ABSTRACT
In order to follow out the desires after novel things already conceived in our minds we departed from that place, taking our way towards another city, distant two days’ journey, which is called Almacarana,3 and is situated on the top of a
1 That is, the northerners were Sunnis, and the southerners Shids, or more probably Zaidis, the followers o f Zaid, son o f Ali, surnamed Zain el-’Abidin, which sect was very numerous in Yemen, and comprised the person and family o f the Im&m. They held with the Shias that Ali was unjustly superseded in the Khalifate by Abubekr, ’Omar, and ’Othm&n, and are represented as having no respect for the Twelve Im&ms, and for omitting all mention o f the saints in their devotions. These were the more salient points o f antagonism between them and the Sunnis, which frequently led to bloody feuds. There were other differences of a more abstruse character respecting the Divine decrees, free will, and human responsibility. (See S a l e ’ sPreliminary Discourse to the Kordn, p. 233, N i e b u h r , Voy. en Arabie, vol. iii. pp. 17, 18, and D ’ H e b b e l o t , sub voce Zeidiah, vol. iii. p. 734.)
a More correctly Damt, Niebuhr’s orthography is worse than Yar thema’s : he writes it “ Dimne,” and describes it as a “ bourg h foire au sud de mont Maharras,” which mountain he says is very high and steep. It appears to have been an important stronghold, and will be found mentioned in the succeeding note.
