The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page ciii
GENERAL INTRODUCTION this. The eighth son was Hadar after whom we have the famous town Hudaida in Yemen. The ninth son was Tema. From Najd to the Hijāz the territory is called Tema and it is all peopled by the descendants of Tema. In fact they seem to have spread right up to the Persian Gulf. The tenth son was Jetur (Arabic Yaṭūr). The Jeturs can also be traced in Arabia and are known as Jedurs. The sounds "j" and "y" often interchange, as do "t" and "d". The eleventh son was Naphish, and Forster thinks that the authority of Josephus and the Old Testament supports the view that the descendants of Naphish lived in the wilds of Arabia. The twelfth son was Kedemah. The habitation of the descendants of Kedemah is known to lie, according to the famous geographer, Mas'ūdī, in Yemen. The tribe known as Aṣḥābur-Rass and mentioned also in the Quran are descendants of Ishmael, and they were two tribes, one called Kedemah and the other Yamin. According to some authorities the second one was called Ra'wil, not Yamin. Historical and geographical evidence, therefore, shows that the descendants of Abraham have lived in Arabia. All of them held Mecca and the Ka'bah in great reverence, and from this it appears that Ishmael first settled in Mecca, and this is the part which, according to both Arab and Old Testament records, is called Paran (or Arabic Fārān). The testimony of the revelation of Isaiah (21:13-17) supports the same view: The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim. The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled. For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail: And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it. This prophetic passage is a picture of the Battle of Badr which took place about a year after the Holy Prophet's migration from Mecca to Medina. In this battle the sons of Kedar, the people of Mecca and the territories around, suffered a grievous defeat at the hands of Muslims. Unable to withstand the fierceness of Muslim swordsmen and archers, the Meccans sustained a disgraceful defeat. Mark the words with which the passage begins: "The burden upon Arabia". Herein Tema and Kedar are respectively spoken of as an Arabian territory and an Arabian tribe. According to this text, revealed 714 lxxvii