1S77.] C. J. Lyall —Translations from the Hamdseh and the Aghani. 449 
and he is there called a native of Syria (Sha’dmi) and a metaphysician (Keldmt) ; I 
have found no mention of him in the Aghani, Ibn Khallikan, Ibn Quteybeh, or Haji 
Khalifeh. It seems to me most probable that the piece belongs to the early wars of the 
Arabs during the spread of el-Islam over Asia Minor, Armenia and Persia, and I should 
doubt its being the composition of a mere scholar. The fact that it was attributed to 
es-Semau’al shows that its authorship is uncertain, and that it cannot be set down to 
any other with confidence. 
v. 5. “ Our friend,” jdr : this word is used for either (but most frequently for 
the weaker) of the two parties to a covenant of mutual protection (jiwdrj ; it is etymo¬ 
logically identical with the Hebrew ger (A. Y. “ stranger”), and the latter word fre¬ 
quently bears the same meaning : e. g. in Job xxxi. 32, where the LXX rightly ren¬ 
der it by £eVos, which has the same double sense of host and guest, protector and pro¬ 
tected. 
v. 6. The mountain here referred to is the glory and great name of the tribe ; 
the same metaphor occurs in a noble passage of the mo‘allaqah of el-Harith son of Hil- 
lizeh (vv. 23—26.) 
9 ' o ' 9 r 9 9 9 ' 
5 11 ■ * ^ 'S'j — C ^ — 
/ x 
✓ * 
9 s *9 ' r ' 
Aj) ; l- 
U* 
jj 
u 
O * ^ mJ ^ \jj 
-xAxZ UaJJ . Ac L— xxajJ 
L S ♦» • 
9 9 c sjj' n so ' ' o' 
9 , 
'o 
9o' 
Cm «- $ 
9 
< 9 o ' ' ' 
s 
o ' 
' 9*tj 
• 
;> 
J 
^jy - 
oS > { 
o 
"i 
f ' $ ' o 9 
j _ Adlf 
r 
_J % 
i^5c>)ys J ) 
And we have stood, spite of their hate, and high towers 
and firm-based glory lift us aloft; 
Before to-day has it blinded the eyes 
of men in which were wrath and denial. 
As though the Fates beating against us met 
a black mountain cleaving the topmost clouds, 
Mighty and strong above the changes of things, 
which no shock of the Days can soften or shake. 
v, 8. Salul was a brother tribe of ‘Amir son of Sa‘sa‘ah: both were engaged 
in frequent contests and rivalries with the Benu-l-Harith ibn Ka‘b, and especially 
with the house of ed-Dayyan; see, for instance, Aghani X, 145, where a story is told 
of a contest at ‘Oka<5 between Yezid son of ‘Abd-el-Madan and ‘Amir son of Tufeyl for 
the hand of the daughter of Umayyeh son of el-Askar el-Kinani, in which the former 
was victorious : also another (pp. 146-7) between the same Yezid and the men of ‘Amir 
before one of the Ghassanide Kings. One of the battles between the Benu-l-Harith 
and the Benu ‘Amir was the Day of es-Selef (Agh. X, 150) : another was the Day of 
Feyf-er-Rih (Ibn-el-Athir, I, 474.) 
v. 14. “ Rain of the heaven”, ma’u-l-muzni: literally, “water of a white rain- 
cloud” : the sense is that they are as liberal as rain. Md-es-Semd, “ Water of the 
heaven,” was a name given among the Arabs to men for their bounty and women for 
