Page 23 - Arabian Studies (II)

Oath-taking and Vows in Oman 13
one has yet confessed to me in regard to it [w-el-dd chad la
SewgebJs hayni]. Then I made a vow to Bin Hud to slaughter a
she-goat for him [cjayreh, viz. on his account, or over his tomb, at
his tomb], and to* satisfy the hunger of twenty people there, if
“you will cause someone to confess to me about my camel”.
[After making the vow] I went to sleep and at midnight I was
wakened by a man who roused me from my dozing. I got up and
asked him what he wanted. He said: “My brother, it was I who
stole your camel, and Bin Hud has just appeared to me with his
walking stick,7 and warned me”.’
He said: ‘I am b. Hud and unless you confess about so-and-so’s
camel, I shall make something strange appear in you.’8
The man whose camel had been stolen said: ‘Indeed it is true
that b. Hud has miraculous power [belt bdynet ] .’9
One of the men on the boat then said: ‘And did you give him
anything? Did you make an offering to b. Hud?’ He said: ‘No.’
[The other] said: ‘What did you say when you made your vow to
b. Hud?’
He said: ‘I said “I vowed to God and to b. Hud if there were in
him aught of power or miracle and he could manifest miracles, that ‘I
shall slaughter for you a she-goat and I shall satisfy the hunger of
twenty people, if you make (someone) confess about my camel’ ”.
Well you did make someone confess and I believed this to be true.
All the people heard and they all believed that b. Hud could
perform miracles, and from that time forth they all visited him
(viz. his tomb). One person would slaughter goats for him;
another, if his wife had not conceived, would make a vow for his
wife’s conception, and b. Hud would manifest miracles. All the
people knew him and he became famous by God’s will; the Lord
granted him barakah and the people regarded it [the tomb] as if it
were a great temple [mabed sox].’
One [of those on the boat] said: ‘Well come on, we ought to
make a vow to him then.’ The men got up and made a vow. One
vowed to b. Hud that [if he were delivered] he would put a sack
of rice for him and a basket of dates and slaughter a she-goat for
him.10 Another vowed to give him a bolt of white cloth, two
garments and an indigo-dyed costume [sebayget]. One vowed to
lay out for him a tin of (ghaz) paraffin for a lamp and that he would
clothe the people who looked after him1 0 ‘if we get away and reach
our fellow-tribesmen’. i i
When we finished this, the wind-storm ceased and we travelled
on. The water withdrew from the boat exactly as if someone had
swept it away from it. When we arrived the people hauled the boat
ashore and they found a turban stuffed into the hole where the
boat had sprung a leak. That is what I say and the words are true.
The people thought and thought who might have put in the
turban. The people who had been on the boat swore that none of