195 The Arabic text will be found in the Hamása, p. 382 sqq.

196 This and the following verse are generally taken to be a description not of the poet himself, but of his nephew. The interpretation given above does no violence to the language, and greatly enhances the dramatic effect.

197 In the original this and the preceding verse are transposed.

198 Although the poet's uncle was killed in this onslaught, the surprised party suffered severely. "The two clans" belonged to the great tribe of Hudhayl, which is mentioned in the penultimate verse.

199 It was customary for the avenger to take a solemn vow that he would drink no wine before accomplishing his vengeance.

200 Ḥamása, 679.

201 Cf.the lines translated below from the Mu‘allaqaof Ḥárith.

202 The best edition of the Mu‘allaqátis Sir Charles Lyall's ( A Commentary on Ten Ancient Arabic Poems, Calcutta, 1894), which contains in addition to the seven Mu‘allaqátthree odes by A‘shá, Nábigha, and ‘Abíd b. al-Abraṣ. Nöldeke has translated five Mu‘allaqas (omitting those of Imru’ u’ l-Qays and Ṭarafa) with a German commentary, Sitzungsberichte der Kais. Akad. der Wissenschaften in Wien, Phil.-Histor. Klasse, vols. 140-144 (1899-1901); this is by far the best translation for students. No satisfactory version in English prose has hitherto appeared, but I may call attention to the fine and original, though somewhat free, rendering into English verse by Lady Anne Blunt and Wilfrid Scawen Blunt ( The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan Arabia, London, 1903).

203 Ancient Arabian Poetry, Introduction, p. xliv. Many other interpretations have been suggested— e.g., 'The Poems written down from oral dictation' (Von Kremer), 'The richly bejewelled' (Ahlwardt), 'The Pendants,' as though they were pearls strung on a necklace (A. Müller).

204 The belief that the Mu‘allaqátwere written in letters of gold seems to have arisen from a misunderstanding of the name Mudhhabátor Mudhahhabát( i.e., the Gilded Poems) which is sometimes given to them in token of their excellence, just as the Greeks gave the title ƒÔƒÏύƒÐƒÃƒ¿ ἔðç to a poem falsely attributed to Pythagoras. That some of the Mu‘allaqátwere recited at ‘Ukáẓ is probable enough and is definitely affirmed in the case of ‘Amr b. Kulthúm ( Aghání, ix, 182).

205 The legend first appears in the ‘Iqd al-Faríd(ed. of Cairo, 1293 a.h., vol. iii, p, 116 seq.) of Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi, who died in 940 a.d.

206 See the Introduction to Nöldeke's Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber(Hannover, 1864), p. xvii sqq., and his article 'Mo‘allaḳḳát' in the Encyclopædia Britannica.

207 It is well known that the order of the verses in the Mu‘allaqát, as they have come down to us, is frequently confused, and that the number of various readings is very large. I have generally followed the text and arrangement adopted by Nöldeke in his German translation.

208 See p. 42 supra.

209 Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 105.

210 See the account of his life (according to the Kitábu’ l-Aghání) in Le Diwan d'Amro’lkaïs, edited with translation and notes by Baron MacGuckin de Slane (Paris, 1837), pp. 1-51; and in Amrilkais, der Dichter und Königby Friedrich Rückert (Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1843).

211 That he was not, however, the inventor of the Arabian qaṣída as described above (p. 76 sqq.) appears from the fact that he mentions in one of his verses a certain Ibn Ḥumám or Ibn Khidhám who introduced, or at least made fashionable, the prelude with which almost every ode begins: a lament over the deserted camping-ground (Ibn Qutayba, K. al-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará, p. 52).

212 The following lines are translated from Arnold's edition of the Mu‘allaqát(Leipsic, 1850), p. 9 sqq., vv. 18-35.

213 The native commentators are probably right in attributing this and the three preceding verses (48-51 in Arnold's edition) to the brigand-poet, Ta’abbaṭa Sharr ^an.

214 We have already (p. 39) referred to the culture of the Christian Arabs of Ḥíra.

215 Vv. 54-59 (Lyall); 56-61 (Arnold).

216 See Nöldeke, Fünf Mu‘allaqát, i, p. 51 seq. According to the traditional version ( Aghání, ix, 179), a band of Taghlibites went raiding, lost their way in the desert, and perished of thirst, having been refused water by a sept of the Banú Bakr. Thereupon Taghlib appealed to King ‘Amr to enforce payment of the blood-money which they claimed, and chose ‘Amr b. Kulthúm to plead their cause at Ḥíra. So ‘Amr recited his Mu‘allaqabefore the king, and was answered by Ḥárith on behalf of Bakr.

217 Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. ii, p. 233.

218 Aghání, ix, 182.

219 Vv. 1-8 (Arnold); in Lyall's edition the penultimate verse is omitted.

220 Vv. 15-18 (Lyall); 19-22 (Arnold).

221 The Arabs use the term kunyato denote this familiar style of address in which a person is called, not by his own name, but 'father of So-and-so' (either a son or, as in the present instance, a daughter).

222 I.e., even the jinn(genies) stand in awe of us.

223 Here Ma‘add signifies the Arabs in general.

224 Vv. 20-30 (Lyall), omitting vv. 22, 27, 28.

225 This is a figurative way of saying that Taghlib has never been subdued.

226 Vv. 46-51 (Lyall), omitting v. 48.

227 I.e., we will show our enemies that they cannot defy us with impunity. This verse, the 93rd in Lyall's edition, is omitted by Arnold.

228 Vv. 94-104 (Arnold), omitting vv. 100 and 101. If the last words are anything more than a poetic fiction, 'the sea' must refer to the River Euphrates.

229 Vv. 16-18.

230 Vv. 23-26.

231 A place in the neighbourhood of Mecca.

232 Vv. 40-42 (Lyall); 65-67 (Arnold).

233 See ‘Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter, by H. Thorbecke (Leipzig, 1867).

234 I have taken some liberties in this rendering, as the reader may see by referring to the verses (44 and 47-52 in Lyall's edition) on which it is based.

235 Ghayẓ b. Murra was a descendant of Dhubyán and the ancestor of Harim and Ḥárith.

236 The Ka‘ba.

237 This refers to the religious circumambulation ( ṭawáf).

238 Vv. 16-19 (Lyall).

239 There is no reason to doubt the genuineness of this passage, which affords evidence of the diffusion of Jewish and Christian ideas in pagan Arabia. Ibn Qutayba observes that these verses indicate the poet's belief in the Resurrection ( K. al-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará, p. 58, l. 12).

240 Vv. 27-31.

241 The order of these verses in Lyall's edition is as follows: 56, 57, 54, 50, 55, 53, 49, 47, 48, 52, 58.

242 Reference has been made above to the old Arabian belief that poets owed their inspiration to the jinn(genii), who are sometimes called shayátín(satans). See Goldziher, Abhand. zur arab. Philologie, Part I, pp. 1-14.

243 Vv. 1-10 (Lyall), omitting v. 5.

244 Vv. 55-60 (Lyall).

245 The term nábighais applied to a poet whose genius is slow in declaring itself but at last "jets forth vigorously and abundantly" ( nabagha).

246 Díwán, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 83; Nöldeke's Delectus, p. 96.

247 He means to say that Nu‘mán has no reason to feel aggrieved because he (Nábigha) is grateful to the Ghassánids for their munificent patronage; since Nu‘mán does not consider that his own favourites, in showing gratitude to himself, are thereby guilty of treachery towards their former patrons.

248 Diwán, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 76, ii, 21. In another place (p. 81, vi, 6) he says, addressing his beloved:—

"Wadd give thee greeting! for dalliance with women is lawful to me no more, Since Religion has become a serious matter."