cavities of the body, e.g., the internal organs of the body, intestines, ears
and things having recesses, e.g., domed houses, mountain caves, etc.,
since the high pitch of sound and its volume collides with them, and
aifects them adversely. But the diamond is beyond any interference, and
does not have any recesses or cavities. Besides, its physical appearance is
conical, quadrilateral, and of the type of compound triangles, just as the
known forms that have predilection towards a fiery nature, have sides
adjoining each other. There is a variety of diamond that is airy. It is
then called sha'iri, since its two sides are sharp, like barley grains, and
the middle is slightly prominent.
Some persons are inclined towards the belief that the diamond can
cut all the other stones and bore a hole through them as it possesses the
characteristics of a fiery species. Its fire penetrates other things from
one end to the other; that is, its fire makes a hole through them, and cuts
through the distance of its sides.
Considering these aspects, it rises to a position higher than that of
the white ruby, but gilders cut the ruby in such a way that it becomes
shaped like a diamond, and thus manage to pass it off as diamond.
Some stones were brought to us from the vicinity of Isfaniqan or
Sariqanin in the region of Nasa. They were barley-shaped and as big as
barley grains. Among some could be seen the triangular forms of diamonds. They had the yellowishness of khabir. 70 The observer is liable
to suspect that the stone has been abraded to make it spurious, although
this is not so. There are two reasons for my belief. I saw cruciform
marks upon them, with one line crossing the other, entering into one and
coalescing into it. This led me to believe that they were, in reality, soft
and moist like flour. This alone enabled one line to enter the other
under pressure. The outer reason is that the person who had brought
them said that these stones were found by him in a cave having a loamy
soil which was reddish-white, and these stones were found in the cave in
ample quantities. It naturally occurs to one that, when the stones are so
plentiful, there is no reason why people should resort to gilding. These
stones could be facilely ground and were not like hard stones.
Although I have never experimented personally yet I believe that like
satngh al-balat these stones can be used for the cicatrisation of wounds,
since their colour resembles that of the Khwarazmian stone which is employed for that purpose. Spheroids-conical in form, this stone is semitransparent. On breaking, one conical fragment is distinct from the
other, and one conical cavity occurs within the black interior of the
stone.
It is said that the habitat of these stones is on a depressed earthen
tract which is opposite the village of Sarighad to the east. It is on the
third manzil from the borders of Khwarazm towards Marw and Bukhara.
