Indian Antiquary Vol 12

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 10

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
JANUARY, 1883.
of the idol in whose presence they were con- sulted.*0 Seven such arrows as we have described were accordingly kept in the Ka'ba." There was inside the Ka'ba a hollow or cavity in which were preserved the offerings and other treasures belonging to the temple : the image of Hubal was situated over this hollow."
Sale says that though seven arrows were kept for divination before this idol, yet in actual divination three only were made use of." On one of these were written the words My Lord hath commanded me;' on another -My Lord hath forbidden me;' and the third was blank. If the arrow containing the first of these inscriptions was drawn, it was deemed an indication of the Divine approval of the enterprise concerning which the oracle had been resorted to the arrow containing the second inscription indicated the reverse of this; but if the blank one happened to be drawn, the arrows were mixed and thrown over again till a decisive answer was obtained by one of the others appear. ing twice out of the three throws." Though it is usually a most unsafe thing to differ with Sale, yet it is not easy to escape the suspicion that there is some slip in the account he thus gives. If three arrows only were used, how came there to be so many as seven ?
It is not sufficient to reply that seven was the perfect number, for we shall presently see that each of these seven arrows bore an inscription indicating that it was designed for actual Use in divination. Besides, in the case of 'Abdu'l-Muttalib, now under consideration, it is expressly said that six arrows were used, in pairs, it is true; but still six, and not
three.' Now, besides Hubal, there was an other idol at Tebâla which was much venerated among the Arabs and was used for exactly the same purposes as Hubal, and consulted by means of the wingless and unpointed arrows." It was called "Ziu'l-Khulusa.' This is the form given it by De Percival. It is also spelt by Arabian writers Zü'l-Khalusa, Za'l-Khalsa, Za'l-Khalasa, -this last being the form most commonly used. The form applied by De Percival
Sale, Prel. Diac. p. 90.
Burckhardt, Arabia vol. I, 300; De Percival, His. toire des Arabes, tome I, p. 250: Muir, Life of Mahomet, vol. 1, p. oclvi." Bale, Prel. Diac. pp. 14,90. Ibid.
" De Porcival, Histoire des Arabes, tome I, p. 261; Muir, Life of Mahomet, vol. I. p. cclvi.
De Percival, Histoire des Arabes, tome II, p. 310; D'Herbelat, Bibliothèque Orientale, Art. ACDAH ; Reinaud, Monumenta Mwalmánica, tome II, P 14.
to the idol is not very commonly so applied-it being not usual to prefix the relative pronoun to any but generic names. The most usual designation for the idol is. Al Khalasa,' and for the temple Ziu'l-Khala sa,'—the name being by some attributed to the fact that the tree called
Khalas' (a kind of clinging tree, like the vine) grew in the locality. The temple was also called 'Ka'bata'l. Yamama' or 'Al Ka'batu'l. Yamaniyya,' from its geographical position; and Al Ka'bata'sh-Shâmiyya,' because its door faced the north (Syria = Shâm). The temple belonged to several different tribes, among which were the Bani Khatha'm, the Bani Daus, and the Bani Bijila. This idol, Al Khala sa, was eventually demolished by command of Muhammad after his conquest of Makka." In consulting it three arrows only were used, on each of which was written one of the words
Command, Prohibition, Delay.' - The correspondence both in number and in sense, of these two sets of oracles, suggests the possibility that Sale may have overlooked the distinction between the two idols.
Among the pagans of pre-Islámite Arabia, there were ordinarily seven arrows used in consulting the oracle of Hubal. On these arrows were written certain fixed responses, from which some sort of oracle could be gathered in any matter whatever that might be referred to the idol. On each of the arrows of Habal was inscribed one of the following seven terms,
- The price of blood ;'Yes;' 'No;' It is yours;' Assistant;' 'Stranger;' Water. " The arrows were thrown into a bag, and drawn by an official of the Ka'ba specially charged with that duty, for which he received one hundred dirhams and a camel." The technical designation of this official was Sahib alAzlám or Sahib al-Qidah Master of the Arrows'
Master of Divination, or "The Diviner' par excellence). Generally speaking, the oracle was consulted before anything of moment was undertaken-domestic, commercial, political. As examples we may mention the circumcision of a lad, the fixing of a child's paternity, going
"Lane, Arabic Lexicon, p. 786, col. 2 (edn. Lond. 1868); Richardson, Persian and Arabic Dictionary, p. 589, col. 2 (edn. Johnson, Lond. 1859).
De Percival, Histoire des Arabes, tome II, p. 310; The Christian Remembrancer (Jan. 1856) p. 119; Dods, Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ, p. 82.
• Mtir, Life of Mahomet, vol. I, p. oclvi. so De Percival, Histoire des Arabes, tome I, p. 26.
Ibid.
Ibid.