274 THE NATIVE MANUSCRIPTS iv.ds.v.
'' Sheikh. . .el Kusayer" is Mahmud el 'Araki (No. 157). The miss-
ing word (the page is chipped) is no doubt "rdgil" a term used apparently to denote " the holy-man of. . . " : other examples of this use of the word are to be found in Nos. 44 and 191. Mahmud is in No. 11 called " Rdgil el Kusr" [" the Holy-man of the Castle "], and so ''Kusayer " may be taken to be a diminutive form: it is used also in No. 157.
It is not clear what was the relationship between Mahmud and the
rest of the 'Araki family of holy men whose biographies are given, e.g. Abu Idris, Sheikh Dafa'alla, etc. (for whom see Tree No. 9 and D i, ci).
The word translated "came" is jaj3 {kadam) and has a technical flavour: it is frequently used by the author in speaking of the advent of
holy men. The technical word '' mukaddam" (a sort of abbot or legate, see Sell, pp. 104-107) is formed from the same root. So, too {e.g. paras.
VIII and x), the phrase ^A*. _/>^i {kaddam 'aid) in the transitive sense is used, and I have there translated it "inspired."
''Dwelt on the White [Nile']'' is in the Arabic ^ « }*^\ ,j.JC_w, and "dwelt at el Obayd" would be the normal translation: but it is probable from No. 157, and certain from D 7, 11 (q.v.), that the White Nile is meant
and the words ''el bahr" (the Nile) have here and in No. 157 been left out. In addition, el Obayd ["el Obeid"] was not built until about 1760 (see MacMichael, Tribes..., p. 12). For the whole passage cp. D 7, 11.
VI Abu Sakaykin (or Abu Sakaki'n) was the fourth of the Fung kings and reigned about 1551-1559 (Bruce).
The term Mdiigilak, or Matigil, may roughly be rendered Viceroy. It was especially the title of those Abdullab sheikhs who ruled the country round el Halfaya for the Fung kings. These Abdullab were a section of the Kawasma branch of the Rufa'a, and it was their Sheikh AbduUa Gema'a who was the ally of 'Omara Dunkas (see para, iv) and assisted him to found his empire (see Budge, Vol. 11, pp. 200 and 204; Jackson, pp. 17-22; D 5 {a); and, in particular, the Appendix to Chap. 2 {a) of Part III).
'Agib el Mdngilak was the son of Abdulla Gema'a, and he is occasion-
ally called 'Agib Kafut (see Budge, loc. cit., Jackson, p. 24, and Part III, loc. cit.).
For Ibrahim el Buldd, one of the famous Awlad Gabir, see Nos. 17 and 23 and AB, Lxxxix, and cp. Jackson, p. 26.
For the terms " KhaliV and " risdla" see AB, Lxxxix (note), vii The text gives el Bahar for el Bahari. This syncopation is very com-
mon throughout in proper names, e.g. we get 'Omar for 'Omara, el Hamr for el Hamra, el Kaf for el Kafi, el 'Od for el 'Udi, etc. I have not noted these particular alterations every time they occur as it would be un- necessary.
For Sufiism see Hughes, pp. 608-622 (including a bibliography), and Sell, pp. 1-45 {The Mystics of Islam). A large number of the technical terms used by the author are borrowed from the Sufi vocabulary, e.g.
"tarika" " sdlik" "dhikr," " zdhid," "wall" "magdhub," etc.
For this and following paragraphs, cp. D 7, xxi et seq. VIII No biography of el Telemsani is given.
"Instructed him in dogma'' is ^e^iJI i^i^ oSiL^ {sallakhu tarik el