Chapter XVIII: Book IV: Notes

[b4.01] #repeating certain attributes of the Deity# The great names, or attributes of the deity, are one hundred, and the repetition of them constitutes part of a Mussulman’s devotion. The formula commences thus: “There is no God but God. He is _most merciful, most gracious, the ruler of all, most holy_,” &c.--Vide Tychsen _Elementale Arab_, p. 22.

[b4.02] #Khwaja Khizr# Khizr is the name of a character famous among the Mahommedans. They say that he was vizier to Iskander Dhu’lkornain, that he discovered the fountain of immortality and drank thereof, in consequence of which he still lives on the earth, where he will be allowed to remain till the day of judgment. The word Khizr signifies _verdant_ or _green_, which is their favourite colour, having been worn by Muhammed himself, so that the Khwaja’s habit is quite in character.

[b4.03] #Iblis# Iblis is one of the names of Shaitan, or the devil, and signifies (according to the Farhang-i-Mathnavi), _desperate_, or _hopeless of mercy from the Divine Creator_. The Mahommedans believe that God created the devil of the purest fire, admitted him into heaven, and appointed him to the high office of Lord Lieutenant of the Moon; but owing to his inordinate pride and ambition, he was deprived of his situation, and utterly expelled from the higher regions.

[b4.04] #būtīmar# As I know not the English name for this bird, I shall add the description given of him in the Persian Lexicons, _Borhani Kati_, and _Farhangi Mathnavi_: “The [_Persian_] _būtīmār_ (called also, _ghamkhar_, or the sorrowful), is a bird that frequents the banks of rivers. He constantly mourns from fear that the water should become exhausted; and under that impression, however great his thirst, he never drinks. In Arabic he is called [_Persian_] _yamām_.” I may add, that, in Richardson’s Dictionary, _būtīmar_ is translated a heron, and _yamām_ a turtle-dove.

[b4.05] The reader may remember a tale similar to the above in the introduction to the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments. There is another of the same kind in Nakhshebi’s Tales of a Parrot, near the commencement of the work. In fact, Oriental authors of romance frequently indulge in episodes which tend to place the conduct of their ladies in no very favourable light. In the _Bahar-i-Danish_, a work written by Einayatullah, in the most flowery style of which the Persian is capable, there is a series of tales whose object is to dissuade a young prince from marrying a beautiful lady, of whom he is enamoured. One of these thus concludes: “O my prince, to be allured with the outward beauty of women, and to become a wanderer in the waste of madness, is to act contrary to the institutes of wisdom; for a life of sorrow follows such short-lived pleasures. The adorners of the assembly of learning and wisdom have by no means approved of such conduct, because the roses on the cheeks of women are unblest by the tinge and perfume of constancy.

“_When the Gods were describing instances of constancy,_
_At the name of woman, they broke their pens in despair._”

It may be observed that some of Boccacio’s tales in the Decameron, bear great resemblance to those in the _Bahar-i-Danish_, but which is the imitation, and which the original, it is difficult to say.