nion, that-the- word denotes any animal which the Arabs ufed to
turn loole 'in honour of their idols, allowing none to make,ufe of
them, thereafter;, except women only
, Wafila is, by one author % explained to fignify a fhe-camel which
had brought forth ten times, or an ewe which had yeaned feven
time.%-and every time twins ; and if the feventh time fhe brought
forth-a. malet an;d a female, they faid, Wefilat akhaha, i. e. She is
joined, or was brought forth with her brother, after which none might
drink the dam’s milk, except men only’s and fhe was ufed as the
Saiba. Or IVafiia was particularly meant of- fheep ; as when an
ewe. brought forth a .female, they took it to themfelves, but when,
fhe brought forth a male, they confecrated it to their gods, but it
both a male and a female, they faid, She is joined to her brother, and
did not facrifice that male to their gods: or FFaJila was an ewe
which brought, forth firft a male, and then a female, on whofe account,
or becaufe fhe followed her brother, the male was not killed;
• but if fhe brought forth a male only, they faid, Let this be an of-
Wfering to our gods V Another 4 writes, that if an ewe brought forth
twins feven times together, and the eighth time a male, they facri-
fic^d that male to their gods; but if the eighth time fhe brought
both a male and a female, they ufed to fay, She is joined,to her brother,
and for the female’s fake they fpared the male, and permitted not
the dam’s milk to be drank by women. A third writer tells us, that
Wafila was an ewe, which having yeaned feven .times, if that which
fhe brought forth the feventh time was a male, they facrificed it, but if a
female, it was; fuffered to go loofe, and was made ufe of by women
only; and if the feventh time fhe brought forth both a male and a
female, they held them both to be facred, fo that men only were
allowed to make any ufe of them, or to drink the milk of the female:
and a fourth s defcribes it to* be an ewe which brought forth
ten females at five births one after another; i. e, every time twins,
and whatever fhe brought forth afterwards, was allowed to men,
and not to women,
Hami was a male camel ufed for a ftallion, which, if the females
had conceived ten times by him, was afterwards freed from labour,
and let go loofe, none driving him .from pafture or from water;
nor was any allowed to receive the leaft benefit from him, not even
to fhear his hair 6.
1 Nothr al dorr, & Nodhm al dorr. . 2 A1 Firauz. 3 Idem, al Zamakh. 4 A1 Jawhari.
s Al-Motarrezi, 6 Al Firauz. al Jawhari.
Thefe
Thefe things were obferved by the old Arabs in honour o f their
falfe gods1, and as parcof the worfhip which they paid them, and
were afcribed to the divine inftitution; but are all condemned in
the Koran, and declared to be impious fuperftitions V
The law of Mohammed alfo put a flop to the inhuman cuffom, Thecuf-
[ which had been long pradtifed by the pagan Arabs, pf burying their t“ ™r^ur)r.
I daughters alive, left they fhould be reduced to poverty by providing mg their
I for them, or elfe to avoid the difpleafure and difgrace which would ^“ |htaeb”_
I follow, i f they fhould happen to be made captives, of to become nfhed.
fcandalous by their behaviour §; the birth of a daughter being, fori
thefe reafons, reckoned a great misfortune 4, and the death o f one
as great a happinefs s. The manner of their doing this is differently
related: fome fay that when an Arab had a daughter born, if he
intended to bring her up, he fent her, cloathed in a garment of
| wool or hair, to keep camels or fheep in the defart; but if he de-
figned to put her to death, he let her live till fire became fix years
old, and then faid to her mother, Perfume her, and adorn her, that
I I may carry her to her mothers -r which being done, the father led
I her to a well or pit dug. for that purpofe, and having bid her to
I look down into it, pufhed her in headlong, as he flood behind her,
K and then filling up the pit, levelled it with the reft of the ground:
I but others fay, that when a woman was ready to fall in labour, they
dug a pit, on the brink whereof fhe Was to be delivered, and if the
child happened to be a daughter,K they threw it into the pit, but if
a fon, they faved it alive6. This cuftom, though not obferved by
all the Arabs in general, was yet Very common among feveral of
their tribes, and particularly thofe of Koreijh and Kendah; the former
ufing to bury their daughters alive in mount Abu Daldma, near
Mecca ?. In the time of ignorance, while they ufed this method to
get rid of their daughters, Safad, grandfather to the celebrated poet
al Farazdak, frequently redeemed female children from death, giving
for every one two fhe-camels big with young, and a he-camel;
and hereto al Farazdak alluded when, vaunting himfelf before one
of the Khalifs o f the family of Omeyya, he faid,, I am the fon o f the
giver o f life to the dead -, for which expreffion being cenfured, he ex-
cufed himfelf by alledging the. following words of the Koran 8, He
who J'aveth a foul alive, f a l l be as i f be had faved the lives o f all
1 Jallali in Kor. 2 Kor. chap. 5. p. 96, and chap. 6. p. 113, 114. V. Poc. Specim. p. 330,.
'-‘“— 334. 3 Al Beidawi, al Zamakh. al MoftatrSf. * Sce Koran, chap. 16. p. 218. * Al
Meidani. 6 Al Zamajth. 7 Al Moftatraf.. 3 Chap. 5. p. 87.
S 2 man