Then Ibn Mukarrib turned to the slave, and asked him the question
which he had asked of his son. Whereupon the slave replied in
this quatrain:

"Eating wild grain in the house of respect;
And not eating dates in the house of contempt:
And walking in honour but a single day;
And not sitting in disgrace for a thousand years!"

Ibn Mukarrib, pleased with these words, forthwith adopted the
slave; both marched to the north and dwelt there till the end of
their days. The palm-trees, deprived of irrigation, all died; and
Bujat-Bada, the beautiful, became a wilderness. About twenty
years ago, the wells were reopened and the dates were replanted.
So much for the past: as for the future, we may safely predict
that, unless occupied by a civilized people, the Bada plain will
again see worse times. Nothing would be easier than to rebuild
the town, and to prepare the basin for irrigation and
cultivation; but destruction is more in the Bedawi line.





Chapter XVIII.
Coal a "Myth"--March to Marwat--Arrival at the Wady Hamz.



Before leaving Bada I was careful to make all manner of inquiries