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MANUSCRIPT C 9

Introduction

This nisha, or rather the first five paragraphs of it, purports to be

that of the famous Sheikh 'Abdulla ibn Dafa'alla el 'Araki, whose biography is given in D 3 (No. 34).

The actual copy of the nisba which has been translated was made

for me from his own inherited copy by 'Omar Agib, a descendant of the 'Abdullah viceroys, who were themselves, like the 'Araki family, a branch of Rufa'a.

It is interesting to see that Rafa'i, the eponymous ancestor of the Rufa'a, occurs in the B and A groups (which are attributed to "el Samarkand!"), as son of 'Amir son of Dhubian, ancestor of the GuHAYNA tribes. But in C 7 and C 9 this 'Amir is called "el Sa^yid 'Amir" and allotted a more noble pedigree, direct to el Husayn, the martyr of Kerbela and grandson of the Prophet.

'Amir is said to have been the first of the family to settle in the Sudan, and the genealogy of his descendants may be given with approximate accuracy: there is, however, no indication that either of the versions of his ancestry that have been mentioned is correct

in any particular. The fact is probably that 'Abdulla el 'Araki went on the pilgrimage and, as in the similar case of C 6, returned with a Sherifi pedigree, correct from Musa el Kazim upwards and otherwise spurious.

Musa el Kazim had twelve sons (see Wiistenfeld, Y) and the scribes of Mekka were no doubt prepared to allot him any number more on application.

The Rufa'a group as a whole are considered Guhayna, but the Sherifi descent of the 'Arakii'n is never disputed, although they and the Rufa'a are allowed to be equally descended from Rafa'i.

For the explanation of this see Chap. 2 {a) in Part III.

Paragraphs viii to xxvi were no doubt added by a later copyist who borrowed them from one of the B group of nisbas, and an inferior one at that. They do not even agree with the pedigree given in para. v.

I In the name of God ....

II As regards what follows, this is the pedigree of honour con-

cerning the Sheikh of Islam, the Guide [Murshid], the Resolute

[Hammdm], 'Abdulla el 'Araki.