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'Ho say to men of wisdom, wit and lore * To sapient, reverend, clever counsellor: Tell me what was't you saw that bird bring forth * When wandering Arab-land and Ajam o'er? No flesh it beareth and it hath no blood, * Nor down nor any feathers e'er it wore.
One day, a happy hour being fixed upon, the prince Bakhtiyar was married to the princess Roshan Akhtar; and the young merchant of Yaman was married to the princess of Dimashk; and the prince of Persia was married to the princess of Basra; and the prince of 'Ajam was married to the princess of the Franks; Bihzad Khan was married to the daughter of the king of Nimroz; and the prince of Nimroz was married to the jinn's daughter; and the prince of China was married to the daughter of the old blind man of Hindustan; she who had been in the possession of Maliki Sadik.
Bab el Mandeb is called as above by Humayd from its astronomical position. Jebel Mayyum is in Africa, Jebel Zubah or Muayyin, celebrated as the last resting-place of a great saint, Shaykh Said, is in Arabia. Ajam properly means all nations not Arab. In Egypt and Central Asia it is now confined to Persians.
Until now I had not put my foot out of our door; this is the very first journey that has occurred to me. I had not courage to come here by sea, I therefore travelled by land; but your excellence and good name is so renowned in this country of 'Ajam that to have the pleasure only of meeting you I have come so far.
"Not one grain can be taken from El Barr. The curses of Jehannun, of Eblis, rest on Arab or Ajam who dare attempt it. Surely, such a one shall be put to the sword, and his soul in the bottom pits of Hell shall be taken by the feet and forelock and cast into the hottest flames!
But if Mohammed had been able to foresee how the unity of Arabia, which he nearly accomplished, was to bring into being a formidable international empire, we should expect some indubitable traces of this in the Qoran; not a few verses of dubious interpretation, but some certain sign that the Revelation, which had repeatedly, and with the greatest emphasis, called itself a "plain Arabic Qoran" intended for those "to whom no warner had yet been sent," should in future be valid for the 'Ajam, the Barbarians, as well as for the Arabs.
'Ajam means, in general, Persia; the Arabs use it in the same sense as the Greeks did the word "barbarian;" and all who are not Arabs they call 'Ajami; more especially the Persians. Sara,e, sera,i or caravanserai, are buildings for the accommodation of travellers, merchants, &c., in cities, and on the great roads in Asia.
Along the dune, perhaps five hundred yards back of the beach, very many heads now appeared. The Arabs well knew themselves safe from attack, so long as these hated white swine of Ajam were in the breakers. Golden opportunity to pick them off, at ease! A long, ragged line of desert men appeared, in burnouses and benishes, or loose floating garments, and all heavily armed.
The Persians have a book called the Kohan Nameh in which are mentioned all the officers of the Persian monarch amounting to 600 and classed according to their respective ranks. This book formed part of the Ain Nameh. The mobed of the Persians at the moment of writing this history, that is in the year 364, for the country of Jabal in Iraq and for the countries of Ajam, is Ammad son of Ashwahisht.
And 'tis now, O Shaykh, three years ago, and since then I have never ceased to excuse myself to him and coax him and crave his indulgence, but he will neither cast a look at me from the corner of his eye, nor write me a word nor speak to me by messenger nor hear from me aught." Quoth I, "Harkye maid, is he an Arab or an Ajam?"; and quoth she, "Out on thee! He is of the Princes of Bassorah."
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