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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



when he was caliph (that he said), 'I 

 heard the Sent of Allah (on whom be the 

 blessings of God and peace!) (referring 

 to Mohammed) say that God (to whom 

 be ascribed all honor and glory!) created 

 one thousand nations (multitudes or 

 hosts), six hundred of these on sea and 

 four hundred on land, and the first to be 

 destroyed of these nations are the locusts, 

 and if the locusts are destroyed the 

 (other) nations shall follow. 



"The above was translated (explained) 

 by Mehmed Ibn Essa el Abdi (to mean) 

 that the locust was the first to be de- 

 stroyed because it was created from the 

 clay that was left over from the piece 

 Adam was made of." 



According to Tibrani, author of one of 

 the works known as the "Hadith," or 

 oral sayings of Mohammed, the latter is 

 credited with saying, concerning the lo- 

 custs : "There is written on it 'I am Al- 

 lah ; there is no other God but me, the 

 Lord of the locusts. I provide for it 

 when I wish and send it to some as a 

 blessing, and to others as a woe when I 

 choose.' " 



WRITTEN CHARMS TO KEEP EOCUSTS 

 AWAY 



"To keep locusts away from a field the 

 following is used : Take a hollow reed 

 and place in it the following inscription, 

 and bury it in the field or vineyard, and 

 the locusts will not harm the place by 

 Allah's permission : 'Praise be to God, 

 the Lord of all creatures, the Most Mer- 

 ciful. Blessing be on our Lord Moham- 

 med, and upon the prophets who are as- 

 sociates with our Lord Mohammed, and 

 say peace. Destroy their little ones, and 

 kill their big ones, and corrupt their eggs, 

 and take away their mouths from our 

 sources of living and from our goods ! 

 Thou art the one who answers prayer. I 

 have put my trust in God, my Lord and 

 your Lord. There is not an animal but 

 he looks after it. Keep me in the right 

 path. Oh thou above all the merciful 

 ones art the Most Merciful, grant our 

 prayer.' 



"This recipe is good and tried. One 

 of the ulama (learned men), whose name 

 at present escapes me, told me that 'if 

 locusts infest a country, and you want to 

 get rid of them by the help of the Al- 



mighty God, take four of those locusts 

 and write on each of the four wings of 

 each (locust) four texts from the Holy 

 Book of the Most High God; then take 

 the locusts and let the first go, saying: 

 'Depart from here; Allah shall suffice 

 you ; he is the all-knowing listener ;' and 

 then the second, saying: Tut a hindrance 

 between them and what they desire;' 

 then the third, saying: 'Depart, may Al- 

 lah cause your hearts to depart ;' then the 

 fourth, saying '(go) to where you are des- 

 tined, or, if it so be, to your comrades.' ' 

 ^ The author of "El Maarif (an Arabic 

 Encyclopedia) gives a simpler method of 

 fighting them, and this is found as fol- 

 lows : "If you see locusts advancing to- 

 wards a village, hide and let none ap- 

 pear, and if they see no one they will 

 pass on, and if anything is burned and it 

 smells the burning, it will not come to 

 that village. And they have said other 

 things beside these." 



EOCUSTS IN ARABIAN PROVERBS 



"A Bedouin saying is, 'A date is better 

 than a locust.' " 



"The enemy came like wide-spread 

 locusts." 



"More barren than the locusts" (can 

 make them). 



"More noisy than the winged locusts." 



"You can't catch him like Avar's lo- 

 cust." (Ayar was roasting a locust and 

 put it to his mouth before it got totally 

 burned, and it got loose and flew away.) 



"To take away freckles, anoint them 

 with the eggs of locusts." 



"If one sees locusts in their dreams, it 

 means torment, because locusts were one 

 of the plagues that Moses tormented the 

 Egyptians (with)." "If you see creepers, 

 then you will meet bad men." "If locusts 

 fall somewhere and you eat of them, then 

 it means plenty and abundance." "If you 

 see it in kettles and in (cooking) pots, 

 then you will have lots of money." "If 

 you see it rain locusts of gold on you, 

 then it means that God will restore to 

 you what has been lost to you, like he did 

 to Job, on whom be peace." 



The following is a description of the 

 locust as found in these old Arabic works 

 and which is still commonly repeated by 

 the natives : 



"The locust has the form of ten of the 



