"And indeed you said, 'if we bring about peace perfectly by the spending of money and the conferring of benefits, and by good words, we shall be safe from the danger of the two tribes, destroying each other.'

"You occupied by reason of this the best of positions, and became far from the reproach of being undutiful and sinful.

"And you became great in the high nobility of Ma'add; may you be guided in the right way; and he who spends his treasure of glory will become great.

"The memory of the wounds is obliterated by the hundreds. of camels, and he, who commenced paying off the blood money by instalments, was not guilty of it (i.e., of making war).

"One tribe pays it to another tribe as an indemnity, while they who gave the indemnity did not shed blood sufficient for the filling of a cupping glass.

"Then there was being driven to them from the property you inherited, a booty of various sorts from young camels with slit ears.

"Now, convey from me to the tribe of Zubyán and their allies a message, verily you have sworn by every sort of oath to keep the peace.'

"Do not conceal from God what is in your breast that it may be hidden; whatever is concealed, God knows all about it.

“Either it will be put off and placed recorded in a book, and preserved there until the judgment day; or the punishment be hastened and so he will take revenge.

"And war is not but what you have learnt it to be, and what you have experienced, and what is said concerning it, is not a story based on suppositions.

"When you stir it up, you will stir it up as an accursed thing, and it will become greedy when you excite its greed and it will rage fiercely.

took oath with their hands plunged in a certain perfume, made by Manshim, as a sign of their coalition. They fought until they were slain to the last of them. Hence the proverb, "More unlucky than the perfume of Manshim.”

"Then it will grind you as the grinding of the upper millstone against the lower, and it will conceive immediately after one birth and it will produce twins.7

By my life I swear, how good a tribe it is upon whom Husain Bin Zamzam brought an injury by committing a crime which did not please them.8

"And he had concealed his hatred, and did not display it, and did not proceed to carry out his intention until he got a good opportunity.

"And he said, "I will perform my object of avenging myself, and I will guard myself from my enemy with a thousand bridled horses behind me.'

"Then he attacked his victim from 'Abs, but did not cause fear to the people of the many houses, near which death had thrown down his baggage."

"They allowed their animals to graze until when the interval between the hours of drinking was finished, they took them to the deep pool, which is divided by weapons and by shedding of blood.10

"They accomplished their object amongst themselves, then they led the animals back to the pasture of unwholesome indigestible grass.

"I have grown weary of the troubles of life; and he, who lives eighty years will, mayest thou have no father if thou doubt 11

grow weary.

"And I know what has happened to-day and yesterday,

7 The misfortunes arising from war are double.

8 Husain Bin Zamzam's father was killed during the war between the Benf Zubyan and the Bent 'Abs. When peace was concluded between the tribes, he made a vow secretly that he would kill one of the tribe of 'Abs out of the revenge for his father. This he did, but when the Benf 'Abs came to take revenge on him, Harith Ibn 'Awf offered them one hundred camels as blood money or his own son to kill. The 'Absioms took the camels and spared his son. The poet is now prais ing them for their act.

9 He killed no one while the peace was in force except the one person on whom he meant to take revenge.

10 By the deep pool is meant war, and the meaning of the lines is that the tribes refrained from war for a certain time, after which they again had recourse to arms.

11 A common term of imprecation.

before it, but verily, of the knowledge of what will happen to-morrow; I am ignorant.

"I see death is like the blundering of a blind camel ;— him whom he meets he kills, and he whom he misses lives and will become old.

"And he who does not act with kindness in many affairs. will be torn by teeth and trampled under foot.

"And he, who makes benevolent acts intervene before honor, increases his honor; and he, who does not avoid abuse, ' will be abused.

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He, who is possessed of plenty, and is miserly with his great wealth toward his people, will be dispensed with, and abused.

"He who keeps his word, will not be reviled; and he whose heart is guided to self-satisfying benevolence will not

stammer.

"And he who dreads the causes of death, they will reach him, even if he ascends the tracts of the heavens with a ladder.

"And he, who shows kindness to one not deserving it, his praise will be a reproach against him, and he will repent of having shown kindness.

"And he who rebels against the butt ends of the spears, then verily he will have to obey the spear points joined to every long spear shaft.12

"And he who does not repulse with his weapons from his tank, will have it broken; and he who does not oppress the people will be oppressed.

"And he who travels should consider his friend an enemy; and he who does not respect himself will not be respected.

"And he, who is always seeking to bear the burdens of other people, and does not excuse himself from it, will one day by reason of his abasement, repent.

"And whatever of character there is in a man, even though he thinks it concealed from people, it is known.

12 The wandering desert Arabs when they met used to present the butt ends of their spears toward one another if their intentions were peaceful, the points if they intended fighting.

"He, who does not cease asking people to carry him, and does not make himself independent of them even for one day of the time, will be regarded with disgust.

Many silent ones you see, pleasing to you, but their excess in wisdom or deficiency will appear at the time of talking.

"The tongue of a man is one half, and the other half is his mind, and here is nothing besides these two, except the shape of the blood and the flesh.

"And verily, as to the folly of an old man there is no wisdom after it, but the young man after his folly may become wise.

"We asked of you, and you gave, and we returned to the asking and you returned to the giving, and he who increases the asking, will one day be disappointed."

THE KORAN

"Let none touch it but they who are clean."

THE WARNING ALWAYS WRITTEN ON
THE COVER OF AN ARABIC KORAN.

"The Koran is, unto them that believe, a sure guide and a remedy; but unto those that believe not, it is a thickness of hearing in their ears, and it is a darkness which covereth them."

-THE KORAN, CHAPTER XLI.