Travels In Arabia By  John Lewis Burckhardt

























































 -  From each tribe, in its turn, arose a poet who addressed
the multitude. To our tribe, exclaimed he, belonged such - Page 139
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From Each Tribe, In Its Turn, Arose A Poet Who Addressed The Multitude.

"To our tribe," exclaimed he, "belonged such and such eminent warriors and generous Arabs; and now," he added, "we boast of others." He then recited their names, and sang their praises; concluding with a strain of heroic poetry, and an appeal to the other tribes, in words like the following:

- "Let him who denies the truth of what I have said, or who lays claim to as much glory, honour, and virtue as we do, prove it here!" Some rival poet then arose, and celebrated in similar language the equal or superior glory attached to his own tribe, endeavouring, at the same time, to under-value or ridicule his rival's pretensions.

To allay the animosity and jealousies produced by this custom; or, perhaps, to break the independent spirit of his fierce Bedouins, Mohammed abolished it by a passage in the Koran, which says: - "When you have completed the rites of the pilgrimage, remember God, as you formerly were wont to commemorate your forefathers, and with still greater fervency." Thus, probably, was removed the cause of many quarrels; but, at the same time, this stern lawgiver destroyed the influence which the songs of those rival national bards exercised over the martial virtues and literary genius of their countrymen.

The visit of the Omra was likewise an ancient custom. Mohammed retained the practice; and it is said that he frequently recited his evening prayers on that spot.

Having completed the fatiguing ceremonies of the Towaf and Say, I had a part of my head shaved, and remained sitting in the barber's shop, not knowing any other place of repose.

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