IV. D 5. III. OF THE SUDAN 335

D 5 (b) NOTES

I Cp. C 9 and D 3, Tree 9. From these it would appear that the informa-

tion given is inaccurate. The biographies of Muhammad Abu Idris, of his

father Dafa'alla, of 'Abdulla el 'Araki, and of Muhammad ibn Dafa'alla, are given in D 3 under Nos. 48, 86, 34, and 185 respectively. The BAdrab seem out of place here altogether.

II None of these holy men occur in D 3 : they would seem to have lived at a later date and to have been of negligible importance.

D5(c)

The 'Abbdsia now living in the Sudan

I The 'Abbas I A now living in the Sudan are descended from Salih surnamed "Subuh" and nicknamed "Abu Merkha." He was the

first to come to the Sudan, [viz.] after the decay of the Beni 'Abbas and at the beginning of the 'Othmani dynasty, which are described by the historians in their works. He was a pious man, and the Sudan was honoured by his presence in it as the lands of Irak had been honoured by the presence of his ancestors.

II The vulgar saying of the people of the Sudan that Subuh Abu Merkha was a foolish man who used to wipe himself upon merakh bushes is nonsense, and unpardonable in the sight of God : possibly

it may be due to the Nuba on account of their enmity to his descend-

ants, who conquered them,

III He was son of Muhammad el Mutawakkil 'ala Alia son of Ya'akub son of 'Abd el 'Aziz el Khalifa el Mutawakkil 'ala Alia, the last of the 'Abbasid Khalifas. This 'Abd el 'Aziz was son of Ya'akub son of Ga'afir el Mutawakkil 'ala Alia. The last named was killed by the Tartars, and at his death Baghdad was sacked, and then the power

of the 'Abbasid dynasty waned and gradually disappeared like all

other dynasties: glory be to God. Ga'afir was son of Harun el Wathik son of el Mu'tasam son of the Commander of the Faithful Harun el Rashid son of el Mahdi son of Abu Ga'afir el Mansur son of Muhammad son of 'Ali son of 'Abdulla the ancestor of the nation,

the translator of the Kuran, son of our lord el 'Abbas the uncle of the Prophet , . . .