352 THE NATIVE MANUSCRIPTS iv.d6. xxxviii.

'Abd el Malik ibn Marwan was the fifth Ommayyad Khalifa and died in 705 A.D. after reigning twenty years.

XXXIX Cp. AB, XXIII and ccxiii and ABC, xxii.

'"AbbAsiyyun" is used here practically as the equivalent of "Ga'aliyyun." Contrast para. x.

The Fatimites conquered Egypt in 969 a.d. and were supplanted by

the Ayyubites in 1171 a.d.

XL Cp. A II, LX and AB, xxvi. XLi "And it is said..." is as follows in the Arabic, which appears corrupt :

A,o*.^)l JLU JJkl ^^Aj »»ay^l JJb\ w;Ui,-cb 4*5 0>6V*:! v»*5 .xn^ Jt**

The Companions of the Cave (Ashdb el Kahf) are the legendary

"Seven Sleepers of Ephesus." Muhammad borrowed the story from Christian traditions and introduced it as a revelation into the Kuran {q.v.

Chap, xviii. See also Sale's notes thereto, Hughes, p. 24, and Gibbon's Decline and Fall..., Chap. xxxi).

El Los is Gebel Kassala. See Werne (p. 217). "In former times the race of the Hallenga had, at the foot of the hill of Kassela-el-Lus, a great city . . . .The true name of the hill is el Lus, and the word Kassela is the name of a sainted Sheikh. The rock-dome of Kassela is surrounded by

six pillar-Uke rocks; and hence the saying 'Kassela-el-Lus saba Rus' (Kassela-el-Lus of the seven heads)." Again of the caves in Gebel Kassala Werne (p. 245) says: "They are said to be inhabited by men of ancient

days, spirits, and ghosts."

" Halayk" may be a misprint for "Halank." The proper names follow-

ing are probably corrupt. XLii Darfur and westwards are meant.

XLIII Cp. A II, LXI. XLiv The MASHAfKH or MASHAfKHA are meant. They claim descent from Abu Bukr el Sadik, the first Khalifa of Islam. The unnamed Sheikh is probably Mugelli {q.v. A 2, xxxvii and D 3, 255).

XLVi YuASiFA is a plural formed from Yusef, i.e. "sons of Yusef." XLViii El Haggag ibn Yusef's date was 42-95 a.h. It was in 74 A.H. (693 A.D.) that he pulled down the temple of Mekka and restored it to its old pre-Islamic form. For this and the cruelties he perpetrated at this period see Ockley (p. 480).

XLix It is not clear what "those countries" refers to: the Arabic is

... IvAaIj j^jjJ' *iWJ ^^ ^^^\jjti\. From para, lix it seems the northern Sudan is meant.

L " Sanbal" and " SenAbla " are probably misprints for " Shanbal " and "Shenabla."

LI Cp. All, Lxii, from which it seems " Bdwaziz" {}^j^\^) is an error for "Abu el Wuzir" (^J^l ^\).

LII Cp. A II, LXIII. Liv There is little clue as to what war is referred to in this story. There