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sembles one of the stones which is known as ispid chashmah. It is a little
smoky and cloudy. Hamzah has mentioned ispid chashmah among jewels, and he says it
is like bijadhi, one of the semi-precious stones. Nasr bin Ahmad bin Khatibi says: It is a stone which is imported from the west into Egypt. Inferior to
the ruby more transparent than bijadhi, it is more transparent than the Badakhshanian ruby. It is called ispid chashmah and is known by the name of gharwi. One mithqal of the stone fetches 30 Maghribi dinars. Nasr states: I have only seen the perforated beads of this stone weighing half a
mithqal. Abual-Qasim bin Salih Kirmani writes: It is like a coral bead but transparent, although there is a little smokiness in it. The Shi'ites of Iran use it as a seal, for the reason that
it is imported there from the Maghrib where the (Fatimid) rulers of Egypt made their appearance before their advent into Egypt. He also writes that it is not very expensive, as none but the Shi'ites have any inclination towards it. About ispid chashmah Nasr writes: It is a species of bijadhi. Having the pallor of the Roman agate, its
colour is very pleasing. It looks all the more pleasing when studded on the ring. Al-Kindi writes about it as follows: It is deep red without having any trace of the violet tinge: Very
humid, one of its kinds is very transparent and resembles Roman agate but as regards colour it lags behind kharjun, and is known as zardul. There is still another kind which is yellowish solid, and without any glitter. It is known as tarban. He further says: The method adopted for polishing and rubbing emerald is applied to
all of its kinds. A perforation is made beneath it so that it might brighten the object on which it is set, since it does not give brightness without being perforated. If very transparent like the ruby and humid, it begins to glitter provided the object on which it is studded is smooth, not rough. However, this happens but rarely. And he further says that the Khurasanian bijadhi has rarely the weight of one rati, that is, more than one hundred and twenty dirhams. The Serandibi kind has a weight equivalent to that of the ruby.
There is not much difference between the two. Al-Kindi and Nasr mention another jewel which they have called madhinaj. This stone was brought from above (beyond) the land of Daibal in a mountain within the borders of Sindan; the mine has been exhausted, and production has |
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