ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2329 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2329 ************************************ 19 Jul 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a 11th-13th century Syrian man, whether is an appropriate element to add to his name, and how your Society title "Lord" can be translated to Arabic. You also asked us to evaluate the heraldic insignia you chose. Here is what we have found. was a companion of Mohammed [1]. The period in the name represents a dot under the preceding letter, a convention of some systems for transliterating Arabic emphatic consonants. We haven't found other examples of this name, so we can't recommend it as the best re-creation; but it is plausible to assume that it could have been used in an Islamic culture after 800 AD. was pronounced \S.OO-heyb\. \S.\ indicates an Arabic emphatic \S\; it's different from an ordinary \S\, but it's difficult to describe how. If you can ask an Arabic speaker to demonstrate, that would be best. \OO\ is pronounced as in and \ey\ is pronounced like the word . (using a consistent transliteration) is an excellent choice [2]. It is pronounced \H.OO-seyn\, with an emphatic \H\. is a very poor transliteration of a phrase better represented <'Abd al-> "servant of the"; it is commonly combined with an attributed of Allah to form a "laqab" i.e. devotional byname. The apostrophe indicates a glottal stop at the beginning of the first word; a glottal stop is the sound in the middle of . The laqab <'Abd al-H.aqq> "Servant of the truth" is a fine choice; we have found several period examples [3]: Ibn 'At.iyah, 'Abd al-H.aqq ibn Ghalib, d. ca. 1147 Ibn Sab'in, 'Abd al-H.aqq ibn Ibrahim, c.1216-1270 'Abd al-Mu'min ibn 'Abd al-H.aqq, S.afi al-Din, 1260-1338 'Abd al-H.aqq ibn Sayf al-Din Dihlavi, 1551-1642 The name was pronounced \'ahbdahl-H.AHK\. The final \K\ is pronounced at the back of the mouth. Our research suggests that a man would have been known by his 'ism (given name) or his lakab (devotional byname), but never by both. <'Abd al-H.aqq ibn H.usayn> would be an excellent choice. is less well supported, but is a plausible name for your period. The best Arabic translation of the Society's title "Lord" is , pronounced \sah-yeed\ [4]. It is correct to place it in front of your name. The heraldic design you described is "Vert, on a fess argent a pomme", and it's a fine choice for the medieval Middle East. It is consistent with a style of heraldry used in Egypt and Syria from the late 12th century to the early 16th [5, 6]. Armory in this style was typically divided horizontally into three sections, each of which could be separately charged. Charges originally symbolized offices held by the armiger; some of the common charges were: cup (cup-bearer) penbox (the charge was highly stylized; secretary) sword (armor-bearer) bow (bowman) ewer (superintendent of stores) napkin (stylized as a square oriented point-up; master of the robes) pair of polo sticks (polo master) round table (stylized as a roundel; taster) banners (highly stylied; standard-bearer) trumpet (trumpeter) shoe (shoe-bearer) axe (axe-bearer) Other charges includes a hexafoil, a fleur-de-lys, and a crescent. Many of these charges were drawn quite differently in this Middle Eastern heraldry than they were in western European arms. We therefore recommend you get a copy of the article that is reference [5], or the book [6], as a guide to drawing them. Your design is an excellent example of this style; but if you want to register your design with the SCA College of Arms, you'll need to change it: It is too similar to a previously-registered set of arms [7]. You might consider adding a charge in chief, a charge in base, or both. For example: Vert, on a fess argent a pomme and in base a plate. Vert, on a fess argent between two hexafoils argent two pommes. Vert, on a fess argent a pomme and in chief two lozenges argent. As far as we can tell, you could register any of these designs [8]. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Adelaide de Beaumont, Juliana de Luna, Julie Stampnitzky, Zenobia Naphtali, Sion Andreas, Da'ud ibn Auda, Walraven van Nijmegen, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 19 Jul 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] "Suhayb Ar-Rumi", Alim Online (accessed 26 June 2001) http://www.umr.edu/~msaumr/reference/companions/English/rumi.html [2] Da'ud ibn Auda, "Arabic Naming Practices and Names List," _Compleat Anachronist_ #51, "The Islamic World" (Milpitas: SCA, Inc, Autumn 1990; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/daud/arabic-naming/ [3] Research by Sion Andreas in the bibliographic database of the Library of Congress. [4] The List of Alternate Titles as approved by the College of Arms (SCA, Inc., 1998). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/titles.html [5] Da'ud ibn Auda, "Muslim Heraldry: An Introduction", Calontir Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings (SCA, Inc, AS XXIII (1988)). [6] Mayer, Leo Ary, "Saracenic Heraldry" (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933). [7] It is too similar to the SCA arms of Johanna Dudley, Vert, on a fess argent two saltorels throughout, each surmounted with a Celtic cross, all sable. Under the SCA's rules, any number of changes to the charges on a fess can count for only one of the require two differences. [8] In choosing a new design, be careful to avoid conflict with Da'ud ibn Auda, Vert, on a fess between a shamshir fesswise reversed, blade to base, and a cup throughout argent charged with two more, an Arabic penbox vert.