IV. AB. XI. OF THE SUDAN 63

and the latter had copied it from the manuscript of el Sheikh Sdlim el Sanhuri.

VI [Again, I obtained] a manuscript which agrees with the two I have mentioned and which is said by its copier to have been also taken from el Sheikh el Sanhuri; and, in addition, more than four other manuscripts.

VII All these manuscripts were examined and their substance ex-

tracted, and thereto I added what I ascertained by questioning learned men of high standing, and made of them a genealogical record that will undoubtedly satisfy whoever reads it. This I [com-

pleted] on the forenoon of Wednesday the 4th of Gamad el Akhir

in the year 1263 a.h.^. . ,

VIII And after I had made this rough copy in that year I continued

to study the accuracy of the genealogies which I had collected for several years, and, after ascertaining the truth from the authoritative works of famous Imams, I rejected whatever was completely in-

accurate in certain of the records, and finally accepted as true what-

ever I had found by the help of God to be correct. Then I set my-

self to make a fair copy, after having added such words as occasion demanded, [and] I inserted the narrative of various incidents by way of explanation and instruction.

IX Then I named the work "The Complete Compilation of our pedigree to el Sayyid el 'Abbas," and put it into verse, adding extracts quoted on the authority of the Imams whose names are familiar to all men of education. This I have done in a manner such

as I have not seen equalled elsewhere, and I have said all that there is to be said by way of information concerning the ultimate origins and subdivisions [of the tribe] ; and I have arranged the result of my researches from the authorities into a complete constellation of five chapters :

X The first chapter explains the honour accruing to one that traces

his descent to el Sayyid el 'Abbas, and gives some of the virtues of el Sayyid el 'Abbas, and mentions his descendants and what people trace their Uneage to them, and shows how honourable is he that is connected with the Prophet, upon whom be the blessing of God, by

having Hashim ibn 'Abd Menaf as a common ancestor, and how secure is he that has preserved the record of his pedigree from father to ancestor, and what is ordained for him that disowns them.

XI There is also an appendix enumerating one by one the steps

whereby our pedigree is traced to el Sayyid el 'Abbas, God bless him, both in prose and verse, and mentioning all the ways [to grace]

1 1846 A.D.