ABU 



Ir alTafliiatcd, i'. fvime fay; or, as ollicrs report, to be 

 thrown into the I'igris. His character has been varioiifly 

 repreiented by diftcrent writers. Some fay, that he was a 

 fierce brutal foklicr ; and by others, he is dcfcrihed as dif- 

 creet and merciful, tiome extol his acquaintance with the 

 poets of the country, and with the moral precepts of his re- 

 ligion ; and others degrade his charafter as a glutton and 

 fenfualift. Bayle fays, that he was addicted to magic, and 

 of a feCt Hmilar to that of Spinoza. Of his wives .".e was fo 

 iealous, that he conlincd them in a caftle, to which none 

 bt f;des himfidf had accefs, and where they were fupplied 

 with provifions through the windows. Bayle. Mod. Un. 

 Hiil. vol. ii. p. 104, S:c. 



ABUNA, among the Chripidn /irals, is tlie title or ap- 

 pcllalicm of a religious character. 



The word, which is Arabic, is fometimes alfo written 

 ahouna, fometimes abiinnn, and by focie abiina, or tilurwa ; 

 it literJly denotes — our father, and is more particulaily ufed 

 for the arciibifhop or metropolitan of the Abylliniau 

 church. Fabr. Lux Evang. c. 45. Ludolf. Hiil. iLthiop. 

 lib. iii. c. 7. 



ABUNDANCE. See Abundantia. 



ABUNDANT Numbtrs, are thofe whofe aliquot parts 

 added tosrether, exceed the number itfclf whereof thev are 

 parts. 



Thus the number 12 is abundant, its aliquot parts, I, 2, 

 3, 4, and ft, amounting to 16 — In oppofition to abundmit 

 numbers ftand deficient ones. 



Abundant Notion, in Logic, is that which includes more 

 marks and charaftcriilics than are neceflaiy to diftinguifli it 

 from othei'S. 



Thus, we may be faid to give an abundant notion of a 

 leftilinear triangle, when we deferibe it as a Ipace terminated 

 by three right lines, and containing three angles. Inalmuch 

 as'the number of its angles is d^iermined by that of/' .fides ; 

 fo that the bare mention of its three fides was fufficient to 

 have defined it. 



ABUNDANTIA, in Mythology, a heatlien divinity, re- 

 prefented on ancient monuments under the figure of a woman 

 with a pleafing afpeft, crowned v.'ith garlands of flowers, 

 pouring all forts of fruit cut of a horn which llie holds in her 

 right hand, and fcattering grain with her left, taken pro- 

 mifcuoully from a Iheaf of corn. On a medal of Trajan, fhe 

 is reprefented with two cornucopiK. 



ABUNOWAS, in ^w^ra/Zy, a celebrated Arabian poet, 

 who was born in the city of Bafra, in 762, left feveral works 

 coUefled by different perlbns, and died A. D. 810. 



ABU OBEIDAH, one of the companions of Mahomet, 

 who was appointed by Abubeker to the fupreme command 

 in Syria, and afterwards fuperfeded by Caled, under whom 

 he ferved at the famous ficge of Damafcus. He reftraired 

 the violence of Caled on this occafion, and obtained !eue 

 for the citizens to capitulate, and for the chriftians to depart 

 with their effefts. Omar, on his aeceffion, reftored Abu 

 Obeidah to the chief command, and Caled fubmitted to 

 ferve under him. He took Baalbec, Emefla, and Jerufalem : 

 and afTuming the goveiTiment of northern Syria, he took 

 Aleppo and Antioch. Whilft he was purfuing his conqutfts 

 ill Paleftine, a grievous peltilence proved fatal to many of 

 the Mahometan officers, and alfo to Abu Obeidah, who 

 died A. D. G39, Hegira 18; which year was called the 

 ycni- nf dfftruHinn. The civil and moral virtues of this com- 

 inanritr aVe more dillinguiilied than his military talents ; but 

 he fucceeded in confequence of the imprellion made upon the 

 minds of his enemies by his clemenpy and good faith. Mod. 

 IJn. Hiit. vol. i. p. 215, &c. 



ABUS, m Antitnt Geography, a river of Britain, formed 

 Vol. r. 



A B Y 



by the conniionce of the Ure, the Dcnvcnt, Trent, &C. 

 falling into the German fca between Yorkdiiie and Limoln- 

 fiilre, and forming the mouth of the Humbtr. Sec alf« 

 Asa. 



ABU SAID, \n Hyhry, fultan of the Moguls, fucceed- 

 ed his father Aljatu, at the a^^rc of twelve, A. D. 1317. 

 He died in 133^), at Sultaiiia, wlierc he was crowned, and 

 which was the place of his ufual refidence. His valour wa» 

 fo dillinguHhed, that he was called Jiahndrr, or bniic Hav- 

 ing fallen in love with the <laugliter of Emir Juban, whr» 

 was married to tlie Emir Haflan, and who was deemed the 

 grealeft beauty in Afia ; and the father refufing to roiifcnl 

 to her divorce from her liufband, Abu Said conceived a pre- 

 judice againil him, which terminated in Ills death. Hail'an, 

 however, aeeiuiefced in a divqrce, and fent her to the fultan, 

 over whom (he obtained a great afccndancy. Abu Said wai 

 the lall monarch of the race of Jengliizkhan ; and after liis 

 death, tiiat happened in the year in which Tamerlane was 

 born, the em])ire was difmemliercd, and became a fcenc of 

 bipod and defolation. Gen. Diet. 



ABUSE, compounded of ci, from, and n/iis, tiff, an ir- 

 regular ule of a thing, or the introducing of fomcthing con- 

 trary to the true intention thereof. 



In Grammar, to apply a word aliifivrly, or in an afmfn-e 

 fenfe, is to mifapply, or per\'ert its meaning. 



A permutation of benefices, without the confent of the 

 bifhop, is deemed abufive, and confcqucnlly null. 



ABUSINA. See Abersperg. 



ABU TEMAM, in Biography, fprung from an Arabian 

 tribe, furnamed Tay, and confidered as the prince of the Ara- 

 bian poets, was born in the 190th year of the Hegira, A. D- 

 805, or as others fay, in 188, or 192 Heg. /. e. A. 1>. 

 803, or 807 ; or in 172 Heg. /'. c. A. D. 788, at Jafem, a 

 little town iituated between Damafcus and Tiberias. He 

 was educated in Eg\'pt, and died at Mawfel, near the fpot 

 where ancient Ninivcii ftood, in the 2311! year of the Hegira, 

 A. D 84J, or in 228 or 232 Heg. /. r. A. D. 842, or 

 846. His poetical compofitions were collefted with thofe 

 of others, into a volum.e, and intitled y// //(jm<7/?;^. Having 

 written an elegy on the death of another, the following eulo- 

 gium was given Abu Temam : 



The man whofe virtues thus afcend the (]<y. 



Prais'd (mighty Bard) by thee, can never die. Gen. Difl. 



ABUTILON, in Botany, the trivial name of feveral 

 fpecies of the Sida. See alfo Hibiscus, Melochia, Mal- 

 VA and Nap;ea. 



ABUTTALS, among Law-writers, denote the but- 

 tings or boundings of a piece of land ; expreffing on what 

 other lands, highways, or the like, the feveral extremes 

 thereof do abut, or tenninate. In this fenfe the word is 

 fometimes alfo written corruptly abhuttah or alu'.ah. — 

 Ii o'd furveys, we often find them called headlands. 

 Abuttals amount to the fame with what Latin writer? call 

 capita ; Marculfufi, frontes ; the French, boutes. In Coke, 

 the plaintiff is faid to fail in his abuttals, that is, in felling 

 forth how the land is bounded. 



ABUTUA, in Geography, a kingdom in the fouth of 

 Africa, to the north of the country of the HottenloU, iind 

 adjoining to the province of Oiiila, which is faid to be rich 

 in gold mines. 



ABYDENUS, in Biography, a celebrated hiftorian, author 

 of the hiftor)' of the Chaldeans and .Affyrianf, of whiffh onK- 

 forae fragments have been Iranfmitttd to us by Eufcbiiif. in hj* 

 Praparatio Evangelica, Cyrillus, and Syncelluf ; which hmx 

 been illuilrated with feveral notes by Scahger in his boolc 

 De Eraendatione Temporura. 



I. ABYDOK. ^' 



