in the middle of their difcourfe, the Arab appeared. The king, admiring
the man’s generality, in offering himfelf to certain death,
which he might have avoided by letting his furety fuffer, afked him,
what was his motive for his fo doing ? to which he anfwered, that
-he had been taught to ad in that manner, by the religion he profef-
-fed; and al Nooman demanding what religion that was, he replied
the ChriJHan. Whereupon the king defiring to have the dodrines of
Chrifianity explained to him, was baptized, he and his fubjeds; and
not only pardoned the man and his furety, but abolilhed his barbarous
cuftom'. This prince, however, was not the firft king of Hira who
embraced Chrijlianity-, al Mondar, his grandfather, having alfo pro-
feffed the fame faith, and built large churches in his capital \
Since Chrijlianity had made fo great a progrefs in Arabia, we may
■ confequently fuppofe they had bilhops in feveral parts, for the more
orderly governing o f the churches. A bilhop of Dhafdr has been
already named, and we are told that Najran was alfo a bilhop’s fee3.
The Jacobites (of which fed we have obferved the Arabs generally
were) had two bilhops of the Arabs fubjedt to their Mafrian, or metropolitan
of the eajl-, one was called the biflop o f the Arabs abfolute-
ly, whofe feat was for the moll part at Akula, which fome authors
make the fame with C ija \ others a different town near Baghdads.
The other had the title of bifhop o f the Scenite Arabs, of the tribe of
‘Thaalab in Hira, or Hirta, as the Syrians call it, whofe feat was in
that city. The Nejlorians had but one bilhop, who prelided over both
thefe diocelfes, of Hira and Akula, and was immediately fubjedt to
-their patriarch6.
Thefe were the principal religions which obtained among the ancient
Arabs; but as freedom of thought was the natural confequence
•of their political liberty and independance, fome o f them fell into
other different opinions. The Koreijh, in particular, were infedted
with Zendicifm7, an error fuppofed to have very near affinity with
that of the Sadducees among the Jews, and, perhaps, not greatly different
from Deifrn; for there were feveral of that tribe, even before
the time of Mohammed, who worlhipped one god, and were free
from idolatry8, and yet embraced none of the other religions of the
country.
1 Al Meidani, & Ahmed Ebn Yufef, apud Poc. Spec. p. 72. 2 Abulfeda ap. eund. p. 74.
3 Safio’ddin apud Poc. Spec. p. 137. 4 Abulfarag. in Chron. Syriac, MS. 5 Abulfeda in
defer. Iracse. 6 Vid. AlTemani Bibl. Orient. T . 2. in Diflert. de Monop'hyfitis j & p. 459. 7 Al
Moftatraf, apud Poc. Spec. p. 136. 8 V. Reland, de Relig. Mphani. p. 27a & Millium de Mohammedifmo
ante Moham. p. 311.
The Arabians before Mohammed were, as they yet are, divided into The A-
two forts, thofe who dwell in cities, and towns, and thofe who dwell j f g '3 nr
in tents. The former lived by tillage, the cultivation of palm trees, of life,
breeding and feeding of cattle, and the exercife of all forts of trades >,
particularly merchandizing2, wherein they were very eminent, even
in the time of Jacob. The tribe of Koreijh were much addided to
commerce, and Mohammed, in his younger years, was brought up to
the fame bulinefs; it being cuftomary for the Arabians to exercife the
fame trade that their parents did3. The Arabs who dwelt in tents,
employed themfelves in pafturage, and fometimes in pillaging of paf-
fengers; they lived chiefly on the milk and flefh of camels ; they often
changed their habitations, as the convenience of water and of
pafture for their cattle invited them, flaying in a place no longer
than that lafted, and then removing in fearch of other4. They
generally wintered in Irak, and the confines of Syria. This way of
life, is what the greater part of Ijmael’s pofterity have ufed, as more
agreeable to the temper and way of life o f their father; and is fo well
deferibed by a late authors, that I cannot do better than refer the
reader to his account of them.
The Arabic language is undoubtedly one of the moft ancient in Theirlan-
the world, and arofe foon after, i f not at, the confufion of Babel. guag?’
There were feveral dialeds o f it, very different from each other: the accom-8’
moft remarkable were that fpoken by the tribe of Hamyar and the P r ofiler
genuine Arabs, and that of the Koreijh. The Hamyaritic y™“ ’e-
feems to have approached nearer to the purity of the Syriac! than fo« ifc-
the dialed: of any other tribe; for the Arabs acknowledge their fa- hmmld-
ther Tarab to have been the firft, whofe tongue deviated from the Syriac
(which was his mother tongue, and is almoft generally acknowledged
hy the AJiatics to be the moft ancient) to the Arabic. The dialed
o f the Koreijh is ufually termed rise, pure Arabic, or, as the Koran,
which is written in this dialed, calls it, the perj’picuous and clear A -
rabic -, perhaps, fays Dr. Pocock, becaufe IJmael, their father, brought
the Arabic he had learned of the Jorhamites nearer to the original
Hebrew. But the politenefs and elegance of the dialed o f the Koreijh,
is rather to be attributed to their having the cuftody o f the
Caaba, and dwelling in Mecca, the centre of Arabia, as well more
remote from intercourfe with foreigners, who might corrupt their
1 Thefe feem to be the fame whom Mr. La Roque calls Moon. Voy. dans la Paleftine, p. n o .
* See PriJeaux's life of Mahomet, p. -6. 1 Strabo. 1. 16. p, 1129. 4 Idem, ibid.
p.1084. 1 La Roque, Voyage dans la Paleftine, p. 109, &c. :