The Origins of Islam afterwards happening to come in contact with the Jews, gathered from
them the facts of their true origin, returned to their kinsmen, and in-
clined to the Hebrew customs and laws. From that time on, until now,
many of them regulate their lives according to the Jewish precepts.
Some of the Saracens were converted to Christianity not long before
the present reign. They shared in the faith of Christ by intercourse with
the priests and monks who dwelt near them, and practised philoso-
phy in the neighbouring deserts, and who were distinguished by the
excellence of their life, and by their miraculous works.^67Sozomenus also adds to those remarks a further story of how at the time
mentioned (the earlier fifth century) another whole tribe (phylē) under a
tribal leader (phylarchos) called Zokomos had been converted when a monk
had cured his childlessness on condition of his adopting Christianity. As I.
Shahid suggests, this may be a reference to the important federate people,
the Salihids.^68
As has often been noted, however, the significance of the conceptions ex-
pressed by Sozomenus far outweighs any such narrative details.^69 For, firstly,
Sozomenus brings out the full implications of the descent of the ‘‘Saracens’’
from Ishmael, even interpreting the name itself as a claim to descent from
Sarah. Other Christian writers of this period, however, took the opposite
view, takingAgarēnoior in LatinAgarenias a general appellation for con-
temporary ‘‘Saracens.’’ It seems quite likely that in doing so they were both
generalising and attaching a genealogical meaning (descent from Hagar) to
the tribal nameAgraioiearlier attested in pagan sources, or perhaps to the
HGRYM/Agarēnoioccasionally alluded to in the Bible.^70 Epiphanius at any
rate states categorically that the name had been derived from Hagar: Ishmael,
the son of Hagar, founded Pharan in the desert, and had twelve sons, ‘‘from
whom (there descend) the tribes of theAgarēnoi, also calledIsmaēlitai, but
who are now calledSarakēnoi.’’^71
Sozomenus’ interpretation of this latter term (as relating to Sarah) seems
. Sozomenus,HE,,trans.C.D.HartranftinNicene and Post-Nicene Fathers(repr.
).
. So I. Shahid,Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fifth Century(), ff.
. See, e.g., M. Cook,Muhammad(), . The background is very fully discussed in
Shahid (n. ), –.
.Seetextfollowingn.andton.above.Cf.Jerome,Ep. , : ‘‘Not to men-
tion...theArabsandtheAgarenoinow called Saracens.’’ See J. Spencer Trimingham,Chris-
tianity among the Arabs in Preislamic Times(), –.
. Epiphanius,Panarion, –.