IV.D3.XIIJ. OF THE SUDAN 275
kUm), a Sufi phrase. Human life being considered as a journey, the "tank" or " tarika" is the road to be followed, the '' sdlik" is one who follows it, and '' sallak " is to cause another to follow it. By " tarik d kuvi " {lit. the road of the people) is meant particularly " tarik el fukard" i.e. the road of the holy men (cp. Appendix 5, etc., passim).
'''Ilm el kaldm" is the same as '"akdid" (q.v. No. 52) and relates to matters of faith in contradistinction .to " V/w el fekih" which relates to matters of practice, i.e. jurisprudence. Cp. No. 136; and see Hughes, pp. 106 and 286.
" The iiiterpretatioji of . . .syntax" is in the Arabic
lA^AkJ J *^^j'jj_3 Ju j) ai .7.1 i^[/*JI j>^^
Cp. Hughes, p. 517: "The recital of the Qur'an has been developed into a science known as ' Ilmu '1 Tajwid. . . ,' which includes a knowledge of the pecuUarities of the spelling of many words in the Qur'an ; of the. . .various readings;. . .of the various divisions, punctuations, and marginal instruc-
tions ; of the proper pronunciation of the Arabic words ; and of the correct
intonation of different passages."
IX ''The doctrifie of...Kurdn" is ''el tawhid wa el tagzvid." For the latter see para, viii (note). For tazchid see Hughes, p. 629; but the word is also used technically by the Sufis to denote the final identification of the saint with the Supreme Being by absorption (see Sell, p. no).
X "Arose" is ^S^^ *^j^> or, literally, "appeared the saintship of." For the term "zvali" see Sell, p. 109, and Hughes, p. 663, and AB, 11.
For 'Abd el Kdfi cp. Jackson, p. 27. XII Probably Sheikh Muhammad ibn 'AH (No, 181). The repetition of the word >6j*i in the text is obviously a slip.
El Shdfa'i is the Imam Muhammad ibn Idris, the founder of one of the four orthodox Sunni sects (see Hughes, p. 570).
XIII The Mashdikha are a small section who claim to be descended from
the Khalifa Abu Bukr el Sadik. They are related to the Mesallamia.
In this particular context are meant Muhammad walad Fakrun (see
No. 86), Sheraf el Din (No. 238), Ya'akub ibn MugeUi (No. 255) and Hammad ibn Mariam (No. 124).
El Halfdya, now called Khartoum North, is on the right bank of the Blue Nile opposite Khartoum. Previous to the Turkish conquest it was one of the most important towns in the Sudan and the seat of the power
of the 'Abdullab. With the founding of Khartoum its importance waned.
Poncet visited it in 1699 and calls it "Alfaa, a large village built with square stone, where the men are tall and comely" (p. 17).
NOTES TO THE BIOGRAPHIES
1 . "El Shard' ana" is properly the name of a sub-tribe of ELawahla, but is here used for their village.
2. Gebel Moya lies about 20 miles east of Sennar.
This 'Abd el Bdki el Wdli is the eponymous ancestor of the Wali'a section of Kawahla, and is regarded by the family of the 'omda of the
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