ruby, but there may be found in it all the colours. The red one is the
costliest and the grey one is the cheapest variety.
Arabs make ornaments from jamast. Pieces weighing one rati of the
stone are also found. In its native mine it is covered with ice-like whiteness and its face has a kind of rosiness. A mine of the stone has been
located at Washjird in a valley of Saghaniyan which is called Ramrud.
But the jamast mined from it is turbid, and its largest pieces weigh two
ratls.
In the Kitab al-Nukhab it has been stated:
It is white, hard and vitreous, and breaks with a little pressure. It
melts like tin on fire. A piece of the stone placed in wine invigorates
the mind and stomach. It is not like the hajar-i-'ambari which, if
placed in wine, would corrupt the mind, making one insensate and
lazy.
The description in the Kitab al-Nukhab is in keeping with the statements of the scholars that intoxication through the wine having jamast
in it persists for long periods.
It is God Who prospers and assists.
LAPIS LAZULI
Lajward (lapis lazuli) is called arminaqun in Roman. Possibly this is
because of its association with Armenia, since the Armenian stone which
is an expeller of atrabile, resembles it. Lapis lazuli is brought into Arabia
from Armenia and into Khurasan and 'Iraq from Badakhshan. It is said
that 'awhaq is lapis lazuli, but the following verse by Zuhayr expresses
a contrary fact:
I did not get any grain for its afternoon food, and it saw a tall
ostrich.
It is said that daha is (the food) for the camel, as qhada' (breakfast)
is for men. Samawa means man or existence. Qaslira' wazifin means the
ostrich and 'awhaq tall-statured.
Its weight, measured in terms of its axis, is 67-7/12. The best variety
is that which occurs in the Karran mountain, and it is brought from the
Banjihir Pass.
Nasr says:
Its mine is found near the mountain of Bijadhi in Badakhshan. The
largest piece of the stone weighs 10 rath. It is cooled, polished and
ground. It is used as a dye. In its original state it is azure, but is
sometimes also inclined to be blackish. Occasionally, the lapis lazuli
that has been rubbed and polished has golden stars like particles of
dust upon it. It grinds facilely because of its softness and becomes
lustrous after being ground. The colour which it then gives is so
