etymology, without, at the same time, supposing that the Arabs called themselves _robbers_; because, in fact, the Arabs known to the Greeks and Latins by the denomination of _Sarrasins_ (Saracens), did not give themselves that name at all, but received it from the neighbouring tribes, who may very well have termed them _brigands_. This objection has no more force against those who derive the name of _Sarrasins_, _Saracens_, _Saraceni_, from _sharki_, or _sharaki_, that is, _eastern_. If this latter be the true origin of the name, it is beyond a doubt that it was first given to some Arabs, by nations inhabiting a more western country, and that it might afterwards have been applied to the greater part of the nation. As, according to either hypothesis, the word _Sarrasins_ (_Saracens_), will have an Arabian origin, there will be some probability in supposing, that this denomination, which succeeded that of the _Scenites_, was first given to the Nomade Arabs by the civilized tribes settled in the north-east of Arabia, and who recognised the Roman authority. In either case, if these etymologies appear too forced, I should prefer confessing, that we are ignorant of the origin of the word, than deriving it from an expression which is in no respect proper to characterize the Arabian nation. I shall conclude, by observing, as I did in my Memoir, that, perhaps, the word _Hashishin_, or _Hashashin_, for both are used, did not properly designate all the Ismailites, but was peculiarly applied to those who were destined to the Assassin service, and who were also known by the name of Fedawi (or _devoted_). “I have not, up to this day,” I said, at the conclusion of my Memoir, “met with a sufficient number of passages in which this word is employed, to hazard a decided opinion on the subject; but I am led to believe, that among the Ismailites, those only were termed _Hashishin_, who were specially educated to commit murder, and who were, by the use of the _Hashish_, disposed to an absolute resignation to the will of their chief; this, however, may not have prevented the denomination from being applied to Ismailites collectively, especially among the Occidentals.” Accept, &c. &c. SYLVESTRE DE SACY. THE END. FOOTNOTES: [1] Maracci Prodromus Alcorani Patavii, 1698. [2] Gagnier Vita Mohammedis ex Abulfeda Oxonii, 1723. [3] Sale’s Koran, London, 1734. [4] Essai sur les Mœurs et l’Esprit des Nations, par Voltaire, tom. 2, Chap. 6. [5] The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Gibbon, chap. 50. [6] Vier und Zwanzig Bücher Allgemeine Geschichten, durch Johannes von Müller, 12 buch, 2 kap. [7] Ikra-bi-ismi reblike, _read in the name of the Lord_. The commencement of the first published Sura, the 90th in the present arrangement. [8] This fact is not related by Aboulfaraj alone, but also by Macrisi and Ibn Khaledun, and after them by Hadji Khalfa. [9] Abulfeda, Annales Moslemici, I. 282. [10] Abulfeda, Annales Moslemici, I. 314.