some water for ablution.'

Solmy narrates: After she had washed herself so beautifully as I had never before seen anyone doing it so well, she asked for clean garments and donned them. Then she ordered me to spread out her couch, whereon she reclined, turned with her right side to the Qiblah, and, placing her right hand beneath her face, she said: "Solmy, I shall this moment depart from the abode of perishableness to the mansions of eternity, and I have washed myself that no one may undress me." When she had uttered these words, her spirit took flight to the upper regions.' Shortly afterwards A'li the Commander of the Faithful-b., etc.-entered, and, witnessing the scene, poured forth tears from the clouds of his eyes. This event is, according to the Raudzatu-l-âhbab, described in the same manner by Muhammad B. Sa'd and the amanuensis in his Ttabaqât; but if it be true, it must be considered as one of the peculiarities of Fattimah-A. r. h.-because it is against the commandments of the doctors of the law [to omit the ablution of a corpse].

In the Kashafu-l-ghummah it is related that Betûl Zohrâ— s. t. h.-when she was near her death, called Asmâ the daughter of O'mys, and said: Asmâ, one day Jebrâils. t. h.-paid a visit to my father when he was sick, and brought him some camphor of paradise for his Hanûtt.474 My father divided it into three parts. Keeping one for himself and giving the other two to me, he said: "Preserve the one share for yourself, and the other for A'li Murtadza.” Asma, that camphor, which weighs forty mithqâls, I have laid by in a certain place. The twenty mithqâls which belong to me you are to put near my head; but give the other twenty to the lord A'li Murtadza.' When Asmâ had done this, Fattimah-s. t. h.-said: 'Go out and leave me alone. Call out my name after a short time: if I answer, it is all well and good; but if I remain silent, be aware that I have departed to my noble father.' Asmâ obeyed, and shortly afterwards called out: 'O daughter of Muhammad the elect!' but received no answer. She there474 Any aroma or perfume intended for a corpse.

fore again entered the apartment, and, removing the veil from the countenance of the princess of women, she perceived that her soul had departed from the abode of grief to the palace of joy. Then she prostrated herself, approached, and kissed her, saying: 'O Betûl, when you arrive in the paradise of your father, convey to him my greeting and petition.' On that occasion the lord and Emâm Hasan entered with the Emâm Husayn-b., etc.and asked: ‘Asmâ, is our mother asleep?' Asmâ replied: 'Your mother is not asleep, but has departed to the proximity of the mercy of the Lord of lords.' Hereon both commenced to weep and to lament, and proceeded to the mosque of the Arabian prophet for the purpose of informing A'li Murtadza-b., etc.-of the event. When they had reached the vicinity of that blessed locality their voices of lamentation became very loud, so that some of the companions who were sitting there with A'li exclaimed: 'What makes you cry, O [grand] sons of the prophet of God? Allah forfend that you should weep!' Then they related what had taken place, and the lion of attack-b., etc.—was so overpowered by grief that he fell prostrate on his face, and uttered the following words: 'O daughter of the prophet of God, after his lordship's death you were my consolation; but who will calm the pain of endless separation and of infinite exile when you are no more?' Then he pronounced the following two distichs:

Each meeting of two friends has an end,
Every grief is slight, except separation;
If I have lost Fattimah after Ahmad,
It is a sign that no friend remains.

Then the king and refuge of dominion [i.e., Ali] hastened to the apartment of Ttâherah,475 and ordered Asmâ to wash and to shroud the princess of the women of both worlds, and interred her body in the Baqyi' cemetery. The author of the Kashafu-l-ghummah says: 'Ebn Babuyah-A. h. m. o. h.-reports the matter as follows, and I consider him to be correct: She was buried in her own house, but when 475 Literally, 'the pure one,' i.e., Fattimah.

the [graves of the] Ommyades increased in the mosque her body was [likewise] interred in the same, and in what I have reported I have only stated what is known and generally believed by the people, by historians and biographers, that, as stated above, she had been interred in the Baqyi' cemetery.'

It is related in the Raudzatu-l-ahbab that according to one tradition A'li Murtadza, and according to another A'bbâs-A. r. t.-prayed over the corpse of Fattimah. The next day the two Sheikhs-A. r. t.—and all the companions of the best of men, reproached Hayder [the Lion, i.e., A'li] the Commander of the Faithful, saying: 'Why have you not informed us, that, by being present at the honour of the prayers over Fattimah, we might ourselves have been honoured?' But the king of dominion answered: 'I have acted thus by her own injunction.'

In the Raudzatu-sh-shahda [mausoleum of martyrs] it is recorded that according to the tradition of the Ahlu-l-beyt [members of the family] the death of Fattimah, the daughter of the prince of existences, took place on Tuesday, the third day of the blessed month Ramadzân, in the eleventh year of the exile [A.D. 632], and that she was buried in the Raudzat-maqadasat [sacred mausoleum].

The author of the present work states that some who wrote down the traditions concerning the members of the family assert that Zohrâ died seventy-five days after the prince of mortals; others, however, say forty days. The Kashafu-l-ghummah has a tradition from the DhariatTtâharat, the author of which is Dullaby, that Zohrâ lived three months after the decease of the Mussttafa-b., etc.and the number of days given by the Emâm Muhammad Albâqer is ninety-five. None of these traditions, however, imply that this great calamity had taken place on the third day of the blessed month Ramadzan, because in reality the death of the daughter of the prince of existences took place at the end of the month Ssafar, or in the beginning of Rabi' anterior in the same year; the [true] knowledge, however, is with God, who is to be adored.

In the Tanfyh of Ebn Jauzy it is recorded that Fattimah Zohrâ—s. t. h.-had four children, namely, the Emâms Hasan and Husayn, Zaynab, and Omm Kalthum. Zaynab was married to A'bdullah, the son of Ja'fer TtayyârA. r. t.—and gave birth to two sons, O'beydullah and A'wun. Faruq the greater [i.c., the Khalifah O'mar] espoused Omm Kalthûm during his own reign, and begat with her a son, Zayd by name. After the demise of O'mar the Commander of the Faithful-A. r. h.-A'wun, the son of Ja'fer, married her, and after he had also died Muhammad, another son of Ja'fer, married her, and had a daughter by her. When Muhammad had likewise departed to the eternal world, A'bdullah, yet another son of Ja'fer, married Omm Kalthûm and she died in his house.

According to a tradition of Ebn Esahaq and Lyth B. Sa'd, Fattimah-s. t. h.-had two other children, namely, Hasan and Raqyah, both of whom died in infancy. It is recorded in the Raudzatu-l-ahbab that neither Zaynab nor Omm Kalthum left any offspring at all, and that therefore the descendants of the seal of prophets are all the progeny of the Emâms Hasan and Husayn-salutation to our prophet and to both of them, as well as to all the pure Emâms our guides, the Khalifahs and directors; abundant and consecutive salutations to them till the day of the resurrection.

NAMES OF THE AMANUENSES OF THE SEAL OF PROPHECY

B.,

ETC.

In the Raudzatu-l-áhbâb it is recorded that the amanuenses of the prophet-b., etc.-were four in number, as follows: A'li B. Abu T'tâleb, and O'thmân B. U'ffân, and Abu B. Ka'b, and Zayd B. Thâbet. The arrangement was that O'thmân the Commander of the Faithful and the king of men [i.e., Ali] used to write, and that any errors committed by them were rectified by Abu B. Ka'b when arranging the verses [of the Qurân]. When none of the four men were present in the august assembly, any companion who happened to be near wrote [from the dictation

of the prophet]. Zobayr B. Ala'wwâm and Jahym B. Assillat-A. r. t.-were appointed to keep accounts of the goods of the Ssadaqât,476 always writing down also when the Dzakât was received, and for what purpose it was expended. Khodyfah B. Alymân registered contingent receipts, Moghyrah B. Sha'bah and Hussyn B. Nomyr were appointed to note down business transactions, while A'bdullah B. Arqum kept correspondence with kings, and the king of saints [A'li] wrote treaties of peace. The names of all the writers of the prophet of the last times are contained in voluminous books, but the author omits to enumerate them, for fear of incurring the charge of prolixity.

THE ALMS-GATHERERS OF THE PRINCE OF EXISTENCES

-B., ETC.

In the Raudzatu-l-âhbâb it is recorded that A'bdu-rrahman B. A'wuf was the alms-gatherer among the Bani Kalab, A'bdy B. Hâtum among the Ttay, O'tbyah B. Hassan among the Qorârah, Ayâs B. Qays among the Bani Asad, Wolyd B. A'qbah among the Mossttalaq, Hâreth B. A'wuf Morry among the Bani Morrah, Masu'd B. Rahyl among the Ashja', the O'ttfân and the Bani A'ys, A'jum B. Ssofyân among the A'drah, the Sollamân and the Jahanyah, A'bbâs Mordâs among the Bani Salym, Wolyd B. Alhajab among the tribe Wârum, A'amer B. Mâlek B. Jajer among the Bani A'amer B. Ssa'ssa'h, Sa'd B. Mâlek and A'wuf B. Mâleku-n-nadzry and Dhohâk B. Sofyân Kallaby among the Bani Kallab.

SERVANTS OF THE BEST OF MEN-B., ETC.

In the Raudzatu-l-ahbdb it is recorded that biographical works enumerate twenty-seven men and eleven women as the servants of the best of men- b., etc.

Of the male attendants one was Anis B. Mâlek-A. r. h. -who waited on that prince during ten years. Another 476 Ssadaqat are the voluntary, and Dzakât the legal, indispensable alms.