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bleeds us.
There are two kinds of iron. One variety which is soft is called narmahan. This is a word of the feminine gender. The second variety which is
firmer is called shabarqan and entitled as masculine as it is hard. It is
malleable, but refuses to be folded. The narmahan kind is divided into
two sub-species. The first is the narmahan kind proper; the other kind is
the water that flows from it when it is melted and separated from the
stones. The second sub-species is called dawsa, and in Persian astah. In
Zabulistan it is designated as raw, since it comes out quickly and flows
even more quickly than iron. It is hard, white and inclined to be silvery.
Swords in Rome, Russia and Saqalibah are made from Shabarqan.
They are occasionally called qala' (with fat'ha and jazm, i.e. the orthographical sign for remaining silent). Therefore, the qala' sword possesses
clangour, whereas the non-qala' sword possesses an irritating sound.
When a particular class of swords is attributed to it, the class is collectively called qala'iyyah. Some people tend to believe that these swords bear
relationship with specific places, e.g., Hindiyyah, Yamaniyyah and
Mashrafiyyah. They, therefore, say these swords are brought from a
place called Kallah, just as tin is brought from there. Associating tin
with it, they call it Qala'i.
These swords are broad, and it is no surprise if their whiteness has
evoked verses in Arabic. The poet (Ibn al-Hamam al-Murri) says:
We break their heads with hard stones, whereas Roman swords break
(in doing this).
In this verse he has alluded to Shabarqan, since Roman swords are made
of Shabarqan only. 'Ajjaj says:
Roman ironsmiths have forged white blades from black iron water.
And further:
When death retreats, I strike them with qala'i swords.
Here iron is implied from which the qali'yyah swords are forged. The
poet has employed the word qala as an adjective to qualify the attributes
of a sword, just as (the adjectives) dhu al-faqar or dhu al-Shuttab. Ibn
Rumi says, for example:
Time takes possession of the qala'i sword from amongst his swords.
The poet has implied: 'They pulled the vein of curdled blood.'
In his verse the poet has used the word qala' but what he has implied is
the reverse of it, that is the a'laq = the leech. The rhyming pattern was
arranged according to the metre being followed by the poet, and he,
therefore, inverted the word, qala' to mean the leech. Qala'u also means
the mast of a ship. Suwayd bin Abi Kahil thus says:
It carries such vast waves and foam that it uproots masts.
The poet A'sha, says:
It turns upside down ships equipped with masts and tears apart their
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