Many historians have spoken of the sources and course of the Nile; We will first report what Hafedh ibn-Kathyr (1), who followed the sentiments of most of them, wrote about this in his great history. The Nile, says this author, originates in the high mountains called Qomr, a word written with a dammah (2) on the qaf (3) and a socoun (4) on the mim (5), and pronouncing Qomr, signifies an object of a white color; some, writing the name of these mountains in another way, that is to say with a fathah (6) on the qaf (3), derive from that of the moon, and say that the river comes out of al-Qamar mountains or from the moon. Located in the south of Africa, beyond the equinoctial line, they extend towards the west; some authors add that they are red. From the foot of these mountains spring several springs which produce ten rivers; five of these rivers go further to form a lake, and the other five to another lake; from these two lakes leave six other rivers, which run to discharge into a third lake, from which finally escapes a single river, which is the Nil, it successively crosses the land of the Negroes, neighbours of Habesch, Nubia, the great city of Donqolah (7), capital of this last region, bathes the walls of Aswan (8), and finally appears on the territory of Egypt to carry there the tribute of the waters of the rains which fall in the various southern countries crossed by him, and there to deposit the silt that he took away in his flight. Without this flood of the river and the silt it brings, the land of Egypt would be stricken with sterility; for the waves which fall in this country being scarce and scanty, they are in no way proportionate to the needs of the sowing and the trees, and the ground, which is only based on dry, arid sand, is still waiting to be fertilized. Let the Nile come to pour out on him his beneficent waters, and overcome his natural sterility by covering him with a greasy lime, capable of making him produce all that is necessary to support life. The Nile is, therefore, among the rivers of the earth, one of those most deserving of being understood in these words of the Most High: Fools! do they not see that I bring the waters to the barren land and sprout the sowing there to provide food for them and their cattle? Will they never open their eyes? A little below the town of Mesr (9), and in the province of Kelyoub (10), the river divides into two large branches, near the village of Chatnouf (11), situated on its banks: these two branches are called the western one and the other oriental; the first passes to Rosette (12) and flows into the sea; the second branches off near Djoudjar (13); one branch will discharge into the Mediterranean, west of Damietta (14), and the other, after watering the territory of Oschmoun-Tannah (15), east of Damietta, arrives at the entrance of a lake that carries the name of Lake Tennis (16) or Damietta (14). Thus, having traversed an immense expanse of country from its source to its mouths, and given to its waters a lightness which it does not share with any other river, the Nile will mingle with the bitter waves of the Mediterranean. At Ibn-al-Kim's report, the Nile, one of the main rivers of paradise, comes from beyond the al-Qamar mountains, located on the borders of Habesch; rains fall in abundance in this country, and several streams of water enter one into the other. The hand of the Most High then leads him away from the places that gave birth to them, to fertilize a sterile region of his own and which offers no indication of vegetation, and to fertilize the seed entrusted to it within the earth, which must provide food for humans and animals. As the land flooded by the Nile is of a hard and dry quality, ordinary rains would not sufficiently wet it to make it fit for vegetation; and if they were too abundant, they would cause a very considerable injury, either to the rich proprietors or to the poor class of Egypt, and it would therefore be very difficult to obtain, not only that which contributes to the commodities of Egypt. life, but also what is most needed to support it. We must therefore, says this author, give thanks to the Eternal, who in favour of his slaves rains in a distant region, and uses the bed of a great river to carry from there to Egypt the salutary waters of these rains; who prescribes for the same river the time when he must himself break his dikes and spread over the fields, according to a volume proportionate to the needs of the country, the precious elements of a rich vegetation; who, after permitting the waters to remain a certain time on the arable land, orders them to decrease and to retire in their old barriers, to make room for the peaceful labours of agriculture, and to leave the field free for sowing. According to Kodama (17), the Nile comes from the al-Qomr mountains, located beyond the equator. There a spring of living water gives birth to ten rivers, five of which flow on one side and five on the other, and which will meet in a lake situated in the first climate; it is from this lake that the river Nile comes out. The author of the geography entitled The Entertainment of One Who Desires to Know the World, tells us that this lake is called Kura and that this name comes from a tribe of ferocious and anthropophagous Negroes who have settled their home in the adjacent territory. According to him the Nile comes out of this lake; and after having watered the country of Koura (18), it passes into that of Gannah (19), another tribe of Negroes who occupies a stretch of land between Kanem (20) and Nubia. He goes further to get lost in the sand; it then flows underground from the south to the north; it then repaired to Nubia, where, having reached Donqolah (7), it forms a great sinuosity to the west of this city, and it finally enters the second climate. The Nubians formed settlements along its banks, and even built towns and villages in spacious islands that cut the river in several places. After making a detour to the east, it arrives at the cataracts (22); it is the limit of the navigation of the Nubians who descend the Nile and of the inhabitants of Upper Egypt who go up this river; many reefs dotted here and there in this place that blocks the passage, which is only navigable during high waters. When it has crossed this obstacle, the Nile, continuing to move north, presents on its eastern shore the city of Aswan (8), which belongs to Upper Egypt, and from there its bed is tightened between two mountain ranges that have their extension from south to north and embrace several departments. It flows thus to Fostat (21), a town formerly built by Amrou ibn al-As (23), and situated on its right bank; past this city it divides into two branches, near a village which bears the name of Chatnouf (11). What the author adds, whose words we will transcribe, does not differ from what Hadeh ibn-Kathyr (1) has already taught us above. If we believe the testimony of the author of the Treaty of Seven Climates, the Nile has its sources in Mount al-Qamar; they consist, according to him, in ten fountains, five of which meet in one depression (batihah), and the five others in another depression; the waters of these two depressions meet in a certain place and flow in the same place.
The same author has taken care to trace in his book the figure of Mount al-Qamar, which, according to him, seems to bow in an arc and offers several elevations on its crest. Here it is as he gave it to us:

We report this on the authority of a very learned man, Sheikh Chehab-eddin ibn-Amad (24), who composed a treatise on the Nile, which, in my opinion, is full of taste and erudition. As I have done a particular study, it will often be quoted this book.
This is what Masoudi (25), mentioned by this scholar, said in his book titled The Golden Prairies: The Nile has its sources at the foot of Mount al-Qamar where it formed by twelve fountains: also this mountain is located beyond the equinoctial line, that is to say on which the days and nights are equal and draws its name from that of the moon, because, in the interval that this star increases and decreases, it happens by an effect of its light, which sometimes shines in all its fullness and then weakens, which shines for a time and then disappears that this mount also seems to undergo itself the various phases of the moon. The waters of these twelve fountains pour into two lakes (bahirah). Let us remark here that the word bahirah, used by Masoudi (25), must be understood in the same sense as that of batihah, which was used by the Treatise of the Seven Climates. On leaving these two lakes, continues the author whom we quote, the waters form a current and first traverse swamps and sandy plains; they then take their direction towards the country of the Negroes which borders on the Zanguebar, and, having arrived there, they enter partly into a canal which will end in the Sea of the Zinges. In the treatise we have already mentioned, Ibn-Amad (24) tells us that al-Seradj al-Kendi (26) is one of those who have the Nile come out of the al-Qomr mountains. We also see that most geographers have the same feeling about the fact as this last author, a sentiment which appears to have been adopted by Zin-eddin (59) de Rosette (12); for in his work he is content to quote authorities in favour of this opinion, without making any mention of those which might contradict it. The author of the Sukkardan (27) reports: The source of the Nile is a subject of discussion among men; some will go so far as to say that it descends from mountains all of snow which, according to them, are situated in the immense chain of Qaf (28); then, by an effect of the power of the Most High, it crosses the Green River (29) passes successively by mines of gold, rubies, emeralds, and coral, and after having sunk for a long time underground it will form a current in the Sea of Zinges and then goes to the side of Egypt. If it were otherwise, add the authors of this opinion, that is to say, if this river did not enter the sea to mix its waters no one could drink, because of their excessive natural sweetness . Others fix the place where it begins to appear at eleven degrees beyond the equinoctial line, and bring it out of the al-Qomr mountains where, they say, twelve springs give birth to it.

If we believe Ibn-Amad (24) in his treatise, some authors attest that all the waters of the earth, as well as all rivers, have their sources under Sakharah (30) located in a place of the holy land that only God knows. In the passage where Ibn-Amad relates this, he does not explain himself further; but in another he adds: On the report of Thaalebi (31) in his History of the Prophets, the waters of the earth all owe their origin to sources which are under Sakharah (30); Now the Nile, like the other rivers of the earth, is included in the generality of these words.

Ibn-Amad (24), in explaining to us the reasons which demonstrate the superiority of the Nile over the other rivers of the world, assures us that, by discharging into the sea, it does not interfere with it, but that it flows there separately under the waves and that it retains its natural properties, like the oil that swims in the water. He even adds that in some places the river appears on the surface of the sea, and that the sailors, who know these places very well, are accustomed to stop there to take water.
Abu'I-Kassem ibn-Ghanem-al-Mokdessi, in a work entitled The Eminent Qualities of Our Imam the Imam, Most Great and Most Venerable Pontiff Chafei (32), recounts a fact which would seem to indicate that the Nile will even pass into the country of Hind: we will transcribe it, in section 2, as reported by this writer.

There was in Egypt, says Zin-eddin (59), a man of extremely advanced age, who was not less than a hundred and thirty; he was a native Copt and was considered to be one of the most learned in his nation. Ibn-Touloun (33) wanted to inquire of him about Egypt in general, and especially the place where the sources of the Nile are, Lord, said the old man, the river that you want to know comes out of a lake of which neither the length nor the width is known; what is positive is that it is situated at a latitude where days and nights are of a constant equality, and which corresponds to the part of the sky which astronomers call the right sphere; it is well known and nobody dares to dispute. This is the summary that my original gives of this story; but Chehab-eddin ibn Amad quotes it in his treatise after Massoudi. This historian, he says, reports the following: in the year 260 of the Hegira (34) he came to the ears of Ibn-Touloun (33) that there was in Upper Egypt a man aged 130, of Nabataean (36) race, who was renowned for his knowledge and education, that he was particularly versed in the administration of the country; that he knew the extent of the land that could be cultivated there; the history of its river, the troops that Egypt can set up, the militia necessary to the sovereigns who dominate it; that he had run the world, crossed empires, and visited the nations of the two colours; with all this he joined the knowledge of the figures of the stars and their various influences. Ahmed therefore sent for him, and passed alone with him several days and nights to hear the information given to him, his stories, and his answers. Among other things, he asked him one day what could be the extent of the course of the Nile in the land of Hahescha, and how many states it went through. The old man replied that he had seen, in different kingdoms of this country, sixty princes who are constantly making war between neighbours, and that he had noticed that the climate was hot and very dry. Ibn-Touloun (33) asked him again if he would not have some information to give him on the sources of the Nile; the old man assured him that the river was coming out of a lake (35). He then added what Zin-eddin (59) reported above, abbreviating this story. I will transcribe here what I read in the History of Nubia, by Abu-Mohammed-Abdallah bin-Ahmed al-Aswani (37), in which this author deals with the Nile, some peculiarities that this river presents and that I myself have noticed, from its different ramifications, from its division into seven branches from Olwah (38), from their meeting in the land of Makorrah (39), from the great outline which it forms to the south of the capital of the Noubah, and finally from retention of earth that floods during its flood. The Nile, says this historian, from Donqolah (7), draws towards the west and runs in this direction an area of about forty farsakhs (40); when it has reached this term, its bed narrows little by little, and presents at the end only a width which does not exceed fifty cubits (41); here the river is cut in several places by cataracts, by projecting rocks which embarrass its course, and leave him, to escape from there, only three, and, at certain times of the year, only two narrow outlets. The cataract located near the citadel of Asfoun (42) is the longest and most dangerous of the three known. A mountain going east and west is advancing across the Nile, blocking the passage to the waters, which have only three openings or gates to cross, and sometimes only two. Thus constricted, they rush with a horrible crash from the top of the mountain and offer a spectacle that the eye likes to contemplate. At the south of the cataract there are two beds of stone in the river, which occupy a space of about three leagues, and extend to a village known as Yesir on the border of the country of Mares (43) to which it belongs, and at the entrance of that of Mokorrah.(39)

As for the sources of the various tributaries of the Nile, adds Abu Mohammed, I have made many questions and much research on this subject. I knew a great deal about all the people I visited; but I did not find anyone who could tell me the exact places where they are. Those whom I have been permitted to consult have all assured me that they knew little about these tributaries until the entrance of the deserts, and that at the time of the swelling, the waters bring with them debris of ships, rudders, and the like, from which one might conclude that beyond the deserts there are civilized countries.

According to Watwat (44) the bookseller, in his book entitled Charms of the Spirit the Nile has a course of a little more than three thousand farsakhs (40), and flows four months in the deserts, two in the country of the Negroes and one in that of the Muslims. This fits very well with the feeling of Ibn-Zaulak (45), in the course of his history. We will expose it below and we will accompany it with the words of Abu Kabil, who claims that this feeling was followed by the crowd of geographers.
The author of the book entitled The Pearls of the Crowns attributes to the Nile, from its source to its mouths, a length of about forty-two degrees plus two-thirds, counting sixty miles in degree. The total length, if we look at the elbows and sinuosity which the river forms on the right, sometimes on the left, is, according to him, about eight thousand six hundred and twenty-four miles and two thirds.

If we are to believe the author of the book entitled The Entertainment of the One Who Desires to Know the World (46), the space the Nile travels from its source to its mouths is five thousand six hundred and thirty miles.
According to the report of the author of the treasure of history, the length of the Nile comprises four thousand five hundred and seventy miles, and its breadth in Habesch and Nubia a little less than three miles; in Egypt this width is reduced to a third of a mile. This historian concludes from all this that no river of the earth is comparable to the Nile.
In the whole world, says Ibn-Zaulak (45) in the course of its history, you would find no river whose course was as extensive as that of the Nile: it flows for a month in a Muslim country, it flows two in Nubia, and four in the deserts extending to the al-Qomry mountains beyond the equinoctial line, where are its sources.

Abu Kabil claims that what the original author reports here, according to Ibn-Zaulak (45), is generally adopted by geographers, and he himself repeats it almost in the same terms as Ibn Amad in his treatise on the Nile. Here we transcribe his own words: The scholars, he writes, agree that there is not on the earth a river, whose course is as long as that of the Nile; according to them it flows for a month in the states that belong to the Muslim princes. Here, after having reported what has been said above, he adds: Among the rivers of the terrestrial globe, the Nile alone is discharged at the same time into the Greeks Sea and into the Chinese Ocean.

Abu-Mohanuned-Abdallah ibn-Mohammed-al-Oswani (37) says in his History of Nubia, speaking of a country called Yakarn: Of all the countries that the Nile crosses in its course, I have not noticed whose extent equalled that of Nubia along this river. I have also calculated that the width of the Nile in this country is not less than five stations. It is cut in several places by islands, whose lowlands are watered by means of canals, and which offer villages and remarkable establishments.

To reconcile together this historian and the author of the treasure of history I find no other means than that of admitting a width which will vary according to the different countries of Nubia, and which will be in certain localities, as the writing the author of the treasure of history, that is, about three miles, and in others as determined by the History of Nubia, that is, five stations. This feeling, which brings together the first two, is the only one, in my opinion, that we must adopt, because it offers nothing that embarrasses the mind and has the advantage of being based on the very inspection of the premises.

Some misguided geographers have written that beyond the sources of the Nile extends a dark region, and that, according to Abou'l Khatab, beyond this there is another region where there is perpetual clarity. To support this singular opinion, they cite a fact taken from the history of the ancient kings of Egypt, which we will relate here. Walid (47), they say, was a ruler of Egypt from the descendants of Almalek; he adored the moon and was the first to bear the name of Pharaoh. When he had governed his kingdom for some time, it came to him the spirit of going to search for the sources of the Nile, and to visit the various nations which dwell at the banks of this river. He took three years to prepare for his long journey; during this interval he provided himself with all that might be necessary in the road; he put his affairs in order, created a viceroy to govern Egypt in his absence, and, having provided for everything, left the kingdom.

He first met several Negro tribes; then he traversed a country all of gold, nourishing a large population and produced plants of gold that resembled sugar cane; finally, after an immense journey, he arrived at the banks of a lake, where the waters of the Nile flow in several streams that originate in the mountain of Qamar behind a palace formerly built by the orders of the great Hermes. Walid (47) climbed the mountain and discovered beyond him a river of black pitch that silently crossed the Nile divided into small streams; but fetid exhalations, emanating from the bosom of this extraordinary river, caused a great number of persons of his suite to perish under the King's eyes. Those who escaped this disaster have since recounted that in this region of death they saw neither the moon nor the sun, but that they had been illuminated only by a dark and reddish glow, such as that which is sometimes produced by the sun. Walid (47) returned to Egypt, but he reigned there only a short time after this adventure; for one day, when he had gone hunting, he was assailed and devoured by a furious lion. His body was buried in one of the pyramids of his kingdom. His direct successor Rian, who was Joseph's Pharaoh (48).

Sheikh Amad-eddin ibn-Kathyr (1) said in his great story: The report of some chroniclers, the Nile has its source on a very high plateau, where a traveller, who had pushed curiosity to go up, had seen a a monster of gigantic size and a terrible figure, young girls whose beauty had delighted him, as well as several other wonders which had filled them with astonishment. They claim that if one comes to be once a witness of this bizarre spectacle, one loses forever the use of speech; but this is one of those fables of which unscrupulous historians like to amuse the reader, and which must be rightly regarded as the fruit of a mad and sick imagination.

This story that we have just related does not relate to what we read in Ibn-Zaulak (45)about a caliph of Egypt? A company of intrepid men, said this historian, had received an order from a caliph to go up the Nile to its sources. They set out on their journey, and having marched for a very long time, they at last arrived at the foot of a very high and arduous mountain, whence the waters of the river rushed with such a horrible noise that barely could they hear their closest companions? One of the troops, however, bolder than the others, began to climb the mountain to recognize the country beyond; but, having reached the summit, our man begins to dance, to clap his hands, to burst into laughter; then he advances towards the back of the mountain, he insensibly departs from his companions; they follow him with their eyes, but he has disappeared forever. Another goes up after him, and like him he goes to the discovery; but here he is doing the folly and extravagance of the first; he disappeared. A third, wiser than the other two, then presents himself. Bind me with a rope in the middle of the body, he said to his companions, who trembled for him; bind me, and if, arrived high, from the mountain, I begin to imitate my two unfortunate predecessors, do not forget to pull me towards you, so that, forced to remain in the same place I can avoid their fatal fate. He says and he is tied up. Having thus reached the summit of Mount al-Qamar, our intrepid man imitates the extravagances of those who preceded him; so his companions pull him. But it is said that, having become dumb, he could not answer the questions that were addressed to him, and that he died on the spot. At this sight the troop of travellers, discouraged, withdrew from his enterprise, and returned to Egypt without having learned anything more.

Such is the account Ibn-Amad (24) tells us of this adventure, and that he drew from the story of Ibn-Zaulak (45). Among the works I have consulted on the present question, there is an excellent one, attributed to Abu-Thaher-Muhammad ibn-Abd'arrahman ibn-Abbas, better known under the name of Mokhalles. The following fact is reported on the faith of Alleith ibn-Saad (49), with the very words of this doctor: Here is a tradition that has come down to me. There was a man of the tribe of the Banu Aiss (50), called Haid ibn-Abu-Schalum ibn al-Aiss-ibn-Ishak ibn-Ibrahim, who, to escape the violent prosecution of a king of his tribe, fled to Egypt, where he spent a few years. Marvelled at the phenomena that we observe in the state of the Nile, especially the periodic flood of this river, he vowed to go back to the places that gave birth to him. He walked thirty years in inhabited countries and as much in uncultivated and deserted regions, according to some, and fifteen in the first way and as much in the second, according to others. After a long journey he finally arrived at the confluence of the Nile and the Green River (29), which he crossed. On reaching the other side, he was very surprised to find a man praying under the umbrage of an apple tree. He looks, he examines the face of the unknown, then he approaches him familiarly and gives him the salaam. The solitary of the tree, flattered by this thoughtfulness, then begins to question him. Who are you? he said to him. My name is Haid ibn-Abu-Schalum ibn-al-Aiss-ibn-Ishak ibn-Ibrahim (51). What subject brings you to these wild places? I am ready to satisfy you; but tell me first what is your name. My name is Amran ibn-Folan ibn-al-Aiss ibn-Ishak ibn-Ibrahim (52). What attracts me here, o Amran, is the desire to recognize the sources of the Nile. Now teach me why you came to confine yourself in this solitary confinement. The Most High has given me to know, by revelation, that I must fix myself here while waiting for a new order of His Providence. If you have any information about the Nile, or if heaven has revealed to you that a child of Adam will arrive one day to the sources of the Nile, o Amran, tell me. Yes, my dear Haid, I learned that it would be a child of the posterity of Al-Aiss, and everything leads me to believe that this man is yourself. What path should I follow to accomplish my happy destinies? If you do not promise me to carry out what I am going to ask you, do not wait for me to give any information. What? O Amran. When you return from your journey, if you still find me alive, I demand that you stay with me until heaven declares my will or that I leave this world; and in the latter case you will give me burial; if, on the contrary, you find me dead, you will not be allowed to leave me until you made the last homework. I give my word. So you will walk along the Nile until you meet a monster who will show you his rump, but you will not see the front part. Let not his sight cast you into terror; it is a declared enemy of the sun. When this star appears in the morning on the horizon, the monster rises furious against him in an attempt to devour him, and rushes to the side where he rises radiantly. He will therefore carry you away from the banks of the river, on the shores of the sea; but rest assured, the beast will regain the banks of the Nile and she will let you continue your journey. After that, the first region you will encounter will be an iron region, where mountains, plains and trees are iron; past this one you will find another of copper, where the mountains, the plains and the trees are of copper; then you will enter a country of silver, where the mountains, the plains, and the trees are of silver; finally, after this last, you will find one of gold, where the mountains, the plains and the trees are of gold: it is there where your eyes will be able to contemplate the object of your curiosity. That said, Haid hastened to take leave of the good anchorite and direct his steps towards the golden region; but it was only after a long and painful travel that he set foot on it. He discovered, at one end of this region, an eminence of gold, and at the foot of this eminence a building in the shape of a pavilion, also of gold, whose four faces each offered a wide opening. A heap of limpid water rushed from the top of a wall of gold planted on the eminence, and ran, murmuring, to the interior of the pavilion, which vomited it foaming with its four openings. Three of these openings saw her lose herself in the earth; the water that went out through the fourth formed only one current, which is the Nile. Haid drank this water and was recovering some time from the fatigue of the trip. Then taking his curiosity further, he tried to go up to the wall to try to climb it, but suddenly an angel came to him and said: Haid, where do you pretend to go? Your eyes have witnessed all that a mortal is allowed to see in his life. Do not go further; the place where you aspire to penetrate is nothing less than paradise, and the Nile descends from it. I long to enter. What you ask me, Haid, is not possible now. What do I see in front of me? It is the immense wheel which, by turning, makes the diurnal revolution operate in the sun and the moon; it looks, as you see, like a huge millstone. Let me, I beg you, ride it and turn with it.
Here some authors assure that Haid mounted the wheel and turned with the sun around the earth; according to others, he did not have so much boldness.
It was there that I had to quote from this story which could fit with my purpose. The rest is for me without object and without utility; I will report it nevertheless, but very brief.
The angel therefore tells Haid that he will give him a fruit of paradise that will be enough to feed him the rest of his life, provided he is careful never to prefer any other food. He indeed gratifies a bunch of grapes of different colours. Haid returns with this heavenly gift; he meets the monster on his road, which he climbs again, and he is left in the place where he has left Amran, whom finds dead since a few days. He buries him and fulfils his commitment. After that the devil presents himself to him under the figure a sheik carrying apples; and he employs so many artificial means that our poor pilgrim, at last seduced, consents to eat the fruit which is offered to him. The unfortunate Haid then recognizes the illusion of the evil spirit, and, lamenting his fault, he returns to Egypt, where he dies. Such is the continuation and the end of this story, which everyone agrees to look upon as supposed; it bears, in itself, proofs which testify to its falsity.

FROM HERE THE BOOK BECOMES A THEOLOGICAL DISCUSSION

The first and strongest of these proofs is that it obviously contradicts the orthodox traditions that teach us that paradise is in heaven and not on earth. In explaining these words of the prophet: Then I was introduced into the immortal dwelling of the blessed, and behold, I saw necklaces of pearls, etc. ; words that are read in the tradition of his nocturnal journey, the sheikh of Islamism, the pole of the learned world, the very distinguished Mohi-eddin-al-Nowawi (53), said in his own words: This tradition proves, in favor of Sunni, that paradise and fire were created in time, and that heaven is located in the sky. The followers of the Sunnah are therefore in agreement on the point in question.

Another equally conclusive proof against the falsity of this story is the silence that traditions maintain on this frightful monster, who, full of rage against the star of the day, would want nothing less than to devour it. How can one suppose such absurdity? Has not the Creator placed the sun in the firmament to mark the hours of prayer and the different actions of the day? In truth, there are but fools who can believe such a ridiculous tale.
Other proof. It is certain that without the help of the prophet, one will never come to know what has happened in ancient times; but we see, in the very story whose truth we reject, that the facts it contains took place a little after the death of Ibrahim; but what authority is brought to us to make us believe in the existence of facts passed in such an old age of ours? Let us know by what route they have been transmitted to us.

Last proof. Geographers never gave the course of the Nile the number of years that are mentioned in this story. It is true that Abou-Kabil seems to claim that the generality of scholars assigns to this river a course of seven months; but it is clear that this illustrious author never embraced this opinion. We could still give several reasons for the falsity of this story; but they present themselves to every mind that wishes to give itself the slightest thought, and it would be useless to stop here to expose them. It is scarcely anything but ignorance or the spirit of sect which can give credit to the opinion we are fighting; a little intelligence and common sense suffice to make them recognize falsehood, and even to have it rejected by others.

In vain will we be told that it has been reported by the celebrated Alleith; this writer has contented himself with transcribing it, and besides, he has not advanced anything in his writings, which suggests that he thought it to be true. Moreover, to be entitled to attribute to a faithful Muslim who makes a profession of believing in God and at the last day an opinion whose falsity is evident, a simple conjecture is not enough; a Muslim is too enlightened to give thus head down in a palpable error; and God forbid that he ever incurs such blame! It is true that Alleith was able to write, we say, we tell; but these ways of expressing themselves have no other significance than that of ascertaining the existence of a tradition, of a fact simply recounted: a fact of this nature may be true as well as false; and the one in question bears in itself all the appearances of supposition.

We may still be objected to the silence of Imam Alleith, who should, it seems to me, make a point of showing the falsity of what he tells.
But what has determined this writer, will we answer, not to take this trouble, is that he has rightly believed that the evidence alone of the supposition of the fact would be sufficient to make him reject all those who knew how to make use of their intelligence.
Now if he still meets, among those who are not of our opinion, spirits animated by the fury of contradicting and who dread the trouble that it would cost them to examine our reasons, they must know that from our side we will hardly trouble to reply to their vain objections, and to refute their assertions entirely without foundation, and by the same inadmissible.

I had occasion to discuss the present question with a very distinguished scholar who had pronounced himself in favour of the truth of history reported by Alleith; he came back from his first feeling and he agreed with me that she could only be supposed.
I also conferred on this same point with a sheikh of the tradition, who had read the treatise which we have had several occasions to quote in this book because of the authority which he enjoys with all the scientists, and he also agreed with me that the story in question was not authentic at all. As I begged him to undertake to prove his falseness himself in writing, he alleged that he was engaged in much more important work than what I wanted to do.

But it is time for us to return to our Nile. Muslims are unanimously convinced that this river has its source in paradise, at the foot of Sedrat-al-Monteha (54). What orthodox traditions tell us about it is too clear to be allowed to believe otherwise. The different opinions which we have mentioned so far, and all those which we see in the other works which have for their object the present subject, look only at the place where the Nile begins to appear on the earth after it has left heaven. In support of what I advance, I will quote the words of the Sheikh of Islamism, the pole of the learned world, the learned Mohi-eddin-al-Nowawi (53); they are taken from the book of this author whose title is the Agreement of the understanding with the language: A tradition, says this doctor, which is recorded in the Sahihin (55) is that the envoy of God assured that the Nile and the Euphrates arise at the foot of Sedrat-al-Monteha (54).

The sheikh who assures that this tradition is recorded in the Sahihin (55), and even reports the terms in which it is conceived, must be for us a great authority, because his writings and the quotations he has on occasion made in his works generally inspire great confidence; nevertheless, I will not assure him that he has reported the proper terms of the tradition, for it may happen that he has given only the meaning. It is true that no one has been able to extricate me from my uncertainty about it.

We will quote here again what the same author wrote, in his commentary on the book Moslem, about the tradition of the prophet's nocturnal journey. Muhammad, he says, has assured to have noticed in Paradise four great rivers which had a common spring, and two of which flowed ostensibly, and two had their course in the interior of the earth. It is on this occasion, the prophet is told in the Sahih of Moslem (63), that, addressing myself to the angel who led me, I said to him: O Gabriel, what are these rivers that I see before me? The two rivers whose course is invisible, replied the angel, are those whom the Creator has destined for heavenly dwellings; as for the other two, whose peaceful waters you notice, one is the Nile and the other the Euphrates. Now, according to what is said in the Sahih al Bokhari (56), the four rivers mentioned in the tradition are born at the foot of Sedrat-al-Monteha. Here are the words of this illustrious traditional: According to Mokatel, he says, the Sesibil and the Kauther are the rivers whose course takes place underground. Because, according to tradition, the Nile and the Euphrates have their source at the foot of Sedrat al Monteha, the cadi Ayadh (62) concludes that the foot of Sedrat-al-Monteha (54) is on the ground. In my opinion, this conclusion is not rigorous. We can very well say; without departing from the meaning of tradition, that the two rivers have their source at the foot of Sedrat-al-Monteha (54), and that, afterwards leaving paradise, they follow a course that God alone knows, and that they finally appear on the ground. This interpretation, adds Al-Nowawi, whom reason cannot condemn and which in no way contradicts Muslim law, clarifies tradition satisfactorily and can only deserve the votes of educated people.

These last words obviously show that, on the origin of the Nile, Al-Nowawi does not have the same feeling as the cadhi Ayadh (62). He was followed in this by the very learned, cadhi of the cadhis, the oracle that transmitted to his century the ancient traditions, Abul fadl ibn-Hadjar (61), as I was able to convince myself in his commentary on the Sahih of Al-Bokhari (60): Ibn-Amad (24) assures us, in his treatise, though mentioned in this section, that the feeling of Al-Bokhari is more in conformity with the truth than that of the cadhi Ayadh.(62)
In the Sahih of Moslem (63) the Prophet is told that the Seihan, the Djeihan, the Euphrates, and the Nile all descend from Paradise (57); but we will have occasion elsewhere to speak more along this tradition.

Ibn Zaulak, quoted by Chehab-eddin ben-Amad, states in his story that if one went up the Nile to its source, one would see floating on the water, leaves of the tree of paradise; and he takes occasion to invite the reader to eat Bolty because, according to him, this fish follows the leaves of tree that the river brings of paradise and that it is its ordinary food. He quotes, in support of what he puts forward, that according to him, a tradition puts in the mouth of the prophet: The flesh of the Djizum (Nile Perch) is important (58), because this fish feeds on herbs brought from the place where dwell the deceased. But those who are versed in the science of tradition, by the very admission of a traditional scholar whom I know, are not a little embarrassed when it comes to assigning the source from which Ibn-Amad (24) drew the source he mentioned.
In finishing this section I must warn the reader that I have only entered the subjects that fit the general plan of my work, and which, in large part, have never been implemented before me.

(1) Hafedh ibn-Kathyr: see my webpage Hafedh ibn Kathir (1373).

(2) Dammah: damma is the vowel u in Arabic.

(3) Qaf: qaf is the letter: K

(4) socoun: small sign on top of a letter to show that the letter has to be joined with the preceding one to form a syllable.

(5) mim is the letter M.

(6) fathah: Fatha is the A vowel in Arabic.

(7) Donqolah: Old Dongola is a deserted town in what is now Northern State, Sudan.

(8) Aswan: southern border of Egypt.

(9) Mesr: Misr old name for Cairo and Egypt.

(10) Kelyoub: now Qalyub is a city containing a rural part and an urban one. It is located in the northern part of the Cairo.

(11) Chatnouf; Shatanuf: town of Shatanof: in Ashmoun, Menofia Governorate, Egypt.

(12) Rosette: Rosetta River: or Rashid is a port city of the Nile Delta, 65 km (40 mi) east of Alexandria.

(13) Djoudjar: (not to far upstream from Cairo) also found in Al Idrisi (1150).

(14)Damietta: Dimyat; Dumyat; Damietta is a port city on the eastern branch of the Nile.

(15) Oschmoun-Tannah: Ushmum-Tannah, now Ashmun al-Rumman was formerly major city, serving as provincial capital.

(16) Lake Tennis: Lake Manzala's was called Tennis in the middle ages.

(17) Kodama: Qodamah: see my webpage on Qadama (930).

(18) country of Koura; and lake Kura: see my webpage on Ibn Said (1250).

(19) Gannah: ancient country of Ghana in West Africa. Was situated in modern Mali.

(20) Kanem: in West Africa.

(21) Fostat; Fustat; Fostat or al-Fustat: now part of Cairo.

(22) After making a detour to the east, it arrives at the cataracts: here those of Aswan.

(23) built by Amrou ibn al-As: Amrou ibn al Asi: Amr ibn al-As al-Sahmi (c. 573 – 664) was the Arab commander who led the Muslim conquest of Egypt and served as its governor in 640–646 and 658–664.

(24) Sheikh Chehab-eddin ibn-Amad: see my webpage Ahmad Ibn Imad al-Din Aqfahsi; Akhbar Nil Misr (News on the Egyptian Nile) (1407)Egypt.

(25) Masoudi: see my webpage Masudi (916).

(26) al-Seradj al-Kendi: see my webpage Al Kindi (968) Fada il Misr (The excellent qualities of Egypt).

(27) author of the Sukkardan: see my webpage Ibn Abi Hajalah: Sukkardan al-sultan (The Sultan's Sugar Box) (1357) Cairo.

(28) chain of Qaf: Mount Qaf: in Arabic tradition is a mysterious mountain renowned as the "farthest point of the earth" owing to its location at the far side of the ocean.

(29) Green river: The Eastern Nile is called (by the Arabs) Bahr al azrak (bleu river); or Bahr al akhdar, (green river).

(30) sources under Sakharah: Qubba al-Sakhra in Jerusalem (Dome of the Rock).

(31) Thaalebi in his History of the Prophets: see my webpage Tha'alibi (d1038).

(32) Chafei: Mohammed bin Idris Shafi'i: (767–820 CE) was an Arab Muslim theologian, writer, and scholar, who was the first contributor of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence. His legacy on juridical matters and teaching eventually led to the formation of Shafi'i school of fiqh.

(33) Ibn-Touloun: Ahmed ben Tulun; Ahmad b. Tulin: was the founder of the Tulunid dynasty that ruled Egypt and Syria between 868 and 905. Originally a Turkic slave-soldier.

(34) Hegira: s a medieval Latin transliteration of the Arabic word meaning "departure" or "migration". It refers to the journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in the year 622.

(35) the river was coming out of a lake: the Bahr al Azrak, who comes out of lake Tzana in Ethiopia.

(36) Nabataean: the Arabian borderland that stretched from the Euphrates to the Red Sea.

(37) Abu-Mohammed-Abdallah bin-Ahmed al-Aswani: Ibn Salim's al-Asuwani; was a tenth-century Egyptian diplomat in the service of the Fatimids. Following the Fatimid conquest of Egypt, he was dispatched to Nubia in 975 AD. He left a written record of his mission.

(38) division into seven branches from Olwah: Alwa: northeast of the merging of the White Nile and the Bleu Nile; was a medieval kingdom in what is now central and southern Sudan. Found in Al Khwarizmi (847); Suhrab (945); Ibn al-Fakih al Hamadhani (903); al-Zayyat (1058); Idrisi (1150); Wasif Shah (1209); Ibn Said (1250); Al-Dimashqi (1325); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); Ibn Abd’essalam al-Menoufi (15^th).

(39) Makorrah: according to Makrizi (1441)all the land from the confluent of the Atbara and the Abiad till Maris, the northern part of Nubia.

(40) farsakhs: Parasang: 1 parasangs or farsakhs = 2.8 nautical miles/ about 5km.

(41) cubits: Distance from fingers to elbow (45cm).

(42) Asfoun: Asfun on the Nile is in Qena Governorate about 535 km south of Cairo.

The cataract located near the citadel of Asfoun is the longest and most dangerous of the three known: The four biggest cataracts are:

1 of Takati, in the Arab land of Rebalat, which Ibn Salim does not seem to know.

2 of the fortress of Asfoun which is mentioned here.

3 of mount Djenadel.

4 of Aswan.

(43) Mares: in Egyptian language it means: land of the south, it is the part of Nubia that borders southern Egypt; it stretches south till Makorrah.

(44) Watwat the bookseller: on another book of his see my webpage: Jamal al Din al-Watwat (d1318).

(45) Ibn-Zaulak: see my webpage Ibn Zulaq (d996).

(46) The Entertainment of the One Who Desires to Know the World: written by Al Idrissi (1150).

(47) Walid: El-Oualid: Ar-Rayyan ibn al-Walid ibn Dauma was an Amalekite king of Misr during the time of Prophet Yusuf (=Joseph)

Walid is mentioned in the following books: Al-Mas'udi: (916) Kitab al-Ausat; Ibn Babawayh (991); Maslamah ibn Ahmad Majriti (1050); Katib Marrakesh (12th); Wasif Shah (1209); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); Nuwayri (1333); Maqrizi (1441) (Oualid); Ibn Abd'essalem al-Menoufi (15th); Suyuti (1505).

(48) His direct successor Rian, who was Joseph's Pharaoh: Joseph (from the book Genesis) who his jealous brothers sell into slavery in Egypt, where he eventually ends up second in command in Egypt and saves Egypt during a famine.

(49) Alleith ibn-Saad:  In Suyuti (1505) he is called Imam al-Layth ibn Sa'd; in Ibn Abd’essalam al-Menoufi (15^th): Alleith ibn-Saad; Al-Muqaddasi (985) al-Laith ibn Sa‘d; Dawadari (1335): Al-Layth bin Saad.  

Al-Layth ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Fahmi al-Qalqashandi (713-791) was the chief representative, imam, and eponym of the Laythi school of Islamic Jurisprudence. He was regarded as the main representative of an Egyptian tradition of law.

(50) Banu Aiss: This is the name of the patriarch Esau among the Arabs.

(51) Haid ibn-Abu-Schalum ibn-al-Aiss-ibn-Ishak ibn-Ibrahim: Aiss, called Haid ibn-Abu-Schalum ibn al-Aiss-ibn-Ishak ibn-Ibrahim, also mentioned by Ibn Abd’essalam al-Menoufi (15th); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); Grandson of Muhallib bin Muhammad bin Shadi (1126).

(52) Repeated by the following authors: Masudi (916): Amran, son of Jabir; Al-Muqaddasi: (985) has Imran; in Dawadari (1335): a man from the son of Al-Ais bin Ishaq bin Ibrahim; Ibn Abd’essalam al-Menoufi (15th): Amran ibn-Folan ibn-al-Aiss ibn-Ishak ibn-Ibrahim; Suyuti (1505): Umran ben ‘Ays; Grandsonn of Muhallib bin Muhammad bin Shadi (1126).

(53) Mohi-eddin-al-Nowawi: Nawawi, Mohieddin Abu-Zakariah Yahiah: an Arabian historian and doctor, was born in 1233 at Nawas, a borough near Damascus, in which city he died in 1277. He belonged to the Safite sect of the Mohammedans. Nawawi composed a Commentary on the Koran.

(54) Sedrat-al-Monteha: is according to the Orientals, a tree of the genus nebk; a kind of buckthorn.

(55) Sahihin: is the title of a collection of traditions which was made by Abou-Issa-Mohammed-Termedi or a native of Termed, a city located on the banks of the Gihon, in Thokharestan.

(56) Sahih al Bokhari: the book: Umdat al-Qari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari by Al Ayni (d1451).

(57) the Seihan, the Djeihan, the Euphrates, and the Nile: these four rivers are traditionally seen as the four rivers coming from paradise. But the names vary considerably. Other combinations are:

Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel, Phirat.

Tigris, Effraim, Euphrates Nile.

Seihan, Djeihan, Euphrates, Nile.

(58) The flesh of the Djizum (Nile Perch) is important, because this fish feeds on herbs: also mentioned by Ibn Zulaq (996).

(59) Zin-eddin de Rosette: Zayn-al-din of Rosetta is only known through these quotes.

(60) Sahih al-Bukhari is a hadith collection and a book of sunnah compiled by the Persian scholar Muḥammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari around 846. Alongside Sahih Muslim, it is one of the most valued books in Sunni Islam after the Quran.

(61) better known as: Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani. See my webpage on Hafiz Ibn Hajar al Asqalani (d1448)

(62) Qadi Iyad; Iyad ibn Musa (1083–1149) a hadith master among many other things.

(63) Sahih Muslim is a 9th-century hadith collection and a book of sunnah compiled by the Persian scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjaj al-Naysaburi (815–875).