Derbend-nâmeh er the History of Derbend. 565 
À similar tradition is preserved to this day among the mhahitants of Derbend and Daghistan; 
it announces that Muslimeh (or as he is generally named Æ4bu-Muslim), when returning to Syria, 
left his sword in a cave, to be a remembrance of the triumph of Islam in Daghistan gc. and that 
this sword was visible for many centuries, until, at last, it disappeared. To this sword and cave they 
attributed many miracles, so much so, db the mhabitants of the country did not fail to bring their 
offerings thither and to solicit the mercy of God in the time of need. The same tradition we find un- 
corrupted in ybal) dos y Rauzetu-l-mitér, from which Katib-tchelebi has made a paraphrase in 
another place: é QSe 92 UD pl Je a) po LE Le Jol Bol dr 0 jé » o Jo L 2 | 
Dhs ss Sn, lys pee 0) Jjl ouiles jy Cat élu JJ els El alu Dub 
À Hu) y L; Kb «And in this country (Tabasaran) there is a cave, in which there is a sword. 
The inhabitants of this country say, that it is the sword of Muslimeh, who invaded the coun- 
try by Muhammedan authority. The inhabitants of this country, during the spring bring great 
offerings and alms, and visit the sword as they would a sanctuary. 
«A more curious description of this we find ‘in the Geography of Zakariya-Al- me 
of the XIII century. He says: dela Cia 45) Ua où ET als (5 Je ae pull €? L, 
Ac dE yo LS LS oJas Ÿ u24 © LS AC Cha pl CSS Os 2e cp EU ue 7e 
à TIR Le Es >; £ Lis LA , «In the suburb of the town (Derbend) there is a hill 
upon which there is a mosque. On the Mihräb (the shrine) of this mosque there is a sword, 
which, they say, belongs to Muslimeh, the son of Abdul-melik the son of Mervan, and which 
is visited by (crowds of) people. No body can visit this (sword) but in white clothing; therefore 
if any go near it in coloured garments, there begin showers and ttorms, so that all that stands 
near the hill is in danger of perishing » «c. 
Remark 2. page 560. 
«: The narrative of our author regards the expedition of Mervän in 119 — 121 to which we 
have just referred our readers; and in many points we find in it great resemblance to that which 
we find in Teberi, and which we shall have occasion to refer to in our apperdix. 
IT. We have had occasion to hint about this Mervan, and to mention (see Part IV. Rem. 1. 
note): that he was a lieutenant of Muslimeh when the latter returned from Derbend to Syria &c. — 
This Mervan was the son of Muhammed, and the grand son of Mervän, the fourth Khalif of 
the dynasty, and it was he who dethroned Ibrahim, the son of Velid, and took possession 
of the Khalifate for some few years. It is the same to whom history gives the title of.4/-himär, 
or the Ass; and the same who is considered as the last Khalif of the Beni- Umaiyeh, in whose 
days Æbdur-rahman of Khorasan, surnamed 4bu- Muslim, appeared, and after having put an 
end to the glory of the Umayides, founded on its ruins the great edifice of the dominion of 
the Æbbasides. As far as we learn from the works of Teberi, Mir-khond, Katib-ichelebi 
and_others, this same Mervân bad, during the reigns of Hishâm and Velid, the son of Fezid, 
performed great services to the Theocratical Empire, In 114 he was viceroy of Aderbijän, from 
Him des sav. étrang. T. VI, 72 
