĩq tyrannically claimed the jus primae noctis from the women of the Jadĩs (484.5f.). This practice continued all the time until ȧUfayra, a woman of the Jadĩs, was taken to ȧImlĩq before going to her new husband. Slave girls reciting verses accompanied her. 79 Enraged by her humiliation, she exhorted the Jadĩs with spirited poems to make war on the ʝasm. 80 Al-Aswad, her brother, proposed a plan under which his people would invite the ʝasm to a banquet (485.13ff.). The Jadĩs would attack them when the ʝasm took off their weapons and were defenseless. Al-ȧUfayra, again reciting poetry, rejected the plan, provoking a reply in verse from her brother. 81 The ʝasm came to the feast without their weapons, completely defenseless, and the Jadĩs annihilated them. The story ends abruptly after several more poems. 82 ȧAbĩd mentions that a ʝasmite woman was about to eulogize her tribe.

77 This story occurs in TĩjĆn, 297–98, in abbreviated form under the heading of ʗassĆn b. Asȧad al-KĆmil. 78 At 484.2ff. (in the meter ʞawĩl ). See also Murşj, 2.265, trans., 2.434. 79 At 484.11–12 (in the meter rajaz). See Murşj, 2.266, trans., 2.435. 80 At 484.15–16 (in the meter rajaz), 484.21ff. (in the meter ʞawĩl ). See Murşj, 2.266–67, trans., 2.435–36. 81 At 485.18ff. (in the meter ʞawĩl ), 486.2ff. (in the meter basĩʞ), 486.7ff. (in the meter basĩʞ). 82 At 486.17ff. (in the meter rajaz), 486.21ff. (in the meter basĩʞ), 487.5ff. (in the meter basĩʞ).

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At this point the manuscripts are said to break off (487.13–14). 83 In the edition of AkhbĆr, excerpts from Ibn al-Athĩr’s al-KĆmil conclude the story (487.16ff.), 84 describing the story of ʗassĆn b. Abĩ Karib’s expedition to al-YamĆma on behalf of the ʝasm, his slaughter of the Jadĩs, and the proverbial, keen-eyed ZarqĆ’ al-YamĆma. The abrupt ending of AkhbĆr in the middle of a story leaves uncertainty about the intended ending. There are no concluding remarks or other indications that this story was in fact the last one of the work. Thus, the original length of AkhbĆr may never be known. The preceding pages present synopses of the six preserved cycles. They reflect the contents of the prose portions of the text but leave out many incidental episodes that add much flavor and suspense. No attention has been paid to the contents of the many poems that are intended to support the narrative and provide colorful details. They evoke the reactions of the characters involved in the narrative and thus fulfill an important literary function. For an Arab like MuȧĆwiya who was interested in his own cultural and historical heritage, ȧAbĩd’s material was both entertaining and informative. MuȧĆwiya’s role is restricted to occasional questions and instructions, compliments, and brief comments. 85 He gives the appearance of an enthusiastic and careful listener, praising ȧAbĩd with exclamations such as “Bravo!” and “Excellent!” and “Well Said!” 86 At one point, he curses a hateful character, the treacherous servant of SulaymĆn named ąʛaf. 87 Sometimes he requests further clarification, giving ȧAbĩd the opportunity to stress the importance of or expand one subject or another. Thus he asks about the genealogies of LuqmĆn and a certain Tubbaȧ, or the situation of the Aws and the Khazraj in Medina in relation to the Jews. 88 MuȧĆwiya also manifests some specific interests. For example, he suggests that ȧAbĩd address himself to special topics, such as the most ancient 83 The editor notes that the Hyderabad ms. contains a blank space of about seven lines in this place. The British Library ms. is blank as well on fol. 181b. 84 The British Library ms. instead has a selection from Murşj (2.270ff., trans., 2.436ff.). See ch. 5 below, p. 63, and Ibn al-Athĩr, al-KĆmil fĩ t-ta’rĩkh, 1.354. This excerpt seems to be the insertion of the Hyderabad editor from a modern edition of KĆmil. 85 At 314.9–17, trans., 73; 396.7–10, trans., 176; 472.9–15, for example. 86 Viz., 349.18, 356.6, 376.19, 435.12. 87 At 418.13. 88 At 356.10–11, 435.12–13, 451.7–10.

CONTENTS OF AKHBąR

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Arabs, BĆbil, the ȧąd, LuqmĆn, and the Jurhum. 89 He frequently asks ȧAbĩd to recite poetry in order to confirm what he has described. The caliph attaches enough importance to the information he expects to receive from ȧAbĩd to order his secretaries to record it by writing down every word. 90 MuȧĆwiya’s attitude is obviously depicted in a manner such that it will help to arouse the curiosity of the intended audience and that of AkhbĆr’s readers. AkhbĆr demonstrates that ȧAbĩd attributed a glorious history to the southern Arabs. He tended to extol their magnificent heritage at the expense of that of the northern Arabs. The powerful dynasty of the ʗimyar is especially noted for its pre-eminent civilization, mighty conquests, and farflung journeys. The ʗimyar here predicted the coming of the Prophet and were able to boast about one of their own rulers, Bilqĩs, as a precursor of Islam. What MuȧĆwiya heard about the JĆhiliyya in the Yemen left no room for doubting the incomparable greatness of South Arabia’s history. It must have been the author’s intention to create this impression in order to please MuȧĆwiya, himself a descendant of the northern Arabs through the Banş Qays, 91 and who had married a woman of the Banş Kalb 92 of the southern Arabs, on whom the caliph relied for political support. She was the mother of Yazĩd. 93 Thus ȧAbĩd’s story bolstered MuȧĆwiya’s blood line and political base.

89

At 314.10–12, trans., 73; 325.6, trans., 87; 356.5–7; 396.13–14396. At 313.9–10, trans., 71; 314.18–19, trans., 74. 91 See M. Hinds, EI2, 7:263, s.v. “MuȧĆwiya I,” and W. Montgomery Watt, EI2, 4:833, s.v. “ ays ȧAylĆn.” 92 See J. W. Fück, EI2, 4:492, s.v. “Kalb b. Wabara.” 93 See G. R. Hawting, EI2, 11:309, s.v. “Yazĩd I.” 90

3 THE POEMS Questions about the literary type, origin, authorship, nature, and text of the poems pervade AkhbĆr. For purposes of organization in part III, the Comparative Register, I have divided the poems into two groups, those which have a TĩjĆn counterpart, and those which occur in the works of well-known poets. The majority of the poems in AkhbĆr do not fall into either of these groups. Poets who are quoted by name in AkhbĆr and whose DĩwĆns or collected verses are preserved are: ȧAbĩd b. al-Abraʛ, Imru’ al-Qays, anNĆbigha adh-DhubyĆnĩ, al-AȧshĆ, al-ȧAbbĆs b. MirdĆs, Umayya b. Abĩ aʛʙalt, Labĩd b. Rabĩȧa, and ʗassĆn b. ThĆbit. 1 Some poems show little variation from the text found in the DĩwĆns or collections of verses; we may conclude that a standard recension was in circulation which ȧAbĩd knew by heart. Other poems show a great number of variants from the DĩwĆn versions, but these variants often have their counterparts in variants attested in the DĩwĆns. The variant readings in AkhbĆr probably owe their existence to at least five factors in various combinations. These are (1) several differing but original oral versions of the poem which eventually were written down; (2) the particular way in which ȧAbĩd recited one of them from memory, with deletions, additions, and rephrasing of his own; (3) the miscopying of what ȧAbĩd originally said, or of later written texts, by the compiler of AkhbĆr; (4) scribal ignorance or error during the course of manuscript transmission; and (5) misquotation from memory by the compiler of AkhbĆr. It may be noted that the editor of Umayya’s DĩwĆn finds ȧAbĩd’s version of one of Umayya’s verses to be the only possibly correct one. 2

1

I list the poems of these poets in chap. 11 in the order in which they appear in AkhbĆr. The poem attributed to as-Samaw’al b. ȧądiyĆ in AkhbĆr, 451.16–17, is not found in his DĩwĆn. See chap. 11 §13, p. 197 below. 2 AkhbĆr, 396.4. See n. 145 on p. 176 below to the translation of the story of the Thamşd, and chap. 11 §11, p. 195 below. 45

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In at least three instances, ȧAbĩd’s attributions are erroneous. He attributes a poem to either an-NĆbigha or Umayya when, in fact, it belongs to neither poet, 3 and he misattributes a poem of the famous al-AȧshĆ to an unidentified Asad b. Rabĩȧa al-KilĆbĩ. 4 Also, the poem he attributes to asSamaw’al b. ȧądiyĆ does not occur in his DĩwĆn (see n. 1 above). Poems with a TĩjĆn counterpart usually show a large number of often significant variants from the text in TĩjĆn. This suggests that they had distinctly different, rather than mutually interdependent, channels of transmission. We must assume, then, that the poems in AkhbĆr and their counterparts in TĩjĆn most likely derived from earlier versions which had a long history of independent transmission by the time they were incorporated into AkhbĆr and TĩjĆn. The original versions are beyond our reach. If they ever existed (see Monroe’s views, discussed in the next paragraph), only the discovery of new material might enable us to reconstruct them. James Monroe 5 investigates variants in the poems of ʗassĆn b. ThĆbit in the “ʗassĆn cycle” that show that they were composed orally. Some of his suggestions are applicable to the poems in AkhbĆr and their TĩjĆn counterparts. Monroe suggests that original texts do not exist for poems circulated orally. Different oral versions of such poems account for differing written traditions when Arab scribes and scholars first wrote them down. All of the variants in these versions may be valid when an original text cannot be established, because the variants come from different recensions and not just from scribal error. Presumably, the poems in AkhbĆr were essentially oral in origin; they passed through long periods of oral transmission before they were fixed in writing. Though some variations can be explained as scribal errors and attributed to confusion that arose in the written transmission, the vast bulk of the poetry throughout AkhbĆr shows the corruptive effect of prolonged oral transmission. This contradicts the assumption that some single author invented the poems in a later period; at least the great majority of them could not have originated in this way. A number of long poems of the same meter and rhyme appear in pairs and triplets. The following table gives poems in AkhbĆr which occur in duplicate or triplicate. Their occurrence recalls the popular forms of poetical contests and also confirms the assumption of their oral origins. 3

See chap. 11 §2, p. 191 below. See chap. 11 §7, p. 193 below. 5 See James Monroe, “The Poetry of the Sĩrah Literature,” 369–71, and “Oral Composition in Pre-Islamic Poetry,” 41. 4

THE POEMS pair pair pair pair pair pair pair pair pair pair pair triplet triplet triplet

316.17ff., 318.18ff. 318.6–13 327.21ff., 328.10ff. 329.19ff., 330.6ff. 334.1–8 338.4–16 345.3ff., 351.9ff. 382.9–12, 383.1–4 392.16ff., 393.2ff. 484.15–16, 486.17–19 486.2–12 317.11ff., 328.18ff., 329.6ff. 374.1ff., 380.16ff., 381.5ff. 403.5, 9ff., 433.16

47 rajaz rajaz rajaz rajaz wĆfir rajaz ramal wĆfir sarĩȧ rajaz basĩʞ rajaz wĆfir wĆfir

The real authorship of the non-DĩwĆn poems remains problematic. Was ȧAbĩd himself a spontaneous oral poet who might have drawn on his deep knowledge of South Arabian lore as background for his verses? Or was he essentially repeating poems that were circulating in the milieu in which he moved? Monroe states that oral poets do not memorize the verses of others, and that “conscious memorization plays no part in the technique of the oral poet.” 6 He suggests that, instead, they compose orally, having gained mastery of themes, names, and formulae. ȧAbĩd obviously had memorized DĩwĆn poems, and the existence of a large number of different versions in TĩjĆn clearly shows that he was not their original author. In addition, he was not known by later writers as a poet. It is therefore likely that ȧAbĩd was essentially not an “oral” poet. He merely recited known verses of poems, probably with his own rephrasings. According to Monroe, 7 Arabic poems of up to a hundred or so lines could be memorized easily. The poems in AkhbĆr are all relatively short, running in length from just one verse to a maximum of 103 verses. 8 ȧAbĩd might have cited them from memory. Yet, Monroe says that improvisation and memorization are not mutually exclusive and can both be part of an unconscious process in the mind of the poet as he recites. This may well have been the case with ȧAbĩd.

6

Monroe, “Oral Composition,” 8. Ibid., 40. 8 Poems of one line occur in AkhbĆr, 433.16 and 472.7. Asȧad Abş Karib’s poem of 103 verses begins at 473.18ff. 7

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Michael Piotrovsky of the Oriental Institute in Leningrad has expressed an interesting view on the origin of at least some of the poems in AkhbĆr. 9 He thinks that their inspiration might be found in the political situation that existed in Syria during the reign of MuȧĆwiya. According to him, these poems might reflect the hostilities between the warring factions of the Qays (North Arabians) and the Kalb (South Arabians). In fact, references to the victorious Kalb and the defeated Qays abound in the poems in AkhbĆr, 10 and their presumed authors thus represented particular tribal interests. They might be assumed to have been composed for circulation among various tribal factions and to have served the purpose of propagandizing the greatness of ancient South Arabia and the powerful Kalb. Modern scholars are convinced 11 that the conflict between northern and southern Arabian tribal groups originated in very early Islamic times. ȧAbĩd could thus have been in the vanguard of the poetical competition that inevitably accompanied the conflict. It seems rather unlikely that he could have been an active political propagandist. In his glorification of South Arabian history, he may have followed southern oral tradition rather than consciously participated in a local Syrian propaganda war. Yet, in the presence of MuȧĆwiya, his basic theme would seem to have had strong political overtones. An obviously fictional element is the attribution of poetic authorship to the Tubbaȧ kings of the ʗimyar. Not every Tubbaȧ king is likely to have been a poet. The journeys to remote countries such as Iraq, Azerbayjan, Persia, KhurĆsĆn, India, Tibet, and China celebrated in the poems were ficProfessor Piotrovsky discussed his views with me in ʙanȧĆ’ in October 1981. The Qays and the Kalb, or allusions to them, occur in verses by Asȧad Abş Karib. The theme exalts the conquering Kalb and belittles the humiliated, defeated Qays. See, for instance, 461.13: 9

10

We [the ʗimyar] plundered the region between Yathrib and Syria with the Kalb and the army of the GhassĆn.

Or 471.4–5: They [the ʗimyar] brought the Qays and their allies down Until the high ones came to lie upon the low ones. The Qays are still food for us [the ʗimyar]; We gobble them up with canine and jutting teeth.

475.7 reads: I [Abş Karib] put the Qays in the land of al-ʗijĆz To weave striped cloaks and sew waterskins. 11

See I. Goldziher, Muslim Studies, 1:90–95; J. Wellhausen, The Arab Kingdom and Its Fall, 180; M. A. ShaȧbĆn, Islamic History A.D. 600–750, 120.

THE POEMS

49

titious. References to a Prophet from the Quraysh and eschatological references are anachronistic and cannot possibly date back to the time of the Tubbaȧs. 12 And no Tubbaȧ would have used Arabic and the established meters of Classical Arabic poetry in his poems. 13 The conclusion imposes itself that the poems were composed by speakers of Arabic who wished to express nationalistic fervor and Yemenĩ patriotism and who gave at least lip service to Islam. This could have happened already in the seventh century soon after the final destruction of South Arabian independence. The use of established meters reflects the Classical Arabic poetic tradition. A noticeable familiarity with Central and North Arabian tribal traditions and with geographical locations far from the Yemen 14 is a possible but hardly decisive clue as to where to look for the original home of the poets. On the other hand, many names of tribes or places attested in ESA and known also to al-HamdĆnĩ occur in the ʗimyar cycle. 15 Only a poet who was knowledgeable about South Arabian tribal confederations, alliances, and ancient historical traditions could have spoken of them in such detail. The author(s) of poems in the ʗimyar cycle might, like ȧAbĩd, have been Yemenĩ in origin as well as familiar with the traditions both of the ʗimyar and the tribes of North Arabia. Practically all the poetry in AkhbĆr does not belong to the high artistic kind of poetry that was cultivated by the famous poets of pre-Islamic and 12

In “Oral Composition,” 39–40, Monroe expresses the view that as cultural conditions change, poems often undergo modification in their vocabulary and themes. Many pre-Islamic poems refer to AllĆh and contain Qur’Ćnic quotations. Islamic elements were absorbed with the changing of the times. De-paganization by rĆwĩs thus may account for references to Muʘammad in the poems by the Tubbaȧ kings and the descendants of SĆm in the Yemen. See also chap. 4 below, pp. 57–58. 13 No poetry in ESA has been preserved, if indeed the ʗimyarites did have a poetic tradition in South Arabian. Hmyaritic poetry may have been in Arabic. 14 For example, Abş Karib’s poems speak of al-Mushaqqar (459.13, 462.7), which was a fortress between NajrĆn and al-Baʘrayn said to belong to the ʝasm (BuldĆn, 4.541), and the Khaybar oasis (462.18). Specific mountains of al-ʗijĆz occur in verses in the story of the Thamşd (see n. 132 on p. 173). 15 See, for example, AkhbĆr, 446.17, FarȧĆn and Dhş Aʛbaʘ (ȧAbd AllĆh, “Personennamen,” 56, 81); 446.21, Dhş FĆ’ish (ibid., 56); 447.1, Dhş KilĆȧ and Dhş Ruȧayn (ibid., 56, 54); 447.3, Dhş MaȧĆhir (ibid., 58) for the names of South Arabian tribes in a poem by Asȧad Abş Karib. In this same poem, see 447.6 for Z.afĆr (Iklĩl, 8, trans., 22); 447.8, Hakir (Iklĩl, 8, trans., 55); 447.9, Baynşn (Iklĩl, 8, trans., 40); 447.10, ShahrĆn (Iklĩl, 8, trans., 53); 447.12, GhumdĆn (Iklĩl, 8, trans., 8); 447.13, AzĆl (Iklĩl, 8, trans., 8); 447.14, GhaymĆn (Iklĩl, 8, trans., 49) for fortresses in the Yemen.

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early Islamic times and has ever since been considered Classical Arabic poetry. It represents a popular type of poetry that existed side by side with the other forms of poetic expression and which is an art still practiced among bedouins and rural people. Monroe 16 describes the similar poetry of the Sĩra literature as “heroic in tone.” It uses the first person singular or plural and “conveys to the listener certain subjective reactions and attitudes to important events and achievements narrated in the prose sections of the Sĩrah.” In contrast, “epic” poems tell a long story in the third person built around a central figure. In this sense, the poems in AkhbĆr, especially in the cycle of SĆm’s descendants and the ʗimyar cycle, might be considered “heroic” because they boast of glorious deeds and illustrious ancestors. 17 The first person singular and plural occur in verses reacting to events narrated in prose; this applies to every cycle of AkhbĆr except for that of SulaymĆn and Bilqĩs. 18 Most of the poems attributed to the Tubbaȧ kings might also be considered “epic” because they recount in great narrative detail the story of the king as a central figure and his tribe’s major expeditions and bold accomplishments. 19 The Tubbaȧ‘s poems, therefore, could be assigned to a genre which encompasses both “heroic” and “epic” characteristics.

16

Monroe, “Poetry,” 369. See Yaȧrub’s poem, 316.17ff., trans., 77; and ʝasm’s poem, 319.6ff., trans., 82. These and almost all of the poems by and about the Tubbaȧ kings speak of ʚasab and nasab. 18 See 316.17–20, trans., 77; 317.11, trans., 79; 319.6, trans., 82; and passim in the cycle of SĆm’s descendants. All of LuqmĆn’s poems use the first person singular (356.14ff.). For the ȧąd and the Thamşd, see 334.1–4, trans., 102; 382.10–14, trans., 157. In the cycle of the ʗimyar, see 409.4–9, 438.9–20, 440.5ff., 442.4ff., and many other places. For the ʝasm and Jadĩs, see the poems, 484–86. 19 For example, see as-Samaydaȧ’s poem about Ifrĩqĩs, 409.4ff.; Tubbaȧ alAkhbĆr’s poem, 438.9ff.; and Asȧad Abş Karib’s poems, 440.5ff., 444.3ff. 17

4 AUTHENTICITY AND DATING The date and authenticity of the preserved text of AkhbĆr present fundamental problems. To our knowledge, no old manuscripts are preserved. More than seven centuries elapsed between the compilation of the text, supposedly by al-Barqĩ (d. 249/863), and the earliest available manuscript, which is dated in 1031/1622. 1 If MuȧĆwiya’s secretaries complied with his wish that they write down ȧAbĩd's narrative to preserve it for posterity (317.9), they would have required some material on which to write. They would have used papyrus or, possibly, parchment; paper became known in the Islamic world many years later. When the work was transcribed on paper, much of ȧAbĩd’s original wording may have been lost. Certainly many additions could have entered the text then and, of course, later on. The mention of al-Barqĩ as a transmitter of AkhbĆr remains ambiguous. The isnĆd at the beginning: ʚaddathanĆ ȧAbĩd b. Sharya al-Jurhumĩ ȧan-i ’lBarqĩ (312.4 and note) is patently incorrect. Al-Barqĩ’s role is difficult to assess. No doubt, he played an important function in the transmission of the text, and it is very likely that the sagas as collected in AkhbĆr were known in the circle of Ibn HishĆm and al-Barqĩ. As Ibn HishĆm’s student and transmitter, al-Barqĩ may have found AkhbĆr among Ibn HishĆm’s materials, which he did not transmit under his own name. We cannot entirely dismiss the possibility that al-Barqĩ himself, or someone else in his circle, may have fabricated AkhbĆr, but real evidence to cast doubt on ȧAbĩd’s original authorship does not exist. The lack of firm knowledge about the transmission of the work through the centuries adds to our uncertainty. Interpolations, some of them attributed to individuals who were approximate contemporaries of ȧAbĩd, are usually marked as such. 2 The extent of the interpolation on the authority of the famous transmitter ash-Shaȧbĩ 1 2

See chap. 5 below, p. 62. See chap. 1 above, p. 13, and n. 48. 51

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(d. 103/721) 3 is unclear because the point where ȧAbĩd’s own tale resumes is not expressly marked. It concerns the campaign of Qutayba b. Muslim (d. 96/715) leading to his conquest of Samarqand (93/712). A stone bearing a supposedly ʗimyaritic inscription was found there. Nothing in the form or content of this tradition is inherently implausible, but at the end ȧAbĩd and MuȧĆwiya, who had died much earlier, are presented as conversing about Qutayba (430.12–13). The problem may be solved by assuming textual corruption and by explaining the suffix -nĩ, “me,” in balaghanĩ at the beginning as referring to Ibn HishĆm. A better version is reported by Ibn HishĆm in TĩjĆn with an isnĆd leading back to ash-Shaȧbĩ. 4 This dubious inference constitutes the only evidence that Ibn HishĆm may have had something to do with the editorship of AkhbĆr. On the authority of Wahb b. Munabbih (d. ca. 110/728), another interpolation mentions the names of the nine men who conspired to hamstring the she-camel of the Thamşd (379.2–5). 5 No definite link between ȧAbĩd and Wahb can be established, as we have noted above (chap. 1, p. 7). And no evidence exists to suggest that Wahb was associated with AkhbĆr as either author or compiler. Whatever possible connections may have existed between ȧAbĩd and Wahb, someone other than Wahb must have been at work in this instance. Five traditions are connected with Ibn IsʘĆq (d. 150/767). 6 The first, on the location of Hşd’s grave in ʗaʡramawt, has a long isnĆd going back to ȧAlĩ b. Abĩ ʝĆlib. The remaining four, which occur in the story of the Thamşd, are quoted directly on the authority of Ibn IsʘĆq. All of these interpolations date from about the same period, the century after ȧAbĩd, but we have no means to determine precisely when they entered the text of AkhbĆr during the course of its transmission. Besides these external additions, the text also contains statements and allusions that are not in accord with the supposed time of its compilation. For example, ȧAbĩd frequently cites traditions on Qur’Ćnic verses from Ibn ȧAbbĆs (d. 69/686), introducing them to MuȧĆwiya by saying: “I heard your cousin ȧAbd AllĆh b. ȧAbbĆs say ….” 7 It is certainly plausible that ȧAbĩd 3

See chap. 2 above, p. 33 and n. 53. Ibid. 5 See the translation below, p. 152. 6 AkhbĆr, 350.7ff., trans. 125; 378.5ff., trans. 151; 381.18ff., trans. 156; 382.1ff., trans. 156; 394.1ff., trans. 173. 7 AkhbĆr, 326.4–5, 327.1–2, 336.5, 372.20, and passim. 4

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heard traditions directly from Ibn ȧAbbĆs, his contemporary. Ibn ȧAbbĆs may not always have been on good terms with MuȧĆwiya, considering the former’s support for ȧAlĩ’s bid to become caliph. Nearer the end of his life, Ibn ȧAbbĆs visited the court in Damascus, 8 where he was well received; it may not have been impolitic for ȧAbĩd to refer to him. There is no clear evidence to prove that references to Ibn ȧAbbĆs were later interpolations meant to flatter the ruling ȧAbbĆsids. Ibn ȧAbbĆs’s reputation as the outstanding Qur’Ćn commentator may have been well established in ȧAbĩd’s time. Esteem and affection may have prompted ȧAbĩd to call him “your cousin.” Expressions in the text which possibly indicate Shĩȧite sympathies also merit our concern. It seems doubtful that ȧAbĩd would have blessed Muʘammad’s family in MuȧĆwiya’s presence (314.8, 323.14), and even more doubtful that MuȧĆwiya himself wouid bless the Prophet’s family (455.14, 472.11–12). These formulas may not have been original and could have been inserted into the text during later stages of its transmission. The opening lines of the text (312.3), for instance, which bless the Prophet’s “pure family,” are clearly not part of ȧAbĩd’s work. A more difficult question is whether AkhbĆr’s two references to a Mahdĩ figure would have been possible in the seventh century, especially in the form in which they occur, let alone in connection with MuȧĆwiya. The text states that at the end of time the Berbers will gather around a descendant of FĆʜima whose disciples will be called al-ghurabĆ’ (323.15–18). 9 A verse in a poem by Tubbaȧ Abş Karib speaks of a “snatcher” of the kingdom (478.15). ȧAbĩd explains to MuȧĆwiya that a descendant of QaʘʜĆn called al-QaʘʜĆnĩ, whose ism had three letters and who would rule the earth and call others to God, is the one to whom Abş Karib was referring (478.16–21). 10 These references might cast suspicion on ȧAbĩd’s authorship of AkhbĆr in its present form. They could indicate that at least part of its contents was fabricated by someone who wanted either to promote the Shĩȧite cause or to champion the South Arabian cause in the north–south tribal rivalries of the Umayyad period. MuȧĆwiya’s reported involvement in this dialogue would have been intended to disguise their ulterior purpose and to make their implications more respectable. 8 9

See L. Veccia Vaglieri, EI2, 1:40, s.v. “ȧAbd AllĆh b. al-ȧAbbĆs.” Reference to al-ghurĆbiyya is most probably not intended. See chap. 2 above, p.

17. 10

See chap. 2 above, p. 39.

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It seems more likely that ȧAbĩd in fact expressed ideas which, given his South Arabian origin, came naturally to him and passed unchallenged at the time. References to the future appearance of descendants of FĆʜima and QaʘʜĆn suggest that ȧAbĩd was interested in the rise to power of a South Arabian Mahdĩ. These allusions might reflect a South Arabian yearning for a new charismatic leader in his country’s glorious tradition. One might apply to ȧAbĩd Montgomery Watt’s arguments that the powerful idea of divine kingship that was deeply rooted in South Arabia continued to influence seventh-century Arabs of South Arabian origin. 11 Definite proof for the text’s original date or political purpose, however, cannot be found in all the facts mentioned. Many references occur to foreign peoples little known to the Arabs of MuȧĆwiya’s time. We can safely assume that during the early years of Islam, Muslim scholars were familiar with the table of nations in the book of Genesis which classifies the peoples of the earth as descendants of SĆm, ʗĆm, and YĆfith. It is doubtful, however, that there was then much known about the Turks, Slavs, Bulgars (BurjĆn), Spaniards (AsbĆn) (321.13–16), Daylam (476.18), Berbers and Zanj (321.19, 322.20, 476.19). Yet we cannot prove that ȧAbĩd did not know about them. He claims to have received information on distant peoples and even to have participated himself in raids in northern Mesopotamia, Azerbayjan, and Turkish and Khazar lands where he documented reports about former raids by the Tubbaȧ kings and asked the Khazars about their way of life (436.7–8, 438.3–5). By the beginning of MuȧĆwiya’s reign, Muslim forays into KhurĆsĆn and Turkish lands had already taken place. 12 Even if ȧAbĩd never undertook those journeys to remote countries, knowledge of their inhabitants could have been available to him. It comes as no surprise that ȧAbĩd took for granted the geographical information furnished by the Qur’Ćn (321.13–15), 13 and that he knew about Ethiopia and the Copts (322.20, 324.1–3). 14 What he says about Ifrĩqĩs and the Berbers may have been part of the folklore generally known in his days (322.7–10).

11

See Montgomery Watt, “Shĩȧism under the Umayyads,” and “The Muslim Yearning for a Saviour: Aspects of Early ȧAbbĆsid Shĩȧism.” 12 See L. Veccia Vaglieri, “The Patriarchal and Umayyad Caliphates,” 60–61, 71. 13 Gog and Magog occur in Qur’Ćn 18:94, 21:96. 14 Settlements along the Red Sea in the Yemen were and are populated by darkskinned people of Ethiopian origin.

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The raids of Shammar Yarȧash in Iraq and Persia and Abş Karib’s invasion of Central Arabia (see below) may have inspired ȧAbĩd’s reports about distant conquests and travels in the far west and far east by the Tubbaȧ kings of the ʗimyar. Such reports may well have formed part of the legendary heritage already in the seventh century. ȧAbĩd states that Ifrĩqĩs and Abraha Dhş al-ManĆr, kings of the ʗimyar, removed the Berbers from Palestine and settled them in the empty lands of the West (322.9–13, 407.18, 408.1–2). He credits later kings with expeditions to China and India. According to him, al-ʗĆrith ar-RĆ’ish conquered India, the land of Iraq, and Azerbayjan (401.4; 402.12, 17); Shammar Yarȧash traveled to Iraq, Persia, SijistĆn, KhurĆsĆn, Samarqand, and China, and his troops settled in Tibet (428.19; 429.1–2, 14–15; 433.3); Tubbaȧ al-Aqran visited the ends of the earth and the land of Rşm (433.18); Tubbaȧ ar-RĆ’id raided al-AnbĆr, Azerbayjan, Mosul, KhurĆsĆn, and China (435.21, 436.1, 437.8–9); and Asȧad Abş Karib ranged most of the world in his travels, which took him to Mecca, Medina, and al-YamĆma in northeastern Arabia, and on to Syria, Iraq, Persia, China, India, and Sind (440.1–2, 13–16440.; 441.17–18; 442.4, 10, 13, 19–20; 448.2; 451.19; 453.3). These imaginary exploits were invented for the purpose of creating a heroic image for South Arabian antiquity. Ibn Khaldşn doubted all these traditions and considered them completely untrustworthy. 15 The attribution of raids in Iraq and Persia to Shammar Yarȧash may, however, contain a kernel of truth. An ESA inscription seems to confirm his journeys to these lands far from the Yemen. It records that Shammar Yuharȧish, as the name appears in ESA, the “king of Saba’ and Dhş RaydĆn and ʗaʡramawt and Yemen” traveled with a delegation to “Qaʜşʛif and Kşk, the two royal states of Persia, and the land of the Tanşkh.” According to Walter Müller, these lands that Shammar reached should be identified with Ctesiphon and Seleucia. 16 Abş Karib’s raids in the Arabian peninsula may also have some historical basis. According to J. Ryckmans, 17 the Islamic tradition which makes 15

Ibn Khaldşn, al-Muqaddimah, 1.25. Walter Müller translates this inscription and discusses the readings of the localities of Qaʜşʛif and Kşk and the land of the Tanşkh in “Eine sabäische Gesandtschaft in Ktesiphon und Seleukeia,” 155–65. See especially lines 11–12 of the inscription. Ctesiphon and Seleucia, on the Tigris, were part of Sassanian Persia at this time. The Tanşkh were settled around the lower Euphrates. 17 See J. Ryckmans, L’Institution monarchique en Arabie méridionale avant l’Islam, 215–16 and notes. 16

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Abş Karib a conqueror of al-YamĆma appears to be confirmed by an ESA inscription. 18 The inscription was found in WĆdĩ MĆsil, about two hundred kilometers west of ar-RiyĆʡ, and refers by name to Asȧad Abş Karib and his son ʗassĆn. In it, Asȧad Abş Karib is given the title of “King of Saba’ and Dhş RaydĆn and ʗaʡramawt and the Yemen and of their bedouins of the high country [presumably, the Central Arabian plateau] and TihĆma.” It relates how the king with his son and allied tribes, most notably the Kinda, attacked a territory which, according to Ryckmans, may correspond to the present location of ad-DawĆdamĩ, fifty kilometers north of WĆdĩ MĆsil. ȧAbĩd’s reports of Abş Karib’s raids in Central Arabia may, therefore, be historical to some degree. On the other hand, his reported raid on Medina and his circumambulation of the Kaȧba in Mecca are most probably Islamic inventions. Scattered phrases redolent of Muslim theology appear in poems, which according to ȧAbĩd were composed in the JĆhiliyya. For example, Huzayla describes Hşd and his companions who were saved from God’s punishment as nĆhĩna ȧan-i ’l-munkar man khĆfa al-waȧĩd (344.17), “forbidding those who fear the threat [of punishment] to do what is objectionable.” 19 A poem by Abş Karib contains references to writing. Its author speaks of dĆris al-ȧalwĆn, “a faded title page” (462.18); kitĆb amĆn, “a letter of safe conduct” (463.2); and as-suʞşr, “rows of writing” (463.15). All three expressions might suppose soft writing materials. Some of the writing we have from ESA times is preserved on stone, and some on wooden sticks. 20 We know, however, of early writing in Arabia from pre-Islamic poetry, and it is possible to assume that South Arabian was also written on soft materials such as papyrus and parchment. Still, the mentioned passages seem to reflect later usage, which would be consistent with dating the poems of the Tubbaȧ kings in a much later period (see chap. 3 above, pp. 48f.).

18

G. Ryckmans published and discussed this inscription, RY 445, in “Inscriptions sud-arabes, 9e série,” 99–102, and “10e série,” 303–6. For the Islamic traditions on the travels of Asȧad Abş Karib, see Caussin de Perceval, Essai, 90ff.; Ibn IsʘĆq, Sĩra, 6–8; and Ibn Khaldşn, al-Muqaddimah, 1.22–23. Abş Karib is said to have passed through Medina and Mecca in AkhbĆr, 448.2, 451.19, 453.3; in TĩjĆn, 294.15–16, 296.2–3; and in many other sources. AkhbĆr, 442.4, 10, reports in verse that he passed through al-YamĆma. 19 See chap. 3 above, n. 12 on p. 49, for Monroe’s suggestion that pre-Islamic poems could have undergone depaganization and absorbed Islamic elements. It is impossible to tell whether this applies here. 20 See n. 23 on p. 57 for the ESA cursive script written on pieces of wood.

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Further sporadic references in the poems appear inconsistent with preIslamic times. Al-ʗĆrith b. Dhĩ Shadad, a ʗimyarite king, mentions the appearance of the flag of al-manʜŠr (taz.haru rĆyatu ’1-manʜŠri) following the rule of ʗĆm’s descendants (404.5–6). At first glance, this reference gives the impression of being an allusion to the second ȧAbbĆsid caliph al-ManʛŠr. But al-manʜŠr here evokes the concept of a “victorious” savior or Mahdĩ figure, which has been discussed above (p. 17). A verse attributed to Tubbaȧ al-Aqran Dhş al-Qarnayn quoted by NashwĆn 21 uses al-manʜŠr with reference to Muʘammad. NashwĆn also reports that al-manʜŠr designates a ʗimyarite who will restore justice and rule to the ʗimyar. Abş Karib repeatedly mentions Biblical data such as: lahş ummatun summiyat fĩ ’z-zabşrĩ, “he [Muʘammad] has a community named in the Psalms” (455.18), and katabnĆ ayyĆmanĆ fĩ ’z-zabşrĩ, “we recorded our battledays in the Psalms” (466.7). Zabşr, “psalter,” was known in pre-Islamic Arabia and occurs in the Qur’Ćn. 22 The Bible, including the Psalter, can be assumed to have been well known to the large Jewish and Christian communities in South Arabia, but we would hardly expect to find the Psalter mentioned in ostensibly pagan South Arabian poetry. Zabara has the meaning of engraving upon stone; thus the use of zabşr may possibly be an allusion to musnad writing. 23 The word is used in the sense of “documents” or “genealogical records” by al-HamdĆnĩ when he speaks of the ancient records of Yemenĩ tribes. 24 This would possibly make sense here. However, it could be that “psalter” is indeed intended in the passages cited, because Abş Karib had accepted the beliefs of two rabbis. The general meaning of zabşr as any sort of divine writing indicated in the Arabic dictionaries is all but excluded here. Abş Karib also speaks of Goliath and the land of scriptures (al-kutub) (477.14–15), and he hints at the coming of a leader in the path of right guidance (Muʘammad?) who will break the idols and crucifixes (477.21). These notions are no doubt part of very early Islamic tradition and can hardly be attributed to a South Arabian king of the fifth century A.D. More explicit references prefigure the coming of the Prophet. 25 The eponymous ancestor of the Thamşd announces: yabȧathu ’llĆhu la-kum walĩ21

See NashwĆn, MuntakhabĆt, 103. See J. Horovitz and R. Firestone, EI2, 11:372, s.v. “Zabşr.” 23 Zabşr may refer to a cursive script of ESA discovered in the Yemen, written on wooden sticks. See J. Ryckmans, W. W. Müller, and Y. M. Abdallah, Textes du Yemen antique inscrits sur bois. 24 See A. A. Dşrĩ, The Rise of Historical Writing among the Arabs, 15 nn. 6–7. 25 See n. 19 above. 22

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dan nabiyya ʜidqin, “God will send you a boy, a true prophet” (316.3). The ʗimyarite king al-ʗĆrith b. Dhĩ Shadad declares that yamliku baȧdahum rajulun ȧĆz.ĩmun nabiyyun La yurakhkhisu fĩ ’1-ʚarĆmi yusammĆ AʚmadĆ, “a great man called Aʘmad will rule after them, a Prophet who will not permit what is forbidden” (404.2–3). Abş Karib, too, recites many verses foreshadowing Muʘammad, again called Aʘmad and the “seal of the Prophets,” and associated with the Quraysh (455.17–18, 456.3–5). He also says that the Quraysh are distinguished by the Prophet who will forbid people to worship idols, and that Aʘmad’s name is found in the book of God (457.13– 15). These references prefiguring Muʘammad, and the other anachronistic references discussed above, cannot date from the fifth century A.D. They cast suspicion on the attributions of these poems and relegate their composition to Islamic times. ȧAbĩd himself reports traditions that he admits are doubtful. In the story of the Thamşd, ȧAbĩd admits that some of the names of the nine men who hamstrung the she-camel are not preserved (378.21). He also notes that only God knows which Tubbaȧ it really was who recited a certain verse of poetry (433.17). These admissions may be taken as confirmation of his overall integrity; he was not inclined to fabricate what he did not know. ȧAbĩd’s reply to MuȧĆwiya’s inquiry about why he traveled to the Turkish frontier to obtain information about Tubbaȧ ar-RĆ’id’s raid shows a certain understanding of the process of historical research. He said he went there because “when something is remote in time, and the memory of it is no longer alive, its origin disappears. Certainty about it cannot be achieved, and witnesses for it are dead” (436.8–9). Such expressions of doubt and lack of knowledge suggest, but of course do not prove, authenticity. AkhbĆr is the earliest extant source for many of the tales and also contains unique information. Therefore, separating documentable fact from legendary tradition is difficult. It is also all but impossible to determine whether ȧAbĩd invented much of his material or always reported what he had learned from others. The information that exists in outside sources such as the Qur’Ćn, pre-Islamic poetry, and ESA inscriptions provides only the framework for the contents of AkhbĆr. We may never know whether ȧAbĩd invented the prose portions of the narrative, embellished what already existed in oral tradition, or repeated some standard version of the tales that was in general circulation in his time. This much, however, seems clear: The method of compilation of AkhbĆr appears entirely consistent with what we know about the seventh century A.D. Historiography was then a fledgling craft. It is evident from the repetitious third-person accounts (MuȧĆwiya said—ȧAbĩd replied) that nei-

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ther MuȧĆwiya’s secretaries nor later editors offered critical analysis of the events described. 26 ȧAbĩd’s stories also appear to have been written down without much regard for literary style or organization. Franz Rosenthal has suggested that the form of historical writing such as AkhbĆr is composed of “stories built around some verses of poetry which gave lustre to the events they celebrate and which the stories serve to explain.” 27 Poetry was the traditional register and medium for the preservation and circulation of information among the pre-Islamic Arabs. ȧAbĩd appears to tell stories and then to illustrate them by reciting poems to confirm their events. Even though ȧAbĩd could have been the original author of some of this material, the poems and the prose stories probably should be seen as an inseparable oral tradition in which both complemented one another and circulated together. The cycles presented in AkhbĆr are not pure myth. They reflect an epical stage of history in which historical detail was mixed with legendary material. Some of the material is confirmed by Biblical and Qur’Ćnic references, the ESA inscriptions, pre-Islamic poetry, and later historical traditions. Oral tradition, the source of most of the poems in AkhbĆr, cannot be documented. This does not invalidate the kernels of historical truth it may contain or the value of AkhbĆr as a repository of ancient South Arabian lore. As a whole, AkhbĆr reflects a history colored by its author’s own background. Its purpose was to prove to MuȧĆwiya the superiority of the South Arabians and to impress him with their accomplishments in the Yemen during the JĆhiliyya. In this, ȧAbĩd succeeded.

26 An exception occurs in connection with ash-Shaȧbĩ’s tradition on Qutayba b. Muslim at the conquest of Samarqand (430.11–12). See above, p. 33. 27 Franz Rosenthal, “The Influence of the Biblical Tradition on Muslim Historiography,” 45.

5 THE MANUSCRIPTS AND EDITIONS OF AKHBĆR An appendix on p. 492 of the Hyderabad edition lists the manuscripts of TĩjĆn and AkhbĆr in a rather confused manner. The bibliographical tools available help little to clarify the indicated data. Essentially, it states that three manuscripts are extant in libraries in Hyderabad, London, and Berlin. The colophon of the Hyderabad manuscript (AkhbĆr, 489) states that the Vorlage (aʜl, referred to by Brockelmann as the ʙanȧĆ’ manuscript) 1 from which it was copied was written in DĆr al-ʗamrĆ’ prison in Qaʛr ʙanȧĆ’ 2 and was finished on Saturday, Rajab 26, 1034, corresponding to (Sunday) May 4, 1625. The long-term prisoner who wrote it was a certain Muʜahhar b. ȧAbd ar-RaʘmĆn b. al-Muʜahhar b. al-ImĆm Sharaf ad-Dĩn. 3 The location of this aʜl is not now known, and my efforts to find it in ʙanȧĆ’ have proven fruitless. I have also been unable to discover any other manuscript of AkhbĆr in the Yemen. The Hyderabad editor, Sayyid Zayn al-ȧąbidĩn al-Mşsawĩ, describes the Berlin manuscript as being older than the Hyderabad and British Library manuscripts. He states that the text of the Berlin manuscript shows many variants and is incomplete at the end. I have not been able to find any listing for a manuscript of AkhbĆr in Ahlwardt’s catalogue. Ahlwardt 4 (no. 9735) does list a manuscript containing only TĩjĆn and guesses its date to be 1

See chap. 1 above, n. 38 on p. 11. I have been unable to determine the exact location of DĆr al-ʗamrĆ’ prison or Qaʛr ʙanȧĆ’. Undoubtedly, they were within the walls of what is now known as “the old city” of ʙanȧĆ’. 3 In TĩjĆn, 310, we learn from the colophon that al-Muʜahhar (with the definite article) finished copying the part of the ms. containing TĩjĆn on Sunday, JumĆdĆ ’ląkhira 14, 1034, corresponding to (Monday) March 24, 1625. He then copied AkhbĆr, finishing it a little over a month later. 4 W. Ahlwardt, Verzeichnis der arabischen Handschriften der königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, 9:247. 61 2

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around 1150/1737. 5 If this is the manuscript to which the Hyderabad editor refers, it would not be “older” than the other two. The editor possibly meant to refer to a manuscript of TĩjĆn whose defect at the end was the absence of AkhbĆr. In any case its description as “older” is strange. Unless the Berlin manuscript referred to in the Hyderabad edition is one of the many manuscripts acquired by the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin after Ahlwardt completed his catalogue, only two manuscripts of AkhbĆr are accounted for at present: one in the British Library, and the other in the ąʛafĩya Mosque in Hyderabad. Not having seen the Hyderabad manuscript, I must accept the editor’s dating of it to the later part of the eleventh century A.H. The editor does not indicate where it was copied, stating only that it is a copy of the aʜl, the ʙanȧĆ’ manuscript (dated 1034/1625). The Hyderabad manuscript is taken as the basis (“aʜl ” again) for the edition of AkhbĆr and TĩjĆn. The Hyderabad editor describes the British Library manuscript as a copy of the same 1034/1625 aʜl from which the Hyderabad manuscript was copied. He states that it has some omissions and trifling additions, and that it was copied in 1031/1622, three years before the date of it supposed Vorlage. This is illogical. If the British Library manuscript is older than both the supposed aʜl and the Hyderabad manuscript (late 11th century A.H.), it cannot have been copied from either one. The editor quotes the colophon of the British Library manuscript (AkhbĆr, 488) identifying the name of the copyist as ȧAlĩ b. Saȧĩd b. Muʘammad b. HĆjir al-QumlĆnĩ, and the date of its completion as Friday, the new moon of ShaȧbĆn, 1031, corresponding to (Saturday) June 11, 1622. The place where it was copied is not mentioned. Rieu’s catalogue lists and describes the British Library manuscript under no. 578 (Or. Ms. 2901). 6 The authorities of the British Museum (now the British Library) kindly provided me with a microfilm copy of the manuscript. It contains both TĩjĆn and AkhbĆr and is, in fact, dated 1031/1622.

5 This Berlin ms. of TĩjĆn is contemporary with another ms. of TĩjĆn now preserved in the western library of the Great Mosque in ʙanȧĆ’. It is listed in Aʘmad ȧĨsawĩ and Muʘammad al-Malĩʘ, Fihris makhʞşʞĆt al-maktaba al-gharbiyya bi-’l-JĆmiȧ alKabĩr bi-ʛanȧĆ’, 658, and is dated 1149/1736. The place and the name of the copyist are not said to be listed. When I was permitted to inspect this ms. in order to determine whether it also contains AkhbĆr, which it does not, I was unable to determine if this is so. 6 Charles Rieu, Supplementary Catalogue to the Arabic Manuscripts of the British Museum, 365.

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Folios 111–81 contain the text of AkhbĆr, which ends abruptly in the story of the banquet of the chiefs of ʝasm and Jadĩs. ȧAlĩ al-QumlĆnĩ identifies himself as the manuscript’s scribe on folio 182b. Folio 182a contains an extract from al-Masȧşdĩ’s Murşj dealing with the story of ZarqĆ’ al-YamĆma. In the printed edition, her story occurs as an extract from Ibn al-Athĩr’s al-KĆmil. 7 Thus, this passage may derive from the Hyderabad manuscript 8 (and not from the British Library manuscript). However, this extract matches the printed text of al-KĆmil modern edition. It is not excluded that this insertion is the work of the modern Hyderabad editor. Folio 183a contains the dedication, dated 1031, to al-QumlĆnĩ’s patron, Aʘmad b. ash-Shaykh ȧAlĩ b. ȧAbd AllĆh ar-Rammaʘ. Folio 183b has notes dated as late as 1155/1742 on agriculture by shaykh ʙĆliʘ b. Aʘmad b. ʙĆliʘ b. ȧIzz ad-dĩn ar-RammĆʘ, whose date of death in 1176/1762 is recorded on the verso of the flyleaf at the beginning along with the death notices of other members of the ar-RammĆʘ family. Fol. 184a lists the births of various children of the ar-RammĆʘ family, with the latest date being 1161/1748. The same folio also contains a genealogy of ʙĆliʘ b. Aʘmad ar-RammĆʘ all the way back to QaʘʜĆn b. Hşd: ʙĆliʘ b. Aʘmad b. ʙĆliʘ b. ȧIzz ad-Dĩn b. ȧAlĩ b. ȧAbd AllĆh … b. QaʘʜĆn b. Hşd. He adds verses boasting of his ancestry and states in dialect wa-iʚnĆ min ash-ShĆm, “and we are from Syria.” This note is dated 1161/1748. There can be little doubt that this ʙĆliʘ and al-QumlĆnĩ’s patron were somehow related. If “ȧIzz ad-Dĩn” bore the name Aʘmad, ʙĆliʘ could have been his great-grandson. The folios that follow contain extracts of prose and poetry attributed to Asȧad al-KĆmil, NashwĆn al-ʗimyarĩ, QĆʡĪ IbrĆhĩm as-SĆʘilĩ (d. 739/1338). Herein also lies an extract from KitĆb maʞĆliȧ al-budşr fĩ manĆzil assurşr by ȧAlĆ’ ad-Dĩn al-Ghuzşlĩ (d. 815/1412). Though the manuscript does not record where it was copied, some clues as to its place of origin can be found in the names of the patron Aʘmad ar-RammĆʘ and the copyist ȧAlĩ al-QumlĆnĩ. Ar-RammĆʘ is the 7

AkhbĆr, 487.16–488.13. See KĆmil, 1.354. It appears that the text of part of the printed edition of TĩjĆn was taken from a source other than the British Library ms. For example, pp. 65–69, the story of the three brigands who entered ShaddĆd b. ȧąd’s tomb, and pp. 75–76, the poems of pre-Islamic poets on LuqmĆn b. ȧąd, are missing in the British Library ms. Therefore, the source for these pages in TĩjĆn must be the Berlin ms. or the Hyderabad ms. 8

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name of a Syrian tribe. 9 Yet, Aʘmad apparently belonged to a family that at some point claimed descent from the South Arabian progenitor, QaʘʜĆn b. Hşd, as suggested by the genealogy indicated for ʙĆliʘ, the manuscript’s owner. The family’s connection with South Arabia may have been in the remote past, and they may have been residing in Syria for centuries, but it explains their special interest in AkhbĆr. The nisba al-QumlĆnĩ suggests Yemenĩ origin. YĆqşt mentions QamalĆn (so vocalized in Wüstenfeld’s edition) 10 as a place in the district of Zabĩd. The male proper name QamulĆn appears in al-HamdĆnĩ. 11 The vocalization QumlĆnĩ is indicated in the manuscript, presumably by the copyist’s own hand. It is not excluded that QumlĆn was the correct name of the place in the Yemen (and not QamalĆn) or the vulgar pronunciation of QamalĆn. If the connection of the nisba with the Yemenĩ locality is correct, al-QumlĆnĩ’s family would have originated there, even if they had lived for generations in the north. Intriguing as these data are, it must be admitted that they do not tell us anything about the actual place where the manuscript was copied or allow us to assume Yemenĩ provenience for it. The preparation of the edition that appeared in Hyderabad in 1347/1928 was rather unusual. The manuscripts were collated by Fritz Krenkow in England. The editor Sayyid Zayn al-ȧąbidĩn al-Mşsawĩ reports in the appendix on p. 490 that the Hyderabad manuscript was sent to Krenkow in London to be compared with the British Library manuscript. Krenkow noted variants as required to establish a correct text, but he disregarded the many mistakes common to both manuscripts. Apparently, this gave rise to the editor’s erroneous deduction that the British Library manuscript derived from the Hyderabad manuscript. We are told that Krenkow did not use the Berlin manuscript to correct those numerous mistakes. This statement may refer only to TĩjĆn (see p. 62 above), though the Berlin variants are in fact indicated in the edition of TĩjĆn. 12 In the first few pages of the text, Krenkow, referred to by the letter kĆf, is mentioned in TĩjĆn as the source for variant readings. 13 Though Krenkow obviously bore primary responsibility for establishing the text, he cannot be held responsible for the many errors that entered the edition during printing. ȧUmar KaʘʘĆlah, QabĆ’il al-ȧarab, 443. I am unable to determine whether the ar-RammĆʘ were originally of South or North Arabian origin. 10 BuldĆn, 4.174. 11 Al-HamdĆnĩ, Mushtabih, 23. The vocalization seems to appear in the ms. and is followed in the edition by Löfgren. 12 TĩjĆn, 4, nn. 3, 4, 6, 8; 5, nn. 1, 2, 5; 19, nn. 1, 2, 4, for example. 13 TĩjĆn, 4, n. 2; 10, n. 5; 15, n. 4, for example. 9

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The edition includes a confused description (p. 492) of the consulted manuscripts and a very incomplete table of contents (pp. 493–96). The table of contents is followed by a brief table of TĩjĆn’s printing errors, which, however, says nothing about AkhbĆr. Krenkow and Zayn al-ȧąbidĩn both provided footnotes. Zayn provided notes marked by the letter ʚĆ’ (muʜaʚʚiʚ) for both TĩjĆn and AkhbĆr, while Krenkow did so only for TĩjĆn. Like the text of TĩjĆn, the text of AkhbĆr is a composite of the Hyderabad and British Library manuscripts The Hyderabad editor possibly assumed that the Hyderabad manuscript was superior, because he omits a large number of variants from the British Library manuscript, including some that should have been mentioned. For example, the names of the idols of the ȧąd in the printed text (326.16, trans., 92) differ from those given in the British Library manuscript. He seems to have listed readings of the aʜl (the Hyderabad manuscript) that differ from the printed text only haphazardly. 14 The situation appears to be somewhat better with respect to TĩjĆn. 15 In sum, to the best of my knowledge, AkhbĆr exists in two manuscripts, one in Hyderabad and the other in the British Library. The printed text is a composite of both, but whatever notes there are seem to refer only to the Hyderabad manuscript. A faulty reprint of the Hyderabad edition of TĩjĆn and AkhbĆr appeared in ʙanȧĆ’ in 1398/1978 under the auspices of the Yemenĩ Institute for Study and Research.

14

Viz., AkhbĆr, notes on 325, 327, 435, 441, 458, and passim. I have also checked the ms. of TĩjĆn in Adam Gacek, Catalogue of Arabic Manuscripts in the Library of the SOAS, 6. It is dated 997/1589. It does not contain ȧAbĩd’s AkhbĆr. 15

PART II: THE COMPLETE & PERFECT HISTORY OF ȧABĨD B. SHARYA AL-JURHUMĨ ON THE HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN REMARKS ON THE PREPARATION OF THE TRANSLATION I have tried to be as literal as possible in my English translation. Verses have been rendered in prose. Quite often, I have felt that the text of a verse as transmitted must be incorrect, but I have been unable to establish a translatable text. These cases are marked by three dots in the text of the translation. When I was able to make an educated guess about the meaning of the Arabic, I have indicated my suggestions in a footnote. Mostly, however, I have not commented on these verses. The common pious formulas have been omitted, except where it was felt that their inclusion contributes to an understanding of the narrative. The pagination of the Hyderabad edition (reprinted below) is indicated in parentheses within the text and at the foot of the page. The notes list variants from Ms. B where such listing appears to be necessary or helpful. Likewise, they indicate where the Hyderabad text has been corrected in the translation by means of such variants from Ms. B or on the basis of suggestions made by the editor(s) or by myself. Proper names have been identified wherever necessary and possible. Particular attention has been paid to listing other sources for the poems found in AkhbĆr. It has not been possible to mention all the differences that exist between their various sources because they are much too numerous for complete listing. Only those variants that seem noteworthy, in particular those which provide a seemingly better text, have been discussed. Because the sources which contain material parallel to AkhbĆr are numerous, and I have been able to consult only a limited number of them, my explanatory notes are somewhat restricted, but I hope that whatever I have been able to offer will be of some use. 67

6 THE INTRODUCTION OF AKHBĆR AND THE CYCLE OF THE DISPERSION OF SĆM’S DESCENDANTS Praise be to God in every situation! (312) In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate: It is He whom we ask for help. Praise of Thanksgiving be to God! Glory be to Him through all days and years! May God bless His Messenger, the seal of the prophets, His choice among His creation, the faithful one, and his virtuous family [and bestow upon them] His mercy and peace. ȧAbĩd b. Sharya al-Jurhumĩ related to us from al-Barqĩ 1 who indicated his authorities that MuȧĆwiya b. Abĩ SufyĆn 2 was a governor of the Com1 Muʘammad b. ȧAbd AllĆh b. ȧAbd ar-Raʘĩm al-Miʛrĩ, Abş ȧAbd AllĆh al-Barqĩ, was a pupil and transmitter of Asad b. MşsĆ and Ibn HishĆm and died in 249/863. Cf. adh-Dhahabĩ, Tadhkirat al-ʚuffĆz., 2.134, no. 5, and Ibn ʗajar, Tahdhĩb, 9.268. The nĆ of ʚaddathanĆ is anonymous. Moreover, al-Barqĩ does not indicate his authorities in the text. Instead of ʚaddathanĆ ȧAbĩd b. Sharya, the editor proposes to read ʚadĩth ȧAbĩd b. Sharya, “The Tale of ȧAbĩd b. Sharya,” followed by ȧan-i ’1-Barqĩ, “on the authority of al-Barqĩ,” marking the beginning of the narration, thus: “On the authority of alBarqĩ, who indicated his authorities, [it has been reported] that ….” The editor also noted that Krenkow concluded from the fact that al-Barqĩ was a pupil of Ibn HishĆm that the latter compiled the work and that the reporter “on the authority of al-Barqĩ” was one of his (al-Barqĩ’s) students. Krenkow “Two Oldest Books,” 236, suggested that the editor of AkhbĆr was Ibn HishĆm, and that the author was Ibn IsʘĆq, but he did not assign al-Barqĩ a role in the transmission of the text, nor did he attribute the narration of the story to anyone else. For a fuller discussion of the transmission of the text, see chap. 1 above, p. 12, and chap. 4, p. 51. 2 MuȧĆwiya, the first Umayyad caliph, was governor of Syria at least during part of the reign of ȧUmar (636–644) and during the reign of ȧUthmĆn (644–656), and then reigned as caliph from 660 (661) to 680. For the figures given here, cf. the statement ascribed to MuȧĆwiya that he was an amĩr for twenty years, and a caliph for another twenty; see adh-Dhahabĩ, Ta’rĩkh al-IslĆm, 2.324. 69 (312)

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mander of the Faithful ȧUmar b. al-KhaʜʜĆb for ten years, and of ȧUthmĆn for ten years. Then he ruled by himself for twenty years, and the east and the west [the whole world] yielded to him. He obtained the high office of kingship. He was the first to become a king, to use the mosque enclosure, to have someone stand behind him when he prostrated himself (in prayer), and to accumulate property. Nightly conversation and stories about men of the past were his greatest delight at the end of his life. ȧAmr b. al-ȧąʛ 3 said to him: Why don’t you send for the Jurhumite 4 in ar-Raqqa, 5 one of the men of the past who is still living, because he was alive at the time of the kings of the JĆhiliyya. He is the most knowledgeable of those still alive today concerning the tales and genealogies of the Arabs and can best describe the vicissitudes of fortune that have occurred. MuȧĆwiya sent for him. He arrived in a camel litter after many days and great longing on MuȧĆwiya’s part for him. There entered a shaykh, very old, sound in body, firm of intelligence, alert, sharp of (313) tongue, as if he were a young man. He greeted MuȧĆwiya as caliph. MuȧĆwiya welcomed him saying: I want to make use of you as my educator, nightly conversation partner, and appraiser of events. I will send for your family and move them close to me. Be my companion at night, and my vizier in public affairs. He replied: Commander of the Faithful! “You saw me and my camel saddle.” 6 He made this remark a proverb among the bedouins. MuȧĆwiya said to him: That will be easiest and most agreeable for taking care of your needs. He ordered him to dwell near him and enter his service, and he ordered someone to provide for him. 7 He gave him presents ȧAmr b. al-ȧąʛ (d. 42/663) was the famous general and diplomat who led the conquest of Egypt in 21/642 and commanded the Syrian army at ʙiffĩn for MuȧĆwiya. 4 The pre-Islamic tribe of the Jurhum, one of the “true Arabs,” was considered to be a descendant of QaʘʜĆn. See AkhbĆr, 325.3. The story of their migration from the Yemen and their settling at Mecca begins in AkhbĆr, 396.12. See W. Montgomery Watt, EI2, 2:603, s.v. “Djurhum.” 5 Ar-Raqqa, an important city in the early centuries of Islam, was located on the eastern bank of the Euphrates in Upper Mesopotamia. See M. Meinecke, EI2, 8:410, s.v. “al-Ra a.” 6 I have not been able to identify the proverb, which may be part of a verse. Raʚl here may mean camel saddle or journeying, and the meaning appears to be something like “I am here and all yours.” 7 Waʘĩfatahu: waʜfahu B. Read wazĩfatahu. . (313) 3

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and treated him kindly. At the time of the nightly conversations, he was his conversation partner in his special retinue among the people of his house. He used to shorten the night for him, drive away his cares, and cause him to forget about every earlier conversation partner. Nothing ever crossed his [MuȧĆwiya’s] mind that he did not find him knowledgeable about 8 and able to give him joy and cheer. Thus he used to recount to him the events, poetry, and history of the Arabs, and MuȧĆwiya ordered his officials and secretaries to record it all and write it down. One day he was at a party of MuȧĆwiya’s which was attended by ȧAmr b. al-ȧąʛ and a number of the Quraysh. They had begun to tell stories, and ȧAbĩd b. Sharya wts telling them stories when MuȧĆwiya said to him: How old are you, ȧAbĩd? He replied: Very old, Commander of the Faithful. May it suffice you that no other Jurhumite who is one hundred fifty years old remains alive except me. 9 MuȧĆwiya said to him: Did you witness the invasion of the Ethiopians and their stoning the Sacred House? 10 He replied: Yes, Commander of the Faithful. That was just yesterday. I was alive at the time of most of the kings of Lakhm, 11 Kinda, 12 ʗimyar, 13 and GhassĆn. 14 8

Shay’an: nasaban B. As the editor’s footnote states, ȧAbĩd told MuȧĆwiya that he was 220 years old, according to Muȧammarĩn, 2.421. 10 The Ethiopian expedition against Mecca took place ca. A.D. 570. See A. F. L. Beeston, EI2, 1:102, s.v. “Abraha,” and 2:895, s.v. “al-Fĩl.” The “Sacred House” refers to the Kaȧba. 11 The Lakhmids, of South Arabian origin, established the Lakhmid dynasty at al-ʗĩra in the fifth century A.D. and formed a buffer state for the Sassanian empire. See I. Shahĩd, EI2, 5:632, s.v. “Lakhmids.” 12 Kinda was the famous South Arabian tribal group that spread over the Arabian Peninsula in the 5th and 6th centuries A.D. and founded a ruling house which subdued the tribes of central and northern Arabia. See A. F. L. Beeston,, EI2, 5:118 s.v. “Kinda.” 13 ʗimyar is the eponym for a branch of the southern Arabs that took its name from ʗimyar b. Saba’, a descendant of Yaȧrub b. QaʘʜĆn, and consolidated its rule in the Yemen about the end of the 2nd century B.C. It is also a comprehensive term for all of the descendants of ʗimyar b. Saba’ and the civilizations of southern Arabia. The genealogy of ʗimyar occurs below in AkhbĆr, 397.4ff. See G. R. Smith, EI2, 11:271, s.v. “al-Yaman: History.” (313) 9

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MuȧĆwiya said to him: Tell me what the JĆhiliyya was like in the Yemen, ȧAbĩd, while there was no mention of the Banş Maȧadd b. ȧAdnĆn, 15 together with them, 16 and they [the Banş Maȧadd] had no share in it [the Yemen]. He said: Commander of the Faithful! Someone like you would not know this? Muʡar 17 was just yesterday while the Yemen had been ruling and ruled when there was neither Muʡar nor Maȧadd 18 nor ȧAdnĆn 19 nor IsmĆȧĩl. 20 The Yemen is descended from the offspring of Hşd, 21 whose name in Syriac is ȧąbir. 22 Between him (314) and IbrĆhĩm, 23 upon him 14

The GhassĆnids were a division of the tribe of al-Azd that migrated from South Arabia and settled in Syria at the end of the 5th century A.D., accepted Christianity, and acted as a buffer state for the Byzantine empire against the Sassanians and the Lakhmids. See TĩjĆn, 270.8ff., and Irfan Shahĩd, EI2, 2:1020 s.v. “GhassĆn.” 15 This collective name for the tribes of North Arabian origin stems from an eponymous ancestor, Maȧadd b. ȧAdnĆn, considered, in turn, a descendant of IsmĆȧĩl. The genealogies for the ancestors and the descendants of Maȧadd b. ȧAdnĆn are found in many sources, for example, az-Zubayrĩ, KitĆb nasab Quraysh, 3ff., and MaȧĆrif, 63ff. See also W. Montgomery Watt, EI2,5:894, s.v. “Maȧadd.” 16 “Them” could refer possibly to the Yemenites of the JĆhiliyya. 17 Muʡar is one of the two main branches of the northern Arabs, whose eponymous ancestor was Muʡar b. NizĆr b. Maȧadd and whose sister tribe was Rabĩȧa. See H. Kindermann, EI2, 8:352, s.v. “Rabĩȧa and Muʡar.” 18 According to tradition, Maȧadd, the eponymous ancestor of the Banş Maȧadd b. ȧAdnĆn (n. 15 above), settled in Mecca and married MuȧĆna of the Jurhumites. See Ta’rĩkh, 1.560; az-Zubayrĩ, Nasab, 5; and W. Montgomery Watt, EI2,5:894, s.v. “Maȧadd.” 19 ȧAdnĆn b. Udad was, according to tradition, a descendant of IsmĆȧĩl and an ancestor of the northern Arabs. See W. Caskel, EI2, 1:210, s.v. “ȧAdnĆn.” 20 IsmĆȧĩl, the Biblical Ishmael, son of Abraham, in Islamic tradition was a prophet and progenitor of the northern Arabs. See R. Paret, EI2, 4:184, s.v. “IsmĆȧĩl.” 21 Hşd, as stated in the Qur’Ćn, was sent by God to the ȧąd to turn them away from polytheism. See A. J. Wensinck and Charles Pellat, EI2, 3:537, s.v. “Hşd”; Qur’Ćn passim, especially Sşra 2, “Hşd”; and TĩjĆn, 29.7–31.14. For the story of Hşd and the destruction of the ȧąd, see AkhbĆr, 325.5ff., and the translation below, chap. 7. 22 ȧąbir, the Biblical Eber (Genesis 10:21, 11:10–15), appears as the father of Hşd in TĩjĆn, 29.7, and elsewhere. 23 The Biblical Abraham was in Islamic tradition a great prophet and khalĩl AllĆh, “the friend of God.” See R. Paret, EI2, 3:980 s.v. “IbrĆhĩm.” The formula of blessing used for IbrĆhĩm has been retained here in the translation since it has bear(314)

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peace, were eight hundred years. He [IbrĆhĩm], the blessings of God upon him, lived two hundred years. 24 QaydhĆr 25 lived one hundred forty years. Muʡar is descended from QaydhĆr b. Ismaȧĩl b. IbrĆhĩm. How long a time it was until ȧAdnĆn, Maȧadd, and NizĆr 26 were born, and how long a time it was until the traces were dispersed, and they [the descendants] spread in the land! MuȧĆwiya said: You have spoken the honest truth. Tell me why when you mentioned IbrĆhĩm, you did not refrain from blessing him, whereas when you mentioned your forefather Hşd, the prophet of God, you did not bless him, although he was the prophet of God? He replied: By God, Commander of the Faithful, Hşd is dearer to me than my father who engendered me in his loins, and dearer to me than my mother who nursed me, but I do not equate anyone with the friend of God [IbrĆhĩm], neither Muʘammad, may God bless him and his family, nor Hşd, may God bless him and all the prophets. MuȧĆwiya said to him: You are right, so begin your story with the kings of the Yemen, may God have mercy on you. I have heard about the ʗimyar and their travels in the land and their becoming kings in the eastern and western parts of the earth [all over the earth], how it was that they subdued the Arabs and the non-Arabs, about the scattering of the languages of mankind, and about the people of BĆbil. 27 When and how was that? I am asking you not to bypass anyone’s poems which you know by heart but to cite them. He said: Commander of the Faithful! You have other stories to shorten your night and give you pleasure during your day. [What you are asking me] contains what you may desire and what you may not desire, anger and passion for the kings, and raising of affection(?). 28 ing on the discussion that follows. 24 After mi’atay sanatin, B adds: wa-IsmĆȧĩlu ȧamara mi’ata sanatin wa-sabȧşna(!) sanatan. 25 The Biblical Kedar (Genesis 25:13), son of Ishmael, had in Islamic tradition a Jurhumite mother called bint MuʡĆʡ (n. 39 below). See MaȧĆrif, 24, and Ta’rĩkh, 1.314, 2.282. 26 NizĆr was the eponymous ancestor of most of the northern Arabs and the son of Maȧadd b. ȧAdnĆn. See G. Levi Della Vida, EI2, 8:82, s.v. “NizĆr.” 27 Reference is made to the Biblical tower of Babel (Genesis 11:9), the city of Babylon, and the country of Babylonia, which were all one to the Arabs. See G. Awad, EI2, 1:846, s.v. “BĆbil.” 28 The meaning of naȧsh al-mawadda is not clear to me. A negative meaning for (314)

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He said: I am resolved that you follow my desire and inform me about what you know regarding what I ask you. You are under the protection and care of God and safe from me and my anger and (in) the raising of my affection(?). All of MuȧĆwiya’s companions said: We all give you the same assurances. MuȧĆwiya ordered his secretaries to write down what ȧAbĩd b. Sharya would relate in every nightly gathering during which he conversed with MuȧĆwiya. ȧAbĩd said: Ask [a question], Commander of the Faithful. MuȧĆwiya said: Who are the true Arabs, and who are the Arabicized Arabs? 29 He replied: MuȧĆwiya, would you and other scholars not know? They [the true Arabs] are the ȧąd, 30 the Thamşd, 31 the ʝasm and the Jadĩs, 32 the Iram, 33 the ȧAmĆlĩq, 34 (315) the Jurhum, 35 and QaʘʜĆn b. Hşd. 36 They were naȧsh is appropriate here, perhaps “removal.” The dictionaries indicate r-f-ȧ to be a synonym of n-ȧ-sh, “to lift.” 29 The “true Arabs” are generally considered to be the offspring of QaʘʜĆn and southern Arabs. The “Arabicized Arabs” (al-ȧArab al-mustaȧriba) are the offspring of ȧAdnĆn and northern Arabs. TĩjĆn, 98.2–3, lists Hşd as the father of the Banş QaʘʜĆn and FĆligh, Hşd’s brother, as the father of the Banş ȧAdnĆn. See A. Grohmann, EI2, 1:524, s.v. “al-ȧArab.” 30 According to the Qur’Ćn, the ancient tribe of the ȧąd lived in al-AʘqĆf. See Sşra 46, “al-AʘqĆf.” They rejected the prophet Hşd and were destroyed by a violent wind, as reported by AkhbĆr, 325ff., and translated below, chap. 7. See F. Buhl, EI2, 1:169, s.v. “ȧąd.” 31 The Qur’Ćn, 15:80, in Sşrat “al-ʗijr,” mentions the rock dwellings at al-ʗijr in WĆdĩ al-QurĆ as their habitat. They rejected the prophet ʙĆliʘ and were destroyed by “the shout,” aʜ-ʜayha. See I. Shahĩd, EI2, 10:436, s.v. “Thamşd.” Their tale begins in AkhbĆr, 370.4, and is translated below, chap. 9. 32 The ʝasm, the famous pre-Islamic tribe of al-YamĆma, were treacherously slain by their sister tribe, the Jadĩs, at an ambush during a banquet. They obtained revenge with the help of ʗassĆn b. Asȧad al-KĆmil, a ʗimyarite prince. See W. P. Heinrichs, EI2, 10:359, s.v. “ʝasm.” Their tale begins in AkhbĆr, 483.4 (chap. 2 above, p. 40). 33 Iram, a tribe or a place of ancient Arabia, is most closely identified with the people of the ȧąd. The name possibly corresponds to that of the Biblical Aram, son of Shem (Genesis 10:22). According to TĩjĆn, 25.4, Iram is also a descendant of SĆm b. Nşʘ. See W. Montgomery Watt, EI2, 3:1270, s.v. “Iram,” and chap. 7 n. 3, p. 89 below, for a fuller discussion of Iram DhĆt al-ȧImĆd. 34 For the ȧAmĆlĩq, see n. 65 below. (315)

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the first people. Descended from them was Yaȧrub, who spioke in Arabic. 37 Everyone learned Arabic from Yaȧrub b. QaʘʜĆn b. Hşd. Arabic is attributed to him. It is called Arabic because Yaȧrub was the first to speak it. No one else spoke Arabic before him. These races which I named for you spoke in the language of Yaȧrub b. QaʘʜĆn b. Hşd, the prophet, may God bless him, until IsmĆȧĩl came along, and his father IbrĆhĩm, may God bless him, moved him from his country and settled him in Mecca. We, the Jurhumites, were the people of the sacred territory. 38 IsmĆȧĩl grew up among us and spoke in the Arabic language and married among us. All the children of IsmĆȧĩl were descended from Bint MuʡĆʡ 39 b. ȧAmr al-Jurhumĩ. IsmĆȧĩl and his father belong to us. You, O Quraysh, belong to us. The bedouins [alȧArab] are descended from one another. Surely you all know that you are descended from the children of IsmĆȧĩl b. IbrĆhĩm, may God bless him. (We engendered IbrĆhĩm.) 40 His father was ązar whose name was TĆrikh 41 b. NĆʘşr b. Arghş b. ShĆrikh b. FĆligh b. ȧąbir who was Hşd, our father and 35

For the Jurhum, see n. 4 above. QaʘʜĆn b. Hşd, the ancestor of the South Arabian peoples, may be identified with the Biblical Joktan (Genesis 10:25). See A. Fischer and A. K. Irvine, EI2, 4:447, s.v. “ aʘʜĆn.” The account of the scattering of the languages in TĩjĆn, 29.13– 19, does not specifically mention Hşd as QaʘʜĆn’s father, but it lists Yaȧrub b. QaʘʜĆn b. Hşd at 31.12. 37 Yaȧrub, the ancestor of the ʗimyarite kings in the Yemen, was the first to speak Arabic. See AkhbĆr, 396.16, and TĩjĆn, 32.18ff., where it is said that he inherited the land of the Yemen and was the first to speak in verse. Yaȧrub’s genealogy occurs in TĩjĆn, 31.12. A Biblical genealogy for Yaȧrub’s (Joktan’s) ancestors occurs in Genesis 10:25 and 11:10–15. A longer genealogy for Yaȧrub occurs in AkhbĆr, 316.10, trans., 77. TĩjĆn, 29.18–19, and 98.4–6, lists the ȧąd, the Thamşd, the ʝasm and the Jadĩs, ȧImlĆq, RĆ’ish, and the Banş Iram as the original speakers of Arabic. 38 The sacred territory (al-balad al-ʚarĆm) refers to Mecca and the area of the Kaȧba. 39 The name of this daughter of MuʡĆʡ appears as Raȧla in Ibn IsʘĆq, Sĩra, 3, and al-ʗanfĆ’ in al-Yaȧqşbĩ, Ta’rĩkh, 1.181. 40 Wa-IbrĆhĩmu naʚnu waladnĆhu makes no sense. Perhaps the text should be corrected to something like wa-naʚnu wuldu IbrĆhĩma, “we are the children of IbrĆhĩm.” 41 The Qur’Ćnic name for IbrĆhĩm’s father was ązar (Qur’Ćn 6:74), but TĆrikh, the Biblical Terah, was known to Islamic genealogists. See Genesis 11:16–24 for the Biblical Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug (ShĆrikh!), the son of Reu (Arghş!), the son of Peleg, the son of Eber. For the Islamic genealogy, IbrĆhĩm b. TĆrikh, see Ibn IsʘĆq, Sĩra, 3; TĩjĆn, 98.1; and Ibn Qutayba, MaȧĆrif, 30. See also R. Paret, EI2, 3:980, s.v. “IbrĆhĩm.” (315) 36

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your father. We engendered you. You belong to us, and we belong to you— few in many. MuȧĆwiya said: Is it that you really are relating the story of the JĆhiliyya? ȧAbĩd replied: Commander of the Faithful! In IslĆm you have what spares you that, because IslĆm erased what was before it just as the sun erases the light of the moon. He said: I am resolved that you relate to me what I ask you. He said: Commander of the Faithful! It belongs to the history of BĆbil and the dispersion of the languages of mankind that when the children of SĆm, YĆfith, and ʗĆm, the children of Nşʘ, 42 grew numerous in the lands of God, and God wanted to disperse them among the countries and differentiate between their languages, he sent them the four winds. 43 MuȧĆwiya asked: What are these four winds? He replied: The north, south, east, and west winds. The four winds brought them together from four sides from each direction where they were. They drove them and assembled them at BĆbil. Having arrived there, they remained three days, stirring up one another. They knew that that was a matter from (316) heaven, but they did not know what lay in store for them except that they did not doubt that God was the one who did that to them, God being the One who makes manifest His will. On the fourth day, they heard a voice from heaven calling that “God is dispersing your languages and making you dwell at the ends of the earth.” To whatever people they turned, their speech and their language [became] one. MuȧĆwiya said: What was the language in those days? ȧAbĩd replied: Syriac 44 first and last. It is the language of our father ądam, Nşʘ, and Idrĩs. 45 42 SĆm, YĆfith, ʗĆm, and Nşʘ are the Biblical Shem, Japheth, Ham, and their father, Noah. TĩjĆn, 22.18–25.9, relates the story of Noah, his receiving the holy books from God, the flood, and his descendants. Noah as a prophet of the Qur’Ćn figures prominently in Islamic tradition. See B. Heller, EI2, 8:108, s.v. “Nşʘ.” 43 TĩjĆn, 30.7–10, also mentions these four winds in connection with BĆbil. 44 Syriac was the language attributed to the prophets. After BĆbil, the languages became mixed up except for Syriac, which was spoken by the people of al-Jşdĩ (a mountain of northern Mesopotamia). Yaȧrub and Hşd spoke in Arabic. Cf. TĩjĆn, 29.14–16. 45 Idrĩs was identified with the Biblical Enoch (Genesis 5:18–21). He is the Qur’Ćnic prophet (Qur’Ćn 21:85, 19:56–57), sage, and mystic of Islamic tradition. He received the “Syriac Book” from God and was taught by Gabriel (TĩjĆn, 21.16– 22.11). See J. Vajda, EI2, 3:1030, s.v. “Idrĩs.” (316)

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MuȧĆwiya said: Why was the land of BĆbil given the distinction of having mankind gathered in it? ȧAbĩd replied: It is the navel of the earth in its superiority, 46 and God wanted that there. MuȧĆwiya said: Who was the first whom God made speak in a language other than Syriac? Who was the first to head away from BĆbil? He replied: The first to head away from BĆbil was Yaȧrub b. QaʘʜĆn b. ȧąbir—he was Hşd the prophet, upon him peace—b. ShĆlikh b. Arfakhshadh b. SĆm b. Nşʘ. He headed away from BĆbil with all of his children and followers. Then he called out: “I am a wanderer in the lands of God. He who follows me has the same privileges I have and the same obligations I have.” 47 MuȧĆwiya said: In Arabic or in Syriac? ȧAbĩd replied: He spoke only Syriac until he was established in his abode in a land other than BĆbil. MuȧĆwiya said: I am asking you to tell me what Yaȧrub spoke first [after leaving BĆbil]. He replied: Commander of the Faithful! Upon settling down, he mentioned the name of his Lord in Arabic. He spoke in verse, and his children spoke Arabic after him. MuȧĆwiya said: Mention the verses spoken by Yaȧrub. ȧAbĩd said: Yaȧrub recited: 48 rajaz

46

1.

I am the son of QaʘʜĆn, the gallant prince. I am neither cowardly nor hopeful.

2.

[I am] the beginner of the simple tongue, 49 The clear language that is not difficult.

The Arab geographers considered BĆbil to be the center of the earth, with the best climate and location. See, for instance, Ibn ʗawqal, KitĆb ʜşrat al-arʘ, 9, Tanbĩh, 6, and G. AwĆd, EI2, 1:846, s.v. “BĆbil.” 47 These words are formulaic treaty language. For another example, see alYaȧqşbĩ, Ta’rĩkh, 1.167, in connection with the GhassĆn’s settling in Syria. 48 This poem by Yaȧrub also appears in TĩjĆn, 31, with numerous variants and containing 9 verses, composed upon Yaȧrub’s departure from BĆbil to the Yemen with a large group of his followers. Murşj, 2.261, trans., 2.431, has 3½ verses and many variants. See further Nashwa, 1.10, trans., 2.147f., with 5, mostly different, verses, and chap. 10 §1, p. 179 below. 49 The meter of the first hemistich does not scan perfectly. Nevertheless, the (316)

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I went forth when the people were in confusion, Forward to the right of the sun [south] with deliberate speed.

4.

We vanquish the people in superiority. Nşʘ has brought us decisive words.

5.

Nşʘ is the first ancestor of ancestors. Certainly there will be offspring for a long time. 50

6.

Others will speak freely With grammar, inflection, and ease. 51

7.

Everything good that the transmitters recite to me is From God who possesses superior majesty.

(317)

MuȧĆwiya said: Where did he head? ȧAbĩd replied: When Yaȧrub left with all of his children—he was the strongest and the most powerful of the descendants of SĆm b. Nşʘ—he did not quit until he reached the land of the Yemen, where they are today. MuȧĆwiya said: Who went after Yaȧrub? He replied: ȧąd 52 b. Awʛ b. Iram b. SĆm b. Nşʘ. He eventually took up residence next to him. MuȧĆwiya said: What did he accomplish, and what language did God make him speak? ȧAbĩd replied: When he headed toward Yaȧrub, he used Yaȧrub’s speech. He said: Did he utter some poetry? He replied: Yes, very much. He said: Mention some of what he spoke, for we will transmit it. ȧAbĩd replied: I will mention to you “something of everything” [Qur’Ćn 18:84]. ȧAbĩd said: When ȧąd was established in his abode, he began to say: 53 meaning is clear. The reference is to the Arabic language. 50 Li-zamĆn: Read, with B, az-zamĆn. 51 I am uncertain of the meaning of at-tanazzul here. I have translated it according to tanazzala, in the meaning of “to dismount gently or softly,” perhaps here referring to gentility of speech. Cf. tarassul, “proceeding gently” or “reading softly,” which might be the proper reading. 52 The Biblical genealogy of Uz (ȧAwʛ!), the son of Aram, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, occurs in Genesis 10:22–23. 53 This poem also occurs in TĩjĆn, 36, with numerous variants and containing 6½ verses, in connection with the ȧąd’s confrontation with Yaȧrub and the Banş (317)

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rajaz 1.

I am ȧąd, the tall, the generous. I have power, might, and straightforwardness,

2.

Courage, prosperity, and children. O people, answer the voice of this herald.

3.

You have heard him when he calls. He appears without your seeing any figure.

4.

In it [the voice] is a warning for the one of straightforwardness. Then I set out with the new and the old ones,

5.

Until I halted at the gallant prince transgressing(?) [Yaȧrub]. 54 Nşʘ had said: My descendants are your best ones.

6.

ȧąd when he is hostile overcomes the enemies [and] Belongs to the children of ȧAwʛ, the shining ones, [ȧAwʛ] full of promise. 55

ȧąd settled at al-AʘqĆf. Then Thamşd b. ȧąbir b. Iram b. SĆm b. Nşʘ went after him in WĆdĩ ʙanȧĆ’, 56 belonging to Yaȧrub, until he [Thamşd] eventually settled in their region and used their speech. Some of what he [Thamşd] said when he settled corresponds to the speech of his uncles’ offspring: 57 rajaz 1.

O people, go and inform those who stay at home; Perhaps we will reach the one of the delegations [ȧąd] 58

QaʘʜĆn at Mecca. See also Murşj, 2.261, trans., 2.431, and chap. 10 §2, p. 179 below. 54 ȧądĩ with the definite article means “the lion,” which meaning might also be possible in the context. 55 I have translated al-ghurr as the plural of the elative al-agharr, modifying wuld ȧAwʜ. The singular, al-ghirr, “inexperienced,” is also possible, followed by the singular dhĩ, but this meaning does not fit the context of the poem, which expresses pride in the children of ȧAwʛ. The word also appears as a plural in 1ine 19, verse 2 of ȧImlĩq’s poem, AkhbĆr, 318, trans., 82. Here, one would expect the plural dhawĩ instead of dhĩ, but the singular can be understood as referring to ȧAwʛ. 56 ʙanȧĆ’ is situated on a high, vast plain rimmed by mountains. A wĆdĩ (river) called as-sayla winds through the old city of ʙanȧĆ’. 57 This poem is not found in TĩjĆn, but it occurs in Murşj, 2.262, trans., 2.432. 58 The ȧąd went as a delegation to Mecca to ask for rain. See the story in Akh(317)

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And Yaȧrub, the crowned leader. Leave behind the despicable and the mean

3.

And the contemptible group and the slaves. Nşʘ had died rightly guided and praised.

4.

He said: Your best are the Thamşd. After my death, they will be described as generous.

5.

God will send you a boy, A true prophet, merciful and loving.

(318)

They settled between al-ʗijr 59 and Qurʘ, 60 which is located toward WĆdĩ al-QurĆ 61 between Syria and al-ʗijĆz. Thamşd also said calling his brother Jadĩs and encouraging him to follow him: 62 rajaz 1.

Jadĩs, O Jadĩs, woe to you. Your brother—do not prefer your uncle [ȧAwʛ] to him.

2.

Do not break your rope [and sever relations] with him [Thamşd] And Yaȧrub the gallant! Make haste to realize your glory.

3.

ȧąd has not returned(?). 63 He has trampled the kingdom. Do not insist so much upon staying.

He said: When Thamşd had finished speaking to Jadĩs, he [Jadĩs] moved with all of his descendants and followers looking for them [the

bĆr, 325ff., trans., chap. 7 below. 59 “Al-ʗijr” is the title of Sşra 15 of the Qur’Ćn. It is also the name for the ruins of northwestern Arabia near MadĆ’in ʙĆliʘ (WĆdĩ al-QurĆ). See BuldĆn, 2.208; F. S. Vidal, EI2, 3:365, s.v. “al-ʗidjr”; and AkhbĆr, 370.13, in the story of the Thamşd. 60 Qurʘ was the great sşq of WĆdĩ al-QurĆ. See MaȧĆrif, 29; BuldĆn, 4.53; and C. E. Bosworth, EI2, 5:497, s.v. “ urʘ.” It was known as the principal locality of WĆdĩ al-QurĆ in the early centuries of Islam. See H. Lammens, L’Arabie occidentale avant l’Hégire, 7. Qurʘ is mentioned below in AkhbĆr, 387.9, trans., 162, in the same connection. The distance between Qurʘ and al-ʗijr was said to be eighteen miles. 61 This long, broad valley runs between Medina and al-ȧUlĆ’ on the ancient trade route and in ancient times contained numerous settlements. See BuldĆn, 4.81, and M. Lecker, EI2, 11:18, s.v. “WĆdĩ ’l- urĆ.” 62 This poem is not found in TĩjĆn. 63 I am not sure of the meaning of the first hemistich. MĆ may be an interrogative, “ąd, what is ȧąd?” Thamşd seems to be inimical to ȧąd, for in verse 1, the advice is not to prefer ȧAwʛ (ȧąd’s father) to Thamşd. (318)

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Thamşd]. He settled near them and used their speech, the speech of Yaȧrub. Some of what Jadĩs said to him [is]: 64 rajaz 1.

O Thamşd, I have answered your voice And known that my glory is your glory.

2.

May my soul be your ransom, O Thamşd! You summoned me, and I did not disobey your command.

3.

O Thamşd, how can I have patience after you [have gone] And after ȧąd [has gone]? May I never be deprived of being near you!

Then ȧImlĩq b. LĆwidh 65 b. Iram b. SĆm b. Nşʘ went after him following in their tracks until he settled near them with all his descendants and those related to him. He spoke in their language, that of Yaȧrub. MuȧĆwiya said: I am asking you to confirm your story with some poetry they recited, even if it is [only] three verses. Abĩd cited some of ȧImlĩq’s verses: 66 rajaz 1.

When I saw mankind in confusion, And our best one proceeded from us first,

64 This poem, with the same meter and rhyme as the preceding poem, is not found in TĩjĆn, but see Murşj, 2.262, trans., 2.432. 65 ȧImlĩq corresponds to the Biblical Amalek, who was a grandson of Esau (Genesis 36:12) and the eponymous ancestor of the Biblical Amalekites (Exodus 17:8–16). Al-ȧAmĆlĩq, descendants of ȧImlĩq, were one of the first tribes of ancient Arabia to speak Arabic. See TĩjĆn, 29.19. They were early residents of the ʚaram at Mecca and were supplanted by the Jurhumites. The form ȧImlĆq is found in TĩjĆn, 175.10. See also al-HamdĆnĩ, Mushtabih, 16, no. 31, and 43, no. 298, and G. Vajda, EI2, 1:429, s.v. “ȧAmalĩq.” These singular forms are back-formations from ȧAmĆlĩq, which was considered in form an Arabic broken plural. For the underlying process, see Anton Spitaler, “Materialien zur Erklärung von Fremdwörtern im Arabischen durch retrograde Ableitung,.” LĆwidh corresponds to the Biblical Lud (spelled l-w-d ) of Genesis 10:22, where it is stated that he is the brother of Aram (and not his son). 66 This poem, with the same meter and rhyme as a preceding poem above by Yaȧrub, 316.17ff., appears in TĩjĆn, 175. There, it contains 6 verses and many variants and was stated to have been composed in connection with ȧImlĆq’s movement from the Yemen to Mecca. See further Murşj, 2.262, trans., 2.432, containing 2 verses and variants, and chap. 10 §3, p. 180 below. (318)

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN 2.

The best of kings, the excellent Yaȧrub, With shining, splendid chiefs.

3.

People of intelligence, distinction, and fierceness [tabassul], 67 And ȧąd proceeded, the one of very tall stature,

4.

And strove more strenuously than we to reach the stronghold At the road to water of al-ʗaz.m 68 with determination,

5.

I said [to my people]: Move along without going slowly, And I went collecting the lazy [ath-thiqalĩ ] 69 grazing camels.

6.

I said: O ʝasm, hasten to me, I being ȧImlĩq, without difficulty(?).

7.

I want a land of large dominion. Perhaps we will settle in the abode of the ancients.

(319)

Then ʝasm b. LĆwidh b. Iram b. SĆm b. Nşʘ followed him until he reached his brother ȧImlĩq. He used Yaȧrub’s speech and said: 70 rajaz

67

1.

I am ʝasm resembling SĆm. My father is LĆwidh b. RĆm. 71

2.

When I saw the resolute departure of My uncle’s offspring and my brothers

3.

Who imitated Yaȧrub, I hated to stay on after my brothers [had gone].

4.

How can I have steadfastness after the family of SĆm [are gone], ȧImlĩq, then ȧąd, the one of stature,

5.

And Yaȧrub, the resolute and the bold? Behind us are YĆfith and the family of ʗĆm.

At-tabattul: Read, with B, at-tabassul. Al-ʗazm is the present-day capital of the province of WĆdĩ al-Jawf north of Ma’rib in the Yemen, listed as ʗazm al-Jawf in the Index to Iklĩl, 2, of the edition by QĆʡĩ Muʘammad al-Akwaȧ. The reference is to Iklĩl, 1.225, also edited by Muʘammad al-Akwaȧ,. which is not available. 69 An-naqilĩ: al-maqilĩ B. Read ath-thiqalĩ. 70 The poem in TĩjĆn, 176, has 3½ verses with many variants and was composed upon the emergence of ʝasm seeking ȧImlĆq. A different genealogy for ʝasm is found in TĩjĆn, 25.7–8. See Murşj, 2.264, trans., 2.433, and chap. 10 §4, p. 180 below. 71 SĆm is SĆm b. Nşʘ. LĆwidh b. RĆm refers to LĆwidh b. Iram. (319) 68

AKHBąR AND SąM’S DESCENDANTS

83

MuȧĆwiya said: Are these all of the children of SĆm b. Nşʘ? ȧAbĩd replied: Yes, no one moved with them except them. MuȧĆwiya said: Did they settle together or dispersed? He replied: Commander of the Faithful! All that. When the voice called them at BĆbil, all the people headed for one region. Their speech was one. Yaȧrub headed out first with his descendants. The descendants of SĆm joined him. They all spoke in Arabic and settled in one area. Yaȧrub and his children settled in the Yemen. ȧąd settled in al-AʘqĆf. Thamşd settled adjacent to them at the coast, and they all were neighbors. The children of YĆfith and ʗĆm remained at BĆbil. MuȧĆwiya said: What became of them? 72 He replied: During [our] talk, I shall give you satisfactory information. When the descendants of Yaȧrub, ȧąd, Thamşd, ʝasm, ȧImlĩq, and Jadĩs became numerous, their land became too confined for them. The first to move away was ȧImlĩq and his descendants. Eventually they reached the ʚaram, 73 and they settled there together. MuȧĆwiya said: Did they know that it was God’s ʚaram? ȧAbĩd replied: Yes, they had known that Adam, (320) Idrĩs, and Nşʘ used to revere it. MuȧĆwiya said: Who recited a poem about their settling in the ʚaram? ȧAbĩd replied: Yes, Aʛȧar 74 b. al-ʗĆrith b. Yaȧfur b. ȧImlĩq said: rajaz

72

1.

I am al-Aʛȧar, the son of the one whose protection can be trusted, Al-ʗĆrith, the most excellent offspring of Yaȧfur.

2.

My ancestor is the well-known traveler ȧImlĩq, who marched with a renowned army.

3.

When I saw Fate changing, I followed a course with the splendid troops,

4.

From the family of the noble and glorious ȧImlĩq, To the sanctuary of the earth, 75 the land of assembly,

5.

From the land of SĆm, our preferred ancestor.

Read fa-mĆ for fa-lima. Cf. n. 38 above. 74 I have been unable to identify Aʛȧar. TĩjĆn, 176, has the poem in 4½ verses with many variants. The poet’s name is Saȧĩd b. Saȧd b. Jadĩs, who recited the verses when Jadĩs appeared after ʝasm. See chap. 10 §5, p. 180 below. 75 The sanctuary of the earth (ʚarĩm al-arʘ ) refers to the ʚaram at Mecca. (320) 73

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When the descendants of Jadĩs saw that, they set out in their entirety and eventually settled in the land of al-YamĆma. 76 They expanded there. When all the descendants of ʝasm saw that they were no longer able to stay after the descendants of Jadĩs [had gone], and that the place had become too confined for them, they heard from the Banş Jadĩs about the vast abundance of their land. They left and settled with them. Al-Aȧjab b. MuhrĆq b. SalĆm b. Jadĩs said about that: 77 ramal 1.

Fate deceived us with [the hope for] a long life. Fate shot, then disappeared when it shot.

2.

It has destroyed us violently. It has snatched [maȧada] 78 power and vigor from us.

3.

ʝasm moved to us because of Fate After the wide land became too confined for them.

4.

We accepted them as a result of The vicissitudes of Fate, and we said: Welcome!

5.

There is no life serene for us without you. Every life after ʝasm [has gone] has no serenity.

6.

Inform Yaȧrub about us as long as The sun turns and rises in heaven.

7.

O my two friends, 79 [convey] peace always From friends at a very great distance.

8.

I wish I knew how you are after we [have gone], O Banş Yaȧrub, O people of understanding.

9.

O Banş Yaȧrub, you are chiefs Having been at the top of the family of SĆm.

10. Your Creator has given you preference With a language having light and grandeur. 76 Originally called Jaww, this broad district of central Arabia was allegedly named after the famous ZarqĆ’ al-YamĆma. See G. R. Smith, EI2, 11:269, s.v. “alYamĆma.” 77 I have been unable to identify al-Aȧjab and have not found the poem in another source. 78 Mahada: Read maȧada as suggested by the editor. 79 The “two friends” are probably the conventional addressees of ancient Arabic poetry. (320)

AKHBąR AND SąM’S DESCENDANTS 11. All of the people are obedient to you. Power and grandeur lie in you.

85 (321)

12. Altogether the Banş ȧąd conquered Those hostile to them with power and splendor. 13. So remember the Banş ȧImlĩq of ours And the Banş ʝasm and everyone of related parentage. 14. I weep because of my remoteness from them. In truth, it may be asked of us who wept. 15. Our best people being far from home Were humiliated in the morning and weakened in the evening. 16. I will not forget him 80 when he calls for us On a day he calls to us without a person to be seen. 17. So we went away to our homelands With speech unsecret between us. 18. After it was a single tongue, It became seventy-two equal ones. 81

“Him” refers to Yaȧrub. Cf. verse 3 in ȧąd’s poem, AkhbĆr, 317.13, trans., 79. The number seventy-two refers to the scattering of the tongues of BĆbil. In Islamic tradition, God divided the languages according to this number among the descendants of SĆm, ʗĆm, and YĆfith. See Murşj, 1.46, trans., 1.33, and 2.260, trans., 2.431; BuldĆn, 1.449; and B. Heller, EI2, 11:236, s.v. “YĆfith.” (321) 80 81

7 THE STORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ȨĆD (325) MuȧĆwiya said: Tell me about the destruction of the ȧąd, ȧAbĩd. What was it like? ȧAbĩd replied: MuȧĆwiya, there was ȧąd b. ȧąwʛ b. SĆm b. Nşʘ. 1 He was the one who produced ten children. 2 They were: ShaddĆd, the first of ȧąd b. ȧAwʛ b. SĆm: ȧąd b. ȧAwʛ b. Iram b. SĆm B. He is the eponymous ancestor of the tribe of the ȧąd. See Qur’Ćn 7:65–69, 41:15, and passim for the story of their destruction. As in all old tribal tradition, individual and tribal entity are not kept separate. The name here must refer to the tribe. See F. Buhl, EI2, 1:169, s.v. “ȧąd,” where it is also stated that the ȧąd’s historical identity remains unknown. 2 In all, the text lists fifteen proper names as children of ȧąd. Yet, the text also states twice (lines 7 and 12) that (the) ȧąd were ten tribes, meaning that ten tribes, though of different names, were known as descendants of ȧąd. Seven of these fifteen names can be identified in other sources. They are ShaddĆd, al-Khulşd, alȧUnşd, ʙudd, Wafd, Raml, and Taym. Of the eight remaining names, Barr, MutĆb, and Thamşd are also known in other sources, MutĆb in a varying form, and Barr and Thamşd with different references from the text here. Those then are ten names, but I do not know whether these ten are the ones meant as the tribes of (the) ȧąd. It is unclear whether the remaining five names, al-ʗaqşd, aʛ-ʙawr, BahĆr, ąs, and FidghĆr, which I have been unable to identify in other sources, should be ruled out as being merely subtribes or parts of confederations. Al-ʗaqşd may occur in a verse in AkhbĆr, 342.9, as the name of a tribe (n. 78 on p. 113 below). However, it is reasonably certain that at least ShaddĆd, al-Khulşd, al-ȧUnşd, ʙudd, Wafd, Raml, and Taym are meant to be children of (the) ȧąd. A correction in the text of “ten” to “fifteen” tribes is inadvisable, since “ten” occurs twice. There is a possibility that additional names were added through scribal error or in the process of the transmission of the text, but there is no proof for it. The following observations can be made about the ten names also attested in other sources. ShaddĆd b. ȧąd is identified as the legendary builder of Iram DhĆt alȧImĆd in TĩjĆn, 65.1–4, where his genealogy is ShaddĆd b. ȧąd b. MilʜĆʜ, a descendant of Yaȧrub b. QaʘʜĆn, and a king of the ʗimyar in the Yemen. The text, lines 17–18, also reports that he lived to be 500 years old and that he was buried in Jabal 87 (325) 1

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ShimĆm (read ShibĆm) with all of his wealth. See Yşsuf ȧAbd AllĆh, “Personennamen,” 68, and Iklĩl, 8, trans., 71. Al-Khulşd is known as a son of ȧąd and a forefather of Hşd in Ta’rĩkh, 1.216, and as Hşd’s father in KisĆ’ĩ, Qiʜaʜ, 103. Al-Khulşd is mentioned in the verse in AkhbĆr, 344.3, trans., 116. See also Iklĩl, 1.37, 421.. Wafd, Raml, ʙudd, and al-ȧUnşd are mentioned in the verse in AkhbĆr, 334.2, trans., 102, and al-ȧUnşd in the verse at 344.4, trans., 116. Line 344.5, trans., 116, contains the variant Rafd for Wafd. ʙudd appears at 346.17, trans., 120, and 344.3, trans., 116. These names appear in Ta’rĩkh, 1.221, as Rifd, Zaml, and ąl ʙudd, all of them tribes of the ȧąd, with al-ȧUbşd belonging to them. ʙudd occurs as a forefather of LuqmĆn in his genealogy in Ta’rĩkh, 1.219. Taym is explicitly mentioned as a descendant of ȧąd in ȧAbĩd’s list, so he most certainly must be considered one of the ten children. See also ȧAbd AllĆh, “Personennamen,” 36. Barr is a proper name, possibly referring to a mountain area of Southern Arabia called Barr al-AʘqĆf. See G. Rentz, EI2, 1:257, s.v. “al-Aʘ Ćf.” It is also a personal name in the form Barra in Iklĩl, 2.284. See also ȧAbd AllĆh, “Personennamen,” 33. Thamşd is certainly meant to be identical with the Qur’Ćnic Thamşd, whose story follows upon that of the ȧąd, AkhbĆr, 370.4ff., trans., chap. 9 below. ȧAbĩd’s story states that ȧąd and Thamşd were closely related as descendants of Iram, 317.17, trans., 79. For Thamşd, see also ȧAbd AllĆh, “Personennamen,” 37. The variant ʠamşd is found in al-HamdĆnĩ’s list, Iklĩl, 1.37, for the children of ȧąd. I cannot account for the variant reading and have not found it in another source. Lastly, MutĆb probably refers to the well-known tribe of MuntĆb of the ʗimyar. See Iklĩl, 2.75, and NashwĆn al-ʗimyarĩ, MuntakhabĆt, 105. Iklĩl, 1.37, lists the ȧąd as eleven tribes: al- ȧUbşd, al-Khulşd, Banş Maȧbad, Rafd, Zamr, Ziml, ʠidd, ʠamşd, JĆhid, ManĆf, and Sawd. Some of these names can easily be explained as variants are of what are found in AkhbĆr; others cannot. Which forms are the original ones is difficult to decide. MaȧĆrif, 28, refers to the ȧąd as thirteen tribes in the Sands (ar-raml ). Murşj, 2.154, trans., 2.349, credits ȧąd, a moon-worshiper, with 4,000 children and 1,000 wives. Bad’, 3.31, trans., 33, lists the ȧąd as ten tribes. Neither Ibn Qutayba nor alMaqdisĩ mentions any names. The children of ȧąd thus, in the order of the Latin alphabet, according to ȧAbĩd and al-HamdĆnĩ are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

(325)

ąs: no parallel source. BahĆr: no parallel source. Banş Maȧbad: Iklĩl, 1.37. Barr: Barr al-AʘqĆf in EI2, s.v. “al-Aʘ Ćf ”; Barra in Iklĩl, 2.284, and ȧAbd AllĆh, “Personennamen,” 33. ʠamşd: see Thamşd. ʠidd: see ʙudd.

STORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ȧąD

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them to rule whose kingdom lasted a long time and who was the one who built Iram DhĆt al-ȧImĆd; 3 al-Khulşd, the family of the prophet 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27.

FidghĆr: no parallel source. al-ʗaqşd: AkhbĆr, 342.9. JĆhid: Iklĩl, 1.37. al-Khulşd: AkhbĆr, 344.3; Ta’rĩkh, 1.216; Iklĩl, 1.37, 42; KisĆ’ĩ, Qiʜaʜ, 103. ManĆf: AkhbĆr, 344.3, Iklĩl, 1.37. MutĆb: probably MuntĆb, in Iklĩl, 2.75, and MuntakhabĆt, 105. Rafd: see Wafd. Raml: AkhbĆr, 334.2; Zaml: Ta’rĩkh, 1.221; Ziml: Iklĩl, 1.37. Rifd: see Wafd. Sawd: Iklĩl, 1.37. Cf. AkhbĆr, 344.5; Banş Sard, and ąl Sşd, AkhbĆr, 347.4. aʛ-ʙawr: no parallel source. ShaddĆd: TĩjĆn, 65; ȧAbd AllĆh, “Personennamen,” 68; Iklĩl, 8, trans., 71. ʙudd: AkhbĆr, 334.2, 344.3, 346.17; Ta’rĩkh, 1.221; ʠidd: Iklĩl, 1.37. Taym: ȧAbd AllĆh, “Personennamen,” 36. Thamşd: ȧAbd AllĆh, “Personennamen,” 37, and Qur’Ćn, passim; ʠamşd: Iklĩl, 1.37. al-ȧUbşd: see al-ȧUnşd. al-ȧUnşd: AkhbĆr, 334.2, 344.4; al-ȧUbşd: Ta’rĩkh, 1.221; Iklĩl, 1.37. Wafd: AkhbĆr, 334.2; Rafd: AkhbĆr, 344.5, and Iklĩl, 1.37; Rifd: Ta’rĩkh, 1.221. Zaml: see Raml. Ziml: see Raml. Zamr: Iklĩl, 1.37.

3 The term Iram DhĆt al-ȧImĆd is almost always associated with the ȧąd on the basis of Qur’Ćn 89:6–7. The location and the origin of the name remain problematic. See W. Montgomery Watt, EI2, 3:1270, s.v. “Iram.” TĩjĆn, 38–41, reports that a delegation from the ȧąd asked Hşd to show them the Paradise he promised them as reward for their obedience to God. They were then to name it after their ancestor Iram b. SĆm, so that his name would be eternally remembered. They would ask him to produce for them a city in al-ʗufayf, a wĆdĩ full of sand and violent winds. Upon Hşd’s request, God produced a city with castles of rubies upon pillars (aȧmida, cf. ȧimĆd ) bejewelled with precious stones. Hşd told them that the city’s name was Iram, and that it would give them superiority over mankind until the Day of Resurrection if they believed in God; if not, they would be destroyed. There is a reference to “the tribe of Iram” in the poem by Karĩm b. Maȧshar, AkhbĆr, 355.19, trans., 134. Al-ȧimĆd occurs in a verse, AkhbĆr, 329.15, trans., 96, cf. n. 25. aʜ-ʝabarĩ, Tafsĩr al-Qur’Ćn, 30.175ff., has various traditions on the meaning of Iram: the name of a place (Alexandria or Damascus), a “community,” a subtribe of (325)

90

HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

Hşd; 4 Taym b. ȧąd; Barr and BahĆr and al-ȧUnşd and al-ʗaqşd and aʛʙawr, the family of Abş Saȧĩd al-Mu’min; 5 ʙudd, the family of LuqmĆn b. ȧąd, 6 the one of the vultures; Wafd and Thamşd and MutĆb, the family of the one of the clouds; 7 ąs, FidghĆr, and Raml. The ȧąd were ten tribes, and they were bedouins. Their homes were al-AʘqĆf, 8 “the sand dunes” [arthe ȧąd, an adjective meaning “old,” an ancestor of the ȧąd, the name of the father of the ȧąd, or “the perishing.” Aʜ-ʝabarĩ himself takes the meaning of Iram to be a subtribe of the ȧąd. Traditions in ʝab., Tafsĩr, 30.175ff., explain the meaning of DhĆt al-ȧImĆd: the one of tall stature or tall pillars or tall to the sky, those who had the intention to seek fresh pasture, those who migrate, the one whose pillars are raised up, or the one of strength and power. Aʜ-ʝabarĩ then wonders whether reference is made to the tents of the ȧąd, as if they were built up on pillars, or to the tall height of the people of the ȧąd, but he does not know the answer. See also Ibn Khaldşn, al-Muqaddimah, 1.26–28, for a discussion of the term, and Horovitz, Untersuchungen, 89. 4 Hşd is the Qur’Ćnic prophet who received the writings given to Adam by Gabriel from his father ȧąbir and who spoke in Arabic. See TĩjĆn, 8, 29; Iklĩl, 1.37, discusses the genealogy of Hşd in great detail. 5 See n. 13 below. 6 LuqmĆn’s tale occurs in AkhbĆr, 356.5–367.18. He is LuqmĆn b. ȧąd, chief of the ȧąd delegation sent to Mecca to ask for rain. He was a king of the ʗimyar and prayed to God before every prayer: “O God, Lord of the greenish-blue seas and of the earth covered with plants after the rain, I ask you for a [long] life surpassing every [other] life.” He was buried in al-AʘqĆf near Hşd’s grave. For his place in the QurȧĆn, Sşrat “LuqmĆn,” later legends, poetry, and wisdom literature connected with him, see Gutas, “Classical Arabic Wisdom Literature,” and B. Heller and N. A. Stillman, EI2, 5.811, s.v. “Lu mĆn.” The story of his quest for a long life and his choice of the duration of seven vultures also occurs in TĩjĆn, 70–76. 7 “The one of the clouds” is Qayl b. ȧAnz, a chief of the ȧąd, who chose the black cloud of destruction for his people when he came to Mecca to ask for rain. See the story, AkhbĆr, 334.17ff., and trans., 103. 8 See Sşrat “al-AʘqĆf,” Qur’Ćn 46, and especially 46:21. AʚqĆf is the plural of ʚiqf, a long and winding tract of sand, and is stated to be the legendary home of the tribe of the ȧąd. See G. Rentz, EI2, 1:257, s.v. “al-Aʘ Ćf.” TĩjĆn, 34, reports that the ȧƖd moved from BĆbil and settled in the Yemen at alAʘqĆf. ʝab., Tafsĩr, 26.24, identifies it variously as a mountain in Syria, a wĆdĩ in ʗaʡramawt between Oman and Mahra territories, or at Shiʘr country of the Yemen. Al-HamdĆnĩ in ʛifa, 1.87, identifies it as a wĆdĩ between ʗaʡramawt and Mahra. BuldĆn, 1.154, identifies al-AʘqĆf from various traditions as a wĆdĩ between Oman and Mahra, sands between Oman and ʗaʡramawt, or sands overlooking the sea at Shiʘr in the Yemen. (325)

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rimĆl ], between ʗaʡramawt and the sea of Aden. That is [stated in] the word of God: “And remember the brother of ȧąd when he warned his people beside the sand dunes [al-AʘqĆf]” [Qur’Ćn 46:21]. They had multiplied and spread throughout all the land of the Yemen and the places near it, and they were tyrannical in the land. God had granted them broad stature, strength of body, abundance in provisions, and long life such as He did not give to any creature after the people of Nşʘ. That is stated in the word of God: “He increased you in stature broadly” [Qur’Ćn 7:69]. He also said: “He has succored you with flocks and sons, gardens and fountains” [Qur’Ćn 26:134]. They rejected their Lord and used their superiority over others unjustly. They spread corruption on earth and were extremely haughty and deceived by their ignorance. They said to their prophet Hşd: “This is nothing but the habit of the ancients” [Qur’Ćn 26:137]. God said: “As for ȧąd, (326) they waxed proud in the earth without right, and they said, ‘Who is stronger than we in might’” etc. [Qur’Ćn 41:15]. When their haughtiness and unbelief increased, and sinfulness made its appearance among them, God sent His prophet Hşd to them as a proof for them in order to warn them. He [Hşd] came from their best situated houses and belonged to the noblest among them in descent and the mightiest in family so that he would be protected against their foolishness and could deliver God’s messages. I heard your cousin ȧAbd AllĆh b. ȧAbbĆs 9 say that God has never sent a prophet to His people except from their best situated houses and mightiest [in family] so that he would be protected from their foolishness and could deliver God’s messages. He [MuȧĆwiya] said: You spoke the truth, brother of the. Jurhum. Do you know any Arab poet who mentioned Hşd in poetry? In the book of God there is indeed a cure for blindness and a clear illumination for ignorance. We want to have more [wisdom]. I heard the Messenger of God say: “There is wisdom in poetry.” 10

9 ȧAbd AllĆh b. ȧAbbĆs, who died in 68/687–88, was the cousin of the Prophet and the reputed father of Qur’Ćnic exegesis. ȧAbĩd may call ȧAbd AllĆh “your cousin” since the Banş HĆshim and the Banş Umayya were cousins, and perhaps this term was meant as flattery. See L. Veccia Vaglieri, EI2, 1:40, s.v. “ȧAbd AllĆh b. al-ȧAbbĆs,” and chap. 4 above, p. 53, for the suggestion that “cousin” is meant as a term expressing esteem and affection. 10 This well-known tradition is found in at-Tirmidhĩ, Sunan, 8.61, no. 2847; Ibn MĆja, Sunan, 2.1235, no. 3755; and al-BukhĆrĩ, KitĆb al-jĆmiȧ aʜ-ʜaʚĩʚ, 4.147, no. 90. (326)

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ȧAbĩd said: MuȧĆwiya, ʗassĆn b. ThĆbit al-AnʛĆrĩ spoke about him where he says: 11 ʞawĩl 1.

That the brother of al-AʘqĆf when they reproach him Fights for the religion of the Prophet and finds fault.

MuȧĆwiya said: You spoke the truth, Ibn Sharya, so tell me your story about the ȧąd. He said: MuȧĆwiya, the ȧąd had idols which they used to worship other than God called ʙudĆ’, BughĆ’, and ʙamşd. 12 MuȧĆwiya said: Was there a poem recited about them? ȧAbĩd replied: Yes, Abş Saȧĩd al-Mu’min, 13 who came from the house of Saȧĩd, said: wĆfir 1.

We have an idol called ʙamşd, Faced by ʙudĆ’ and al-BughĆ’. 14

11 ʗassĆn, the poet laureate of the prophet, died ca. 40/659. The verse appears in his DĩwĆn, 1.203, no. 89, verse 5. The variants in the second hemistich are: yujĆhidu fĩ dhĆti ’l-ilĆhi wa-yaȧdilş. The reading of our text may be preferable, since the variant dhĆti ’l-ilĆhi wa-yaȧdilu would seem to belong to the later Muȧtazilite debate about the essence of God. See chap. 11 §1, p. 191 below. 12 BughĆ’: HabĆ’ B. ʙamşd: Yaghşth B. Murşj, 2.276, trans., 2.441, and Ta’rĩkh, 1.216, have the idols of the ȧąd as ʙuddĆ’ (ʙadĆ’), al-HabĆ’, and ʙamşd (ʙamşdĆ). The variant Yaghşth in B substitutes a well-known deity of the Madhhij tribe in the Yemen. See Ibn al-Kalbĩ, KitĆb al-aʜnĆm, 9, and T. Fahd, Panthéon, 191, for Yaghşth. Cf. Qur’Ćn 71:23. ʙudĆ’ and ʙamşd appear in ʝab., Tafsĩr, 8.219, in a poem by Julhuma b. alKhaybarĩ. HabĆ’ appears in AkhbĆr, 344.4. ʙamşd appears in AkhbĆr, 330.3, 334.7. KisĆ’ĩ, Qiʜaʜ, 103, has the idols ʙudĆ, Hird, and HabĆ. See also Bad’, 1.30, and trans., 33. 13 His name is given in various forms by ȧAbĩd. AkhbĆr, 332.4, has Abş Saȧĩd Marthad b. Saȧd, and 327.12 has Abş Saȧĩd b. Saȧd b. ȧUfayr. TĩjĆn, 40.15, calls him MaysiȧĆn b. ȧUfayr. He was known as al-Mu’min because he was a believer in God and His prophet Hşd. 14 ʙamşd: Yaghşth B. al-BughĆ’: al-HabĆ’ B. The line appears as verse 8 in Ta’rĩkh, 1.224. The same poet is credited with it and is described as having recited it upon his hearing about the destruction of the (326)

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MuȧĆwiya said: You spoke the truth, so go on with the ȧąd’s story. He said: God sent his prophet Hşd to them with His messages, calling for His worship. He informed them of the message and counseled them as much as he could. They rejected his advice and repudiated his words. They hated what He brought them. God mentioned in His book what they said in more than one or two verses: “They said, ‘Hşd, thou hast not brought us a clear sign, and we will not leave our gods for what thou sayest; we do not (327) believe in thee. We say nothing, but that one of our gods has smitten thee with some evil’” [Qur’Ćn 11:53]. I heard your cousin say: “Some of our gods afflicted you with madness.” 15 Hşd said: “I call God to witness; and witness you, that I am quit of that [which] you associate apart from Him,” etc.[Qur’Ćn 11:54]. I heard your cousin say: “I am innocent of your gods who you claim afflicted me with evil, so afflict me with an even greater evil, if you like.” And His words: “Do you build on every prominence a sign, sporting?” [Qur’Ćn 26:128], that is, on every high place. “The prominence” is the high place consisting of what stones they erect in the high places. They belong to the people. I heard that from your cousin, too. 16 He said: You have spoken the truth and presented clear proof, ȧAbĩd, so tell me about Hşd. He said: Hşd admonished them strenuously and brought them the truth from his Lord, but they only continued further in tyranny and unbelief and persistence in disobedience to Him. A small group of them, not yet forty men, became Muslims with Hşd. A noble lord of distinguished descent among them called Abş Saȧĩd b. Saȧd b. ȧUfayr became a Muslim. He used to conceal his belief. He was chief of the delegations and was endowed with piety, reverence, and affection for them [the Muslims]. I heard, MuȧĆwiya, that one day he went and passed by a group of them in an assembly of their people. He called them to God and preached to them. A fool among them attacked him with a stone and caused his ankle to bleed. Hşd cursed them and prayed to God to afflict them with a drought and to withhold their rainfall for three years. God granted his request and withheld ȧąd. Aʜ-ʝabarĩ has al-HabĆ’ for al-BughĆ’. The line also occurs in the old edition of Murşj, 3.453 note, with the same poet and also reading al-HabĆ’ for al-BughĆ’. See also Thaȧlabĩ, Qiʜaʜ al-anbiyć’, 57, where the verse has the same variant. The line occurs again in AkhbĆr, 348.17, verse 9, in a poem by Abş Saȧĩd. 15 ʝab., Tafsĩr, 12.59, reports the same tradition from Ibn ȧAbbĆs. 16 ʝab., Tafsĩr, 19.94, reports the tradition from Ibn ȧAbbĆs. (327)

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their rain and afflicted them with a drought for three years until that exhausted them. MuȧĆwiya said: Excellent, ȧAbĩd! Was there a poem recited about that? ȧAbĩd replied: Yes. He said: Then let me hear it. He said: When the first year arrived, they knew that it was a year of drought and dearth, so they called it jaʚra [“sterile year”]. A Muslim called ʗammĆd recited this poem about that: 17 rajaz 1.

A sterile year descended on the land of the ȧąd. It was ablaze, and dust lay upon it.

2.

Their land was arid, dust-covered, Burning, and its vegetation was yellow.

3.

It had neither happiness in its day Nor comfort by daytime.

4.

The sweetness of luxury contain gall. It has a lesson to be obedient to God.

5.

Disobedience [to God] means destruction and affliction. They have seen Your strong power,

6.

Since their land is dry like rock, A desolate wasteland not like [other] land.

7.

[They had] good there replaced with harm, Since its soil continued to be dust,

8.

And it [the land] encountered affliction from its Lord.

(328)

A polytheist answered him. He [MuȧĆwiya] said: What is his name? He replied: His name is al-KhullajĆn b. al-Wahm. 18 17

I have not been able to identify the poet and the poem in other sources. The form KhullajĆn is found in Iklĩl, 1.43. The rajaz meter of his poem, AkhbĆr, 339.13, verse 2, indicates that the name must have three syllables. Ta’rĩkh, 1.224, has al-KhalajĆn. He was one of the seven giants of the ȧąd. TĩjĆn, 44.2, calls him al-Khalkhal and describes him as the strongest and the tallest of the ȧąd. Ta’rĩkh, 1.224, reports that Hşd said to him: aslim taslam!. Murşj, 2.280, trans., 2.442, describes him as their last king. Note the same meter and rhyme as the preceding poem with two common rhyme words. (328) 18

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He [ȧAbĩd] recited: rajaz 1.

The years are [in turn] sweet and bitter, Hot 19 and moist, turning green.

2.

At times a drought, at times fertility— A dust bowl year is not unknown.

3.

Their water source … affliction does not last. The ȧąd with ambition and the best men(?) 20

4.

Are trying to acquire gain, have might. All of them have abundance once.

5.

They enjoy powerful strength As if they were a live coal in battle,

6.

While they are together a warning in east and west.

He said: When the second year arrived, they called it kaʚl [“barren”]. A Muslim called Mubtadiȧ recited a poem containing these verses: 21 rajaz

19

1.

A barren year has descended on the people of the ȧąd, Something among the years that causes difficulties,

2.

When they did wrong and did not follow the straight path. It [the barren year] subdues those of luxury and corruption.

3.

Among those of them in the villages and in the desert, Its barrenness among the mighty is apparent.

4.

Punishment from the King of humanity Prevents the ȧąd from productivity.

5.

Because the ȧąd avoided the guidance of good conduct And did excessive wrong in the land,

6.

Deceived by the weakest armies .. …., 22

(329)

NĆkhira: fĆkhira B. Read nĆjira. Maȧĩn is probably an exclamatory reference to a spring or running water with the following boast that affliction does not last. See MuntakhabĆt, 99. Khibra: read, with B, khĩra. 21 I have been unable to identify the poet and the poem. Note the same meter and rhyme as a preceding poem, 317.11ff., with two common rhyme words. (329) 20

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN 7.

They took on the character of enviers And followed the paths of corruption.

A polytheist called Jayʘşn 23 answered him: rajaz 1.

The years are still bountiful; The years are still in repetition.

2.

They have lightning with great thunder. Their lightning comes in the evening and in the morning,

3.

With neither difficulty nor corruption, Something determined by the King of humanity.

4.

The invocation of the idols does no harm. Every idol belongs to the return, 24

5.

To the lofty Creator, the generous one. There is hope for something straightforward,

6.

Intercession that is hoped for the people of the ȧąd. All the fools have known

7.

And everyone of opinion and heart Among the villagers or the bedouins

8.

That the ȧąd are difficult to lead. Inhabitants of the flocks’ habitual territory and the smooth ground,

9.

Vanquishers of equals in opposition, Firm in support and strength,

10. Strong with violence and tent poles, 25 Conquering all the enviers, 11. [The ȧąd] strike with sharp talons The one of powerful resistance, the hostile combatant. 22 The reading and the meaning of the verse are not clear to me, and the manuscript is not legible. 23 Jayʘşn is the name the medieval Arabs used for the Oxus river of Central Asia. Whether Jayʘşn here has anything to do with the name of the river is doubtful, and Jayʘşn and the poem are unidentified. Note the same meter and rhyme as the preceding poem and the poem at 317.11ff. 24 The reading and the meaning are uncertain. AndĆd in the second hemistich seems strange. 25 Al-ȧimĆd undoubtedly refers to DhĆt al-ȧImĆd. See n. 3 above. (329)

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He said: When the third year arrived, they called it kalʚ [“stern”]. A Muslim recited this poem: 26 rajaz 1.

How is it for the ȧąd to have sternness following barrenness, Having drought, dust, and dry soil?

2.

The essence of the pleasure of happiness is prevented Because the ȧąd fought the road of deliverance.

3.

They did not obey their prophet when he admonished, (330) And he desired that they be righteous in the company of those who were righteous.

4.

They denied the religion of right guidance when it became clear, And the delay from a forgiving Lord deluded them.

5.

… followed from the enclosures 27 From aʛ-ʙamşd like suffocating blood for what was sacrificed.

6.

Its renown is cut off when it [aʛ-ʙamşd] is conquered. It goes down on its scales and does not go up.

So a polytheist called al-KhullajĆn answered him: 28 rajaz

26

1.

The ȧąd have power; they will not be conquered. 29 Their might is a chief for them to choose.

2.

Their situation is flourishing. The power among them is eternal, unsurrendered.

3.

The business of their sheep owners when sheep go grazing Is successful since they have a vast place.

4.

[They are] familiar with the evening draft and the morning draft [of milk] …. 30

I have been unable to identify the poet and the poem. The reading and the translation are uncertain. Reference is made to blood sacrifice being made on the sacrificial altar connected with the idol aʛ-ʙamşd of the ȧąd. See AkhbĆr, 326.13, 16, and n. 12 above. Jamʚ in the first hemistich makes no sense and does not fit the meter. 28 Al-KhullajĆn is without a doubt the same al-KhullajĆn b. al-Wahm. Note the same meter and rhyme as the preceding poem. 29 Taftaliʚ: Read tuftataʚ. (330) 27

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN 5.

They abase through power whoever is recalcitrant And whoever intentionally oppresses them and is disobedient.

6.

All of them have strength and joy. If they want white-skinned maidens, they marry [them].

MuȧĆwiya said: You have presented proof with regard to your story, ȧAbĩd. What did they do? ȧAbĩd replied: MuȧĆwiya, when the years continued to be calamitous and sterile, their drought grew severe while they were neither repentant nor obedient to their prophet Hşd. Then a nobleman of good breeding among them called Zumayl b. ȧAnz, the brother of al-Qayl b. ȧAnz, 31 stood up. AlQayl was the chief and the leader of the ȧąd in his time and in charge of the clouds and the wind that destroyed the ȧąd with the permission of God. Zumayl got up and called his people. He said: I thought about this drought which has descended on you. I have considered an opinion, and I have spoken about it. I am proposing it to you for your consideration. The crowd said to him: Your opinion is sound, and your deed is handsome. Speak, and we shall listen to what you say. So Zumayl stood up among them reciting this poem: 32 wĆfir

30

1.

Indeed three proofs have descended for us On the ȧąd, and the ȧąd find no way out.

2.

Their tears moisten the earth. They do not know what is intended for them.

3.

The Banş ȧąd b. ȧAwʛ have known that My advice to them is straightforward.

4.

I submit my opinion to them— I would not want to keep it all to myself—

(331)

The reading and the meaning of the second hemistich are unclear. The first hemistich refers to the sheep-owner who quaffs his evening and morning cup of milk from his sheep. A possible translation of the second hemistich is: “like that which the getter of fine sand acquires.” The line only makes sense if fine sand is a metaphor for the fine, smooth, white milk sheep give, but this explanation is purely hypothetical. The same image of the evening draft of milk seems to occur in the poem by Mubdiȧ, AkhbĆr, 391.15, verse 3, trans., 169, in the story of the Thamşd. 31 Zumayl is not mentioned in the version of TĩjĆn, while Qayl appears in TĩjĆn, 43.1, 77.19. 32 I have been unable to locate the poem in another source. (331)

STORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ȧąD 5.

That they select a delegation to travel To the Ancient House, having straightforward guidance

6.

From straightforward speech when they reach it, And soft words that are to the point,

7.

So that they might ask the pious Sovereign for abundant rain Through which creation and humanity are revived.

8.

You tested that. The goodness I receive From Him has straightforwardness in its beginning,

9.

Because God is powerful, wise, Forgiving, provider, pious, generous.

99

10. If He hears our words, He will give us water, For fierce calamities have struck us. 11. If we perish, well, then the command of God is executed. We let ourselves be guided by Him.

He said: When they heard his words, they agreed on traveling to the Sacred House of God to ask for abundant rain. MuȧĆwiya said: Excellent, ȧAbĩd! How did they expect God to answer them while they remained engaged in polytheism and idol worship? ȧAbĩd replied: MuȧĆwiya, at the time when the people, bedouins and other polytheists, were struck by a calamity, or a misfortune afflicted them or a drought or something else exhausted them, they took refuge in God. They would come to the Sacred Territory to ask relief from God and to present their requests, learning God’s answer at His Sacred House. Many men of different religions would gather at Mecca and ask God for their needs. All of them were familiar with Mecca and its ʚaram. They did not depart until the petitioner was granted his request. MuȧĆwiya said: Was its location known at that time? ȧAbĩd replied: Yes, MuȧĆwiya. Its location was known since God had made the place for Adam until IbrĆhĩm built it [the house]. (332) There was no building in those days. When they agreed on traveling to Mecca to ask for rain, they equipped seventy important noblemen of distinguished descent among them. Then they put four of them in charge of the seventy: Qayl b. ȧAnz, their chief in charge of their affairs; LuqmĆn b.ȧąd, the one of the vultures; Abş Saȧid Marthad b. Saȧd, the best of the group, and Julhuma b. al-Khaybarĩ. 33 They traveled until they reached Mecca. 33

He is not mentioned in TĩjĆn, but he is known in Ta’rĩkh, 1.219, as one of the (332)

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Its residents in those days were al-ȧAmĆlĩq. They were the kings of alʗijĆz and its territory. They stayed with one of their men called Bakr b. MuȧĆwiya, who was married to a woman from the ȧąd. She was the sister 34 of Julhuma b. al-Khaybarĩ. She bore his son MuȧĆwiya b. Bakr 35 and all his children. Bakr b. MuȧĆwiya had a sister, 36 Huzayla, daughter of HazzĆl b. MuȧĆwiya, 37 married among the ȧąd. Her husband was Abş Saȧĩd al-Mu’min Marthad b. Saȧd. She bore ȧAmr, ȧąmir, and ȧUmayr, the sons of Marthad b. Saȧd. She and her children were the ones saved from the punishment on the day of the wind. The sons of Abş Saȧĩd were the last ȧąd. 38 When the delegation of the ȧąd approached the ʚaram, they stayed with their brother-in-law Bakr b. MuȧĆwiya and his son MuȧĆwiya. Their camp was on the outskirts of Mecca, outside the ʚaram. Bakr and MuȧĆwiya were glad to see the delegation, entertained them well, and made them comfortable with their sister’s son, 39 MuȧĆwiya b. Bakr. Bakr b. MuȧĆwiya 40 had grown old and weak. His son held the leadership after him. He put up his maternal uncles and kept them confined for a.month with him. They ate bread and meat and drank wine while two slave girls called “the locusts” sang to them. It was said that he was the first on earth to use female slaves for singing. He was the richest bedouin in his time. The delegation of the ȧąd took up amusements and drinking. They did not do what they had come to do. When MuȧĆwiya b. Bakr saw that, it disdelegation, the maternal uncle of MuȧĆwiya b. Bakr and the sister of Kalhada bint al-Khaybarĩ. See AkhbĆr, 332.7. 34 According to Ta’rĩkh, 1.219, her name was Kalhada. See n. 33. 35 These two are not mentioned in TĩjĆn’s version. Ta’rĩkh, 1.129, identifies their residence on the outskirts of Mecca outside of the ʚaram as ȧAbĩd reports below in AkhbĆr, 332.13. 36 Huzayla would be a niece of Bakr b. MuȧĆwiya if she is the daughter of HazzĆl b. MuȧĆwiya. Bakr is called her paternal uncle by the ȧąd delegation below, AkhbĆr, 340.20, and by ȧAbĩd, 340.9. Ta’rĩkh, 1.219, reports that she is the daughter of Bakr, the sister of MuȧĆwiya, and the wife of Luqaym b. HazzĆl of the ȧąd and not, as our text states, Abş Saȧĩd al-Mu’min. According to aʜ-ʝabarĩ, she bore four sons: ȧAbĩd, ȧąmr, ȧąmir, and ȧUmayr. 37 He is a brother of Bakr, if Huzayla is Bakr’s paternal niece. 38 For the story of the last ȧąd, see AkhbĆr, 367.19–370.3, trans., chap. 8 below. Ta’rĩkh, 1.219, calls the last ȧąd the descendants of Luqaym b. HazzĆl of the ȧąd and his wife Huzayla. 39 “Their sister’s” refers to bint al-Khaybarĩ of the ȧąd. 40 MuȧĆwiya b. Bakr: Read, with B, Bakr b. MuȧĆwiya. (333)

STORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ȧąD

101

tressed him. He said: If I abandon my maternal uncles and brothers-in-law, it will be 41 (333) their destruction, and their family and their people left behind in their country will perish. They [the uncles and the brothers-in-law] also are my guests and dignitaries of my people. I am ashamed to order them to depart for what they came to do. When their stay grew long, and they did not look into what they came to do, he recited a poem and made his two slave girls memorize it. He ordered them to stand up at the head of their elder and nobleman Qayl b. ȧAnz and to sing it when the people became intoxicated, and the wine took hold of them. He gave them much to eat and drink. When they were intoxicated, the slave girls stood up at the head of Qayl b. ȧAnz reciting these verses: 42 wĆfir 1.

O Qayl, woe to you. Get up and speak softly. Perhaps God will come to us with morning clouds

2.

And water the people of the ȧąd. The ȧąd have come to be unable to speak clearly

3.

From the severe thirst. You do not see them, Neither old man nor lad.

4.

The wild beasts come to them by day. They do not fear arrows from an ȧądĩ.

5.

Their women were well. Now they have become bereft.

6.

You are neglectful of what you wished [to do] here Day and night.

7.

Consider your delegation worse than any other. May they receive no greeting whatsoever!

He said: When the singing girls recited the poem, and they [the delegation] heard it, they were afraid and abandoned the amusements and the sweet life in which they were engaged. Some of them said: O people, your 41

Read the grammatically more correct fa-innahĆ for innahĆ. The poem is also found in TĩjĆn, 43, with only three verses and several variants, particularly verse 3 in the first hemistich, which reads: fa-mĆ tarjş bi-hĆ gharsan wa-zarȧĆ. The poet was Abş ’l-HijĆl, a spokesman for the ȧąd and a believer in Hşd. The occasion is the ȧąd’s complaining to Qayl b. ȧAnz about the drought. See chap. 10 §6, p. 181 below. (333) 42

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tribesmen sent you because of that calamity that has descended on them. You have been slow and been traveling here for a month from your country and your family. You have been here for a month. So proceed to the building of your Lord and seek aid from your Lord for your people. Abş Saȧĩd al-Mu’min said: O people, come on and do something which I tell you [to do]. Thereby you will remember your business and assist your people. They said: What is this? He replied: You are to believe in your prophet Hşd, and you are to believe in your Lord. That is better for you. He [ȧAbĩd] said: They hated his words and rejected the advice. MuȧĆwiya said: Was there a poem recited about that? ȧAbĩd replied: Yes. Abş Julhuma said: 43 wĆfir (334) 1.

O Abş Saȧd, 44 it is as if you were from a tribal lineage Other than the ȧąd, and your mother were from the Thamşd.

2.

Do you order us to abandon the religion of Wafd, And Raml and the people of ʙudd and al-ȧUnşd? 45

3.

Shall we abandon the religion of noble people Of distinguished descent and follow the religion of Hşd?

4.

We will not obey you as long as we live And we are not, you should realize, bound by treaties.

He said: A delegate from the people of Abş Saȧĩd became angry because of that and answered him: 46 wĆfir 1.

43

Marthad is the core of the ȧąd among their top people. You belong to a vile, foolish, ungrateful one 47 —

He appears to be identical with Julhuma b. al-Khaybarĩ, mentioned above in AkhbĆr, 332.5. The poem is not found in TĩjĆn, but Ta’rĩkh, 1.221, has the poem in 4 verses with the same author and occasion. The proper names of verse 2 in aʜʝabarĩ (verse 3) are: Rifd, Zaml, ąl ʙudd, and al-ȧUbşd. ʝab., Tafsĩr, 8.219, has.the same poem with variants of the second hemistich, verse 2: wa-Ramlin wa-’ʜ-ʛudĆ’a maȧa ‘ʜ-ʛamşdĩ. See also KisĆ’ĩ, Qiʜaʜ, 108, and Thaȧlabĩ, Qiʜaʜ, 54. 44 Abş Saȧd in the vocative is Abş Saȧĩd shortened for metrical reasons. 45 Wafd, Raml, ąl ʙudd, and al-ȧUnşd are tribes of the ȧąd according to ȧAbĩd in AkhbĆr, 325.10ff. See n. 2. 46 The same meter and rhyme occur in the preceding poem. (334)

STORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ȧąD 2.

His rank, O adopted one, 48 goes to the heights— Among maternal and paternal uncles of ʙamşd(?). 49

3.

The finest and the best of the ȧąd’s people after Hşd Is the noble Abş Saȧĩd.

103

MuȧĆwiya said: What did the delegation do, ȧAbĩd? He replied: When the delegation wished to journey to the Kaȧba, they asked Bakr and his son to detain Abş Saȧĩd. They did and spoke to him about that, and he said: Agreed. He and LuqmĆn b. ȧąd stayed away from them. The rest of the delegation continued to the house with Qayl b. ȧAnz preceding them. He lined up the delegation and took refuge in the Kaȧba. He prayed and implored. He then heard a voice calling from heaven saying: O Qayl b. ȧAnz, what you came to seek, ask for it, and you will obtain it. He said: I came to seek the rain which causes trees to grow and multiplies fruits and by which man lives and my people and my country thrive. He [ȧAbĩd] said: God produced three clouds: white, red, and black. Then he was told: Choose whichever you wish. He said: As for the white one, it is a waterless cloud. There is neither rain in it nor abundant moisture. As for the red one, it is another waterless cloud which comes driving away 50 happiness and bringing misfortune. We have no need of it. As for the black one, it has a lot of water and abundant moisture. It brings prosperity in its wake, fulfills wishes, and enrages enemies. I choose it for my people and my land. The voice called to him: Ashes and more ashes, it will not leave anyone from ȧąd b. ȧAwʛ, neither father nor son, except the most remote father’s line. MuȧĆwiya said: Excellent! Whom does he mean with his words: Except for the most remote father’s line?

47

Marthad is Abş Saȧĩd al-Mu’min. Since the rhyme is -şdĩ, the particle la- is not possible. It must be li- as translated. 48 The meaning is that Abş Julhuma is not really of the ȧĆd and deserves scorn. 49 ʙamşd is a god of the ȧąd. The meter in the second hemistich of this verse is corrupt, and the reading and the translation are uncertain. The context suggests for the first hemistich a retort to the poet of the preceding poem and a defense of Abş Saȧĩd. The second hemistich seems to refer to someone being among the relatives of the god ʙamşd, perhaps Abş Julhuma, the author of the preceding poem. This hemistich may be a continuation of the second hemistich in verse 1, that Abş Julhuma is associated with ʙamşd. 50 fa-jahĆmun ghayru atĆ ’lladhi yanfĩ: Perhaps read fa-jahĆmun ghayru ’lladhĩ atĆ yanfĩ. (334)

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

He replied: From the descendants (335) of ȧUmlşq b. LĆwidh. 51 She, that is Huzayla, was a sister of Bakr b. MuȧĆwiya, the daughter of Huzayl, 52 the ȧImliqiyya. She was the sister of Bakr b. MuȧĆwiya, and the wife of Abş Saȧĩd al-Mu’min. I have heard, MuȧĆwiya, that Huzayla was an outstanding woman in intellect and manners. She was a friend of Hşd and his companions. She was kind to them and generous to them with her wealth. She had much money. IslĆm had taken hold in her heart, but she was concealing that from her people. God saved her and her children from punishment. The delegation of the ȧąd withdrew to their camp with Bakr b. MuȧĆwiya, happy and cheerful, thinking that they had obtained abundant rain. When they returned, Abş Saȧĩd al-Mu’min and LuqmĆn went to the Ancient House, and Abş Saȧĩd al-Mu’min approached the House and took refuge in the Kaȧba. He prayed, implored, and said: Lord, I came to you in my need, so give me what I am asking for. He heard a voice from heaven saying: O Abş Saȧĩd b. Marthad, what did you come seeking? Ask for it, and you will obtain it. He said: I came seeking piety and fear of God. A voice was heard saying: Verily you are given both. You will have great benefit through them. MuȧĆwiya said: Was there a poem recited about that? ȧAbĩd replied: Yes, MuȧĆwiya.The bedouins have recited poems about that. If you like, I will recite them for you—if you want, at the end of the story, for it will be more suitable for the tale [which I am telling you]. MuȧĆwiya said: Let me hear them at the end of the story, because that is better. He said: Then LuqmĆn b. ȧąd approached and took refuge in the Kaȧba, prayed, and implored. He said: O God, I did not come to you as an envoy except on my own behalf, so give me what I am asking for. He heard a voice from heaven saying: O LuqmĆn b. ȧąd, what did you come seeking, and what do you want? Ask for it, and you will obtain it. He said: I came seeking [long] life. He [ȧAbĩd] said: The voice was heard saying: Choose the life span of seven vultures when the chick emerges from the egg. Do you prefer to live a long time? 53 If a vulture dies, another will follow. Or [do you prefer] to live [the life span] of seven brown cows 54 from dusty-red years on a rough See AkhbĆr, 318.14, where he is called ȧImlĩq. In AkhbĆr, 332.9, she is called Huzayla bint HazzĆl. 53 The text appears to be corrupt. 54 baqarĆt: tamarĆt B. B adds aʚabbu ilayka before aw in 1ine 19 of the Arabic text. (335) 51 52

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105

mountain, untouched by rain. LuqmĆn replied: I prefer the life span of seven vultures. The voice was heard saying: You have been granted your request, but there is no way to live eternally. LuqmĆn and Abş Saȧĩd returned to the delegation (336) in the camp of Bakr and his son. They stayed together until they learned about the destruction of the ȧąd. ȧAbĩd said: MuȧĆwiya, the destruction of the ȧąd was the black cloud which Qayl b. ȧAnz chose for his people. God made it a sterile wind as a punishment from God and a revenge visited by Him upon them. The cloud proceeded by the command and the power of God, the armies of God driving it. That is [stated in] the word of God: “And also in ȧąd, when we loosed against them the withering wind” [Qur’Ćn 51:41]. He said: I heard Ibn ȧAbbĆs say: “They were made barren of mercy and fertilized with punishment.” God said: “by a wind clamorous, violent” [Qur’Ćn 69:6]. I heard Ibn ȧAbbĆs say: ȧIt raged that day over its keepers, the keepers of the wind. Something [snorting] like the nose of the bull came out of it. God destroyed the ȧąd by it [the violence of the wind].” He said: The wind progressed, the command and the power of God driving it. The armies of God and His angels, the angels of punishment, were with it leading it with destructive fury, until it stopped at the land of the ȧąd. It reached them at a wĆdĩ called Mughayth 55 whence abundant rain used to come to them. When they saw it, they were happy and rejoiced and expected that it was abundant rain from God. They did not know that it was a chastisement and a punishment for them. God said: “When they saw it as a sudden cloud coming toward their wĆdĩs, they said, ‘This is a cloud, Read, perhaps, aw aʚabbu ilayka an tabqĆ. In the story of LuqmĆn, AkhbĆr, 356.16–17, his first choice was the duration of seven pieces of dung, baȧarĆt (and not baqarĆt, “cows”), of reddish gazelles on a rocky mountain untouched by rain. In TĩjĆn’s version, 70.10–12, his choices were the duration of seven reddish gazelle-cows on a rocky mountain untouched by fear, the duration of seven date-pits placed on a boulder untouched by dew or rain, or the duration of seven vultures. 55 BuldĆn, 4.585, has al-Mughĩth, a body of water between an-Naqra, a place near Mecca, and ar-Rabadha, near Medina, but this place cannot be the one of our text. TĩjĆn, 39.20, describes wĆdĩ al-ʗufayf, which had a river running night and day with sand and violent winds where Hşd was to bring out the town of Iram, but the connection of Mughayth and al-ʗufayf is uncertain. The readings Maghĩth, “a land well watered by rain,” and Mughĩth, “helper,” also exist, but only the first one might deserve consideration here. The reading in the diminutive, Mughayth, would be the common pronunciation of such a form in the Yemen today. The correct reading is not certain. (336)

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

that shall give us rain!’ Not so; rather it is that you sought to hasten—a wind, wherein is a painful chastisement, destroying everything by the commandment of its Lord” [Qur’Ćn 46:24]. And their words to the prophet Hşd: “‘Then bring us that thou promisest us, if thou speakest truly’” [Qur’Ćn 7:70]. I heard Ibn ȧAbbĆs explain that. MuȧĆwiya said: You spoke the truth. What did he say? He replied: The first for whom it became clear that it was a wind of punishment from God for them was a slave girl called Mahd. 56 When she saw it, she screamed. Then she shrieked and fainted. Her people gathered around her. When she regained consciousness, she stood up wailing and said: 57 ramal 1.

Calamity, calamity For the crime of the delegation! 58

2.

The delegation of the wind was The worst delegation in creation.

3.

They were sent seeking abundant rain, And they brought them [the ȧąd] misfortune.

4.

A wind was unleashed on them. It left the ȧąd empty.

5.

It was unleashed on them seven [nights] And left no one alive among them.

(337)

It is said, MuȧĆwiya, that she was the first mourning woman to mourn on earth. Her people said to her: What do you see, and what has befallen you? She replied: Misfortune upon the ȧąd who tyrannized in the lands and spread much corruption in them! I see winds like mountains. They have bridles in the hands of men as if flames of fire were on their faces. The men whom she mentioned were the angels of God with the wind. MuȧĆwiya said: Was there a poem recited about it? ȧAbĩd replied: Yes, MuȧĆwiya. Umayya b. Abĩ aʛ-ʙalt or an-NĆbigha adh-DhubyĆnĩ 59 recited verses about that where he says: 56

Mahd is not mentioned in TĩjĆn. Ta’rĩkh, 1.222, calls her Mahdad. I have been unable to find the poem in other sources. 58 The rhyme requires ȧalĩya, but the meaning probably is that of ȧalayhi(?). Hardly: “The crimes of the delegations are high ones.” 59 A famous Arab poet of the Thaqĩf, Umayya died about 9/631 or 10/632. See (337) 57

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basĩʞ 1.

… Mahd saw what she saw. It was said to her: What do you see? She said: I behold a wonder.

2.

I see winds like mountains having Bridles in the hands of men, resembling flame.

MuȧĆwiya said: Go on with your story. He said: When it was clear to them that the wind was a punishment from God for them, they went up to a single plateau and placed the family and children there. He said: Then they erected structures over them, while furnishings were [placed] on top of them like a big shelter over them, to protect them—so they assumed—from the wind. All the powerful, hardy, and brave men gathered and lined up between them and the wind at the mouth of the wĆdĩ. Men like tall peaks volunteered among them. They were ȧAmr b. Khallĩ, al-ʗĆrith b. Asad, al-Muqaddam b. Safr, al-KhullajĆn b. alWahm, Sayd b. Saȧĩd, Zumayl b. ȧAmr, and Zamr b. Aswad. 60 They went forth without their people and said: May this wind be held back from you! MuȧĆwiya said: What happened to Hşd? ȧAbĩd replied: Hşd was among them calling them to the obedience of God. When he saw that the punishment was descending on them, and he knew that it was God who was destroying them, he withdrew with thirty men of those who had become Muslims with him. They set out until (338) they stopped at an enclosure on a hill near the wĆdĩ listening to what they were saying and looking at what God was doing to them. When the wind reached the ȧąd, ȧAmr b. Khallĩ, one of the seven giants who was their chief, got up and went forth without his companions to meet the wind while reciting these verses: rajaz 1.

Who are those of the weakest of whom the ȧąd are wary(?)? They [the ȧąd] are the mountains made strong in the lands,

GAS, 2:298. An-NĆbigha adh-DhubyĆnĩ flourished in the sixth century A.D. See GAS, 2.110. The poem is not found in the DĩwĆn of either poet, and I have been unable to locate it in other sources. See chap. 11 §2, p. 191 below. 60 TĩjĆn, 44.2ff., lists sixteen different giants of the ȧąd who went out to meet the wind. TĩjĆn’s al-KalkhĆl is most certainly al-KhullajĆn of AkhbĆr. For the name Khallĩ, see adh-Dhahabĩ, al-Mushtabih fĩ asmĆ ’r-rijĆl, 169. I have not been able to locate the name in any other source. (338)

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HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN 2.

Difficult, lofty, fortified, They are the fierce lions in hiding.

3.

And all of us among them [the ȧąd] … Firm at the encounter, made crooked,

4.

He who tests Fate is shown by its most diverse [aspects] 61 ….

Hşd and his Muslim companions heard his words, so someone among them answered him reciting these verses: rajaz 1.

Are the ȧąd anything but souls pledged, Committed to their final terms?

2.

… 62 does not defend his cities From the uncertainty of a Fate which was about to bury him.

3.

It [Fate] sends forth the strength of souls weakened Pledged to the term of their souls.

4.

A clear sign has come to you Among souls situated for their death.

5.

A deceitful attack has brought you A violent wind situated upon you.

6.

By it the ways of perdition are created, Among which assorted family perishes.

7.

He encounters its blindingness turning it [the wind] away in his trials(?) After it [the wind] was empowered over them.

Then the wind swept away ȧAmr b. Khallĩ, and al-ʗĆrith b. Asad took [ȧAmr’s] place and recited these verses: rajaz 1.

61

O ȧąd, the might among you is firm. It has grown and become lofty in you63

The reading and the translation of verses 3 and 4 are uncertain. Kabul: Perhaps read, with B, kull. The meter is defective, and the reading and the translation of the first hemistich are unclear to me. There is a blank spot in B after kull. Note the same meter and rhyme as the preceding poem. 63 The meter is defective in this hemistich, and something appears to be missing in the line. (338) 62

STORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ȧąD 2.

109

Like a falcon you have set free after [it] had become supple(?). 64

The wind threw him to the ground. Then al-Muqaddam b. as-Safr took [al-ʗĆrith’s] place reciting these verses: rajaz (339) 1.

O ȧąd, my people, the decision has been made About you, O ȧąd, about you, and nothing can be done about it.

2.

I see Fate has come up with death. Fate has feasted on its account.

3.

It is very fitting for whoever brought us to this situation. Fie on him 65 with affliction, perdition, and exemplary punishment!

The wind threw him to the ground. He said: Then ʙayd b. Saȧĩd took [al-Muqaddam’s] place reciting these verses: rajaz 1.

Woe on Qayl, then woe on his mother. What wrong did he do to himself and to his people!

2.

Fate does not take it kindly when it is blamed. He who blames it …. 66

3.

Many a night, perdition comes right afterward(?). 67

The wind threw him to the ground, and Zamr b. Aswad took [ʙayd’s] place and recited these verses: rajaz 1.

Woe to the ȧąd, how did Time strike them, And Fate ravish them with a hateful vengeance.

2.

Fie on him [Qayl] with affliction, perdition, and deceit! [Fate] took possession of the people altogether and the stout [camels and other livestock].

64 Saqra: shiȧr B. Read ʜaqra. ȧAttaqtahĆ: ȧaqqahĆ B. ȧAttaqa usually means to release a prisoner or a slave. The usual verb for releasing falcons is aʞlaqa. Baȧd: baȧʘ B. 65 The reference is to Qayl b. ȧAnz. 66 Wa-’d-dahru ghayru muȧtibin min lawmihĩ: lit. “Fate is not content with its blame.” Cf. Franz Rosenthal, “Sweeter than Hope”: Complaint and Hope in Medieval Islam, 47 n. 219, for a verse with a similar meaning. The meaning of the second hemistich is not clear to me. 67 The meaning is quite uncertain. (339)

110

HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

The wind threw him to the ground. Then al-KhullajĆn b. al-Wahm stood up after him and recited these verses: 68 rajaz 1.

Oh, what a day it was—its sun was absent from us, A difficult day. Its yesterday will not return!

2.

No one remained except al-KhullajĆn himself. Nothing remained except his sword and his shield.

3.

O excellent branch whose foundation was hit! Blessed be he who is concealed in his tomb.

4.

O he whose courage was firmly established 69 like the trunk of the palm tree! The black cloud was empowered over him 70 —his bow is disappearing

5.

After it was forbidden to touch.

Then the wind threw him to the ground with his companions, and the seven giants perished by the permission of the Omnipotent. I heard, MuȧĆwiya, that one of them could confront a running [horse] with his [bare] hands, and it would not run(?). 71 Then the wind swept away the group of the people of the ȧąd and destroyed them by the power of God. It did not leave an eye blinking among them, neither young nor old. Then the wind began to turn their bodies upside down between heaven and earth in the air, [they were] rising up and descending for seven nights and eight days without interruption until it left them as if they were (340) stumps of fallendown palm trees. That is stated in the word of God: “As if they were stumps of fallen-down palm trees” [Qur’Ćn 69:7]. It demolished the houses and left them as if they were the dry trunks of palm trees. It destroyed the castles, walls, and gardens. It pulled them from their foundations until it appeared as if they never had been on the face of the earth. It left no one among them except Huzayla bint HazzĆl alȧImliqiyya and her sons. She was the wife of Abş Saȧĩd al-Mu’min. God saved them from the punishment through the faith of their companions. 68

Ta’rĩkh, 1.224, has two verses with numerous variants with only verse 2, first hemistich, complete. See also KisĆ’ĩ, Qiʜaʜ, 109, and Thaȧlabĩ, Qiʜaʜ, 56. 69 ThĆwin ʚassuhş: qĆwin khamsuhş B: Read qĆwin ʚamsuhş. 70 Perhaps read minhş for minnĩ. 71 This statement is apparently meant to characterize the extraordinary prowess of those seven giants as being able to stop a running horse with their bare hands. (340)

STORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ȧąD

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God commanded the wind to carry her and her children with tenderness and compassion. It neither injured nor harmed them until it brought them to Mecca and set them down in the camp of Bakr b. MuȧĆwiya, where the ȧąd delegation and his companions were. He said: While the people were in the midst of their amusement and delight, Huzayla and her sons approached, and she came suddenly upon her paternal uncle, the shaykh Bakr b. MuȧĆwiya in his camp. When he saw her, he was greatly frightened because of her [appearance]. He said: Woe to you, what happened to you, and what is the matter with you? Who of your companions arrived with you? Huzayla cried shedding tears and said: The news is too hideous and painful and grievous for me to describe to you. He said: Woe to you, tell me, what is it, for you have made me very excited. She said: Where is the ȧąd delegation? He replied: They are in the camp of my son MuȧĆwiya. She said: What did they do? He replied: They sought refuge in the house of their Lord, and He gave every one of them what he asked for. She said: Nay, by the Lord of the Kaȧba, they were given lasting calamity and despicable disgrace! He said: May your mother be bereft of you, O Huzayla! Tell me, what is it? She replied: I will not tell you anything until you summon all the delegation, so Bakr sent for them and told them where Huzayla was. They speedily approached, frightened and terrified. When they reached her, they said to her: Woe to you! Tell us who it was who has brought you, and who has come in your company? What happened, and how did you leave your people? She replied: Rather, you inform me about your journey and your business. They told her: We traveled a month and remained for a month with your paternal uncle and his son. Then we took refuge in the Ancient House, and every one of us was given what he asked for. The cloud headed toward you (341) with abundant rain. What news do you have? Huzayla replied: The news is too hideous and violent and painful to let you hear in words, but I will speak in verse and recite it to “the locust.” 72 She will let you hear it. Huzayla recited this poem: ramal 1.

The ȧąd really preferred turning away To right guidance.

72 “The locust” refers to two slave girls belonging to MuȧĆwiya b. Bakr at Mecca called “the locusts.” See AkhbĆr, 333.6. They were the professional singers who entertained the ȧąd delegation in MuȧĆwiya’s camp. (341)

112

HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN 2.

They did not utter straightforward words In their presumptuous error.

3.

Instead, they did something outrageous and said: We will never obey Hşd.

4.

They called a liar a God-fearing human being, A Muslim, pious, rightly guided.

5.

They disobeyed a great Lord Of mighty strength, highly praised,

6.

Powerful, whose creatures have become, One and all, His slaves.

7.

Hşd called on a Sovereign Revealing to them, repeatedly

8.

That He would subdue them by force, That He would subjugate the rebel, the ingrate.

9.

So a mighty God heard him, Capable and Praiseworthy.

10. He is exalted as Lord, Omnipotent, Gracious, Equitable, Everlasting. 11. So that they would repent, he showed them What the mountain torrent holds back on high peaks [clouds?](?), 12. Years whose punishment they were not able To hold back, 13. Which came as three calamities. The rain does not moisten any piece of wood. 14. A “sterile year” brought “drought,” And “stern” encompassed the good fortune(?). 15. They did not repent,. rather disobeyed, The one of grace is exalted, ….73 16. Worshiping in error An idol called aʛ-ʙamşd, 17. Seeking abundant rain from him After they prostrated in worship. 73

(341)

The reference to “al-Barşd” is not clear. Perhaps it is an epithet for God.

STORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ȧąD

113

18. The one who encompasses ignorance— 74 They asked him for support. 19. They were destroyed because they obeyed A recalcitrant devil.

(342)

20. Then Zumayl 75 said to them. After they underwent the trials: 21. Listen to my words and my opinion, And send a troop delegation 22. To the House of God, in order that They ask the Lord, the Beloved, 23. To send rain on the people among us, On TihĆma land, then on the Najd plateau. 76 24. They sent seventy mature men Who followed a strong chief, 25. Then four whom they wanted As witnesses over the delegation. 26. They sent LuqmĆn as leader And Abş Saȧd 77 in addition, 27. And Abş Julhuma, the chief, The brave of the tribe, the malevolent, 78 28. Then Qayl, child of ȧAnz, Leading, not led. 29. Then they traveled with a great number Toward …. 30. They reached Mecca, trailing on the ground Silk and striped cloth, 74 The reference is probably to aʛ-ʙamşd, the idol of the ȧąd who is mentioned in verse 16. 75 Zumayl b. ȧAnz is mentioned above, AkhbĆr, 330.15ff., trans., 98. 76 Matham refers to the coastal area of Arabia called at-TihĆma, and nujşd to the highland areas called an-Najd. 77 Abş Saȧd is Abş Saȧĩd al-Mu’min, shortened for metrical reasons. 78 Al-ʗaqşd is the name of a tribe of the ȧąd. See AkhbĆr, 325.10, and n. 2 above, p. 87. Here, the word in the accusative must be in apposition to AbĆ Julhuma meaning “the malevolent.” (342)

114

HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN 31. People well-proportioned and the most Handsome faces and cheeks— 32. All of them are the most noble of the ȧąd With respect to female and male ancestors. 33. They stayed with the man Bakr And his son for a new month 34. Drinking pure wine, Not tired of keeping still. 35. Then they woke up after Bakr prepared a song for them. 36. Then a songstress called al-Jarud 79 Sang a song for them. 37. They got up when they heard her As if they had been asleep. 38. They came to the House of a Sovereign That never ceased to be a festival for the people. 39. They prayed, and LuqmĆn, The brave of the tribe, chose eternal life 40. With the life span of seven vultures Lasting eternally, 41. Vultures 80 that will remain healthy And everlasting and will not perish. 42. God awarded Abş Saȧd His piety and good fortune. 43. He was saved through piety as provision, Then the fear of God in addition. 44. He showed Qayl three Individual clouds— 45. A white fragment In which there was no abundant rain,

79 80

(342)

Al-Jarşd is al-JarĆd, “the locust.” Usran: Read, with B, ansuran.

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46. Then a red one that he did not want Since he thought it exhausted of rain. 47. He was pleased with the black one In which the drops had become 81 a black mass. 48. Then it traveled toward the ȧąd In order to give them a taste of distress.

(343)

49. When they saw it, they imagined it With its black clouds to be black slaves. 50. They were arrayed in gladness and in joy, Showing themselves to it on the high hill. 51. Mahd observed above the wind Obedient ones, keeping still, 52. In whose hands were bridles Giving the impression of being a firebrand. 82 53. She said: Woe to the ȧąd. Woe to them anew — 54. A night when all the time [ad-dahra] mountains Descended upon the ȧąd(?). 55. You see the seven of them. All of them were to be envied(?). 83 56. Every chief is like a high mountain Wearing iron, 57. In order to turn it [the wind] back. Who would be able to turn it back? 58. Their bodies were left in The air and the wilderness, a desert(?). 59. A nation was punished for seven nights Who were Jews, 84 ʛĆwarat: Read ʜĆrat. See 337.10, trans., 107, referring to angels, here described in the previous verse as “obedient ones,” and 346.9–11, trans., 119, for the same image of the bridles and the fire storm. 83 Seven refers to the seven giants of the ȧąd. HaʛşdĆ might mean “to be envied,” not “envious.” Cf. AkhbĆr, 329.4, 15, trans., 96, where the ȧąd are described as “enviers,” but the meaning is not entirely clear. (343) 81 82

116

HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN 60. Then for eight days, No falling down, no rising. 61. The voices are reckoned thunder When they fall in the air.

(344)

62. Then they [the ȧąd] fell down dead in castles That were turned into a fissure, a desert. 63. Fate destroyed ʙudd And ManĆf and al-Khulşd, 85 64. And JihĆr—… 86 And HabĆ’, and al-ȧUnşd, 87 65. And the Banş Sard and Rafd— 88 They encountered a rebellious fate. 66. They are like palm trees thrown down. … 89 67. It was said: Look where the ȧąd are. Then desist from holding the head high. 68. You will not see them [until] the end of time Sitting at home as they used to be. 69. Then my God saved me And my grandfather’s children for all time. 70. They destroyed one another; then they perished In their houses like dried grass. 71. A wind carried my children and me Towards you, coolly(?). 84

The reference to Jews is not clear to me. ʙudd is a tribe of the ȧąd. See n. 2 above. ManĆf is an idol of the Quraysh and the Hudhayl. See Ibn al-Kalbĩ, KitĆb al-aʜnĆm, 27, and Fahd, Panthéon, 122. ManĆf is also a tribe of the ȧąd in Iklĩl, 1.27. Al-Khulşd is a tribe of the ȧąd. See n. 2 above. 86 Read, possibly, lam yadharhş, “[Fate] did not leave him alone.” 87 JihĆr is an idol of the HawĆzin at ȧUkĆz. See Fahd, Panthéon, 94. HabĆ’ is an . idol of the ȧąd. See n. 12 above. Al-ȧUnşd is a tribe of the ȧąd. See n. 2 above. 88 The Banş Sard are not found in other sources, but possibly there is some connection with Sawd, which is listed as a tribe of the ȧąd in Iklĩl, 1.37. Rafd: Rafd B. Rafd is certainly Wafd, a tribe of the ȧąd. See n. 2 above. 89 Aʡ-ʡurru, a reading which would make more sense, is not metrically possible. (344) 85

STORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ȧąD

117

72. Hşd and his companions were saved. They had fallen down prostrate, 73. Before the one who saved them from The annihilation He brought to many. 74. With him there were thirty men Setting the norms. 75. They settled at al-AʘqĆf Commanding the delegations to do what is good. 76. They lived in the land in Gratitude to the Praiseworthy Lord, 77. Then forbidding to do what is objectionable Those who fear the threat [of punishment]. 90 78. O my eye, shed a tear That does not appear, or (be) tearless! 79. Weep, the two of you, for the ȧąd with a great amount Of tears, and then some! 80. Assist me in weeping With a copious flow of abundant tears.

(345) Asad b. NĆȧiʜ 91 said mentioning the matter of the delegation, the clouds, and the choice 92 being given according to the story of Marthad b. Saȧd in a poem: 93 ramal 1.

The ȧąd sent a delegation to God That they be given abundant rain.

Reference to later doctrine in the phrases nĆhĩna ȧan-i ’l-munkar and al-waȧĩd is probably not intended. 91 NĆȧiʡ: Read NĆȧiʜ. NĆȧiʜ is mentioned as a tribal name of al-HamdĆn in alHamdĆnĩ, Mushtabih, 52, no. 1283. See ȧAbd AllĆh, “Personennamen,” 58, who lists the sources for the personal name NĆȧiʜ, the tribal name Dhş NĆȧiʜ, and the place NĆȧiʜ. 92 The choice refers to the choice of the clouds God gave to Qayl b. ȧAnz at the Kaȧba, and the choice God gave to the leaders of the ȧąd delegation. 93 The poet and the poem are unidentified. Verses 22, 23, 24, and 35 (1ines 4, 5, 6, and 17) of this poem, 346, are the opening verses of Mawt b. Yaȧfur’s poem, 351.9–12. (345) 90

118

HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN 2.

For the messenger of God among them, they have Loathing and disregard.

3.

Then they made a pact with One another sinfully,

4.

That they would absolutely Never ever follow Hşd,

5.

Or repent, but be Ready to die.

6.

The people hastened toward error And outright loathed proper conduct.

7.

So they came together to make a strenuous Effort to push back the wind,

8.

In anger until They made it …. 94

9.

Then they returned and met It [the wind] in a calamity ….

10. Hşd called and prayed. Then they returned, and he …. 95 11. And the people prayed to the God Of mankind … strenuously. 12. They were answered: Ask what you Want; you will be given it forthwith. 13. LuqmĆn prayed that he Be given a long life. 14. He [God] granted his wishes, But he was not given immortality. 15. And he [Abş Saȧĩd] prayed there increasingly(?) Hoping for piety and praise. 16. He granted piety and praise to Abş Saȧd and Saȧd. 96 94

B has a blank in the middle of the second hemistich. Al-ʚadĩd, “the iron,” may refer to the structures built by the giants of the ȧąd in order to protect their families from the wind. See AkhbĆr, 337.13, trans., 107. Or, ʚadĩd may refer to their armor. 95 The last word of the verse requires two long syllables for the meter. The reading may be a corrupted form of bada’a, “to go out from one’s country.” (345)

STORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ȧąD

119

17. Qayl prayed and said: Abundant rain—it makes life easy— 18. A prayer which turned out contrary to His intention, very far from it. 19. He saw clouds rising. He chose the black one, alone.

(346)

20. …. Destroying them, and they were struck(?)— 21. Leaving the people prostrate, Cleaving the rocks. 22. The fertile [land] of Mughayth97 was filled With rain which swirled with force. 23. They heard a buzz in it [the wind], Which they compared to thunder. 24. They had gone up to it [the wind] In order to turn it back. 25. Mahd had spoken— 98 But they disobeyed Mahd’s words— 26. That in the wind is an Astonishing thing, a misfortune, O people, 27. Among groups of men who Stretch the bridles in the mouths [of horses], 28. Men like the fire storm Who have tightened the bridles, 29. Not loosening the bridles in them [the mouths], Crushing the earth. 30. Believe Hşd, then you will be Heading for the good. 31. It [the wind] urges them on, then pushes Them back, going in all directions and slashing. 96

Abş Saȧĩd al-Mu’min is intended. The second Saȧd is probably meaningless repetition. 97 Mughayth is the name of the wĆdĩ where the punishment came to the ȧąd. See n. 55 above. ʙayy probably refers to the land. 98 The meter of the first hemistich is defective. (346)

120

HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN 32. The wind came rising Against the persistence of the tribe(?). 33. It snatched the happiness of their [the ȧąd’s] women. They did not find an escape from that, 34. Wherever it was, [it destroyed] your ȧAnĆ’,(?) Then your SalmĆ and Hind, 99 35. It [the wind] destroyed Zamr and Rafd, And Abş Sşd and ʙudd. 100 36. They had been haughty And over this people like lions. 37. Every rebellious tyrant At some time becomes an army for the truth(?). 101

Al-Muhayl b. NĆȧiʜ al-Muslim said: 102 rajaz 1.

If the ȧąd had paid attention to Hşd And accepted his correct opinion,

2.

When he called for the promise and the threat, 103 They would not have become harmful to [their] ancestors(?), 104

3.

Prostrate on the noses and the cheeks, With no part of [their] bodies intact.

(347)

99 These names are proper names of women, the last two still common in the Yemen today. 100 Cf. verse 4 of the poem, AkhbĆr, 351.12. Zamr is a giant of the ȧąd. See above AkhbĆr, 337.12. Rafd, or Wafd, is a tribe of the ȧąd. See n. 2 above. Abş Sşd is not identified, but compare the name to ąl Sşd, 347.4. ʙudd is a tribe of the ȧąd. See n. 2 above. 101 The meaning is uncertain. Perhaps, an evildoer becomes a fighter for the truth by suffering an exemplary punishment that attests to the divine power. 102 The poet and the poem are found in Murşj, 2.279, trans., 2.442, where his name is an-Nihlĩl b. al-Khalĩl. Al-Masȧşdĩ quotes 4½ verses with an order of hemistichs very different from that in our text. I have been unable to identify the poet, but I have changed NĆȧĩʡ to NĆȧiʜ. See n. 91 above. 103 A specific Muȧtazilite reference is almost surely not intended. 104 Read, possibly, ȧĆ’irata ’l-judşdĩ, which makes more sense than ȧĆthirata ’ljudşdĩ. (347)

STORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ȧąD 4.

From a blowing gale comes a serpent dipping to earth(?) From the black clouds. 105

5.

What did the delegation bring back from [their] mission Upon Ibn ʙayd and the family of Sşd, 106

6.

Coming like violent heat— Its noise wearing out even what is new? 107

7.

It brought them the lamented omen And left them like crushed plants.

8.

Here is a story for all eternity.

121

Huzayla said after reaching her uncle when he saw her weeping for the ȧąd: ramal

108

1.

What a crime did you commit, O delegation Against the people of the settlements!

2.

A catastrophe encompassed All of the ȧąd with much evil.

3.

It destroyed the ȧąd altogether, Young and old.

4.

On their delegation, Far from them, was the westerly wind. 109

5.

The calamity was driven to them With the terrible punishment.

6.

….

105

al-ahĆb: Read al-asʚĆb. The meaning of the first hemistich is not clear to me. A verse below, AkhbĆr, 351.3, trans., 126, has the image of the wind dragging a tail. Here, sujşd, used as a maʜdar, may mean a dipping toward the ground. The image seems to be a serpent with a tail hanging out of the black clouds, possibly a tornado. See n. 131. 106 Ibn ʙayd may be one of the ȧąd called ʙayd b. Saȧĩd, AkhbĆr, 337.16. ąl Sşd might be compared with AkhbĆr, 346.17, AbĆ Sşd. They might be related to Zamr b. Aswad, also found on 337.16. 107 It might be possible to read ʚiddata for jaddata, thus “the sharpness of what is new.” 108 I have not found the poem anywhere else. 109 Al-abşr: Read, with B, ad-dabşr. (347)

122

HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN 7.

They [the ȧąd] feared death and put in charge of Their business the people of the roaring. 110

8.

…. 111

9.

….

10. Would that you saw what Pangs of death fire they saw!— 11.

On the day when death dragged them along With spreading annihilation,

12. Violent [rain?], violent [rain?] Like shredded tatters. 13. Their [the ȧąd’s] covenant destroyed the ȧąd On the day of the event. 14. They hated to apologize and became The firewood of burning fire. 15.

Every day they had from it A punishment that constantly repeated itself.

16.

Seven [days], then an eighth day Brought them calamity.

(348)

17. They were all snared by death And had to go.

When they heard her words, MuȧĆwiya, and realized what chastisement and punishment God sent down on His people, and Abş Saȧĩd Marthad b. Saȧd saw what God did for him when He saved his people and guided them to him safely, his faith and his certainty in God increased. He showed his IslĆm on that occasion and recited these verses: 112 wĆfir 110 “The people of the roaring” may refer to the seven giants of the ȧąd who went out to meet the wind. 111 The readings Ghibyar and ʗimyar do not fit the meter. The diminutives Ghubayr and ʗumayr are necessary. The name Ghabĩr occurs in Iklĩl, 2.108, with no connection to this verse. 112 Ta’rĩkh, 1.223, has ten verses with variants in the basic order of our text. Murşj, 2.278–79, trans., 2.442, has verses 1 and 5 with variants, all ascribed to the same poet and occasion. See also Qurashĩ, Jamharat ashȧĆr al-ȧarab, 27; KisĆ’ĩ, Qiʜaʜ, 106; and Thaȧlabĩ, Qiʜaʜ, 57. (348)

STORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ȧąD 1.

The ȧąd disobeyed their prophet and became Thirsty because the sky did not give them rain.

2.

They had disbelieved in their Lord publicly. Thirst along with hunger kept them awake.

3.

Their delegation traveled one month in order to be given water. Misfortune befell them together with drought.

4.

They had become palm trees thrown down. Dust was on the remnants of your ȧąd.

5.

God disapproved of the minds of the ȧąd. Their minds are empty, void space.

6.

Healing comes from goodness when they see it(?). 113 What use is stomping the earth and weeping?

7.

My own life and the sons and the mother of my children Are a ransom for the life of our prophet Hşd.

8.

He came to us while the hearts persevered In darkness, although the light.had approached,

9.

[Persevered] in an idol called ʙamşd, Faced by ʙudĆ’ and al-BughĆ’. 114

123

10. Those who turned to him understood him, While unhappiness came to those who called him a liar. 11. I will go to Hşd And his brothers when evening comes.

Abş Saȧĩd had a brother called Janʘawĩ b. Saȧd. 115 He was a deceitful disbeliever following the ȧąd. His opinion was not his brother’s opinion. He had a wife called Jufayna who came from his people. She had (349) a son from him called ȧUfayr and a daughter, ȧAnjahşr. Abş Saȧĩd asked his 116 113 The first hemistich appears nonsensical, and the line in Ta’rĩkh (n. 112), contains great variants. As the line appears here, hardly any translation other than the questionable one given is possible. Perhaps it means that people can expect to be cured when they see what is good (and right). 114 This verse occurs above, AkhbĆr, 326.16, in a poem by the same Abş Saȧĩd, with a minor variant. 115 I have not been able to locate his name or the names of the members of his family in other sources. 116 The pronoun in “his wife” probably refers to Abş Saȧĩd, not Janʘawĩ. The (349)

124

HISTORY, POETRY, AND GENEALOGY OF THE YEMEN

wife [Huzayla] about his brother and his family. She informed him of their destruction and what she had seen the wind do to them. He had pity on them because of that. He recited a poem lamenting them: 117 wĆfir 1.

It seems to me now that I behold Janʘawĩ Encircled by a violent wind.

2.

There you are in the throes of death Brought upon you by a Sovereign who is not unjust.

3.

You call, O Jufayna, how did they die— ȧUfayr and the little girl ȧAnjahşr.

4.

During that, a north wind blew As violent as the raging sea.

5.

He perished through the winds—every living thing In the world joins the dead.

6.

Through this wind, no stranger was harmed Except the ȧąd who were struck by the disagreeable. 118

7.

It separated them by hard stone pestles And annihilated them while they had no defender.

8.

Their country became a wasteland 119 While they were there without any previous hint.

9.

Like palm trees their crop ruined— Thus are the villages, so know this!

10. The prophet had said to them: Hold To the clear truth, and do not do wrong, 11. For those who commit wrongs perish. Security and joy are in the truth.

woman, then, is Huzayla, wife of Abş Saȧĩd, who escaped the punishment and informed the delegation in Mecca about what had happened to the ȧąd. 117 I have not been able to locate the poem in any other source. 118 An allusion to the angel of death, an-Nakĩr (usually without the definite article), is probably not intended, since the names Munkar and Nakĩr occur together and appear only quite late in Muslim tradition. See A. J. Wensinch, EI2, 7:577, s.v. “Munkar an-Nakĩr.” 119 The phrase amsat khalĆ’ occurs in an-NĆbigha’s verse below, AkhbĆr, 367.11. (349)

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12. We will not obey you as long as we live.120 You are considered a vile liar among us. 13. He [Hşd] called and was answered by a great Sovereign Who does not need protection while He may give it. 14. So He destroyed them openly according to what they merited. He is the Subduer and the Great King.

MuȧĆwiya said: Bravo! You have presented the proof. What did Abş Saȧĩd do, and what happened to Hşd and his companions? ȧAbĩd replied: MuȧĆwiya, Abş Saȧĩd set out with his family and children until he reached Hşd and his companions, believing as a Muslim. He found them on the seacoast 121 near the land of the ȧąd. They remained together in the best of conditions worshiping God. God gave Abş Saȧĩd wealth and children until (350) he had the greatest wealth and the largest number of children among the bedouins in his time. We heard, MuȧĆwiya, that the last ȧąd were his progeny. MuȧĆwiya said: Are there ȧąd other than these? He replied: Yes, MuȧĆwiya. If you like, I will go on with the story until I come to their tale. He said: Rather go on with your story. ȧAbĩd said: Hşd and his companions were worshiping God until they died and vanished. Some biographer 122 mentioned the story of Hşd on the authority of ȧAbĩd b. Sharya and said: al-Bakhtarĩ 123 < Muʘammad b. IsʘĆq 124