APPENDIX XII
Philip Askell Benton translation
THE CALENDAR
The names of the Arabic months, as given in Michell’s An Egyptian Calendar, and as transliterated from Kanuri mallams, differ somewhat.
Michell. Kanuri.
1. Moharrem. Muharam.
2. Safar. Shafur.
3. Rabia el-owwal. Rabi-il-lawal.
4. Rabia et-tani. Rabi-il-lahir
or
Rabi-it-tsani.
5. Gumad el-owwal. Jimad-al-lawal.
6. Gumad et-tani. Jimad-al-lahir
or
Jimad-at-tsani.
7. Regeb. Rajab.
8. Shaaban. Shaaban.
9. Ramadan. Ramadan.
10. Showwal. Shawal.
11. Zu’l-kaadeh. Zulgada.
12. Zu’l-heggeh. Zulhaji.
With regard to the year, the Liman says that A.D. 1912 is A.H. 1329 with a few days of 1330. Other mallams say that it is A.H. 1330 with a few days of 1331, and this reckoning agrees with Michell and with the Sudan Almanac published by the Egyptian Government. This discrepancy is explained by the following extract from Major Burdon’s notes on Sokoto in Historical Notes on Certain Emirates and Tribes, p. 61:
‘An extraordinary point in the reckoning of these Nigerian Mohammedans is that, while right in the day of the week, they are almost invariably wrong by a year and a day in the remaining part of any date. . . . The explanation given is that neither the year nor the day is counted until each is completed. It is a perfectly intelligible system, but the logical sequence to it would appear to be its application also to the days of the week.’
The names of the English months are transliterated as follows:
Yunair.
Fabrair.
Maris.
Ibril.
Mayu.
Yunihi.
Yulihi.
Awgustus.
Sabtumbir.
Aktumbir.
Nufambir.
Duyusambir.
To convert approximately a date of the Hejira to that of the Christian era, add to the former 622 and subtract from the sum three years for every century of the Mohammedan date; e.g. to convert A.H. 1318 to A.D., 1318 + 622 = 1940: − (13 × 3) = 1901 (and part of 1900). And inversely, A.D. 1900 = 1900 − 622 = 1278: + 39 = 1317 A.H. (and part of 1318).
Meaning of the Names of the Arabic Months (from Michell).
1. Moharrem = the Forbidden, called Moharrem el-haram (the sacred). One of the four months of truce, in which all acts of hostility were strictly forbidden among the Arab tribes. It is considered unlucky to make a marriage contract in Moharrem.
In Bornu ‘Moharrem’ villages were those which were forbidden to be taxed, i.e. excused from the general tax. They were squeezed by a Court favourite instead.
2. Safar, derivation, according to Fresnel quoted by Lane, from Sifar = empty, either because their granaries being empty, the Arabs used to travel to procure grain; or because they went on predatory expeditions, leaving their homes empty; or because they left Mecca empty. The fairs in Yemen used to be called Safarieh (vid. Masudi and Lane’s Arabic Dictionary). This month is called Safar el-Muzaffer (the auspicious); and also sometimes Nezlet el-Hagg (the descent or alighting of the pilgrims), because the Mecca pilgrims begin to return to Egypt towards the end of Safar.
(Mallam Zakaria of Maiduguri derives it from an Arabic word ‘safar’, I travel, because it is the travelling month; cf. Swahili ‘safari’ = a hunting expedition?)
3. Rabia el-owwal = the first Rabia. ‘Rabi’ expresses verdure and spring rains.
4. Rabia et-tani or el-akher = the second or last Rabia.
5. Gumad el-owwal = the first Gumad. Generally derived from ‘Gamada’, dryness or hardness, as applied to the earth after the cessation of the rains of the preceding spring months (cf. Kanuri ‘ngamdu’ = dry, lean).
6. Gumad et-tani or el-akher = the second or last Gumad.
7. Regeb, one of the four months of truce. The Prophet commended prayer and fasting in this month.
8. Shaaban, probably so called because the Arabs were wont, after the peace of Rejeb, to separate (‘Shaab’) on marauding expeditions, and also to seek water, this month originally falling in the great heat of June and July (vid. Lane’s Dictionary).
9. Ramadan = intense heat. The fasting month. The eve of Ramadan is called ‘Leylet er-Ruyeh’, the night of observation, because men are appointed to watch for the new moon, and then give evidence at the Court of the Kadi.
10. Showwal, so called, not as Lane tells us (Arab. Dict.), because it is the breeding season of camels (from ‘showwal’, to raise the tail), but the season when the she-camels, being seven or eight months gone with young, raise their tails (camels generally couple in the winter). Or, possibly, the word refers to a deficiency of the camel’s milk in the season of great heat.
11. Zu’l-kaadeh = the possessor or holder of truce or abstention. One of the four months of truce. Lane explains it as the month in which the Arabs broke in their young camels (‘el-kaadat’) for riding.
12. Zu’l-heggeh. The month of pilgrimage. One of the four months of truce.