1868.] Contributions to Persian Lexicography. 63 



&.fi tdrikh. Native lexicographists derive this word from rjy 

 muarrakkj which is supposed to be corruption of the Pers. jj>j«U 

 mdhrue, or jjjj^ mdh o riiz, an era, calendar; Germ. Zeitrechnung. 

 Others derive it from the Arab. AfjJ 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 tdrikh of an event by a word, or sentence, 

 or a micra', 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 ahjad. Thus in the case of Abu Shut, the 

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



"Abu 'All Siiui was born in fcs^V' A. H. 373, finished his studies in 

 La^>, or 391, and died in J,£>, or 427. Such tarikhs are no longer used. 

 The modern tarikhs are either J^lk^ niutlaq, or &&£*3 tamiyah. The 

 former kind extends over a whole micra' or verse, as j\ j&l^ 

 ^y LM fj* ^^-=r fc . The latter kind may be ^-^j^ khariji, in excess, 

 when something is to be subtracted, or ^^U) ddkhili, when something 

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



in which the words X\-£>j£\ oji give A. H. 1015 ; but as the maldik 

 subtract one alif. we get A. H. 1014. The phrase o^x^S L-ftJl, or 

 {•j&x&S aaa^^j \jj \ f ig 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. 



^^jG |*li 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 ^^^ia/o Mazhar 'All, in addition to his own 

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

 be 1255. 



ji* 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^\) 

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



