'File 14/115 VII Annex (B 9) Abu Musa oxide: collected background material on the case' [‎84r] (178/1904)

35
mean acceptance or compliance per force, as, e.g., a man imprisoned accepts ( Joi) his
laws, bat a free man exercises when he accepts a favour, a gift, &c.
signifies acceptance with complete obedience, but also with assent.
(U ^11 C/. « Qatr-el-Muhit."
The obvious meaning of the sentence therefore is :
The desire to nullify or repeal this (verbal) is better than (preferable to)
an assent thereto."
Respectfully submitted.
R ev . JOHN van ESS, M.A.,
Mission.
Annex 38.
In the letter of Abdellatif to Hassan Samaih, of 8, Dulhidje, 1324 (23rd January,
1907), the following passage occurs:—
< uj W ^ jiJ-iJjUUll tub JlkxLsl (istibtal hadihi 'Imuqawale chair min idjabethu).
The first word JlkOwd does not appear in the dictionaries; but according to the
analogy of such formations it can only be translated : " the wish (or endeavour) to
bring about an annulling " (the annulling itself would be (tabtil) or J^ 1 ' (ibtal),
see, e.g., Hava, Arabic-English Dictionary, Beirut, Catholic Press, 1899, p. 36 :
" Jk'u jL to annul, to cancel [a deed] ").
The last word (idjabethu) can on account of the masculine pronoun
only refer to one of two preceding words :
1. " My son Isa," or the "he" in the subordinate clause referring to "my son
Isa " : " for he apprehends difficulties from the participation of foreigners in this
business."
2. " The German."
It cannot refer to Isa, because that would have no meaning. So that the in
idjabethu can only refer to the German, and that makes sense; for 1 (adjab) (with
accusative of the person) signifies : " to answer someone, to agree with someone, to
comply with the wish of someone." The meaning of the sentence is therefore ; "
better to aim at the annulment of this agreement
wishes"
The opinion of the missionary van Ess on the passage agrees with mine in regard
to JlkuU (istibtal). He does not explain the word j JL j U-I (idjabethu), but alters Tt to
lyjuU-' (idjabetha).
The view that the wrong pronoun (masculine instead of feminine) is used here, as
happens not unfrequently in these documents, and that it is justifiable to substitute the
"right" pronoun, is erroneous, for the reason that after the verb (adjab),the
accusative, which here appears as an affixed pronoun, can only denote a and not
a thing; but if the word were (idjabetha), the reference would be to a thino - ,
viz., the ZJjliLc (muqawale: "agreement"). The translation "an assent thereto" is
incorrect.
Prof. Dr . MARTIN HARTMANN,
Hermsdorff, near Berlin, November 20, 1909.
[2574 c~l]
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