Note 201 — THE BOOK OF THE MESNEVĪ (continued 2)

’Bū is often used as a contraction for Abū. Abū-Jahl (Father of Ignorance) was a nickname (see Tale iv. dist. 48, note) given by Muhammed to ‘Amr, son of Hishām, a chief of the Quraysh, his bitter enemy, formerly entitled Abū-’l-Hakem (Father of the Arbitrator). He was killed, a pagan, in the battle of Badr, in the second year of the Hijra, A.D. 624.