1881.] 
C. J. Lyall —Translations from the Hamdseh. 
123 
Some time after, several men of ‘Abs ancl Fezarah, on their way 
to Mekkeh during the month of pilgrimage, passed by the country where 
Dureyd dwelt. Although it was the time when war was forbidden, they 
did not feel wholly secure, and had hidden their faces in their lithdms , the 
handkerchiefs with which the Bedawis cover their heads, leaving only their 
eyes visible. Dureyd perceived them, and went forth to meet them— 
“ What men are ye ?” he asked. “ Is it I of whom thou askest ?” answered 
one of the travellers. Dureyd recognized the voice of Kardam ;—“ Ah,” 
he cried, “ there is no need to ask further : thou and these who follow thee 
have nothing to fear from me.” Then he embraced him, and gave him a 
horse, a sword, and a lance, and said, “ Take this as a requital of the kind¬ 
ness which thou shewedst to me on the day of el-Liwa.” # 
v. 1. ‘Arid is said by et-Tebrizi to be another name of ‘Abdallah, who 
was likewise called Khalid (but according to the Aghani, Khalid was a 
fourth brother of Dureyd’s). The Benu-s-Sauda were the family of 
Dureyd and ‘Abdallah, whose mother Reyhaneh was very dark, being of 
el-Yemen, where African blood was largely mingled with Arab: es-iSandd 
means “ the black woman.” 
v. 2. “Laden,” mudajjaj: from dajja, “he walked slowly, as one 
carrying a heavy load.” The word therefore means “ fully armed.” 
The most esteemed coats of mail were brought from Persia, and in 
that country from Soghdiana (es Sughd) ; see Hamaseh, p. 319:— 
Qurumun tesdma min Nizarin , ‘aleyhimi 
muda l afatun min nesji Da uda iva-s-SiigJidi. 
“ Warriors who trace their lineage from Nizar, and on them 
double coats of mail of the weaving of David and from es-Sughd.” 
(David is said by Arab tradition, embodied in the Quran, Surah xxi, 80, 
to have been taught by God the art of weaving mail.) The best swords 
came from India (hindi, muhenned) and el-Yemen (imported thither by sea 
from the former country) ; and the best spears were made at el-Khatt 
in el-Bahran, from bamboos also brought from India. 
vv. 4 and 5 are given in inverse order in et-Tebrizi’s text: that in 
which I have placed them is clearly the right one. 
Ghaziyyeh, as will be seen from the genealogy of Dureyd given above, 
was the name of the family in Jusham to which he and his brethren 
belonged. 
* This history is taken almost word for word from Caussin de Perceval, Essai , ii, 
pp. 551-554, who again in like manner follows Fresnel, Jour. Asiat Fevrier 1838, who 
translates from the Aghani. It would be difficult to better the work of two such 
accomplished hands. For the original, see Agh. ix, 3-4. 
Q 
