1868.] Contributions to Persian Lexicography. 63 



fctfi tdrikh. Native lexicographists derive this word from r>y° 

 muarrakk, which is supposed to be corruption of the Pers. JjjSU 

 ondhruz, or jjjj^' mdh o ruz, an era, calendar ; Germ. Zeitrechnung. 

 Others derive it from the Arab. £ljj. irdkh, the wild cow (gaw i wahshi), 

 an animal proverbial in the East for its stupidity. They then explain 

 tdrikh as meaning the removal of stupidity, hence rendering certain, 

 fixing anything. 



The custom of fixing the tarikh of an event by a word, or sentence, 

 or a rnicra', or a whole verse, is said to date from the sixth or seventh 

 century of the Hijrah. Before this, meaningless words were used 

 composed of the huruf i abjad. Thus in the case of Abu Sina, the 

 Nicab uccibyan (vide above, p. 7, No. 65) has the following verses — 



"Abu 'All Sina was born in t-sr""," A. H. 373, finished his studies in 

 Ua^i, or 391, and died in jQ, or 427. Such tarikhs are no longer used. 

 The modern tarikhs are either (jjlk--" mutlaq, or 4^**3 ta'miyah. The 

 former kind extends over a whole micra' or verse, as J I ^.j^jLj.^ 

 .y^Syi-w pi/ 5 ^V^- The latter kind may be L5 - : ?-jLi' khariji, in excess, 

 when something is to be subtracted, or ^^t^ ddkhili, when something 

 is to be added. For example — (metre Mujtass) 



in which the words &l£>j£\ oj-» give A. H. 1015; but as the maldik 

 subtract one alif. we get A. H. 1014. The phrase iDCy^S *JiJ| } or 

 i^^^&jjjw^j k_fli|,is explained by the authors of the Muct. and Bh. as 

 referring to a custom of lovers, dervishes, mourners, &c, to cut the 

 skin of the chest, the wound having the shape of an alif. 



^ysr^G j*(3 nam i tdrikhi, an additional name which parents give their 

 children, in order to remind them of the year in which they were 

 born — a very necessary thing in the East, where few people know 

 their correct age. Thus, if a Muhammadan be born A. H. 1255, he 

 may assume the name of ^jb j-4-k* 3 Mazhar 'AM, in addition to his own 

 name, as the value of the letters when added will be found to 

 be 1255. - 



j£ tabar, an axe, a hatchet ; also a war axe. If the war axe has the 

 shape of a pointed wedge, like the bill of a bird, it is called Uj±*\j 

 zdghnol, pr. a crow-beak. If the zaghnol has joined to it a common 



