'masbahah':
This is the arabic word for a string of beads, meaning
something beautiful. In religious terms, it is
indicating the string of beads used to count off
remembrances of Allah. They come in variations not
only of colors and quality of the beads, but as well
as in lenghth. Some are of the shorter variety,
consisting of 3 sections of 11 beads each, each
section separated by a different shape/style of bead
to be easily identified by the finger as it passes
along. And then crowned off by one large 'gatherer'
bead and perhaps some sort of a tassle. The longer
variety consists of 3 sections of 33 beads each, again
separated by a different shape/style of bead to be
easily identified by the finger as it passes along.
And, similar to the smaller version, crowned off by
one large gatherer bead and some sort of a tassle.