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Ibn Babak says:
The darkness of the battle scatters away with its glitter as clouds disperse with the flash of lightning.
Even if we had not known that the Russians made the swords of iron — which withstood hard struck blows (of other swords) — we could have inferred this from the sword of poet Abu al-Abyad al-'Abasi who said about it: I have in my possession naught but shield and helmet,
And sharp flashing sword with the glitter of iron.
And also from the following verse of another poet: When the sword strikes with both sides (at the enemy), something
like salt comes out of the body of his mailcoat.
I understand that the poet is probably referring to his sword minted at Daws: Some authors have stated that, when lightning falls, whatever it gives out goes upwards and whatever burns in the atmosphere falls to the ground. Abu Ja'far Khazin has said that lightning struck the house of a person known to him. A ball of fire rolled from the stone to the ground and disappeared in the garden. This rolling over was the result of gravity. It is said that lightning is more delicate than air and the flames of terrestrial fire. Its discharge from the intervening objects and its capacity to melt solid objects that can be melted argues for the fact that air accompanies lightning, thunder-bolt and light. It brings minerals from other places either by lifting them from the surface of the earth or by bringing it from inside lightning. We can quote the example of the iron that fell upon Juzjan. This iron piece was from an anchor. An expert on examination found that its shape had undergone a change through heat during its fall (to this part of the world). It was not steel, since cast iron is used in anchors, as its aim is to achieve weight. An inferior kind of brass piece fell on a rainy day in a village called Ta'un in Bushanj. It had perforations upon its surface, as if it was pock-marked. Such pock-marks are also found in the kind of iron known as khubth al-hadid (dross of iron). It was hot when it fell. On being placed in water, it let out the sound of a sieve through which something is being sifted. It weighed from one to two mannas. Among the kinds next in rank to the Daws variety is Tubal. These
are peels or flakes which scatter upon braying and pounding. It is the scoria and rust of this variety and on account of its red colour is known as za'fran al-hadid. With the axis of gold as the standard, its weight is 41-1/3. Alchemists claim they can soften iron with realgar (arsenicum rubrum) and that it melts as facilely as tin. When it solidifies, it becomes hard and its clangour disappears; but its whiteness diminishes. These, however, are the characteristics of the elemental iron. As regards the iron which is compounded from soft iron and its liquor, the liquor |
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