1877.] C. J. Lyall —Translations from the Hamaseh and the Aghani. 459 
Notes. 
The metre is the first form of the besit, in which the last foot is the same in the 
second hemistich as in the first; an attempt has been made to imitate it in the transla¬ 
tion. The grammars give ^ — v ~ / — as permissible for the third foot, although on 
an examination of a large number of pieces of this measure in the Hamaseh I have 
found no example of a short first syllable ; instances, however, occur elsewhere ; see 
en-Nabighah, v. 34 and 49, and xi. 3. Zuheyr, ix. 18, 21, 22. In the English, owing to 
the want of clear distinction between syllables long in themselves (apart from the accent) 
and short, it has not been found possible always to give a long syllable in this place. 
Of the author of these lines I have been able to ascertain nothing. The fragment 
is, as shewn by the rhyme in the first hemistich, the beginning of a qasideh ; four more 
lines of the same measure and rhyme are given as a continuation of the piece in the 
Appendix to the Cttlcutta Edn. of the Hamaseh, p. 221 : but they are of inferior merit 
to those selected by Abu Temmam. By his name (Ishaq) the author should be an 
Islami; the only authentic instance of a biblical name born by an Arab (not a Jew) 
before el-Islam is that of the great-great-grandfather of ‘Adi son of Zeyd el-Tbadi, 
who was called Ayyub (Job). (See Aghani ii. 18, and Abu-l-‘Ala, quoted intheHama- 
seh, p. 177). The sentiment of v. 4 is, however, rather pagan than Islamic. 
v. 3. “ Meat on a butcher’s board” is a proverbial expression for that which is 
utterly defenceless and helpless. 
v. 4. The scholiast compares the proverbs (both current in the Ignorance) ni ( ma- 
l-khatanu-l-qabru, An excellent son-in-law is the Grave,” and defnu-l-benut mina-l- 
mekrumut, “ To bury daughters is an act of mercy” ; the reference in the latter is to 
the practice of burying female children alive immediately after birth, which was still 
prevalent (though not widely spread) among the pagan Arabs at the time of the Pro¬ 
phet’s mission. The lot of women among the Arabs of the Ignorance was a hard one ; 
and it is most probable that the practice in question was perpetuated, if it did not begin, 
in the desire to save the family the shame of seeing its women ill-used or otherwise 
disgraced. This is to be inferred from the account given in the Aghani (xii. 150) of 
the reason why Qeys son of ‘ Asim, a lord of the tribe of Temim, adopted it. To this 
man was due the revival of the custom in the Prophet’s time after it had almost died 
out; a terrible tale is told of his burial alive of the only one of his daughters who was 
saved at birth and brought up in another family unknown to him. 
v. 5. The use of the imperfect ( kuntu ubqi ) in the second hemistich of this verse 
is worth noticing. The speaker looks forward to the time when his daughter will be 
left fatherless, and find no love such as that which she found in him. 
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IX. 
Hittan son of el-Mo'alla. 
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