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(a.) Sappan wood, an Indian dye-wood obtained from the Caesalpinia Sappan L . Al-Dīnawarī remarks that the word frequently occurs in ancient Arabic poetry, although the tree concerned (in Lewin’s ed. read k̲h̲as̲h̲ab s̲h̲ad̲j̲ar instead of s̲h̲ad̲j̲ar according to later quotations) is not found in Arabia. It is a native of India and the country of the Zand̲j̲. Its stem and branches are red being used, in decoction, as a dye. The word is said to derive from Sanskrit pattanga and probably entered Arabic through the Persian. Its foreign origin was recogn…

, afsintīn or, more rarely, ifsintīn (from Greek ἀψίνθιον) mostly denotes the common wormwood ( Artemisia Absinthium L .) but also other similar kinds of plants. In medical writings it is often called kas̲h̲ūt̲h̲ rūmī . The cognate form isfinṭ (absinth-wine) already occurs in ancient Arabic poetry (Nöldeke, in Löw, 389). A good deal of the information which Arab authors offer on the afsantīn goes back to classical sources. Its different kinds were generally classified according to their origin: Persian, Nabataean, Syrian, Egyptian, Ḵh̲…

means not only the viper, as it is commonly assumed, but also other similar kinds of snakes (Nöldeke, in Wiedemann, 271). The descriptions, however, which are given in Arabic zoological works (spotted or speckled, broad head, slender neck, short tail, sometimes furnished with two horns, etc.) fit well with specific kinds of vipers ( echis carinatus, echis coloratus, aspis cerastes cerastes). Most sources state that afʿā denotes the female, whereas the male is called ufʿuwān . The first term, however, is always employed in a generic sense. Correspo…

(A. and P.), the ben-nut tree ( Moringa aptera Gaertn .). Dioscorides knew of its existence in Arabia and other neighbouring countries. Galen, speaking of a remedy obtained from the tree, says that it was imported from the Arabs. Abū Ḥanīfa reports that the fruit, called s̲h̲ūʿ , was a commodity greatly in demand which was bought and paid for in advance even before being ripe. The wood, because of its lightness, was used for tent-poles. On account of the high and slender growth of the bān and the softness of its wood, Arab poets used the word as a simile for a tender woman of tall stature. The fruit, …

, locusts. The word is a collective noun, the nom. unit, being d̲j̲arāda , which is applied to the male and the female alike. No cognate synonym seems to exist in the other Semitic languages. For the different stages of the locust’s development the Arabic language possesses special names (such as sirwa , dabā , g̲h̲awghāʾ , k̲h̲ayfān , etc.) which, however, are variously defined by different authorities. Being found in abundance in the homeland of the Arabs, locusts were often mentioned and described in ancient Arabic poetry and proverbs. In the Ḳurʾān they figu…

the domestic fowl. The word is a noun of unity which, according to Arab lexicographers, may be applied to both the male and the female. Alternative pronunciations are did̲j̲ād̲j̲a and dud̲j̲ād̲j̲a . In more recent local usage (cf. Jayakar, Malouf), did̲j̲ād̲j̲at al-baḥr and did̲j̲ād̲j̲at al-ḳubba denote certain kinds of fish, just as the corresponding Hebrew The animal, which is not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, was known to the Arabs from pre-Islamic times. D̲j̲āḥiẓ reports (ii, 277 f.) that it was given to poets as a reward for their literary ach…

denotes, according to Arab authors, the fruit of the oak or a similar tree and the tree itself. It actually is the gall, an excrescence which forms on certain kinds of trees and shrubs as ¶ the result of the sting of various insects. The Arabic term, however, was probably applied to the oak-gall in particular. It was maintained that the ʿafṣ is produced either simultaneously or alternately with the acorn. In medieval Arab medicine the gall served chiefly as an intestinal astringent and a remedy for skin diseases. It was also said to strengthen the gums and preserve…

The word, for which different pronunciations are transmitted (also uyyal and iyyal , the latter being considered as the best one), is commonly explained by Arab lexicographers as meaning the ¶ mountain-goat ( waʿil ). This identification, however, is not fully borne out by the descriptions of the ayyil which are given by Muslim zoologists. Here, the properties and ways of behaviour ascribed to the animal only partly apply to the mountain-goat, while, in the main, they rather point to the deer, which is also in keeping wi…

, the wolf. Most of the cognate forms in other Semitic languages have the same significance. Numerous synonyms and sobriquets are found in Arabic, such as sirḥān , uways , sīd , abū d̲j̲aʿda , etc. In local usage, d̲h̲iʾb may also denote the jackal (Jayakar, Malouf), yet Hommel’s assumption (303, n. 1) that this was the only meaning of the word in ancient Arabic (so also Jacob) is inconsistent with its use in the Sūra of Joseph (Ḳurʾān, XII, 13, 14, 17), where it stands for the biblical ‘evil beast’ (Gen. xxxvii 20, 33). Ample mention of the d̲h̲iʾb is made in ancient Arabic poems, proverbs, …

, Muḥammad b. Mūsā b. ʿĪsā Kamāl al-dīn , was born in Cairo about the beginning of the year 742/1341 (according to a note in his own handwriting quoted by al-Sak̲h̲āwī, 59) and died there in 808/1405. Later dates of his birth, as given in some sources (745/1344 or 750/1349), would hardly be consistent with certain details of his biography. His nisba is derived from the northernmost of the two townlets both called Damīra near Samannūd in the Delta. After first gaining his livelihood as a tailor in his native town he decided to become a professional theologian, choosing as h…

In medieval Arabic literature, the term is not confmed to the prevalent meaning of cattle ( bos ), in contrast to more recent usage and to the application of corresponding forms in other Semitic languages. Arab authors distinguish between the domestic kind, baḳar ahlī (= cattle), and the wild kind, baḳar waḥs̲h̲ī , the latter being variously identified, either with the mahā ( Oryx beatrix; Nuwayrī, ix, 322) or the ayyil ([ q.v.]; so according to the description in Ḳazwīnī) or with a group of animals (referred to by Lane, 234, as bovine antelopes) which comprises, according to Damīrī, in…

, the thorn-tail lizard ( Uromastix spinipes). Cognate synonyms exist in other Semitic languages. The animal, found in abundance in the homeland of the Arabs, is often mentioned and described in ancient poetry and proverbs. Much of the information on the animal derives from just these sources which are freely quoted in later zoological works. The ḍabb was eaten by the ancient Arabs who relished it as tasty food; still it is reported that the tribe of Tamīm, who were especially fond of eating it, were ridiculed on that account by…

, the fly. Some authors state that word is used also for other insects, such as bees, hornets, butterflies or moths ( farās̲h̲ ), etc. According to Arab lexicographers, it is either a singular or else a collective noun, in which case d̲h̲ubāba is used for the singular. Cognate synonyms are found in other Semitic languages, e.g., Hebrew , Aramaic . The fly is often mentioned and described in ancient Arabic poems and proverbs. A ḥadīt̲h̲ has it that there are flies in hell to torture the condemned. Numerous kinds are mentioned by Arab zoologists, so…

, the cock. The word is perhaps of non-Semitic origin. No cognate synonyms seem to exist in the other Semitic languages, except in modern South Arabian (Leslau, Lexique soqoṭri , 1938, 126). The cock is mentioned quite often in ancient Arabic poems and proverbs and in the ḥadīt̲h̲ . In zoological writings it is described as the most sensual and conceited of birds. It is of feeble intelligence, as it cannot find its way to the hen-house when it falls from a wall. Yet it possesses a number of laudable properties: it is cou…

, Abū Naṣr Ismāʿīl ( b. Naṣr ?) b. Ḥammād , a celebrated Arabic lexicographer of Turkish origin, born in the town (or: in the province) of Fārāb [ q.v.] (whence his nisba al-Fārābī), situated east of the Sir-Daryā. In later times, Fārāb was called Otrār or Oṭrār. ¶ The date of his birth is unknown. For the year of his death most sources give either 393/1002-3 or 398/1007-8, while others mention 397/1006-7 or about 400/1009-10. The first date (or even earlier ones; see Rosenthal) is made doubtful by the statement of Yāḳūt that he had seen an autograph copy of al-D̲j̲awharī’s Ṣiḥāḥ dated 396. Al-D̲j̲…