PRIMITIVE INHABITANTS OF ARABIA. 83 



I. Of the old lost Arabs tradition has preserved 

 the names of several tribes, as v.^ell as some mem- 

 orable particulars regarding their extiuciiou. This 

 may well be called the fabulous period of Arabian 

 history ; but, as it has the sanction of the Koran, it 

 Avould be sacrilege in a Mussulman to doubt its au- 

 thenticity. According to this account, the most 

 famous of the extinct tribes were those of Ad, Tha- 

 mud, .Tadis, and Tasm, all descended in the third or 

 fourth generation from Shem. Ad, the father of his 

 tribe, settled, according to tradition, in the great 

 desert Al Akhaf soon after the confusion of tongues. 

 Sheddad, his son, succeeded him in the government, 

 ;md greatly extended his dominions. He performed 

 many fabulous exploits : among others, he erected 

 a magnificent city in the desert of Aden, begmi by 

 his father, and adorned it with a sumptuous palace 

 and delightful gardens in imitation of the celestial 

 paradise, and to inspire his subjects with a supersti- 

 tious veneration for him as a god. This superb 

 structure, we are told, was built with bricks of gold 

 and silver alternately disposed. The roof was of 

 gold, inlaid with precious stones and pearls. The 

 trees and shrubs were of the same precious mate- 

 rials. The fruits and flowers were rubies ; and on 

 the branches were perched birds of similar metals, 

 the hollow parts of wliich were loaded with every 

 species of the richest perfumes, so that every breeze 

 that blew came charged with fragrance from the 

 bills of these golden images. To this paradise he 

 gave the name of Arem or Irem. On the comple- 

 tion of ail this grandeur Sheddad set out with a 

 splendid retinue to admire its beauties. But Hea- 

 ven would not suffer his pride and impiety to go 

 unpunished; for, when within a day's journey of 

 the place, they were all destroyed by a terrible 

 noise from the clouds. As a monument of Divine 

 justice, the city, we are assured, still stands in the 



