00 
C. J. Lyall —The 3fo i allaqah of Lebid, with the 
[No. 1, 
Notes. 
Verse 1. “Mina.” There are two places of this name mentioned in the Marasid- 
el-Ittila‘: the first the well-known valley close by Mekkeh, the second a place in Dariy- 
yeli, a province of Nejd, on the route which passes through that country from Mekkeh 
to el-Basrah ; the latter is meant here. Ghaul and er-Rijam (that the latter should 
have the article is proved by a verse of Aus ibn Hojr cited by ez-Zauzeni) are the names 
of two mountains in the same neighbourhood. 
v. 2. “er-Rayyan:” this is here the name of a mountain in Dariyyeh: it is also 
the name of a great mountain in the ranges of Aja’ and Selma, the mountains of Teyyi’, 
where, according to the Marasid-el-Ittila‘, there is a never-ceasing flow of water ; the 
word means “ having abundance of water for irrigation” : and it is evident from the 
name and the mention of torrents here that abundance of water was as characteristic of 
the er-Rayyan in Nejd as of that in Teyyi’. 
v. 3. “Long years”: Hijaj, plural of hijjeh ; literally, seasons of pilgrimage : as 
we say “ Summers” and “ Winters” in the same meaning. “ Months of war and peace” : 
in the days of the ancient Arabs the year was divided into four months of peace, in 
which war between the tribes was by common consent unlawful, and eight months dur¬ 
ing which war was permitted; the months of peace were Du-l-Qa'deh, Du-1-Hijjeh, 
Moharram, and Rejeb. 
w. 4 and 5. “ The showers of the signs of Spring:” marabiu-n-nujum : Mirba 1 
is rain that comes in the beginning of the season called Rabi 1 or Spring : en-Nujum are 
the constellations called anwa , that is, the 28 Mansions of the Moon, which by their 
rising or setting at dawn were supposed to bring rain or wind, heat or cold (Lane s. v. 
Rabi 1 is not strictly Spring ; for it includes the whole time from September till 
March, during which rain falls in Arabia: it is that season when the pastures are fresh 
and grazing abundant. The commentator on verse 5 divides the year into three sea¬ 
sons, viz., Shitd', Rabi\ and Seyf, or Winter, Spring and Summer; and he says that in 
the different words used for clouds in verse 5 the rains of the whole year are described : 
those of Winter fall generally by night, those of Spring in the morning, and those of 
Summer in the evening. (For an account of the ancient Arabian seasons, see Lane, s. v. 
and for one of the anwa' see Pocock, Spec. Hist. Ar. p. 163.) 
v. 6. “ The rocket:” Eyhaqan, explained as el-jirjir el-barri , which is the Eruca 
Sylvestris. 
v. 7. “Wild kine.” According to Lane ( s. v. Jb ) the animal intended is the 
antilope defassa of modern zoologists, which is still called by this name in Egypt. “ It 
is a species of bovine antelope : in Barbary, it seems that the animal thus called is 
another species of bovine antelope, or perhaps a variety of the former; it is said to be 
what is termed by Pallas antilope bubalis; by others, alcephalus bubalis, or acronotus 
bubalis ; and this is said to come occasionally to the Nile : but the Arabic appellations 
given above are employed with much laxity.” 
v. 8. The comparison of the almost effaced traces of a Spring encampment, 
washed by the rain and worn by the winds, to lines of writing which have faded by 
long use is common in old Arabic poetry. Zuheyr says (the lines are quoted in the 
notice of him extracted from the Aghani) speaking of tent traces ( tululj — 
9 0'<j * o* o' & ' 9 o' n ' <" ^ 
* * ' / ^ s 
“ Worn are they : thou wouldst think their lines 
over which two years have passed were a parchment old and faded.” 
