Note 62 — NUR AL-DIN ALI AND THE DAMSEL ANIS AL-JALIS

Arab. Ammá ba'ad (or Wa ba'ad), an initiatory formula attributed to Koss ibn Sa'idat al-Iyadi, bishop of Najrán (the town in Al-Yaman which D'Herbelot calls Negiran and a famous preacher in Mohammed's day) hence "more eloquent than Koss" (Maydáni, Arab. Prov., 189). He was the first who addressed letters with the incept, "from A. to B."; and the first who preached from a pulpit and who leant on a sword or a staff when discoursing. Many Moslems date Ammá ba'ad from the Prophet David, relying upon a passage of the Koran (xxxviii. 19).