was, that the genealogical system was elaborated from the local tradition
current among the tribes settled in and around Cûfa, and such like military
stations; but the insignificant place assigned to the clans occupying the
vicinity of those stations, made him abandon the idea. He then hit on what
appears to be the correct theory. The genealogical system and all its details
were elaborated at Medina from the Dewân, or salary and pension rolls of
Omar, and from each tradition as was still alive on the spot; and hence the
various clans inhabiting the vicinity of that city were brought out in strong
relief. As the tribes near Mecca and Medina supplied their full contingents
for the wars, the names of the individuals would be entered in detail and each
tribe assigned a separate heading in the Dewân. In proportion to their
distance from Medina, the contingents furnished by the several clans were
fewer and smaller. Perhaps bodies of not more than a dozen or twenty men would
be supplied by some of the remote southern tribes; several of these small
sections would probably encamp together, and in the Dewân would be clubbed
under one head. Thus, the importance and numbers of a tribe to the eye and pen
of the Genealogist would be magnified by its closeness to Medina; while
distance would cause the outline to shrink, and the detail to become obscure.
Medina, in short, was the centre of the perspective. Thus the tribes near at
hand had a much longer and more elaborate pedigree than those far off, because
each clan had a far greater number of groups to account for, and in tracing
these up to a common progenitor a corresponding number of steps must be
allowed; on the other hand, where the groups were few, the rule of
"distance" curtailed proportionately the pedigree. In accordance
with this very scholarly theory, we find the family pedigree of Medina itself
the longest, and that of Mecca the next. As these were the centres from whence
the Genealogists took their survey, they were also the spiritual centres of
the Peninsula. Tribes were ennobled as they had any connection or interest
with the Prophet or with his home; and so, in this view also, the genealogical
perspective would radiate from those Holy places, producing an exaggerated
effect on what was near, and diminishing that which was far off.