"تاريخ أئمة وأسياد عُمان بقلم سليل ابن رزيق، من ٦٦١-١٨٥٦ م، مترجم من الأصل العربي، ومُحرّر بملاحظات وملاحق ومقدمة تواصل التاريخ حتى سنة ١٨٧٠، بقلم جورج بيرسي بادجر، عضو في الجمعية الجغرافية الملكية والقس الراحل في رئاسة بومباي." [‎٩‎٩] (٦١٢/٢٦٠)

the imams of 'oman.
99
Tracker in his stead. On Salim's return with the money the
Y^meny merchant had taken it from him^ and counting it
had found it all right. He then thanked the Imam and set
out for Maskat, many persons attached to the Imam escorting
him. On reaching Yemen he told the story to high and low,
and all praised the Imam, saying : " Glory to the upright
Imam ! there is none like him."
On the death of the Imam Sultan-bin-Seif great discussions
arose among the people of 'Oman, and party spirit ran very
high. The illiterate wished him to be succeeded by his
son Seif-bin-Sultan, then a boy, who had not attained to
puberty or to the age of discretion. The intelligent and
pious, on the other hand, were for giving the Imamate to
Muhenna-bin-Sultan, judging him fit for it and capable of
administering it; moreover, they did not see how he could
be kept out of the government. The Imamate of a child,
in their opinion, was not proper in any way: such an Imam
could not lead in prayer, how then could he preside over a
state, conduct the administration, have at his disposal the
wealth, and blood, and revenues of the country ? Neither
would it be lawful for him to be placed in charge of the
wealth of God [pious endowments], or the property of
orphans and absentees; for possessing no power over him
self, how could he exercise authority over others ? But
when the sheikh 'Adiy-bin-Suleiman, edz-Dzahly, saw the
bent of the people towards Seif-bin-Sultan, although he did
not concur in it, yet, fearing that a revolt might arise among
them, and that, armed as they were, blood might be shed,
he said, in order to appease and disperse them, " Seif-bin-
Sultan is your Amam" 1 Thereupon they proclaimed him
Imam, and a public salute was fired on the occasion. The
news was accordingly spread throughout 'Oman that
1 For the difference between the words Imdm and Amdm, see note 1,
p. 8.