In The Hedjaz, Letters Are Sealed With Gum-Aabic; And A Small
Vessel Full Of The Diluted Gum Is Suspended Near The Gate Of Every Large
House Or Khan.
Whatever may be the indifference of the Mekkawys for learning, [I may
mention, as a strong proof of the
Neglect of learning at Mekka, that of
a dozen persons, respectable from their situations in life, of whom I
inquired respecting the place Okath, not one of them knew where it was,
or if it still existed. The Okath was the place where the ancient
Arabian poets, as late even as the time of Mohammed, used to recite
their works to crowds assembled there at a great fair. The prize poems
were afterwards suspended at the Kaaba. It is to this custom that we owe
the celebrated poems called the Seba Moallakat. A Bedouin of Hodheyl
told me that the Okath was now a ruined place in the country of Beni
Naszera, between two and three days' journey south of Tayf. But in El
Fasy's history, I find it stated to be one day's journey from Tayf; and
that it ceased to be frequented as a fair in A.H. 1229. El Azraky says
that it was at that distance from Tayf, on the road to Szanaa in Yemen,
and belonged to the tribe of Beni Kanane.]
[p.215] the language of their city is still more pure and elegant, both
in phraseology and pronunciation, than that of any other town where
Arabic is spoken.
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