George Sale, The Koran, commonly called the Alcoran of Mohammed, translated into English immediately from the original Arabic; with Explanatory Notes, taken from the most approved Commentators. To which is prefixed A Preliminary Discource (1734)
they had recourse, as to an oracle, in all doubts and differences 1. No wonder then, that a public congratulation was made on this account, which honour they yet were so far from making cheap, that they never did it but on one of these three occasions, which were reckoned great points of felicity; viz. on the birth of a boy, the rise of a poet, and the fall of a foal of generous breed. To keep up an emulation among their poets, the tribes had, once a year, a general assembly at Ocadh 2, a place famous on this account, and where they kept a weekly mart or fair, which was held on our sunday 3. This annual meeting lasted a whole month, during which time they employed themselves, not only in trading, but in repeating their poetical compositions, contending and vying with each other for the prize; whence the place, it is said, took its name 4. The poems that were judged to excel, were laid up in their king’s treasuries, as were the seven celebrated poems, thence called al Moallakât, rather than from their being hung up on the Caaba, which honour they also had by public order, being written on Egyptian silk, and in letters of gold; for which reason they had also the name of al Modhahabât, or the golden verses 5.
The fair and assembly at Ocadh were suppressed by Mohammed, in whose time, and for some years after, poetry seems to have been in some degree neglected by the Arabs, who were then employed in their conquests; which being compleated, and themselves at peace, not only this study was revived 6, but almost all sorts of learning were encouraged and greatly improved by them. This interruption however occasioned the loss of most of their ancient pieces of poetry, which were then chiefly preserved by memory; the use of writing being rare among them, in their time of ignorance 7. Tho’ the Arabs were so early acquainted with poetry, they did not at first use to write poems of a just length, but only expressed themselves in verse occasionally; nor was their prosody digested into rules, till some time after Mohammed 8; for this was done, as it is said, by al Khalîl Ahmed al Farâbîdî, who lived in the reign of the Khalîf Harûn al Rashîd 9.
1 Poc. Orat. præfix. Carm. Tograi, ubi supra.
2 Idem, Spec. p. 159.
3 Geogr. Nub. p. 51.
4 Poc. Spec. 159.
5 Ibid. & p. 381. Et in calce Notar. in Carmen Tograi, p. 233.
6 Jallalo’ddin al Soyûti, apud, Poc. Spec. p. 159, &c.
7 Ib. 160.
8 Ib. 161. Al Safadi confirms this by a story of a Grammarian, named Abu Jaafar, who fitting by the Mikyas or Nilometer in Egypt, in a year when the Nile did not rise to its usual height, so that a famine was apprehended, and dividing a piece of poetry into its parts or feet, to examine them by the rules of art, some who passed by, not understanding him, imagined he was uttering a charm to hinder the rise of the river, and pushed him into the water, where he lost his life.
9 V. Clericum de Prosod. Arab. p. 2.
