Page images
PDF
EPUB

EL BAKA'Y'S SECOND POEM.

577

"And he said again,—addressing the Fullán on the subject of his guest. (The metre is Tawíl.)

"DID Mohammed Síd, the slave, and that slave a black one, really come from A'hmed [ben] A'hmed, to inquire about my guest, in order to make him return as [become] his guest, that he might plunder him, and fetter him, and make him a guest of Kaúri with him, and with San-Shirfu? * My guest is not accustomed to this! Or did Yaktán say the speech? Is he not a dreamer? Yes, a dreamer, by ALLAH! Ahmed, A'hmed! And, besides my guest, there is 'Aákil, and Yalamlam, and Ridhwa, and Hamlán, and Kudsu, and Dhurwad.† Will he take him before death and the Indian scimitars seize on his own head? Will he take him while the sword and the spear are asleep, by stealth? Lo, the lances do not miss their aim! Will he take him where all the Tawárek are, and of the Arabs, a Sheikh, and a mature man, and a lad?

"The descendants of the Sheikh 'Othmán ben Fódiye are our army; and of our army Músa ben Bodhál is a witness; and Targaitamútu, the lions, whose tribe Likáway ‡, the nephew of Alkúttabu, leads, who lightens, thunders; and A'khbi ben Sálem, round whom are the Igwádaren, and Woghdu Agga'l Henne has a gathered host. And among the Tinkiríkíf there are noble men, the Benu Hammalása, whose troop shows valour; and young men from the Kél e' Súk, who are lions in calamities, and who are brave, assist my guest. These are the people in El Islám: they do not disappoint me,

San-Shirfu is the name of one of the two kádhis of Timbúktu. Kaúri is the name of the emir.-H. B.

This passage about Yaktán neither I nor Dr. Nicholson are able to clear up fully.-H. B.

See what is said about this man, whose name is generally pronounced Elágwi, in the Appendix III. to Vol. V. p. 553. A'khbi, Woghdu, and the other people are mentioned repeatedly by me.-H. B.

[blocks in formation]

and they are my brothers, and very useful and helpful to me. I have among the tribe of the Fullán a body of men in the land who run and hasten to defend the religion of ALLAH. Dearer to them than their house and family and souls is the religion of ALLAH, who is mighty! Whenever they see infidelity and rebellion against their Lord, they resist, and go aside from every impious person. And I have some of the men of ALLAH in the land, and also of the angels, as an auxiliary and a scattering host. And my trust-my trust is in ALLAH, whose majesty is great! and there is no help except from Him; and ALLAH is most mighty! So there is no help except from Him; not even from the angels, though they be mighty and worthy of praise. He is GOD, who is great! He redoubles His aid against every oppressor who is violent and exorbitant. As for me, it is sufficient protection against A'hmed that I should pray to ALLAH in the belly* of this night that approaches. I will aim my prayer at Him, at the dawn, like an arrow. He shall find himself, when he sees to-morrow, smitten with death. But if he repents one day, that will be best for him. But if he refuse, will not repent, then the matter is referred to ALLAH. Before him, Pharaoh, and Nimród, and 'Aád, and Sheddád ben 'Aád rebelled: but all those on whom their prophets invoked vengeance perished, and disappeared, and were desolated. Moses, and Jesus, and Sálih, and Húd, and Abraham, and subsequently Mohammed, called on their Lord. He alone then-glory to his name!-is the One we invoke. Just as they obey, so will He answer and help the faithful. Then, help me, O LORD, in the same way as Thou didst help them: for there is no defence and no help above Thee. And bless and prosper them with benedictions; for there are not any among them but those that deserve praise and honour.

"Finished with the help of GOD," &c. &c.

* i.e. The latter third.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

Gógó, an important commercial place, where Makhled E'bn Kaidád, with the surname of A'bú Yezíd, that great revolutionist who brought so much mischief over Northern Africa, was born. His father came often from Tózer to this place for trading purposes, evidently by way of Wárgelá, that most ancient trading place on the northern border of the desert. We thus see that the commerce between Northern Africa and Negroland was infinitely older than it has ever been supposed. I may here add, that I have not the slightest doubt that Wárgelá is meant by the Bakalitis of Ptolemy (lib. iv. c. 7, p. 305., ed. Wilberg.), which he describes from the side of Egypt as lying beyond Fezzán, although no Roman ruins exist in Wárgelá.

[blocks in formation]

Neighbouring Kingdoms.

Death of Tilútan, chief of the Limtúna, very powerful in the desert; he adopted Islám, ' and converted the neighbour ing Negro tribes.

[blocks in formation]

* For this highly important statement, see E'bn Khaldún, trans. by De Slane, vol. iii. p. 201.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HISTORY OF SONGHAY. 581

Songhay.

A.D.

A.H.

Neighbouring Kingdoms.

the whole of the neighbouring part of Negroland, including Ghánata. In the very year mentioned, this place, which carried on at that time a most flourishing trade with Sijilmésa, was visited by the Arab geographer, E'bn Haúkal.* Kúgha (Kúkíá) was at that period so powerful that the king of Aúdaghost thought it prudent to make presents to the king of that place (the king of Songhay), in order to prevent him from making war upon him. Nevertheless twenty-three Negro kings are said to have been tributary to another king of Aúdaghost, named Tinezwa, in the fourth century of the Hejra. -The site of Aúdaghost is quite evident from El Bekrí's excellent itinerary : — "You march five days in the sandhills of Warán, till you come to the copious well of the Bení Wareth; then further on the well Warán; then a well wa. tered district of three days." At the same time the abundance of gum trees near Aúdaghost proves distinctly that the distance of fifteen days intervening between Audaghost, or Ghánata (near Waláta), is to be reckoned in a westerly direction, and that Aúdaghost therefore is to be sought for in the neighbourhood of Tejigja and Kasr el Barka, and not to the northeast of Waláta. I shall say more on this subject in another place. At that time Aulil was the great place for salt.

Journal Asiatique, i. 1842, p. 50.

« PreviousContinue »