THE STRAIN OF DAHMAN SHAHWAN
The following history is from the Abbas Pasha manuscript:
Mohammed ibn-Qarmalah, Sheik of Qahtan, was asked about the history of Al Dahmah.

He replied: "Al Dahmah belongs to Shahwan, and she is from the horses which belonged to our Lord Suleiman (King Solomon), peace be upon him! And the Kuhaylah was called Al Dahmah [Dahmah - the feminine form means dark or black; Dahman is the masculine form] because of her dark color. And the eyes of the Kuhaylan were as if rimmed with kohl [black powder - often soot or antimony - used by Oriental women for darkening the eyelids]. And all the present day pure horses existing are descended from the tail female line of the aforementioned.

"As for the stories related to you which say that the Kuhaylat are five (Al Khamsa), they are lies. As for Al Dahmah of Abu Shahwan and Jey, she is known among us, O Qahtan, to be from Obeida, and Shahwan is of Obeida. And from Shahwan 'til now she is maintained. And from Shahwan and Jey there are seventeen generations. And AL Dahmah is the one who is famous."

A small portion of a poem which Shahwan wrote about his mare after she was stolen from him poignantly illustrates his devotion to her:

I love you, O Dahmah
As if you were part of me
And my family,
And though there may be horses many
You are more to me
Than all the others.

Abbas Pasha particularly valued the Dahman strain, as did Ali Pasha Sherif, who remarked: "If I had only one strain to choose from in maintaining my stud, I would choose Al Dahman." It is said this strain was known to have the most beautiful heads of all, both in the past and in the present, and represented the most harmonious blending of masculine and feminine qualities.

The first Egyptian Arabian imported to America, and to receive registration papers, was of this Dahman Shahwan strain, The Ali Pasha Sherif horse, *Shahwan.