50 H. S. Jarrett — Customs among the Bedouins of the Haurdn. [No. 2, 



thousand verses in the metre of rajaz alone. Ibn Khaldun has fur- 

 nished us with an example of a poena of the Haurani Bedouins com- 

 posed by a woman whose husband had been assassinated, and who had 

 sent this appeal through the tribe of Kais urging them to vengeance. 

 It is written in the measure of Tamil and follows, at a very long 

 distance, the style of the ancient models. Such specimens, he observes, 

 abound among the Bedouins and are transmitted as records of poetic 

 distinction. Though some tribes affect this class of composition, he 

 adds, it is disdained by others, such as those of Riyah and Zughbah of 

 the Bani Hikil and by the great tribe of Sulaym. 



In my notes to the translation I have avoided any comment 

 beyond a strict elucidation of the text, and I do not think it necessary 

 to enter here into any general disquisition ou the history or ethno- 

 graphy of the Bedouins. Such a course would be beyond the scope 

 of this introduction to a writer who is the teller of his own tale which, 

 as his personal testimony, is the only reason for its publication in this 

 journal. 



I have to express my acknowledgments to Mr. Rizku 'llah Azzun 

 the Professor of Arabic to the Board of Examiners, who has copied 

 out and corrected the MS. for the press and assisted me with the benefit 

 of his experience in determining the form and orthographical value of 

 certain incorrect colloquialisms that occur in the text. The manuscript 

 itself is clearly and neatly written, though the orthography is occasion- 

 ally as little to the credit of the schoolmaster as his grammar. His 

 deficiencies in this respect shall be concealed in the obscurity of his own 

 language. I trust that his undoubted merits will not be unrecognized 

 in mine. 



H. S. Jaekett. 



