Indian Antiquary Vol 04

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 34

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[JANUARY, 1875.
ance). In sura L. 35 g rendered by Sale “Pass therefore," is, in the language of Yernen
- هربوا book is in the كتاب they fled.
Lastly .اسطور Hemyaritic language called
whose written monuments, in spite of the icono clastic fervour of the first Moslems, have been preserved to our times, must have been the principal idiora of Southern Arabia, though there is no doubt also that various other dialects, and even languagos, were current; but in the entire absence of reliable information it would be useless to adduce the scanty and unreliable notices in Muhammadan authors, by whom such pagan
The following expressions, occurring in the same work, p. Pir, stated to be Hemyaritic, with their Arabic equivalents, I insert without comment :
unless they contribute in some way to elucidate their own religion, and to this circumstance we are indebted also for the meagreness of the
بلغة حمير تفشلا تجنبا عثرا طلع سفاهة جنون زیلنا researches were generally considered sinful میزنا مرجوا حقيرا السقاية الاناء مسنون منتن إمام کتاب پنغضون يجركون حسبانا بردا من الكبرا vocabulary purporting to contain Homyanitic and
:Yamai words given by Suyuti as follows حاجات خرجا جعل غراما بلاء عنيا نعولا مأرب
الغناء وهي بهانيه | قوله تعالى وانتم سامدون قال
...... عکرمه قال مي بالعميريه الصرح البيت انكر الاصوات اتبعها يدركم ينقصكم |
قوله تعالی د لر الغل معازبري قال ستوره . قال مدينين محاسبين رابية شديدة ربيه شديدتر بجار
بلغة أهل يمين |
لا وزر قال لا مبل ، و هي بلغة أهل اليمين به سنط مرض زنا القطر النحاس محشورة مجموعة |
اللهم بلسان اليمينه المراة معكوفا محبوسا »
قوله تدعون بعلا قال ربا بلغة اليمين الطير جهالة بلغة حمير ونتبرا هربوا بلغة اليمين بلغة حميرية يسمون الكتاب اسطورا
It will be observed that some Qorinic words are here translated differently; thus in sura wu. 61 ÚSow , is nsually rendered by "And you are careless or triflers," or, as Sale has it," spending your time in idle diversions ;"
Hemyaritic is believed to have ceased to be a spoken language long before the Hijrah ema; but porhaps it may have been used later also, in the same manner as Latin inscriptions are still employed on buildings, monuments, and coins among ourselves, long after the language itself has become a dead one.
The Hemyaritic or rather Sabean language, as at present known from the inscriptions, although essentially one, may be divided into fuar varieties or dialects, the first of which is the general Sabuan, comprising by far the greatest number of all the inscriptions hitherto known; the second was current in Ma'in, and is the Minan dialect belonging to the people called Mina ei by the Greek and Roman geographers; the third is nearly the same as the last, and was spoken in the interior of Ħadra. maut; whilst the fourth, to judge from ter
الغناء y ما تعد ون but Suyuti renders the word
Again, in LYY7 the ولو لقي مانبرة 15 .
meaning is "and though he offer his exenses."
معاذيري or set forth his plea); but Suyati pats for)
its equivalent 8gin; and in the same chapter,
"minations of words such as crimm his sanctuary الأوزر we have in Suyuti for كل ور ,11 .۲
"no place," the word diay. He further says that ) [play] is in the Yamani language
woman]. In sura Xxxviii. 15, “Do ye] المراة
and berapa "their rank and under," appears to have been affected by Persian influences, as it is well known that Persian colonies existed there.
The inscriptions hitherto discovered may, according to their contents, be divided into six
invoke Ba'l," he says the acc. of (Lord). The word b (bird, &c.] means, according to
him, in the Hemayaritic language
] جهالة , ignor-| classes
-: Calc. 1857, pp. 310 seqq الاتقان في علوم القران للسيوطي * .