iv.AB.xciv. OF THE SUDAN 71

LXXXIV From whomsoever of his successors hold these letters let

no man demand contribution nor first-fruits [lit. 'custom'] nor levy nor market due nor impost nor forage-due nor herd-due [mfitilrat] nor anything small or great within the royal realms, either at home or abroad, in the east or in the west.

LXXXV If anyone interferes with him or approaches him let him blame no one but himself [for the consequences]. Beware! I say, beware of disobedience ! He who disobeys let him blame no one but

himself."

LXXXVI This I have copied from the sealed letters-patent granted to him, word for word, and these letters are now in my possession.

LXXXVII And he had [granted to him] other letters-patent which have been lost in the course of time. It is enough that he relied upon God Almighty.

{Here follow four pages of laudations of Bishdra and his descendants mixed with anecdotes of their lives: then follows para. Lxxxviii.)

LXXXVIII The reason why our ancestor el feki Bishara was called

"el Gharbawi" ["the Westerner"] was as follows: LXXXIX When el Sheikh Ibrahim el Bulad ibn Gabir came from Egypt he settled on the island of Tarnag in the country of the Shaikia and taught law [lit. Khalif] and apostleship [risdla].

XC Now our ancestor el feki Bishara was [still] a child, and his

father el feki 'Ali ibn Bursi was a man of religion who observed the Kuran and had some knowledge of the sciences, and [the latter] left the circle of his family and devoted himself to religion, and of all his sons he used to urge Bishara in particular to devote himself to religion.

XCI Thus when our ancestor el feki Bishara heard the news of [the arrival of] el Sheikh Ibrahim el Bulad, he crossed the river from their home [at] Hosh Mar in Dongola and joined el Sheikh Ibrahim at Tarnag Island and sought learning and religious instruction from him, and sat at his feet for a [long] while.

XCI I Now the name Bishara was very common among the pupils,

so he surnamed our ancestor el feki Bishara "el Gharbawi," because the home of our ancestor, Hosh Mar, was to the west of the Island where the Sheikh lived, and our ancestor used to cross the river from the west to the east to visit the Sheikh at Tarnag Island.

XCIII Thus, since the Sheikh Ibrahim named him "el Gharbawi," he became famous by that name : and the date of his connection with the Sheikh Ibrahim was the eleventh century [of the Hegira].

XCIV So he served him and acquired learning and practical re-

ligious instruction from him, for el Sheikh Ibrahim el Bulad was one