14

According to the principles of Semitic noun formation, a maf'al forma­tion-i.e., a formation from a root with the preformative ma- -means the place where the action implied in the meaning of the root takes place. Thus, ma'dsh, from 'asha "to live," would mean "the place where one lives." However, this is certainly not the correct derivation of ma'ash.

This paragraph and other parts of this section have been translated [by H. Peres], in Bulletin des etudes arabes (Algiers), VII (1947), 9 f.

15

Cf. Issawi, pp. 78-80.

16

If this is how the name is to be read, it suggests the famous author of the Maqdmdt, al-Qasim b. 'Ali, 446-516 [1054/55-1122). Cf. GAL, I, 276 ff.; Suppl., I, 486 ff. However, the remark quoted cannot be found in his Maqamat (as de Slane recognized), nor in his lexicographical work, Durrat al ghawwas.

17

Cf. p. 327, below.

18

Apparently, a reference to pp. 19 H., above, in the third chapter. De Slane suggested 1:289 f. in Ch. II, above, but only because he misunderstood the last words of the sentence as "people who have to pay taxes."

19

Cf. n. 345 to Ch. 1, above, and p. 367, below. For his alleged cultural contributions, cf. A. J. Wensinck in El, s v. "Idris." However, the attribute "second father of mankind" is not usually applied to him.

20

This is not the case with gambling or robbery.