The miniature painting just above is found in a late 19th or 20th century copy of Kawkab al-rawda fi tarih al-Nil wa-gazirat al-Rawda of Suyuti

Fitarikh al Nil wajazirath Rawdah

(The history of the Nile and the island Rawdah)

Taken from: Journal Asiatique 1837

maktabatalarab.com

 al-Mutawakkili fima warada fi al-Qur'an bi al-lugha al-Habashiyya wa al-Farisiyya wa al-Rumiyya wa al-Hindiyya wa

al-Siryaniyya wa al-`Ibraniyya wa al-Nabatiyya wa al-Qibtiyya wa al-Turkiyya wa al-Zanjiyya wa al-Barbariyya 

(My reliance concerning what has been mentioned in the Qur'an in Ethiopian, Farsi, Greek, Hindi, Syriac, Hebrew,

Nabatean, (54) Coptic, Turkic, Zanj-language, and Berber)
Mutawakkili is the Caliph who commanded that he compiled a list of Quranic words that are to be found in the speech of the Ethiopians, Persians, or any people other then the Arab. In it he lists 108 words from 11 languages. It is organized according to language and for each language in textual order of the Quran. He made also a similar list in an other book of his with 124 foreign words, and a third is in his :

al-Itqan fi 'ulum al-Quran which for different reasons is mentioned here too. Suyuti did not get into linguistic research himself, he copied what was written on the subject in former centuries.
Taken from: Bell, William, Yancy;The Mutawakkili of as-Suyuti

The report of what appears (in the Quran) in the language of the Blacks (Zanj)
(Hasb Jahannam)
Ibn Abi Hatim (29), on the authority of Abdallah Ibn Abbas (68), concerning God's expression, hasab jahannam it means fuel for Gehenna (30) in the language of the Blacks (Zanj).
(Al Minsaa)
Ibn al-Jauzi (31) related that al-minsaa means staff in the language of the Blacks (Zanj). 

Azhar al-urush fi akhbar al hubush (The flowers of the throne concerning information about the Ethiopians)

Taken from: The African diaspora in the Mediterranean lands of Islam By John O. Hunwick, Eve Troutt Powell

Is an abidged version of Raf' Sha'n al-Hubshan.

Ibn Masud reported that Noah bathed and saw his son looking at him, and said to him: Are you watching me whilst I bathe?

May God change your color. And he became black, and he is the ancestor of the sudan. Ibn Jarir (27)(al Tabari) said: Noah prayed

for Shem that his descendants should be prophets and messengers, and he cursed Ham (62) praying that his descendants should

be slaves to Shem and Japheth.

Tafsir ul-Jalalain (or Jalaluddin), (Commentary on the Quran)

Taken from: A comprehensive commentary on the Qurán: comprising Sale's ..., By Elwood Morris Wherry, George Sale

Begun by Jalal-al-Din-al-Mahalli (1389-1459) and finished by Suyuti Commentary on the following part of the 18th chapter of the Koran:

Then he continued his way,  until he came to the place where the sun riseth; and he found it to rise on certain people, unto whom we had not given anything wherewith to shelter themselves therefrom.  Thus it was; and we comprehended with our knowledge the forces which were with him. And he prosecuted his journey from south to north.

The Jalaluddin of Suyuti says they were the Zanj, a black nation lying south-west of Ethiopia. They seem to be the Troglodytes of the

ancients.

Evil people are as black as tar.

Zanzibar: Zanzibar the coast town of the house of the king.

The evil of the slave Zinj is that they committed fornication if they are satisfied and steal when starved.

Hassan almhadhrh fiakhbaar Misr (63) walqahrh; (Good lecture in Egypt and Cairo)(= Husn al Muhadarah)

Taken from: سن المحاضرة في أخبار مصر والقاهرة by لال الدين عبد الرحمن بن أبي بكر السيوطي  books.rafed.net

P293

Some of the newsmen mentioned that this Hamada did not prophesise, and that he was the guardian of wisdom, and that he asked God to show him the end of the Nile, so he gave power to that, and he reached Mount Moon, and he intended to go to the top, he could not; so he asked God to help him, and he went up and saw behind him the sea of Zifti (37), it is a black sea, and a dark wind, and the Nile is seen in its midst; it is like a silver alloy.

The author of the delights of thought - mabahij alfikr: Abu al-Faraj Qudamah (1) said that the total of what is in the world of rivers is two hundred and twenty-eight rivers; including what is going from the east to the west, including what is going from north to south, including the river Nile River from the south to the north, Including what is composed of such entities as the Euphrates and Jihon (2); as for the Nile, Qudamah (1) mentioned that his starting point from the Mount of the Moon behind the equator of a spring, from which 10 rivers flow, five of them pour into a large lake in the first region.  From this lake comes the Nile River.

P294

The owner of the book of Nazah al-Mashtaq said that this sea is called Lake Kori (38) attributed to a group of Sudan, inhabited by savages who live from eating people, the Nile comes out of it, in the country of Kori (38) and then the land of Nana a district of the Sudan, between Kannum (39) and Nubia. In the vincity of the city of Dongola it reaches Nubia, and descends to the second clime, then there is a large island in the city of Nubia, and there are large islands full of cities and villages…………….

It is said that it is in the desert for four months, and in the country of Sudan two months, and in the country of Islam one month, and there is no other river than this that increases when other rivers lack water; and that the increase is in the extreme in the head when in Cancer, and Lion. The rivers are supplied by side-rivers.

People said: The increase comes from the snow melted by the summer and because to the length will be much delayed.

Others went on to say that it was due to a lot of rain in Abyssinia.

Others said that the increase is due to the  different wind, that the north if a storm storms the Rumi Sea, it will result in a flood on the face of the earth.

Others claimed the increase it from the springs in the sand, this was seen by those who travelled up to the highest.

P295

Others said that its course (of the Nile) comes from the mountains of the Mount of Snow and that it enters the green sea and passes on metals gold, rubies, emeralds, coral when it comes to the sea of Zinj. They said: Had it not been entered in the salty sea and mixes with it we could not drink (its water because of) the intensity of its sweetness. ……………….

There are differences (of opinion) on how the Mount Moon is functioning.

Al-Tafashi (3) said: It is called so, because the springs flush from it, if you look at it (you see) the severity of its whiteness.  He said: So also called the moon of the moon.  He said: This mountain is a rectangular from the east to the west, its end in the area of the west in desolation, and its end in the Orient is like that, which is in its entirety in the desolation of the south, and rises up in the air, completely from beneath.

P296

He said in the mukhtasir almasalik: Some mentioned that people ended up on this mountain and ascended it,

They saw a sea behind it, black as night, a white river, like the river, crossed it, entered the mountain from the south, and came out in the north, and stretched over the dome that Hermes (9) built there.

They claimed that Hermes -Idris (64), peace be upon him - had reached that place and built a dome.

Some of them said that people went up the mountain, and the first of them laughed, clapped his hands, and threw himself over the mountain, and the rest feared that he would be hit them, so they returned.

It was said: Those who only saw the stone albaht (40)(pale), which are shiny stones like white silver shimmering, all those laughed and stuck (to the stone) until they die, they are called the magnets of people.

 Some said that a king among the first kings of Egypt prepared people to go to the beginning of the Nile, and they ended up in the mountains of brass, and when the sun rose upon them, it burned them.

It was also said that they ended up in glittering mountains, brilliant as crystal, where the rays of the sun were reflected which burned them.

It is said: the author of marat alzaman (41): Ahmed bin Bakhtiar (6) said that the spring, which is the origin of the Nile, is the first spring of Mount Moon, and then sends down ten rivers, and the Nile of Egypt is one of them, he said: The Nile cuts through the first region, and then over to the second, and the beginning, of Mount Moon to its end to the Sea of Rum, three thousand farsakhs (42), and the rise starts in the half of June, and ends in September.

He said: People differ on the reason of the increase, and some said: This is only known to Allah.

Others said: It is caused by an increase at its sources.

Others said, it is apparent: it is caused by the abundance of rain and floods in the land of Habash and Nubia, but is delayed to arrive here till the summer because of the distance.  Some people said that the springs, which are under the mountain of the moon, are muddy in the days of his increase. He indicated that it is an act of God without increasing the rain.  He said: All the rivers are going in a different direction, but this one it is going to the north.  Qadi Hamah said:

P297-298

When (the rise) reaches sixteen arms the Sultan calls it excess, and when it reached eighteen arms it is said: Egypt is experiencing a great epidemic, and when it reaches twenty cubits it is the end for the king of Egypt.

Ibn al-Muttuj said: One of the wonders of Egypt is the Nile, which comes from the mystery of the science of God in the time of thirst, and makes the country easy and wide, and God sends in the days of the rise the wind to the north and the salt sea, and it becomes like a bridge.  And if it reaches the limit that is full irrigation and the exact time of agriculture, God sent the wind to the south in his sweep, and brought him to the salt sea, and people benefited from agriculture. ……………….

Said the author of Cada al-Hadeel: A group of astrologers and heads of their body said that the Nile comes from behind the equator eleven and a half degrees, and from the south until it ends in Damietta and Alexandria and others about thirty of them in the north, they said: from the beginning to the end hundred forty-two degrees; each degree sixty miles and one third by approximation, the length of the starting position to the salt sea eight thousand miles, six hundred and fourteen miles and two-thirds miles on the intention and equinox, and has East and West curves so the length of it is more than what we have said. Quoted from Sheikh Izz al-Din bin Jamaeat (43) of his book in medicine: He said:

The source of the Nile from Mount Moon is behind the equator by eleven and a half degrees, and the spread of this mountain is fifteen degrees and twenty minutes. Ten rivers come out of his eyes, each five of them are directed at a round lake after the centre of the first buildings in the west at fifty-seven degrees. The two lakes are equal, each one is five cubits, each of which has four rivers flowing to a small lake in the first region after its centre of the first buildings in the west, thirty-three degrees and thirty minutes, and past the equator two degrees north of the first region, diameter of two degrees, and the mouth of each of the eight rivers in this lake, then one river comes out of the lake; Which is the Nile of Egypt……….

(under the sources of the Nile from this manuscript)

Vol II p393

(citing Sihab ad din Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Fadl Allah al Umari)

The Orion can be driven back in the dark night. This is, as it were, a zanj woman who is pulled at the ends of her belt.

Vol II p406

(citing abu Ahmed at Jarrari)

How wonderful are the black roses that look at us from the garden with the pupils of the gazelle. They resemble the cheeks of the Zanj, who dabbed the imam's hand with half gold coins.

Vol II p427

(citing Mahmud ibn al Husain ibn as Sindi, called Kusagim.)

It is as if the anemones in the garden are carnelian crowns on the heads of Zanj.

Vol II p446

(anon)

The earth produced mint, the stems and leaves of which appeared to be made of chrysolite. When the breeze of the hot wind hits them, they look like sleeping hair from zanj who fall into curled curls.

Tarikh al-khulafa‎ (History of the Caliphs)

Taken from : Journal Asiatique 1862 : Glossaire des mots espagnols et portugais dérivés de l’ Arabe par le Dr WH Engelmann

Bugyat al-wu’ah

Another bedouin said:

Taken from: Der Neger in der Bildersprache der arabischen Dichter By Manfred Ullmann

Vol I p540

(citing Husain ibn al Muhaddab al Misri)

It is as were the night while the Pleiades are swimming and walking in their skies, like a negress who has been stripped and one is thus able to see a pearl necklace on the surface of her breast.

And as to the various kinds of women, those of the Greeks are the cleanest in that which appertained to their vulvas, and most of them possess broad bottoms well-adapted to the sitting posture, and favourable for coition ; the women of Andalusia are the most beautiful of face, and their smell is the best ; the women of India, and Sind (48) and of Sicily are the most reprehensible in their conditions, the ugliest of feature, the dirtiest in what concerned their vulvas and the most debased in intelligence ; the daughters of Zanzibar and Abyssinia are by nature more sweet-smelling than the rest and the most obedient ; the women of Baghdad and Babylonia are the greatest drawers-down of men's voluptuousness in the love-act above any other women in the world, while the Syrian women are towards men the unkindest.

The women of the Bedouins, and of Persia, are the most charming in respect of their secret conditions, and their children the most intelligent; for eloquence they are unrivalled, and in Sociability outshine all the rest; their faithfulness is known.

Mufhimat-il-Qur'an fi Mubhimat-il-Quran:

(The decisive centuries in the composition of the Quran)

Taken from: maktabatalarab.com

From the Koran: And found it rising (the sun) on a people that Allah had given nothing. Qatada said: It is said that they are the Zinj. Narrated by Abdul Razzak.

Badayie Alzuhwr fi Waqayie Alduhur (Flowers in the Chronicles of the ages)

 Taken from: بدائع الزهور في وقائع الدهور  by السيوطي  www.alwaraq.net

P18

Masoudi said in golden meadows. The author of the seven regions puts the origin of the Nile on the Mount of the Moon from ten springs; every one of them goes to one Batiha. He mentioned that the top of Moon Mount is senior and noble. It is mentioned that Mount Moon is behind the equator where the night and day are always equal and that the moon is always visible.

Masoudi said that the Nile is being flowing on the face of the earth for a thousand farsakh (42) on land and desert…………….

Al Kindi (49) said that the Nile comes out of the dome of aquamarine (beryl) and passes on the land where the gold bars sprout and there are two rivers. One is going to the land of India and is called the river of Mehran (67) and the other is going towards the land of Zinj and Hermes (9) said that four rivers are coming out of this dome they are the Sihan and Jihan and Euphrates and Nile it is said that the king of Narkawash Jabbar son of Masriem (50) went to the source of the Nile and dug and repaired its course and was dispensing in the ground and dispersed without the barrier because of his engineering and the legs of it many rivers went to many places to be used by people and there were there eighty-five statues of copper (10) to conduct the water until the water of the Nile come out of it, and it has round niches that bring water out of the rings of these statues, and make it known by the sections of the known branches, so that these rivers come out and then pour into two lakes……………

Al-Kindi (49) said that the Nile passes through sixty of the kingdoms of Abyssinia and Zanj, and Ibn Zulaq said in his history that some kings ordered to walk to where the Nile is coming from until they ended up in a high mountain and the water comes down from above and has a roar so heavy to barely hear the voice of others and then one of the people started the climb up the mountain to look beyond it and when he arrived above laughed and clapped his hands then went over the mountain and his friends did not know what happened then another man went up after him to see beyond that mountain, and what was the matter with his companion, he did like his companion and clapped and went over the mountain and did not return and they did not know what happened. A third said to his companions, put a rope around my middle. So he came to where his friends had reached and he did as they did. When he was at the top of the mountain, he applauded and wanted to go over the mountain. They pulled the rope to them and he came down to them. When he reached them he was unable to speak, he did not answer. And he died after an hour, and the people returned, and they did not know any other news of the Nile.

Imam al-Layth ibn Sa'd (51)(may Allaah be pleased with him) said that a man named Hamed ibn Abi Salem, who was born of al-'Ias ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Khalil (peace be upon him), ran away from some mighty kings and arrived in Egypt. When he saw her (the Nile), he marvelled at him and vowed not to leave the Nile banks until he reaches the end and from where he goes out or dies before that.

Then he went up the Nile banks for about thirty years until he arrived at Mount Moon, so he sees a man praying under an apple tree when he saw him he greeted him and he said to the man under the tree Who are you, the man said to him Hamed I was born son of Isaac bin Ibrahim peace be upon him then Hamed said to him, I am Abu al-Abbas al-Khadr. Why did you come here? He said, in a quest to know the Nile,

( After his talk to the man and some more adventures he climes the mountain comes back, finds the man dead and goes back to Egypt)

al- Rawdah Wa-al-Miqyas; (The Nilometer and the island Rawḍah)

Taken from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cultnat/12611118983

A copy, transcribed by Muhammad Hamadah al-Mursi and dated 1114H; of a book that was written in 895 H. The book contains a great number of quotations (including poems, as well as Ahadith);

Theme: Imaginary dialogue between the cities of al-Rawdah and Cairo, each extolling its own excellence.

The page showing the river Nile; from its source (in the Moon mountains); to its estuary (into the Mediterranean), through its Rashid and Dumyat Branches.

al-Hi’a al-Saniya fi’l-hai’a as-sunniya (Astronomy according to the Koran, Tradition, and History)

Taken from: as cited in Tarih-i Hind-i Ḡarbi. Translation from: The Ottoman Turks and the New World: A Study of Tarih-i Hind-i Ḡarbi and Sixteenth-century Ottoman Americana. By Thomas D. Goodrich.

Taken from Layth b. Sa’d and proven in the correct way that a person named Hayd (70) from the lineage of Ishak settled in the region of Egypt. When he witnessed the strange conditions and the unusual aspects of the river Nile, he set forth to travel on the shores of the River Nile visiting all its sides and regions and [was determined] to reach its limits and to visit its mouth and its source. Then, with this project, he went to the shore of the river Nile. He voyaged and travelled thirty years, so that he passed beyond the limits of habitation and the dwellings of man and fell upon deserted places. Solitary and alone for thirty years more he wandered on land and desert and he reached the Green Sea [Bahr-i Ahzer]. He saw that the Nile originates from the Green Sea and flows forth in two branches. In that place an individual stood occupied at prayer. Then Hayd saluted the aforementioned individual with honor and respect, and they conversed. They asked each other his situation. Then the aforementioned individual stated,: I am 'Umran ben ‘Ays (52) and, in order to get knowledge about the conditions of the Nile, I went on a journey. I left my country with this desire. When I reached this place and entered this region, from the direction of God [Hak] a cry arose: Stay in your place. Beware lest you go one step forward. Then for many months and years I have complied with the said order and I have remained in this spot. But by a valid manner the news had reached me that an individual from the lineage of ‘Ays will truly go to the mouth of the Nile. He will be aware of the circumstances of the matter and solve the vexing problem. It is my fairly certain presumption — that you are the aforementioned person. In a short time you will reach the origin of the Nile. Then Hayd (70) sought information from the aforementioned person and asked him information about the means of reaching his object. The aforementioned person stated: Turn toward this sea. A great beast will come forth to meet you, whose beginnings you will see but not its ends. You will not know what its true nature is. Then without fear or apprehension, mount it, and it will take you across this endless sea and it will get you to the land of iron. You will go beyond there. You will go from there to the land of copper, and from there you will go to the land of silver, and from there you will reach the land of silver, and from there you will reach the land of gold. In that place you will bring to a conclusion the knowledge of the Nile.

Then Hayd wandered and travelled as explained and passed the above mentioned places and arrived all the way to the land of gold. Traveling for some time in the land of gold he reached a gladsome walled city [sur-u pur su'rur] whose buildings were wonderful and whose roof and wall were completely gold, and within the aforementioned wall there was a dome of pure gold on whose sides were four gates. A great river descended on the upper part of the city-wall and settled in the aforementioned dome. Later it became four parts, and each of its parts turned toward a gate and left. Three of its parts flowed down into the inside regions of the earth, and one of its parts flowed on the surface of the earth in the customary way. It seems that the blessed Nile is the aforementioned part. Thus the fateful desire of Hayd (70) was accomplished. Waters were sprinkled on his soul. He drank some of the water of the Nile, which pleased his weary spirits. Afterwards he decided to ascend the above mentioned city-wall. An angel appeared suddenly. It stated: You know the end of the Nile and you have reached the limit of knowledge of it. You have found your desire. Hereafter there is no path for you. This that you see is Heaven. The River Nile descends from Heaven.

Tibb-ul-Nabbi,  (Medicine of the Prophet)

Taken from : Tibb-ul-Nabbi, Or Medicine of the Prophet: Being a Translation of Two Works of the Same Name, By Cyril Elgood.

PRINCIPLES OF TREATMENT

……..It is not easy for him to treat a very old man or a gourmand or a young child or a person very tired or one in charge of a public bath or one whose faculties are weak or a hypochondriac or one very weak in body or a very fat person or a negro or one with an ulcer or anyone in very hot or very cold weather or one who is already accustomed to taking medicine……..

Kitab al-rahma fi al-tibb wa-al-hikma (The Book of Mercy on Medicine and Wisdom)

Taken from: Livre de la misericorde dans l'art de guérir les maladies et de conserver la santé, par M. Pharaon.

King Chosroes (71) one day brought together four doctors: an Iraqi, a Christian, an Indian, a sage from Sudan; and spoke to them in these terms: Let each one of you indicate to me the remedy which will ward off all disease. The scholar of Iraq, Arabi replied: you must swallow, on an empty stomach, each morning, three sips of hot water. The Christian: eat every day on an empty stomach, a little cresson. The Indian: take three nuts in the morning on an empty stomach. of black myrobolan. (Because myrobolan excites the black bile.) The black doctor from Sudan said nothing. So you don't give me your opinion? Said the king. The best remedy, O my master, is to eat only when one is hungry and to cease before one is full. Do so and, until the appointed hour for your death, you will avoid all disease. It's true! It's true! Cried the other doctors.

Bughyat al-wu’ah: fi tabaqat al-lughawiyin (Classes of Linguists and Grammarians)

Taken from: Bughyat al-wuʻāh: fī ṭabaqāt al-lughawiyīn wa-al-nuḥāh, Volume 2 by Suyūṭī

There, people read; And he is peerless and pious; I have been informed that he passed away in the year eight hundred and three, may God have mercy on him. From Tabaqat al Zubaidi (53). He used to take them into complementary grammar, until they used the words of the Zanj. With what hurtful and against: To describe prose and systems?

al-Muzhir fi ulum al-luga wa-anwa iha (The Luminous Work on Sciences of Language)

Taken from:  al-Muzhir fī ʿulūm al-luġa wa-anwāʿihā - Volume 1 by Suyuti

Their words are like a bottle, otherwise meanings are satisfactory for every generation from the people of monotheism in the North to the Zinj and Tartars and Turks. But they were short of their tongues to reach Maramouh of the Arabs. You may prepare the loudest of the tongues of the Arabs and the least that the speaker must explain.

Jam al jawami (The collection of mosques)

Taken from: Jamʻ al-jawāmiʻ: al-maʻrūf bi-al-Jāmiʻ al-Kabīr, by Suyuti

Hadith number 4226
Al-Tayyari on the authority of Ibn Abbas (68) and his symbol for the good. Al-Manawi said:
The meaning of "my prayer from Sudan" means: from Zinj.
13307
Al-Libyan said: and the wild slave of Zinj, if he is satisfied he will be inherited and grow in power.

Sharah Sunan al Nisayiyu (Explanation of Sunan Al-Nasa’i)

Taken from: شرح سنن النسائي - ذخيرة العقبى - ج 6

They agreed that the principle of the Nile is from the Mountains of the Moon. …. an analogy of the moon in its whiteness stems from twelve eyes, then ten rivers emanate from them: one of them is the Nile of Egypt, which is the first of the springs to flow on the lands of Abyssinia…..

(1) Abu al-Faraj Qudamah: Abu al-Faraj Qudamah bin Jaafar said in Kitab al-Kharaj: see my webpage Qadama (930).

(2) Jihon: the Geon: The author of Genesis describes Gihon as "encircling the entire land of Cush", a name associated with Ethiopia elsewhere in the Bible. This is the reason that Ethiopians have long identified the Gihon (Giyon) with the Abay River (Blue Nile), which encircles the former kingdom of Gojjam.

(3) Al-Tafashi: on another book of him see my webpage Ibn Yusuf Tifashi (d 1253).

(4) island of Chemi: Jimi (Gimi), (Himi): al Makrizi (1441) mentions it on the Niger; abulfida (1331) and Ibn Said (1250) make it the kaptial of Kanim/Kanem. Al Umari (1349) has Jimi, Jamie, Chemi.

(5) Serendib: in Sumatra.

(6) Ahmed ibn Bakhtiar: an important judge from Wasit in the 12th century AD. His statement is repeated by: Suyuti (1445-d1505); Ibn al Jawzi (1257); Ibn al Jawzi (1200); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); Annon: Dhikr Kalam (15th).

(7) Ibrahim ibn Wasif Shah: see my webpage Wasif Shah: Akhbar al-zaman (1209).

(8) Ibn al Wardi: see my webpage Ibn al Wardi (1348).

(9) Hermes: The first Hermes, was a "civilizing hero", an initiator into the mysteries of the divine science and wisdom that animate the world. Hermes is here a legendary Hellenistic figure that originated as a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth in the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt.

(10) 85 tamatil: or tamafil: the 85 copper or bronze statues build at the source of the Nile by Hermes. They are mentioned by the following authors: Maslamah ibn Ahmad Majriti (1050); Wasif Shah (1209); Murtada Ibn al-Afif (1237); Picatrix: (1256); Nuwayri (1333); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); al Maqrizi (1441); Ibn al Wardi (1456); Dhikr Kalam al-Nas fi Manba’ al-Nil (15th); Suyuti (d1505).

(11) Massoudi: see my webpage Masudi (916).

(12) Al-Maqrizi; see my webpage Al-Maqrizi (1441).

(13) Mount Qaquli: also found with Al-Maqrizi (1441).

(14) River of the Damadim: river of Demadem or of Maqdashou: Cowar el-aqalim (1347) also speaks of the Nile of Demadem or of Maqdashou. al Maqrizi (1441): the Nile River Damadem; Suyuti (1505) has Damadim.

(15) Naqraush: King Naqraus: Maqrizi (1441) has Naqraush; also mentioned by Suyuti (1505); Wasif Shah (1209) has: King Naqraus.

Naqraush the valiant, son of the first Misraim, son of Markabil, son of Douabil, son of Arbab, son of Adam: this is literally copied from Maqrizi (1441).

(16) Amosus: several Pharaohs had the name Ahmose. Wasif Shah (1209) writes: “There was in old Misr, whose name was then Amsus ….” so it should have been an old name for Egypt. Murtada Ibn al-Afif (d1237) has Emsos; Nuwayri (1333): Amosus; al Maqrizi (1441): Amsus Amsous; Assus in Annon: Dhikr Kalam (15th); Suyuti (1505): Amsous.

(17) Budchir; Al-Budashir: literally meaning form the Red House. Found in Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); Wasif Shah (1209) has Al-Budashir; Nuwayri (1333) has Al-Boudsir, Ibn Khaldun (1406) Al-Boudashir Ibn Qubt; al Maqrizi (1441) has Budchir; Annon: Dhikr Kalam (15th) has Berdashir; Suyuti (1505) has Budchir.

(18) river Alehran: Al Mekran (in Pakistan).

(19) Ibn al-Jawzi entitled Tanwir al Ghabash: see my webpage Ibn al Jawzi: Tanwir al-Ghabash fi fadl al-Sudan wa al-Habash (d1200).

(20) hadith on the authority of Abu Hurayra: (603–680), was one of the companions of Islamic prophet Muhammad and, the most prolific narrator of hadith.

(21) Gog and Magog: high North of the globe.

(22) Amr b. al-As: 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.

(23) Negus: the Ethiopian emperor

(24) Betrothal of Umm Habiba to the Prophet: she married Muhammad while she was in Abyssinia.

(25) Umm al-Fadl: Lubaba bint al-Harith (died c. 650), was a prominent early Muslim. Two of her sisters, Maymuna bint al-Harith and Zaynab bint Khuzayma, became wives of Muhammad.

(26) hadith published by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak: Mustadrak Al Hakim is a five volume hadith collection written by Hakim al-Nishapuri (in Iran) in the year (1003 CE).

(27) Ibn Jarir (al Tabari): also known as al-Tabari or in Persian as Tabari, 839–923 CE, was an influential scholar, historian and commentator on the Qur'an from Amol, Tabaristan. (see also my webpage Al Tabari (922)).

(28) Torah: here the Jews.

(29) Ibn Abi Hatim: (854–5–938),was a transmitter, critic, traditionist, and exegete, who was born in Rayy (north-eastern Iran).

(30) Gehenna: Hell.

(31) Ibn al-Jauzi; Gawzi; Ibn al Jawzi (1200).

(32) Ibn al Marzuban: Muhammad ibn Khalaf ibn al-Marzuban was a philologist of Persian origin (d921 CE). He was a scholar of hadith, poetry and the Quranic sciences.

(33) Al-Hafiz al-Mandhari: Imam Al-Mundhiri was born in Egypt in (1185-1258)of Syrian Origin. He was a master in hadith, Arabic language and history.

(34) Abu al-Abbas al-Nashi: Abu al-Abbas al-Nashi al-Akbar (d906 AD).

(35) O Lord of Khod: : Khod means Lord or God in Persian.

(36) Jalal-al-Din-al-Mahalli (1389-1459): on a different book of this author see my webpage Jalal-al-Din-al-Mahalli (d1459).

(37) sea of Zifti: sea of Pitch or the Black or Gravelly Sea.

(38) Lake Kori: see my webpage on Ibn Said (1250).

(39) Kannum; Kannam; Kanem in West Africa.

(40) stone albaht: Pieces of the story of the tones Baht or Bahit brought by Alexander from the country of the Zanj and found in the mountains of the moon called the magnet of men or who make people laugh till they die and which story comes originally from Aristotle can be found in: al Maqrizi (1441); Suyuti (1445-d1505); Qadi Ibn Sasri Al-Shafi’I (1300); Al Umari (1349); Al-Dimashqi (1325); Al Zuhri (1137).

(41) the author of marat alzaman: Ahmed bin Bakhtiar: an important judge from Wasit in the 12th century AD. His statement is repeated by: Suyuti (1445-d1505); Ibn al Jawzi (1257); Ibn al Jawzi (1200); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); Annon: Dhikr Kalam (15^th).

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

(43) Sheikh Izz al-Din bin Jamaeat : Izz Al Din ibn Jama'ah (694-767 H /1294-1365 AD) born in Damascus, he took over the judiciary in Egypt. Also mentioned by Dhahirah (1457); Annon: Dhikr Kalam (15th).

(44) Kufa: Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about 170 kilometres south of Baghdad.

(45) Abidin: literally worshippers.

(46) Quraysh: tribe of the Prophet Mohamed.

(47) Hashim: Banu Hashim is one of the clans of the Quraysh tribe.

(48) Sind: now in Pakistan.

(49) Al Kindi: see my webpage Al Kindi (968) Fada il Misr (The excellent qualities of Egypt).

(50) king of Narkawash Jabbar son of Masriem: see note on Naqraush (note 15).

(51) 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.

(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.

(53) Tabaqat al Zubaidi: Abu Bakr al-Zubaydi(d989): Tabaqat al-Nahwiyin (on grammar).

(54) Nabateans: were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant.

(55) Koukou: or Qaqu: the Kuku of al-Zayyat 1058; Ibn al Jawzi 1257; Al-Dimashqi 1325; Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi (d897) has Qaqu; Yakut 1220 Koko; Suyuti (1505) Koukou

(56) Zaghawa: also called Beri or Zakhawa, are a Sahelian Muslim ethnic group primarily residing in Fezzan North-eastern Chad, and western Sudan, including Darfur.

(57) Kawar: The Kaouar is a series of ten oases in the southern Sahara in northeast Niger, covering about 75 km (50 mi) from north to south.

(58) Fezzan; Fazz, Fazzan: in south west Libya.

(59) As for Zinj, two classes Kabila and Katajwi: Other authors have the following two classes:

-al-Sahib ibn Abbad (995); Alkharzinjy: A Tale of Al Jahiz in which: Zinj of two kinds, one called lkfw and the other lytw.

-Jahiz (869) mentioned this tale in two books: Kitab al Hayawan and Al-Fakhar al-Sudan: the tribes of Zinj are of two types: the ants and the dogs, this tribe are the dogs, and that tribe are the ants.

-Al-Dimashqi (1325): they are divided in two tribes, the Qabliet and the Kendjewiat, the first name means ants, the second dogs.

-Suyuti (1505): As for Zinj, two classes Kabila and Katajwia.

(60) Oualid: Al-Walid: 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).

(61) This hadith is repeated by: Ibn Uday Al-Jurjani, (d976) Ibn Iraq (1036); al Maydani (1124); al Dhahabi (1348); al Abshihi (1450); al Sakhawi (1497); Suyuti (1505); (and many others).

(62) This is the curse of Ham which is repeated with variations by:

- Ibn Qutayba (880)

- Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi (897)

- Al-Kisa'i (d904)

- Al Tabari (922): collects all that was already written about the subject (including denials).

- Eutychius of Alexandria (940)

- Muhammad Bal'ami (10th)

- Grandson of Muhallib bin Muhammad bin Shadi (1126)

- Al Jawzi (1200): he denies the curse.

- Al-Qazwini (1283) in Atar al Bilad

- Al Rabghuzi (1300)

- Al Dimashqi (1325)

- Ibn Khaldun (1406): he denies the curse.

- al Maqrizi (1441)

- Mirkhond (1495)

- Alf layla wa Layla (15th)

- Suyuti (1505): in some of his books refutes it in others he just repeats it.

And many others.

(63) Misr =Egypt

(64) Idris: is an ancient prophet mentioned in the Quran, whom Muslims believe was the third prophet after Seth. He is the second prophet mentioned in the Quran. Islamic tradition has unanimously identified Idris with the biblical Enoch.

(65) Mizraim is the Hebrew and Aramaic name for the land of Egypt and its people. According to Genesis 10, Mizraim son of Ham was the younger brother of Cush and elder brother of Phut whose families together made up the Hamite branch of Noah's descendants.

(66) Banu Arbab: literally meaning Lords. He is better known as Abel.

(67) Mehran of al-Sindh: Mehran River, a local name for the Indus River in Sindh, Pakistan.

(68) ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas, also known as Ibn ʿAbbas, was one of the cousins of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was highly regarded for his 

(69) Nur Eddin Zangi (ruled 1145-1178 CE) commonly known as Nur ad-Din, was a member of the Zengid dynasty, which ruled the Syrian province of the Seljuk Empire.

(70) 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) has al-Ais; Grandson of Muhallib bin Muhammad bin Shadi (1126); Suyuti (1505) has: Hayd from the lineage of Ishak; Dhikr Kalam (end 15th) has Hyad, one of the children of Ees (Aiss); Yaqut’s (1229); Al-Muqaddasi (985) calls him: al-Laith;

(71) Key Khosrow: Kay Khosrow is a legendary king of Iran of Kayanian dynasty and a character in the Persian epic book, Shahnameh.