72 THE NATIVE MANUSCRIPTS IV. ab. xciv.

of the greatest and most pious and learned of sages, [and was] the first to teach law [KhaliJ] in the land of the Fung.

XCV I have mentioned the chief points in his biography in what follows: Ibrahim el Bulad was son of Gabir, and his story emits a sweet odour.

XCVI His [full] name was el Sheikh el Imam el Hugga Ibrahim

son of Gabir son of '(3n son of Selim son of Rubat, the father of the RiKABiA Sa\yids, and he was bom at Tamag, an island in the

land of the SnArpA, and went to Eg\-pt and studied under Sidi Muhammad el Banufari, and was taught by him the origins and the ends of divinit\',

XCVI I Then he moved to Tamag and there taught law [Khalil] and apostles hip.

XCVI 1 1 He was [also] the first to teach law [Khalil] in the land of the Fung.

XCIX Many people used to visit him, and he taught the whole science of law [Khalil] from beginning to end seven times and thereby instructed 40 persons, among whom was the virtuous Sheikh

'Abd el Rahman his brother.

C So his story continues : and it is said that the reason why he was

called "el Bulad" was that a certain man swore to divorce his wife

if he did not succeed in collecting into his house ever\-thing that God had created. Then [el Bulad] decided the matter by placing a Kuran on the bed, and explained his action by quoting the following

words of God "There is nothing that I have omitted in the Book"; and his Sheikh said to him "You are Bulad el Berr" ["the Steel of the Earth"], and his cognomen of "Bulad" for that reason became famous.

CI His sons were el Hag Muhammad and el Hag Hammad, both good and virtuous men, and such of his seed as exist now are descended from them.

CII By the help of the Great King, the Almight>', I have now com-

pleted all that I promised in this chapter. cm Chapter IV. . .(The title is repeated as in para. x\t.) CIV and CV My brethren in God and the Prophet, overweening pride in our forefathers is blameworthy in the law, and it is not the part of an intelligent man to. . .{continues as BA, x\7, v:hich is slightly expanded).

CVI So too, the Prophet. . ., according to the beautiful tradition

related by Ibn Daud and el Termidhi, said " God hath redeemed you from the brutishness [ghubiyya] of the days of ignorance and pride of ancestry.