[i39]
MANUSCRIPT B i
Introduction
The copy of this nisba, which was lent to me for translation by the
'omda of the Gelilab at Sa'id village in el Kamlin district, was taken a few years ago from the copy in possession of el feki Hasan
walad Muhammad 'fsa, a Geh'labi of Wad el Sha'ir, also in the Blue Nile Province. El feki Hasan is said to have inherited his copy from an ancestor, who copied it from some earlier unknown MS.
The Gelilab think (though they have no evidence) that probably
their ancestor Sa'id son of Daud son of 'Abd el Gelil brought the original from the north. He lived nine generations ago {see tree) and
is said to have built "99" mosques and endowed each with fourteen slaves for service.
It was Hegazi Ma'in the uncle of Abd el Gelil who founded Arbagi about 1475 a.d. (see D 3, iv, and note to D 3, 67, and Jackson,
p. 18).
The ultimate source of the nisba is obviously the same as that of BA: it no doubt emanated from Dongola two or three centuries ago, and the copyist, being only interested in the part that related to
the GuHAYNA group of tribes, omitted the part concerning the Ga'ali group.
I In the name of God . . .
[The following is] an extract taken from The Noble Gift and Rare Excellence [el Nafhat el Sharifa wa 7 Turfa 7 Munifa] of
el Sheikh el Imam el Shafa'i. , .on the origins of the Arabs.
II Now the [tribes of the] Arabs are Himyar and Tai and Tha'aleb and Lagm and Gudham and Hamdan and Ma'aref and Bis and HuKNA and Kelb el Azd and Muzayna and Guhayna. All of these
trace their descent to a single ancestor, el Mahays son of Kahtan son of el Mahays son of Ibrahim. . .God knows the truth of this, and praise be to Him alone.
III The apostle in the "Traditions" said "Ye know from^ your pedigrees how ye are connected."
IV And he said of a man who had learnt the pedigrees of the people
"A knowledge [of them] is useless and ignorance harmless" — this being in times of mutual love and affection; but. . .{continues as BA,
VII and VIII, as far as '^various nations'').
^ inserting ^>«.