PRIMITIVE INHABITANTS OF ARABIA. 93 



lowing is the list of princes who swayed the sceptre 

 of Hejaz, and who derive their chief fame from being 

 the lineal ancestors of Mohammed : — 



B. C. 122, Adnan. 



89, Maad. 



56, Nazar. 



23, Madar 

 A. D. 10, Alyas. 



43, Modreca. 



76, Khozaima. 

 109, Kenana 

 142, Nader. 

 175, Malec. 

 208, Fehr. 



A. D. 241, Galeb. 

 274, Lowa. 

 307, Caab. 

 340, Morra 

 373, Kelab. 

 400, Kosa. 

 439, Abdolmenaf. 

 472, Hasliem. 

 505, Abdolmotalleb. 

 538, Abdallah. 



The period between Ishmael and Adnan is doubt- 

 ful, some reckoning forty, others only seven gene- 

 rations. The authority of Abulfeda, who makes it 

 ten, is that generally followed by the Arabs ; being 

 founded on a tradition of one of Mohammed's wives. 

 It is not easy, however, to reconcile this discre- 

 pancy. Making every allowance for the patriarchal 

 longevity of human life, even forty generations are 

 insufficient to extend over a space of nearly 2500 

 years. But from Adnan to Mohammed the gene- 

 alogy is considered certain ; comprehending twenty- 

 one generations, and nearly 160 different tribes, all 

 branching off from the same parent stem. 



The history of these petty sovereigns presents 

 nothing memorable. Nazar, we are told, was a 

 faithful adherent to the religion of Abraham. In 

 his last will he made a singidar distribution of his 

 property. To Madar he bequeathed his red tent, 

 and all his other effects of the same colour ; to Rabia 

 he assigned such of his moveables as were black ; 

 to Ayad the gray ; and to Ajimar the brown. The 

 interpretation of this testament led to a display of 

 Arabian sagacity, which is perhaps familiar to the 

 reader in the tale of the Horse and the Dog, in Vol- 

 taire's Zadig ; that being merely a transcript of an 



