a. They are descendants of Japheth, son of Noah, whose progeny also includes Gog and Magog; they are therefore their paternal cousins. b. They are descended from the sons of Qantūrā, a bondwoman of Abraham (peace and blessings be upon him), who bore him children from whose descendants came the Turks and the Chinese. c. It is also said that they are descendants of Tubba. d. Another view holds that they are descendants of Afrīdūn, son of Shem, son of Noah. Their lands are called Turkistān, extending from the eastern reaches of Khurasan to western China, and from northern India to the furthest inhabited regions. See *al-Nihāya fī Gharīb al-Hadīth*, vol. 4, p. 113; *Tartīb al-Qāmūs al-Muhīt*, vol. 3, p. 700; *Maālim al-Sunan*, vol. 6, p. 68; *Mujam al-Buldān*, vol. 2, p. 23; *al-Nihāya: al-Fitan wa-l-Malāhim*, vol. 1, p. 153, edited by Dr. Tāhā Zaynī; *Fath al-Bārī*, vol. 6, pp. 104 and 608; *al-Ishāa*, p. 35; and *al-Idhāa*, p. 82. (1) *Al-majānn* means “shields” and is the plural of *mijann*. The initial mīm is an added letter, since the word derives from *junna*, meaning a covering. See *al-Nihāya fī Gharīb al-Hadīth*, vol. 4, p. 301. (2) The phrase *al-majānn al-mutraqa* refers to shields overlaid with *tāriq*, the leather covering them. The expression *tāraqa al-nal* means to make a sandal layer upon layer, placing one layer over another. Their broad faces and prominent cheekbones are thus likened to shields clad in layers of leather. See *al-Nihāya fī Gharīb al-Hadīth*, vol. 3, p. 122; and *Sharh al-Nawawī li-Muslim*, vol. 18, pp. 36–37. (3) *Sahīh Muslim*, Book of Tribulations and Portents of the Hour, vol. 18, p. 37, with al-Nawawī’s commentary.