'The Mansab came this morning, and brought a very
precious possession, a manuscript copied by his
grandfather from earlier histories, a sort of
commonplace book of all that was thought worth
preserving at the time. It has the fascination of
old and treasured things, gathered for someone's
private joy. Among a great deal of religion, there
is a medieval chronicle, which as far as I can
tell is more or less unknown: so I have been
sitting on my terrace, copying it out, after the
Mansab's departure.'
Century: 1900-1945 Reader/Listener/Group: Freya Stark Manuscript: Codex, Arabic commonplace book
'When the sun had set and I was in bed again, the
Mansab's brother, the Qadhi, came to help with
explanatory notes for the names of places in the
manuscript. We discussed Maqrizi, who says the
Se'ar tribe can change themselves into wolves. The
Se'ar have stolen forty-two camels and are
probably going to be bombed by the R.A.F., so that
it might be a useful accomplishment just now."It
is not true, however", said the Qadhi seriously.
"It is a pure fairy tale of Maqrizi's. But it is
quite true of the Beni Shabib near Qatn."'
Century: 1900-1945 Reader/Listener/Group: Freya Stark Manuscript: Codex, Arabic commonplace book
'The first section of my own manuscript is copied
out now and has given useful information, such as
the date of the restoration and final ruin, in
A.D. 1298, of al-'Urr by the Arabs. In the
afternoon, before the sunset prayer, the Qadhi
comes to locate for me names of places and tribes
which no one in Europe would know. He sits,
turning over with his delicate fingers the pages
written by his grandfather and treasured above all
the books they have [...] The Qadhi loves these
hours. He has in him a pure passion for learning,
a small flame with little enough to feed it, that
burns for itself alone.'
Century: 1900-1945 Reader/Listener/Group: Ali Qadhi of Shibam Manuscript: Codex, Arabic commonplace book
