empire, soon split up into various dialects, as the Latin under similar circumstances separated into the Neo-Roman patois of Italy, Sicily, Provence, and Languedoc. And though Niebuhr has been deservedly

[p.27]censured for comparing the Koranic language to Latin and the vulgar tongue to Italian, still there is a great difference between them, almost every word having undergone some alteration in addition to the manifold changes and simplifications of grammar and syntax. The traveller will hear in every part of Arabia that some distant tribe preserves the linguistic purity of its ancestors, uses final vowels with the noun, and rejects the addition of the pronoun which apocope in the verb now renders necessary.[FN#45] But I greatly doubt the existence of such a race of philologists. In Al-Hijaz, however, it is considered graceful in an old man, especially when conversing publicly, to lean towards classical Arabic. On the contrary, in a youth this would be treated as pedantic affectation, and condemned in some such satiric quotation as

There are two things colder than ice,
A young old man, and an old young man.

[FN#1] Ibn Jubayr relates that in his day a descendant of Belal, the original Muezzin of the Prophet, practised his ancestral profession at Al-Madinah. [FN#2] This word is said to be the plural of Nakhwali,one who cultivates the date tree, a gardener or farmer. No one could tell me whether these heretics had not a peculiar name for themselves. I hazard a conjecture that they may be identical with the Mutawalli (also written Mutawilah, Mutaalis, Metoualis, &c., &c.), the hardy, courageous, and hospitable mountaineers of Syria, and Clesyria Proper. This race of sectarians, about 35,000 in number, holds to the Imamship or supreme pontificate of Ali and his descendants. They differ, however, in doctrine from the Persians, believing in a transmigration of the soul, which, gradually purified, is at last orbed into a perfect star. They are scrupulous of caste, and will not allow a Jew or a Frank to touch a piece of their furniture: yet they erect guest-houses for Infidels. In this they resemble the Shiahs, who are far more particular about ceremonial purity than the Sunnis. They use ablutions before each meal, and herein remind us of the Hindus. [FN#3] The communist principles of Mazdak the Persian (sixth century) have given his nation a permanent bad fame in this particular among the Arabs. [FN#4] In Arabia the Sharif is the descendant of Hasan through his two sons, Zaid and Hasan al-Musanna: the Sayyid is the descendant of Hosayn through Zayn al-Abidin, the sole of twelve children who survived the fatal field of Kerbela. The former devotes himself to government and war; the latter, to learning and religion. In Persia and India, the Sharif is the son of a Sayyid woman and a common Moslem. The Sayyid Nejib al-Taraf (noble on one side) is the son of a Sayyid father and a common Moslemah. The Sayyid Nejib al-Tarafayn (noble on both sides) is one whose parents are both Sayyids. [FN#5] Burckhardt alludes to this settlement when he says, In the Eastern Desert, at three or four days journey from Medinah, lives a whole Bedouin tribe, called Beni Aly, who are all of this Persian creed. I travelled to Suwayrkiyah, and found it inhabited by Benu Hosayn. The Benu Ali are Badawin settled at the Awali, near the Kuba Mosque: they were originally slaves of the great house of Auf, and are still heretical in their opinions. [FN#6] Refusing, rejecting. Hence the origin of Rafizi,a rejector, a heretic. Inna rafaznahum,verily we have rejected them, (Abu Bakr, Omar, and Osman,) exclaim the Persians, glorying in the opprobrious epithet. [FN#7] Sayyids in Al-Hijaz, as a general rule, do not denote their descent by the green turband. In fact, most of them wear a red Kashmir shawl round the head, when able to afford the luxury. The green turband is an innovation in Al-Islam. In some countries it is confined to the Sayyids; in others it is worn as a mark of distinction by pilgrims. Khudabakhsh, the Indian, at Cairo generally dressed in a tender green suit like a Mantis. [FN#8] Plural of Suftaha half-caste Turk. [FN#9] Plural of Zaydi. These are well-known schismatics of the Shiah persuasion, who abound in Southern Arabia. [FN#10] The Bayazi sect flourishes near Maskat, whose Imam or Prince, it is said, belongs to the heretical persuasion. It rejects Osman, and advocates the superiority of Omar over the other two Caliphs. [FN#11] Sadat is the plural of Sayyid. This word in the Northern Hijaz is applied indifferently to the posterity of Hasan and Hosayn. [FN#12] The plural of Ahl, an inhabitant (of a particular place). The reader will excuse my troubling him with these terms. As they are almost all local in their application, and therefore are not explained in such restricted sense by lexicographers, the specification may not be useless to the Oriental student. [FN#13] The Turkish yataghan. It is a long dagger, intended for thrusting rather than cutting, and has a curve, which, methinks, has been wisely copied by the Duke of Orleans, in the bayonet of the Chasseurs de Vincennes. [FN#14] See chapter xvii. [FN#15] Omar Effendis brothers, grandsons of the principal Mufti of Al-Madinah, were both shopkeepers, and were always exhorting him to do some useful work, rather than muddle his brains and waste his time on books. [FN#16] See chapter xiv. [FN#17] To a townsman, even during the dead season, the pay of a gardener would be 2 piastres, a carpenter 8 piastres per diem, and a common servant (a Bawwab or porter, for instance), 25 piastres per mensem, or £3 per annum, besides board and dress. Considering the value of money in the country, these are very high rates. [FN#18] Who alone sell milk, curds, or butter. The reason of their monopoly has been given in Chapter xiii. [FN#19] History informs us that the sanctity of their birth-place has not always preserved the people of Al-Madinah. But the memory of their misfortunes is soon washed away by the overwhelming pride of the race. [FN#20] The market is under the charge of an Arab Muhtasib or Bazar-master, who again is subject to the Muhafiz or Pasha governing the place. The following was the current price of provisions at Al-Madinah early in August, 1853: during the Visitation season everything is doubled: 1 lb. mutton, 2 piastres, (beef is half-price, but seldom eaten; there is no buffalo meat, and only Badawin will touch the camel). A fowl, 5 piastres. Eggs, in summer 8, in winter 4, for the piastre. 1 lb. clarified butter, 4 piastres, (when cheap it falls to 2 1/2 Butter is made at home by those who eat it, and sometimes by the Egyptians for sale). 1 lb. milk, 1 piastre. 1 lb. cheese, 2 piastres, (when cheap it is 1, when dear 3 piastres per lb.) A Wheaten loaf weighing 12 dirhams, 10 parahs. (There are loaves of 24 dirhams, costing 1/2 piastre.) 1 lb. dry biscuits, (imported), 3 piastres. 1 lb. of vegetables, 1/2 piastre. 1 Mudd dates, varies according to quality from 4 piastres to 100. 1 lb. grapes, 1 1/2} piastre. A lime, 1 parah. A pomegranate, from 20 parahs to 1 piastre. A water-melon, from 3 to 6 piastres each. 1 lb. peaches, 2 piastres. 1 lb. coffee, 4 piastres, (the Yamani is the only kind drunk here). 1 lb. tea, 15 piastres, (black tea, imported from India). 1 lb. European loaf-sugar, 6 piastres, (white Egyptian, 5 piastres brown Egyptian, 3 piastres; brown Indian, for cooking and conserves, 3 piastres). 1 lb. spermaceti candles, 7 piastres, (called wax, and imported from Egypt). 1 lb. tallow candles, 3 piastres. 1 Ardeb wheat, 295 piastres. 1 Ardeb onions, 33 piastres, (when cheap 20, when dear 40). 1 Ardeb barley, 120 piastres, (minimum 90, maximum 180). 1 Ardeb rice, Indian, 302 piastres, (it varies from 260 to 350 piastres, according to quality). Durrah or maize is generally given to animals, and is very cheap. Barsim (clover, a bundle of) 3 Wakkiyahs, (36 Dirhams), costs 1 parah. Adas or Lentil is the same price as rice. 1 lb. Latakia tobacco, 16 piastres. 1 lb. Syrian tobacco, 8 piastres. 1 lb. Tumbak (Persian), 6 piastres.