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the peoples of India and Cathay (1), the Nabataeans (2), and the Chaldeans and Kushdānians (3). Hence Abraham, the Close Friend of Allah, said:
“O my people, I disavow whatever you associate with Allah.”
[Surah al-Anām: 77]
He also said:
“Have you considered what you have been worshipping—you and your forefathers of old? They are enemies to me, except the Lord of all worlds.”
[Surah al-Shu‘arā: 75–77]
And there are other similar statements.
Moreover, in Arabic, afūl means disappearing from view and becoming hidden; it does not mean motion or change of place (4).
(1) The term “Cathay” sometimes refers to China as a whole and sometimes specifically to northern China. It is also used for the Cathayan tribes that inhabited northern China and migrated from their homeland during the sixth century AH to western Turkestan, where they established the state known as the Qara Khitai kingdom. See: Rashīd al-Dīn al-Hamadhānī, *Jāmi al-Tawārīkh*, vol. 2, 1/109–121, al-Halabī edition, 1960; Fuād Abd al-Mutī al-Sayyād, *al-Mughūl fī al-Tārīkh*, pp. [0–9], 29–33; *Encyclopaedia Britannica*, s.v. “Cathay.”
(2) *Lisān al-Arab* states: “The forms *al-Nabīt* and *al-Nabat* follow the same pattern as *al-Habīsh* and *al-Habash*: they are a people who inhabit the Sawād. *Al-Muhkam* states that they inhabit the Sawād of Iraq and are the Nabataeans. *Al-Sihāh* states that they inhabit the marshlands between the two Iraqs.” Ahmad Atiyyat Allāh states in *al-Qāmūs al-Islāmī*, under the entry “Anbāt”: “The Anbāt, or Nabat, were an ancient Arab people who inhabited the desert region extending from the Sinai Peninsula to Hawrān. The Nabataeans possessed a civilization whose surviving remains may still be seen in the ruins of Petra. At the advent of Islam, remnants of the Nabataeans remained and had intermingled with other peoples of the region, such as the Syriacs and Aramaeans. The Nabataeans had their own writing system, known as the Nabataean script, which resembles the Himyarite script.”
(3) The two words “Chaldeans” and “Kushdānians” appear in corrupted forms in N. There were also other peoples besides these.
(4) *Lisān al-Arab* states: “*Afala* means ‘to disappear.’ The expression *afalat al-shams*, whose imperfect form has either an *i*- or *u*-vowel on the *f*, has the verbal nouns *aflan* and *ufūlan* and means ‘the sun set.’”
الْهِنْدِ وَالْخَطَا
(١)
وَالنَّبَطِ
(٢)
وَالْكَلْدَانِيِّينَ وَالْكُشْدَانِيِّينَ
(٣)
وَلِهَذَا قَالَ الْخَلِيلُ:
{يَاقَوْمِ إِنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِمَّا تُشْرِكُونَ}
[سُورَةُ الْأَنْعَامِ: ٧٧]
وَقَالَ:
{أَفَرَأَيْتُمْ مَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْبُدُونَ - أَنْتُمْ وَآبَاؤُكُمُ الْأَقْدَمُونَ - فَإِنَّهُمْ عَدُوٌّ لِي إِلَّا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ}
[سُورَةُ الشُّعَرَاءِ: ٧٥ - ٧٧]
، وَأَمْثَالُ ذَلِكَ.
وَأَيْضًا، فَالْأُفُولُ فِي لُغَةِ الْعَرَبِ هُوَ الْمَغِيبُ وَالِاحْتِجَابُ، لَيْسَ هُوَ الْحَرَكَةَ وَالِانْتِقَالَ
(٤)
.
(١) يُطْلَقُ لَفْظُ الْخَطَا أَحْيَانًا عَلَى الصِّينِ بِعَامَّةٍ، وَأَحْيَانًا عَلَى الصِّينِ الشَّمَالِيَّةِ بِخَاصَّةٍ، وَيُطْلَقُ تَارَةً عَلَى قَبَائِلِ الْخَطَا الَّتِي كَانَتْ تَعِيشُ فِي شَمَالِ الصِّينِ وَالَّتِي نَزَحَتْ مِنْ مَوْطِنِهَا فِي الْقَرْنِ السَّادِسِ الْهِجْرِيِّ إِلَى غَرْبِ إِقْلِيمِ التُّرْكِسْتَانِ حَيْثُ كَوَّنُوا دَوْلَةً عُرِفَتْ بِمَمْلَكَةِ الْقَرَاخَطَائِيِّينَ. انْظُرْ: جَامِعَ التَّوَارِيخِ لِرَشِيدِ الدِّينِ الْهَمَذَانِيِّ، الْمُجَلَّدُ الثَّانِي، ١/١٠٩ - ١٢١، ط. الْحَلَبِيِّ، ١٩٦٠ ; الْمَغُولَ فِي التَّارِيخِ لِلدُّكْتُورِ فُؤَاد عَبْد الْمُعْطِي الصَّيَّاد، ص [٠ - ٩] ، ٢٩ - ٣٣، ; دَائِرَةِ الْمَعَارِفِ الْبِرِيطَانِيَّةِ مَادَّةَ cathay
(٢) فِي اللِّسَانِ: " النَّبِيطُ وَالنَّبَطُ كَالْحَبِيشِ وَالْحَبَشِ فِي التَّقْدِيرِ: جِيلٌ يَنْزِلُونَ السَّوَادَ، وَفِي الْمُحْكَمِ يَنْزِلُونَ سَوَادَ الْعِرَاقِ وَهُمُ الْأَنْبَاطُ. وَفِي الصِّحَاحِ: يَنْزِلُونَ الْبَطَائِحَ بَيْنَ الْعِرَاقَيْنِ ". وَذَكَرَ الْأُسْتَاذُ أَحْمَد عَطِيَّة اللَّه فِي " الْقَامُوسِ الْإِسْلَامِيِّ " مَادَّةَ: " أَنْبَاطَ " أَنْبَاطٌ أَوْ نَبَطٌ: شَعْبٌ عَرَبِيٌّ قَدِيمٌ كَانَ يَعِيشُ فِي الْإِقْلِيمِ الصَّحَرَاوِيِّ الَّذِي يَمْتَدُّ مَا بَيْنَ شِبْهِ جَزِيرَةِ سَيْنَاءَ وَحَوْرَانَ. . وَكَانَ لِلْأَنْبَاطِ حَضَارَةٌ مَازَالَتْ آثَارُهَا تَتَمَثَّلُ فِي أَطْلَالِ مَدِينَةِ بَطْرَا أَوِ الْبَتْرَاءِ. . وَعِنْدَ ظُهُورِ الْإِسْلَامِ كَانَتْ هُنَاكَ بَقَايَا مِنَ الْأَنْبَاطِ اخْتَلَطَتْ بِغَيْرِهَا مِنْ شُعُوبِ الْمِنْطَقَةِ كَالسُّرْيَانِ وَالْأَرَامِيِّينَ وَلِلْأَنْبَاطِ كِتَابَةٌ خَاصَّةٌ تُعْرَفُ بِالْخَطِّ النَّبَطِيِّ وَهُوَ يُشْبِهُ الْخَطَّ الْحِمْيَرِيِّ "
(٣) ذُكِرَتْ كَلِمَتَا: " الْكَلْدَانِيِّينَ وَالْكُشْد َانِيِّينَ " مُحَرَّفَتَيْنِ فِي (ن) . وَغَيْرِ هَؤُلَاءِ.
(٤) فِي اللِّسَانِ: " أَفَلَ أَيْ: غَابَ، وَأَفَلَتِ الشَّمْسُ تَأْفُلُ (بِكَسْرِ الْفَاءِ وَضَمِّهَا) أَفْلًا وَأُفُولًا: غَرَبَتْ ".