Chapter XVIII: Part 18

[FN#293] When the "Day of Arafat" (9th of Zú'l-Hijjah) falls upon a Friday. For this Hajj al- Akbar see my Pilgrimage iii. 226. It is often confounded by writers (even by the learned M. Caussin de Perceval) with the common Pilgrimage as opposed to the Umrah, or " Lesser Pilgrimage" (ibid. iii. 342, etc.). The latter means etymologically cohabiting with a woman in her father's house as opposed to 'Ars or leading her to the husband's home: it is applied to visiting Meccah and going through all the pilgrim-rites but not at the Pilgrimage-season. Hence its title "Hajj al-Asghar" the "Lesser Hajj." But "Umrah" is also applied to a certain ceremony between the hills Safá (a large hard rock) and Marwah (stone full of flints), which accompanies the Hajj and which I have described (ibid. iii. 344). At Meccah I also heard of two places called Al-Umrah, the Greater in the Wady Fátimah and the Lesser half way nearer the city (ibid. iii. 344).

[FN#294] A fair specimen of the unworthy egoism which all religious systems virtually inculcate Here a pious father leaves his children miserable to save his own dirty soul.

[FN#295] Chief of the Banú Tamín, one of the noblest of tribes, derived from Tamím, the uncle of Kuraysh (Koreish); hence the poets sang:—

There cannot be a son nobler than Kuraysh,
Nor an uncle nobler than Tamím.

The high minded Tamín is contrasted with the mean-spirited Kays, who also gave rise to a tribe; and hence the saying concerning one absolutely inconsistent, "Art thou now Tamín and then Kays?"

[FN#296] Surnamed Al-Sakafi, Governor of Al-Yaman and Irak.

[FN#297] Tenth Ommiade (regn. A H. 105-125 = 724-743).

[FN#298] Or "clothe thee in worn-out clothes" i.e. "Become a Fakir" or religious mendicant.

[FN#299] This gratuitous incest in ignorance injures the tale and is as repugnant to Moslem as to Christian taste.

[FN#300] The child is named either on the day of its birth or on that day week. The father whispers it in the right ear, often adding the Azán or prayer-call, and repeating in the left ear the "Ikámah" or Friday sentence. There are many rules for choosing names according to the week-day, the ascendant planet, the "Sortes Coranicæ," etc.

[FN#301] Amongst Moslems as amongst Christians there are seven deadly sins: idolatry, murder, falsely charging modest women with unchastity, robbing orphans, usury, desertion in Holy War and disobedience to parents. The difference between the two creeds is noteworthy. And the sage knows only three, intemperance, ignorance and egoism.

[FN#302] Meaning, "It was decreed by Destiny; so it came to pass," appropriate if not neat.

[FN#303] The short, stout, dark, long-haired and two-bunched camel from "Bukhtar" (Bactria), the "Eastern" (Bakhtar) region on the Amu or Jayhun (Oxus) River; afterwards called Khorasan. The two-humped camel is never seen in Arabia except with northern caravans, and to speak of it would be a sore test of Badawi credulity.

[FN#304] "Kaylúlah" is the "forty-winks" about noon: it is a Sunnat or Practice of the Prophet who said, "Make the mid-day siesta, for verily at this hour the devils sleep not." "Aylúlain" is slumbering after morning prayers (our "beauty-sleep"), causing heaviness andid leness: "Ghaylúlah" is dozing about 9 a.m. engendering poverty and wretchedness: "Kaylúlah" (with the guttural Kaf) is sleeping before evening prayers and "Faylúlah" is slumbering after sunset—both held to be highly detrimental. (Pilgrimage ii 49.)

[FN#305] The Biblical "Hamath" (Hightown) too well known to require description. It is still famous for the water-wheels mentioned by al-Hariri (assembly of the Banu Harám).

[FN#306] When they say, "The leven flashes bright on the hills of Al-Yaman," the allusion is to the south quarter, where summer-lightning is seen. Al-Yaman (always with the article) means, I have said, the right-hand region to one facing the rising sun and Al-Sham (Syria) the left-hand region.

[FN#307] Again "he" for "she," in delicacy and jealousy of making public the beauty or conditions of the "veiled sex." Even public singers would hesitate to use a feminine pronoun. As will be seen however, the rule is not invariably kept and hardly ever in Badawi poetry.

[FN#308] The normal pun on "Nuzhat al-Zaman" = Delight of the Age or Time.

[FN#309] The reader will find in my Pilgrimage (i. 305) a sketch of the Takht-rawan or travelling-litter, in which pilgrimesses are wont to sleep.

[FN#310] In poetry it holds the place of our Zephyr; end the "Bád- i-Sabá"=Breeze o' the morn, Is much addressed by Persian poets.

[FN#311] Here appears the nervous, excitable, hysterical Arab temperament which is almost phrensied by the neighbourhood of a home from which he had run away.

[FN#312] Zau al-Makan and Nuzhat al-Zaman.

[FN#313] The idea is essentially Eastern, "A lion at home and a lamb abroad" is the popular saying.

[FN#314] Arab. "Hubb al-Watan" (= love of birthplace, patriotism) of which the Tradition says "Min al-Imán" (=is part of man's religion).

[FN#315] He is supposed to speak en prince; and he yields to a prayer when he spurns a command.

[FN#316] In such caravans each party must keep its own place under pain of getting into trouble with the watchmen and guards.

[FN#317] Mr. Payne (ii. 109) borrows this and the next quotation from the Bull Edit. i. 386.

[FN#318] For the expiation of inconsiderate oaths see Koran (chaps. v.). I cannot but think that Al-Islam treats perjury too lightly: all we can say is-that it improves upon Hinduism which practically seems to leave the punishment to the gods.

[FN#319] "Kausar," as has been said, represents the classical nectar, the Amrita of the Hindus.

[FN#320] From Bull Edit. i. 186. The couplet in the Mac. Edit. i. 457 is very wildly applied.

[FN#321] The "insula" of Sancho Panza.

[FN#322] This should have assured him that he stood in no danger.

[FN#323] Here ends the wearisome tale of the brother and sister, and the romance of chivalry begins once more with the usual Arab digressions.

[FN#324] I have derived this word from the Persian "rang"=colour, hue, kind.

[FN#325] Otherwise all would be superseded, like U. S. officials under a new President.

[FN#326] Arab. "Nímshah" from the Pers. Nímchah, a "half-sword," a long dagger worn in the belt. Richardson derives it from Namsh, being freckled (damasked).

[FN#327] The Indian term for a tent large enough to cover a troop of cavalry.

[FN#328] Arab. "Marhúm" a formula before noticed. It is borrowed from the Jewish, "of blessed memory" (after the name of the honoured dead, Prov. x. 17.); with the addition of "upon whom be peace," as opposed to the imprecation, "May the name of the wicked rot!"

[FN#329] The speeches of the five damsels should be read only by students.

[FN#330] i.e. Those who look for "another and a better."

[FN#331] The title of Caliph Abu Bakr because he bore truthful witness to the Apostle's mission or, others say, he confirmed the "Mi'ráj" or nocturnal journey to Heaven.

[FN#332] All this is Koranic (chaps. ii., etc.).

[FN#333] This may have applied more than once to "hanging judges" in the Far West.

[FN#334] A traditionist and jurisconsult of Al-Medinah in the seventh and eighth centuries.

[FN#335] The Alexander of the Koran and Eastern legends, not to be confounded with the Alexander of Macedon. He will be noticed in a future Night.

[FN#336] Æsop, according to the Arabs: of him or rather of the two Lukmans, more presently.

[FN#337] Koran ii. 185.

[FN#338] Mohammed.

[FN#339] One of the Asháb or Companions of Mohammed.

[FN#340] A noted traditionist at Cufa in the seventh century.

[FN#341] Koran, chaps. lxxiv. I (and verse 8 follows). The Archangel Gabriel is supposed to address Mohammed and not a few divines believe this Surah (chapter) to have been first revealed. Mr. Rodwell makes it No. ii. following the Fatrah or silent interval which succeeded No. xcvi. "Clots of Blood." See his 2nd Edit. p. 3 for further details.

[FN#342] i.e. dangerous to soul-health.

[FN#343] In the Mac. Edit. "Abd" for "Sa'id." The latter was a black and a native of Cufa during the first century (A.H ) and is still famous as a traditionist.

[FN#344] Arab. "Shirk," giving a partner to Allah, attending chiefly to Christians and idolaters and in a minor degree to Jews and Guebres. We usually English it by "polytheism," which is clumsy and conveys a wrong idea

[FN#345] Grandson of the Caliph Ali. He is one of the Imams (High-priests) of the Shi'ah school.

[FN#346] An eminent traditionist of the eighth century (A.D.).

[FN#347] The prayers of the Fast-month and Pilgrimage-month are often said in especial places outside the towns and cities; these are the Indian Id(Eed-)gáh. They have a screen of wall about a hundred yards long with a central prayer-niche and the normal three steps for the preacher; and each extremity is garnished with an imitation minaret. They are also called Namáz-gah and one is sketched by Herklots (Plate iii. fig. 2). The object of the trips thither in Zu'l-Ka'adah and Zu'l-Hijjah is to remind Moslems of the "Ta'aríf," or going forth from Meccah to Mount Arafat.

[FN#348] Arab. "Al-Háfi," which in Egyptian means sore-footed as well. He was an ascetic of the eighth and ninth centuries (A.D.). He relates a tradition of the famous soldier saint Khálid bin Walíd who lies buried like the poet Ka'ab al-Ahbár near Hums (Emessa) once the Bœotia, Phrygia, Abdera, Suabia of Syria now Halbun (pronounced Halbáun) near Damascus. I cannot explain how this Kuraysh noble (a glorious figure in Moslem history) is claimed by the Afghans as one of their countrymen and made to speak Pukhtu or Pushtu, their rough old dialect of Persian. The curious reader will consult my Pilgrimage iii. 322 for the dialogue between Mohammed and Khalid. Again there is general belief in Arabia that the English sent a mission to the Prophet, praying that Khalid might be despatched to proselytise them: unfortunately Mohammed was dead and the "Ingríz" ratted. It is popularly held that no armed man can approach Khalid's grave; but I suppose my revolver did not count.

[FN#349] When he must again wash before continuing prayer.

[FN#350] Bin Adham; another noted ascetic of the eighth century. Those curious about these unimportant names will consult the great Biographical Dictionary of Ibn Khallikan, translated by Baron MacGuckin de Slane (1842-45).

[FN#351] Thus making Bishr the "Imám" (artistes) lit. one who stands in front. In Koran xvii. 74 it means "leader": in ii. 118 Allah makes Abraham an "Imam to mankind."

[FN#352] A favourite sentiment in the East: we find it at the very beginning of Sa'di's Gulistan: better a weal-bringing lie than a harm-dealing truth.

[FN#353] A penny, one sixth of the drachma.

[FN#354] Founder of the Hanbali, fourth (in date) of the four orthodox Moslem schools. The Caliph al-Mu'atasim bi'llah, son of Harun al-Rashid, who believed the Koran to have been created and not a Logos (whatever that may be), co-eternal with Allah, scourged this Imam severely for "differing in opinion" (A.H. 220=833). In fact few of the notable reverends of that day escaped without a caress of the scourge or the sword.

[FN#355] A learned man of the eighth century at Bassorah (A.D.).

[FN#356] A traditionist of Khorasan in the ninth century (A.D.).

[FN#357] "Azal," opp. to "Abad," eternity without end, infinity.

[FN#358] Koran lxvi. 6.

[FN#359] A traditionist of Al-Medinah, eighth century (A.D.).

[FN#360] Arab. "Músá": the Egyptian word was "Mesu," the "child" or the "boy" (brought up in the palace?), and the Hebrews made it "Mosheh" or "one drawn out of the water;" "Mu" in Egypt being water, the Arab "Ma"; whence probably the moderns have derived the dim. "Moyeh ," vulg. Egyptian for water.

[FN#361] Koran, chaps. xxviii.: Shu'ayb is our Jethro: Koran, chaps. vii. and xi. Mr. Rodwell suggests (p. 101) that the name has been altered from Hobab (Numb. x. 29).

[FN#362] Arab. "Taub" (Saub), the long shirt popularly written in English Tobe and pronounced so by Egyptians. It is worn by both sexes (Lane, M. E. chaps. i. "Tob") in Egypt, and extends into the heart of Moslem Africa: I can compare it with nothing but a long nightgown dyed a dirty yellow by safflower and about as picturesque as a carter's smock-frock.

[FN#363] There is nothing of this in the Koran; and it is a most unhappy addition, as Moses utterly and pretentiously ignored a "next world."

[FN#364] Koran xxviii. 22-27. Mohammed evidently confounded the contract between Laban and Jacob. (Gen. xxix. 15-39.)

[FN#365] So says Al-Hariri (Ass. of Sasan), "The neighbour before the house and the traveller before the journey." In certain cities the neighbourhood is the real detective police, noting every action and abating scandals (such as orgies, etc.) with a strong hand and with the full consent of public opinion and of the authorities. This loving the neighbour shows evident signs of being borrowed from Christianity.

[FN#366] Al-Asamm a theologian of Balkh, ninth century (A.D.).

[FN#367] The founder of the Senior School, for which see Sale Prel. Disc. sect. viii.

[FN#368] Thus serving the Lord by sinning against his own body.

[FN#369] An Egyptian doctor of the law (ninth century).

[FN#370] Koran lxxvii. 35, 36. This is one of the earliest and most poetical chapters of the book.

[FN#371] Abu Hanifah was scourged for refusing to take office and was put to death in prison, it is said by poison (A.H. 150=A.D. 767), for a judicial sentence authorising rebellion against the second Abbaside, Al-Mansur, surnamed Abu'l-Dawánik (Father of Pence) for his exceeding avarice.

[FN#372] "Lá rayba fí-hi" says the Koran (ii. 1) of itself; and the saying is popularly applied to all things of the Faith.

[FN#373] Arab. "Rivál al-Ghayb," somewhat like the "Himalayan Brothers" of modern superstition. See Herklots (Qanoon-e-Islam) for a long and careful description of these "Mardán-i-Ghayb" (Pers.), a "class of people mounted on clouds," invisible, but moving in a circular orbit round the world, and suggesting the Hindu "Lokapálas." They should not be in front of the traveller nor on his right, but either behind or on his left hand. Hence tables, memorial couplets and hemistichs are required to ascertain the station, without which precaution journeys are apt to end badly.

[FN#374] A sweetmeat before noticed.

[FN#375] Door hinges in the east are two projections for the top and bottom of the leaf playing in hollows of the lintel and threshold. It appears to be the primitive form, for we find it in the very heart of Africa. In the basaltic cities of the Hauran, where the doors are of thick stone, they move easily on these pins. I found them also in the official (not the temple)City of Palmyra, but all broken.

[FN#376] The effect of the poison and of the incantation which accompanied it.

[FN#377] King Omar who had raped her. My sympathies are all with the old woman who nightly punished the royal lecher.

[FN#378] Arab. "Zunnár," the Gr. . Christians and Jews were compelled by the fanatical sumptuary laws of the Caliph Al- Mutawakkil (AD. 856) to wear a broad leather belt in public, hence it became a badge of the Faith. Probably it was confounded with the "Janeo" (Brahmanical thread) and the Parsi sacred girdle called Kashti. (Dabistan i, 297, etc.). Both Mandeville and La Brocquière speak of "Christians of the Girdle, because they are all girt above," intending Jacobites or Nestorians.

[FN#379] "Siláh dár" (Arab. and Pers.)=a military officer of high rank; literally an "armour-bearer," chosen for velour and trustworthiness. So Jonathan had a "young man" (brave) who bare his armour (I Sam. xiv. 1, 6 and 7); and Goliath had a man that bare the shield before him (ibid. xvii. 7, 41). Men will not readily forget the name of Sulayman Agha, called the Silahdar, in Egypt. (Lane M. E. chaps. iv.)

[FN#380] It will be told afterwards.

[FN#381] The elder brother thus showed himself a vassal and proved himself a good Moslem by not having recourse to civil war.

[FN#382] Arab. "Ghazwah," the corrupt Gallicism, now Europeanised=raid, foray.

[FN#383] Turk in modern parlance means a Turkoman, a pomade: the settled people call themselves Osmanli or Othmanli. Turkoman=Turk- like.

[FN#384] Arab. "Nimsá;" southern Germans, Austrians; from the Slav. "Nemica" (any Germans), literally meaning "The dumb" (nemac), because they cannot speak Slav.

[FN#385] Arab. "Dubárá" from the Slav. "Dubrovnik," from "Dub" (an oak) and "Dubrava" (an oak forest). Ragusa, once a rival of Venice, gave rise to the word "Argosy." D'Herbelot calls it "Dobravenedik" or "Good Venice," the Turkish name, because it paid tribute when Venice would not (?).

[FN#386] Arab. "Jawarnah," or, "Júrnah" evidently Zara, a place of many names, Jadera (Hirtius de Bell. Alex. cap. 13), Jadra, Zadra (whence the modern term), Diadora, Diadosca and Jadrossa. This important Liburnian city sent forth many cruisers in crusading days; hence the Arabs came to know its name.

[FN#387] Arab. "Banu'l-Asfar;" which may mean "Pale faces," in the sense of "yeller girls" (New Orleans) and that intended by North American Indians, or, possibly, the peoples with yellow (or rather tow-coloured) hair we now call Russians. The races of Hindostan term the English not "white men," but "red men;" and the reason will at once be seen by comparing a Britisher with a high-caste Nágar Brahman whose face is of parchment colour as if he had drunk exsangue cuminum. The Yellow-faces of the text correspond with the Sansk. "Svetadvipa"—Whiteman's Land.

[FN#388] Arab. "Al-Musakhkham." No Moslem believes that Isa was crucified and a favourite fancy is that Judas, changed to the likeness of Jesus, thus paid for his treason. (Evangel. Barnabæ.) Hence the resurrection is called not "Kiyámah" but "Kumámah"=rubbish. This heresy about the Cross they share with the Docetes, "certain beasts in the shape of men" (says Ignatius), who held that a phantom was crucified. So far the Moslems are logical, for "Isa," being angelically, miraculously and immaculately conceived, could not be; but they contradict themselves when they hold a vacant place near Mohammed's tomb for the body of Isa after his second coming as a forerunner to Mohammed and Doomday. (Pilgrimage ii. 89.)

[FN#389] A diviner, priest, esp. Jewish, and not belonging to the tribe of Levi.

[FN#390] Again the coarsest word "Khara." The allusion is to the vulgar saying, "Thou eatest skite!" (i.e. thou talkest nonsense). Decent English writers modify this to, "Thou eatest dirt:" and Lord Beaconsfield made it ridiculous by turning it into "eating sand."

[FN#391] These silly scandals, which cause us only to smile, excite Easterns to fury. I have seen a Moslem wild with rage on hearing a Christian parody the opening words of the Koran, "Bismillahi 'l- Rahmáni 'l-Rahím, Mismish wa Kamar al-din," roughly translated,

"In the name of Allah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! Apricots and marmalede." The idea of the Holy Merde might have been suggested by the Hindus: see Mandeville, of the archiprotopapaton (prelate) carrying ox-dung and urine to the King, who therewith anoints his brow and breast, &c. And, incredible to relate, this is still practised after a fashion by the Parsis, one of the most progressive and the sharpest witted of Asiatic races.

[FN#392] Meaning that he had marked his brow with a cross (of ashes?) as certain do on Ash Wednesday.

[FN#393] Syria, the "left-hand land" as has before been explained. The popular saying about its people is "Shámi shúmi!"—the Syrian is small potatoes (to render the sense Americanicè). Nor did Syrus, the slave in Roman days, bear the best of names. In Al-Hijaz the Syrian is addressed "Abú Shám" (Father of Syria) and insulted as "Abuser of the Salt" (a traitor). Yet many sayings of Mohammed are recorded in honour of Syria, and he sometimes used Syriac words. Such were "Bakh, bakh" (=euge, before noticed), and "Kakh," a congener of the Latin Cacus and Caca which our day has docked to "cack." (Pilgrimage iii. 115)

[FN#394] Koran xiv. 34. "They (Unbelievers) shall be thrown therein (i.e., the House of Perdition=Hell); and an unhappy dwelling shall it be."

[FN#395] The leg-cut is a prime favourite with the Eastern Sworder, and a heavy two-handed blade easily severs a horse's leg.

[FN#396] Mohammed repeatedly declared (Koran lxi.) that the Christians had falsified the passage ("I go to my Father and the Paraclete shall come," John xvi. 7) promising the advent of the Comforter, (ibid. xiv. 20; xv. 26) by substituting the latter word for glorious, renowned, i.e., Ahmed or Mohammed=the praised one. This may have been found in the Arabic translation of the Gospels made by Warakah, cousin to Mohammed's first wife; and hence in Koran lxi. we find Jesus prophesying of an Apostle "whose name shall be Ahmad." The word has consequently been inserted into the Arabic Gospel of Saint Barnabas (Dabistan iii. 67). Moslems accept the Pentateuch, the Psalter and the Gospel; but assert (Koran, passim.) that all extant copies have been hopelessly corrupted, and they are right. Moses, to whom the Pentateuch is attributed, notices his own death and burial—"the mair the miracle," said the old Scotch lady. The "Psalms of David" range over a period of some five hundred years, and there are three Isaiahs who pass with the vulgar for one. The many apocryphal Gospels, all of which have been held genuine and canonical at different times and in different places, prove that the four, which are still in use, were retained because they lack the manifest absurdities of their discarded rivals.

[FN#397] Arab. " Labbayka; " the Pilgrimage-cry (Night xxii.) which in Arabic is,

Labbayk' Allahumma, Labbayk'!
Lá Sharíka lake, Labbayk'!
Inna 'l-hamda w'al ni'amata lake wa'l mulk!
Labbayk' Allahumma, Labbayk'!

Some add "Here am I, and I honour Thee, the son of Thy two slaves; beneficence and good are all between Thy hands."With the "Talbiyah" the pilgrims should bless the Prophet, pray Allah to grant Heaven and exclaim, "By Thy mercy spare us from the pains of Hell-fire!" (Pilgrimage iii. 232.) Labbayka occurs in the verses attributed to Caliph Ali; so labba=he faced, and yalubbu=it faces (as one house faces another); lastly, he professed submission to Allah; in which sense, together with the verbal noun "Talbiyah," it is used by Al- Hanri (Pref. and Ass. of Su'adah).

[FN#398] Arab. "Kissís" (plur. Kusús) from ‘ .

[FN#399] Koran ii. The "red cow" is evidently the "red heifer" of Barnabas, chaps. vii.

[FN#400] Arab. "Al-Jásalík"= .

[FN#401] This is from the first "Gospel of Infancy," wherein Jesus said to his mother, "Verily I am Jesus, the Son of God, the Word which thou hast brought forth, as the Angel Gabriel did declare unto thee; and my Father hath sent me to save the world" (chaps. i. 2.). The passage is virtually quoted in the Koran (chaps. iii. 141), of course omitting " the Son of God"

[FN#402] Mohammed allowed his locks to grow down to his ear-lobes but never lower.

[FN#403] Arab. "Lisám" I have explained as a covering for the lower face, made by drawing over it the corner of the head-kerchief (Pilgrimage i. 346). The Lisám of the African Tawárik hoods the eyes so that a man must turn up his face to see, and swathes all the lower half, leaving only the nose exposed. And this is worn by many men by night as well as by day, doubtless to avoid the evil eye. The native Sultans of Darfur, like those of Bornu and others further west, used white muslin as a face-wrap: hence, too, the ceremonies when spitting, etc., etc. The Kúfiyah or head-kerchief of the Arabs soon reached Europe and became in Low Latin Cuphia; in Spanish Escofia; in Ital. Cuffia or Scuffia; in French Escoffion, Scofion (Reine Marguerite) Coëffe (une pellicule, marque de bonheur) Coiffe and Coife, &c.; the Scotch Curch or Coif, opposed to the maiden snood, and, lastly our Sergeant-at-Law's Coif. Littré, the Learned, who in erudition was né coiffé, has missed this obvious derivation.

[FN#404] "Cutting," throughout the book, alludes to the scymitar with which Arabs never give point; and "thrusting" to the footman's spear and the horseman's lance.

[FN#405] A popular phrase, I repeat, for extreme tenor and consternation.

[FN#406] The name usually applies to a well-known district and city of Al Yaman, where "Koss the eloquent" was bishop in Mohammed's day: the Negiran of D'Herbelot. Here, however, it is the Syrian Najrán (Nejrân of Missionary Porter's miserable Handbook), now a wretched village near the volcanic Lajjá, about one hundred and twenty miles direct south of Damascus and held by Druzes and Christians.

[FN#407] The Kantár (quintal) of 100 ratls (Ibs.) =98-99 Ibs. avoir.

[FN#408] Arab. "Juráb (bag) mi'adat- ih (of his belly)," the "curdling of the testicles" in fear is often mentioned.

[FN#409] Clearly alluding to the magic so deeply studied by mediæval Jews.

[FN#410] Arab. "Sahákah," lit. rubbing. The Moslem Harem is a great school for this "Lesbian (which I would call Atossan) love "; but the motive of the practice lies deeper. As amongst men the mixture of the feminine with the masculine temperament leads to sodomy, so the reverse makes women prefer their own sex. These tribades are mostly known by peculiarities of form and features, hairy cheeks and upper lips, gruff voices, hircine odour and the large projecting clitoris with erectile powers known to the Arabs as "bazar" hence Tabzír=circumcision or amputation of such clitoris. Burckhardt (Prov. 436) translates " Bazarah" by slut or wench. He adds " it originally signifies the labia which the Cairenes also entice Zambúr and which are cut off in girlhood." See also Lane, Lex. s.v.; Tabzír. Both writers confuse excision of the nymphæ with circumcision of the clitoris (Zambúr) Al-Siyúti (Kitab al-Izá' fi'Ilm al-Nikah) has a very interesting chapter on Sapphic venery, which is well known to Europe as proved by such works as "Gamiani," and "Anandria ou Confessions de Mademoiselle Sappho, avec la Clef," Lesbos, 1718. Onanism is fatally prevalent: in many Harems and girls' schools tallow candles and similar succedanea are vainly forbidden and bananas when detected are cut into four so as to be useless; of late years, however, China has sent some marvellous artificial phalli of stuffed bladder, horn and even caoutchouc, the latter material of course borrowed from Europe.

[FN#411] This is considered a powerful aphrodisiac in the East. Hence male devotees are advised to avoid tile "two reds," i.e. meat and wine; while the "two reds," which corrupt women, are gold and saffron, that is perfumery. Hence also the saying of Mohammed:— "Perfumes for men should have scent and not colour; for women should have colour and not scent." (Mishkát al-Masábíh ii. 361.)

[FN#412] These are the "Hibás" or thin cords of wool which the Badawi binds round his legs, I believe to keep off cramp. (Pilgrimage iii. 78).

[FN#413] Crying out "La iláha illa 'llah." (There is no god but the God.); technically called "Tahlíl."

[FN#414] i.e. Men, angels and devils, the "Triloka" (triple people) of the Hindus. Alamín (plur.), never Alamayn (dual), is the Triregno denoted by the papal Tiara, the three Christian kingdoms being Heaven, Hell and Purgatory.

[FN#415] Matrahinna or Mit-Rahinah is a well-known village near Memphis, the name being derived from the old Egyptian Minat-ro- hinnu, the port at the mouth of the canal. Let me remark that two of these three words, "Minat" and "Ru," are still common in " Aryan" Persian.

[FN#416] Kirámat, a sign, a prodigy, opposed to Mu'ujizah, a miracle wrought by a prophet. The Sufis explain this thaumaturgy by Allah changing something of Nature's ordinary course in favour of an especial worshipper, and, after a fashion, this is Catholic doctrine (See Dabistan, iii. 173).

[FN#417] Koran, x. 25, "until the earth receive its vesture and be adorned with various plants."

[FN#418] i.e. the young hair sprouting on the boy's cheek.

[FN#419] A fighter for the faith and now a title which follows the name, e.g. Osmán Páshá Ghází, whom the English press dubbed "Ghazi Osman."

[FN#420] That is the King of Constantinople.

[FN#421] Cassia fistularis, a kind of carob: " Shambar" is the Arab. form of the Persian " Chambar."

[FN#422] Koran, ii. 149. Hence the vulgar idea that Martyrs are still alive in the flesh. See my Pilgrimage (ii. 110 and elsewhere) for the romantic and picturesque consequences of that belief. The Commentators (Jalál al-Dín, etc.) play tricks with the Koranic words, " they (martyrs) are not dead but living" (iii. 179) by placing the happy souls in the crops of green birds which eat of the fruits and drink of the waters of Paradise; whereas the reprobates and the (very) wicked are deposited in black birds which drain the sanies and the boiling waters of Hell. Amongst the Greeks a body remaining entire long after death suggests Anathema Maranatha: it is the contrary with Catholic Christians (Boccaccio iv. 5, of the Pot of Basil). Concerning this creed see Maundrell, Letter of 1698.

[FN#423] Tor is "Mount Sinai" in the Koran (xcv. 1). I have only to repeat my opinion concerning the present site so called: "It is evident that Jebel Serbal dates only from the early days of Coptic Christianity; that Jebel Musa, its Greek rival, rose after the visions of Helena in the fourth century; whilst the building of the Convent by Justinian belongs to A.D 527. Ras Safsáfah, its rival to the north, is an affair of yesterday, and may be called the invention of Robinson; and Jebel Katerina, to the south is the property of Rüppell" (Midian Revisited i., 237). I would therefore call the "Sinaitic" Peninsula, Peninsula of Paran in old days and Peninsula of Tor (from its chief port) in our time. It is still my conviction that the true Mount Sinai will be found in Jabal Aráif, or some such unimportant height to the north of the modern Hajj- road from Suez to Akabah. Even about the name (which the Koran writes "Sainá" and "Sínín") there is a dispute: It is usually derived from the root "Sanah"=sentis, a bush; but this is not satisfactory. Our eminent Assyriologist, Professor Sayce, would connect it with "Sin," the Assyrian Moon- god as Mount Nebo with the Sun-god and he expects to find there the ruins of a Lunar temple as a Solar fane stands on Ba'al Zapuna (Baal Zephon) or the classical Mount Casius.

[FN#424] Alluding to the miracle of Aaron's rod (the gift of Jethro) as related in the Koran (chapts. vii. 1., xx., etc.), where the Egyptian sorcerers threw down thick ropes which by their magic twisted and coiled like serpents.

[FN#425] Arab. "Ayát" lit. "signs," here "miracles of the truth," 1. c. Koranic versets as opposed to chapters. The ranks of the enemy represent the latter, sword-cuts the former—a very persuasive mode of preaching.

[FN#426] Lane (M. E. chapt.. iii.) shows by a sketch the position of the worshipper during this "Salám" which is addressed, some say, to the guardian angels, others suppose to all brother-believers and angels.

[FN#427] i.e., where the Syrians found him.

[FN#428] i.e., Dedianus Arabised; a name knightly and plebian.

[FN#429] In such tales the Wazir is usually the sharp-witted man, contrasting with the "dummy," or master.

[FN#430] Carrier-pigeons were extensively used at this time. The Caliph Al-Násir li-Díni ‘lláh (regn. A.H. 575=1180) was, according to Ibn Khaldún, very fond of them. The moderns of Damascus still affect them. My successor, Mr. Consul Kirby Green, wrote an excellent report on pigeon-fancying at Damascus. The so-called Maundeville or Mandeville in A. D. 1322 speaks of carrier-pigeons in Syria as a well-known mode Of intercourse between lord and lord.

[FN#431] Mohammed who declared "There is no monkery in Al-Islam," and who virtually abolished the priest, had an especial aversion to the shaveling (Ruhbán). But the "Gens æterna in quâ nemo nascitur" (Pliny v. 17) managed to appear even in Al-lslam, as Fakirs,, Dervishes, Súfis, etc. Of this more hereafter.

[FN#432] i.e. her holiness would act like a fascinating talisman.

[FN#433] The "smoking out" practice is common amongst the Arabs: hence Marshal Pelissier's so- called " barbarity." The Public is apt to forget that on a campaign the general's first duty is to save his own men by any practice which the laws of fair warfare do not absolutely forbid.

[FN#434] i.e. Mohammed, who promised Heaven and threatened Hell.

[FN#435] Arab. "Ahr" or "ihr," fornication or adultery, i.e., irreligion, infidelity as amongst the Hebrews (Isaiah xxiii.17).

[FN#436] A sign of defeat.

[FN#437] In English "last night": I have already noted that the Moslem day, like the Jewish and the Scandinavian, begins at sundown; and "layl " a night, is often used to denote the twenty- four hours between sunset and sunset, whilst "yaum," a day, would by us be translated in many cases "battle-day."

[FN#438] Iterum the "Himalayan Brothers."

[FN#439] Again, Mohammed who promised Good to the Good, and vice versâ.

[FN#440] They are sad doggrel like most of the pièces d'occasion inserted in The Nights.

[FN#441] Here "Kahwah" (coffee) is used in its original sense of strong old wine. The derivation is "Akhá"=fastidire fecit, causing disinclination for food, the Matambre (kill- hunger) of the Iberians. In old days the scrupulous called coffee "Kihwah" in order to distinguish it from 'Kakwah," wine.

[FN#442] i.e. Mohammed, a common title.

[FN#443] That is, fatal to the scoffer and the impious.

[FN#444] Equivalent to our "The Devil was sick," etc.

[FN#445] i.e. to the enemy: the North American Indians (so called) use similar forms of "inverted speech"; and the Australian aborigines are in no way behind them.

[FN#446] See Vol. i., p. 154 (Night xvi.).

[FN#447] Arab. "Sauf," a particle denoting a near future whereas "Sa-" points to one which may be very remote.

[FN#448] From the root "Shanh"=having a fascinating eye, terrifying. The Irish call the fascinater "eybitter" and the victim (who is also rhymed to death) "eybitten."

[FN#449] i.e., not like the noble-born, strong in enduring the stress of fight.

[FN#450] i.e., of Abraham. For the Well Zemzem and the Place of Abraham see my Pilgrimage (iii. 171-175, etc.), where I described the water as of salt-bitter taste, like that of Epsom (iii. 203). Sir William Muir (in his excellent life of Mahomet, I. cclviii.) remarks that "the flavour of stale water bottled up for months would not be a criterion of the same water freshly drawn;" but soldered tins-full of water drawn a fortnight before are to be had in Calcutta and elsewhere after Pilgrimage time; and analysis would at once detect the salt.

[FN#451] Racing was and is a favourite pastime with those hippomanists, the Arabs; but it contrasts strongly with our civilised form being a trial of endurance rather than of speed. The Prophet is said to have limited betting in these words, "There shall be no wagering save on the Kuff (camel's foot), the Hafir (hoof of horse, ass, etc.) or the Nasal (arrow-pile or lance head)."

[FN#452] In the Mac. Edit. "Arman"=Armenia, which has before occurred. The author or scribe here understands by "Cæsarea" not the old Turris Stratonis, Herod's city called after Augustus, but Cæsareia the capital of Cappadocia (Pliny, vi. 3), the royal residence before called Mazaca (Strabo).

[FN#453] An idiom meaning "a very fool."

[FN#454] i.e. Kána (was) má (that which) was (kána).

[FN#455] A son being "the lamp of a dark house."

[FN#456] When the Israelites refused to receive the Law (the souls of all the Prophets even those unborn being present at the Covenant), Allah tore up the mountain (Sinai which is not mentioned) by the roots and shook it over their heads to terrify them, saying, "Receive the Law which we have given you with a resolution to keep it" (Koran chaps. xlx. 170). Much of this story is from the Talmud (Abodah Sar. 2, 2, Tract Sabbath, etc.) whence Al-Islam borrowed so much of its Judaïsm, as it took Christianity from the Apocryphal New Testament. This tradition is still held by the Israelites, says Mr. Rodwell (p. 333) who refers it to a misunderstanding of Exod. xix. 17, rightly rendered in the E. version "at the nether part of the mountain."

[FN#457] Arab. "Azghán" = the camel-litters in which women travel.

[FN#458] i.e. to joy foes and dismay friends.

[FN#459] Whose eyes became white (i.e. went blind) with mourning for his son Joseph (Koran, chaps. xii. 84). He recovered his sight when his face was covered with the shirt which Gabriel had given to the youth after his brethren had thrown him into the well.

[FN#460] "Poison King" (Persian); or "Flower-King" (Arabic).

[FN#461] A delicate allusion to the size of her hips and back parts, in which volume is, I have said, greatly admired for the best of reasons.

[FN#462] All Prophets had some manual trade and that of David was making coats of mail, which he invented, for before his day men used plate-armour. So "Allah softened the iron for him" and in his hands it became like wax (Koran xxi. xxxiv., etc.). Hence a good coat of mail is called "Davidean." I have noticed (First Footsteps, p. 33 and elsewhere) the homage paid to the blacksmith on the principle which made Mulciber (Malik Kabir) a god. The myth of David inventing mail possibly arose from his peculiarly fighting career. Moslems venerate Dáúd on account of his extraordinary devotion, nor has this view of his character ceased : a modern divine preferred him to "all characters in history."

[FN#463] "Travel by night," said the Prophet, "when the plagues of earth (scorpions, serpents, etc.) afflict ye not." Yet the night- march in Arabia is detestable (Pilgrimage iii.).

[FN#464] This form of ceremony is called "Istikbál" (coming forth to greet) and is regulated by the severest laws of etiquette. As a rule the greater the distance (which may be a minimum of one step) the higher the honour. Easterns infinitely despise strangers who ignore these vitals of politeness.

[FN#465] i.e. he will be a desert Nimrod and the game will delight to be killed by him.

[FN#466] This serves to keep the babe's eyes free from inflammation.

[FN#467] i.e. Crown of the Kings of amorous Blandishment.

[FN#468] Lane (i. 531) translates "the grey down." The Arabs use "Akhzar" (prop. "green") in many senses, fresh, gray-hued, etc.

[FN#469] Allusion to the well-known black banners of the house of Abbas. The Persians describe the growth of hair on a fair young face by, "His cheeks went into mourning for the loss of their charms."

[FN#470] Arab. "Káfir" a Koranic word meaning Infidel, the active participle of Kufr= Infidelity i.e. rejecting the mission of Mohammed. It is insulting and in Turkish has been degraded to "Giaour." Here it means black, as Hafiz of Shiraz terms a cheek mole "Hindu" i.e. dark-skinned and idolatrous.

[FN#471] Alluding to the travel of Moses (Koran chaps. xviii.) with Al-Khizr (the "evergreen Prophet") who had drunk of the Fountain of Life and enjoyed flourishing and continual youth. Moses is represented as the external and superficial religionist; the man of outsight; Al-Khizr as the spiritual and illuminated man of insight.

[FM#472] The lynx was used like the lion in Ancient Egypt and the Chita-leopard in India: I have never seen or heard of it in these days.

[FN#473] Arab. "Sukúr," whence our "Saker" the falcon, not to be confounded with the old Falco Sacer, the Gr. . Falconry which, like all arts, began in Egypt, is an extensive subject throughout Moslem lands. I must refer my readers to "Falconry in the Valley of the Indus" (Van Voorst, 1852) and a long note in Pilgrimage iii. 71.

[FN#474] It was not respectful to pitch their camp within dog-bark.

[FN#475] Easterns attach great importance to softness and smoothness of skin and they are right: a harsh rough epidermis spoils sport with the handsomest woman.

[FN#476] Canticles vii. 8: Hosea xiv. 6.

[FN#477] The mesmeric attraction of like to like.

[FN#478] Arab. "Taswif"=saying "Sauf," I will do it soon. It is a beautiful word–etymologically.

[FN#479] A very far fetched allusion. The face of the beloved springing from an unbuttoned robe is the moon rising over the camp in the hollow (bat'há).

[FN#480] Arab. "Kasabát" = "canes," long beads, bugles.

[FN#481] Koran, xcvi. 5.

[FN#482] Both words (masc. and fem.) mean "dear, excellent, highly- prized." The tale is the Arab form of the European "Patient Griselda" and shows a higher conception of womanly devotion, because Azizah, despite her wearisome weeping, is a girl of high intelligence and Aziz is a vicious zany, weak as water and wilful as wind. The phenomenon (not rare in life) is explained by the couplet:—

I love my love with an S—
Because he is stupid and not intellectual.

This fond affection of clever women for fools can be explained only by the law of unlikeness which mostly governs sexual unions in physical matters; and its appearance in the story gives novelty and point. Aziz can plead only the violence of his passion which distinguished him as a lover among the mob of men who cannot love anything beyond themselves. And none can pity him for losing a member which he so much abused.

[FN#483] Arab. "Sháhid," the index, the pointer raised in testimony: the comparison of the Eastern and the Western names is curious.

[FN#484] Musk is one of the perfumes of the Moslem Heaven; and "musky" is much used in verse to signify scented and dark-brown.

[FN#485] Arab. "Mandíl": these kerchiefs are mostly oblong, the shore sides being worked with gold and coloured silk, and often fringed, while the two others are plain.

[FN#486] Arab. "Rayhání," of the Ocymum Basilicum or sweet basil: a delicate handwriting, so called from the pen resembling a leaf (?) See vol. i. p. 128. [Volume 1, note 229 & 230]

[FN#487] All idiom meaning "something unusual happened."

[FN#488] An action common in grief and regret: here the lady would show that she sighs for union with her beloved.

[FN#489] Lane (i. 608) has a valuable note on the language of signs, from M. du Vigneau's "Secretaire Turc," etc. (Paris, 1688), Baron von Hammer-Purgstall ("Mines de ['Orient," No. 1, Vienna, 1809) and Marcel's "Comes du Cheykh El-Mohdy" (Paris, 1833). It is practised in Africa as well as in Asia. At Abeokuta in Yoruba a man will send a symbolical letter in the shape of cowries, palm-nuts and other kernels strung on rice- straw, and sharp wits readily interpret the meaning. A specimen is given in p. 262 of Miss Tucker's "Abbeokuta; or Sunrise within the Tropics."

[FN#490] Mr. Payne (ii. 227) translates "Hawá al-'Urzí" by "the love of the Beni Udhra, an Arabian tribe famous for the passion and devotion with which love was practised among them." See Night dclxxxiii. I understand it as "excusable love" which, for want of a better term, is here translated "platonic." It is, however, more like the old "bundling" of Wales and Northern England; and allows all the pleasures but one, the toyings which the French call les plaisirs de la petite ode; a term my dear old friend Fred. Hankey derived from la petite voie. The Afghans know it as "Námzad-bází" or betrothed play (Pilgrimage, ii. 56); the Abyssinians as eye- love; and the Kafirs as Slambuka a Shlabonka, for which see The traveller Delegorgue.

[FN#491] "Turk" in Arabic and Persian poetry means a plunderer, a robber. Thus Hafiz: "Agar án Turk-i-Shirázi ba-dast árad dil-i- márá," If that Shirazi (ah, the Turk!) would deign to take my heart in hand, etc.

[FN#492] Arab. "Názir," a steward or an eye (a "looker"). The idea is borrowed from Al-Hariri (Assemblies, xiii.), and,—

[FN#493] Arab. "Hájib," a groom of the chambers, a chamberlain; also an eyebrow. See Al-Hariri, ibid. xiii. and xxii.

[FN#494] This gesture speaks for itself: it is that of a dyer staining a cloth. The "Sabbágh's" shop is the usual small recess, open to the street and showing pans of various dyes sunk like "dog- laps" in the floor.

[FN#495] The Arab. "Sabt" (from sabata, he kept Sabt) and the Heb. "Sabbath" both mean Saturn's day, Saturday, transferred by some unknown process throughout Christendom to Sunday. The change is one of the most curious in the history of religions. If there be a single command stronger than all others it is "Keep the Saturday holy." It was so kept by the Founder of Christianity; the order was never abrogated and yet most Christians are not aware that Sabbath, or "Sawbath," means Saturn's day, the "Shiyár" of the older Arabs. And to complete its degradation "Sabbat" in French and German means a criaillerie, a "row," a disorder, an abominable festival of Hexen (witches). This monstrous absurdity can be explained only by aberrations of sectarian zeal, of party spirit in religion.

[FN#496] The men who cry to prayer. The first was Bilál, the Abyssinian slave bought and manumitted by Abu Bakr. His simple cry was "I testify there is no Iláh (god) but Allah (God)! Come ye to prayers!" Caliph Omar, with the Prophet's permission, added, "I testify that Mohammed is the Apostle of Allah." The prayer-cry which is beautiful and human, contrasting pleasantly with the brazen clang of the bell. now is

Allah is Almighty (bis).
I declare no god is there but Allah (bis).
Hie ye to Rogation (Hayya=halumma).
Hie ye to Salvation (Faláh=prosperity, Paradise).
("Hie ye to Edification," a Shi'ah adjunct).
Prayer is better than sleep (in the morning, also bis).
No god is there but Allah

This prayer call is similarly worded and differently pronounced and intoned throughout Al-Islam.

[FN#497] i.e. a graceful youth of Al-Hijaz, the Moslem Holy Land, whose "sons" claim especial privileges.

[FN#498] Arab. "harf'= a letter, as we should say a syllable.

[FN#499] She uses the masculine "fatá," in order to make the question more mysterious.

[FN#500] The fountain-bowl is often ornamented by a rude mosaic of black and white marble with enlivenments of red stone or tile in complicated patterns.

[FN#501] Arab. "Kubád" = shaddock (citrus decumana): the huge orange which Captain Shaddock brought from the West Indies; it is the Anglo-Indian pompelmoose, vulg. pummelo. An excellent bitter is made out of the rind steeped in spirits. Citronworts came from India whence they spread throughout the tropics: they were first introduced into Europe by the heroic Joam de Castro and planted in his garden at Cintra where their descendants are still seen.

[FN#502] Arab. "Bakláwah," Turk. "Baklává," a kind of pastry with blanched almonds bruised small between layers of dough, baked in the oven and cut into lozenges. It is still common

[FN#503] Her just fear was that the young woman might prove "too clever by half" for her simpleton cousin.

[FN#504] The curse is pregnant with meaning. On Judgment-day the righteous shall arise with their faces shining gloriously: hence the blessing, "Bayyaz' Allaho wajh-ak" (=Allah whiten thy countenance!). But the wicked shall appear with faces scorched black and deformed by horror (Koran xxiv.): hence "God blacken thy brow!" I may observe that Easterns curse, the curse being everywhere the language of excited destructiveness; but only Westerns, and these chiefly English, swear, a practice utterly meaningless. "Damn it" without specifying what the "it" is, sounds like the speech of a naughty child anxious only to use a "wicked word." "Damn you!" is intelligible all the world over. It has given rise to "les goddams" in France, "Godámes" in the Brazil and "Gotáma" amongst the Somal of Eastern Africa, who learn it in Aden,

[FN#505] Arab. "Zardah," usually rice dressed with saffron and honey, from Pers. "Zard," saffron, yellow. See Night dcxii.

[FN#506] Vulgarly called "knuckle-bone," concerning which I shall have something to say.

[FN#507] A bit of wood used in the children's game called "Táb" which resembles our tip-cat (Lane M. E. chaps. xvii.).

[FN#508] Arab. "Balah," the unripened date, which is considered a laxative and eaten in hot weather.

[FN#509] Lane (i. 611), quoting Al-Kazwíní, notes that the date- stone is called "Nawá" (dim. "Nawáyah") which also means distance, absence, severance. Thus the lady threatens to cast off her greedy and sleepy lover.

[FN#510] The pad of the carob-bean which changes little after being plucked is an emblem of constancy.

[FN#511] This dirham=48 grains avoir.

[FN#512] The weight would be round: also "Hadíd" (=iron) means sharp or piercing (Koran chaps. Vi]. 21). The double "swear" is intended to be very serious. Moreover iron conjures away fiends: when a water-spout or a sand-devil (called Shaytán also in Arabia) approaches, you point the index at the Jinn and say, "Iron, O thou ill-omened one!" Amongst the Ancient Egyptians the metal was ill- omened being the bones of Typhon, 80 here, possibly, we have an instance of early homœopathy—similia similibus.

[FN#513] Probably fermented to a kind of wine. The insipid fruit (Unnáb) which looks like an apple in miniature, is much used in stews, etc. It is the fruit (Nabak classically Nabik) of Rhamnus Nabeca (or Sidrat) also termed Zizyphus Jujuba, seu Spina Christi because fabled to have formed the crown of thorns: in the English market this plum is called Chinese Japonica. I have described it in Pilgrimage ii. 205, and have noticed the infusion of the leaves for washing the dead (ibid. ii. 105): this is especially the use of the "Ber" in India, where the leaves are superstitiously held peculiarly pure. Our dictionaries translate "Sidr" by "Lote-tree"; and no wonder that believers in Homeric writ feel their bile aroused by so poor a realisation of the glorious myth. The Homerids probably alluded to Hashish or Bhang.

[FN#514] Arab. "Azrár": the open collar of the Saub ("Tobe") or long loose dress is symptomatic. The Eastern button is on the same principle as ours (both having taken the place of the classical fibula); but the Moslem affects a loop (like those to which we attach our "frogs") and utterly ignores a button-hole.

[FN#515] Alluding to the ceremonious circumambulation of the Holy House at Meccah: a notable irreverence worthy of Kneph-town (Canopus).

[FN#516] The ear-drop is the penis and the anklet its crown of glory.

[FN#517] Equivalent to our "Alas! Alas!" which, by the by, no one ever says. "Awah," like "Yauh," is now a woman's word although used by Al-Hariri (Assembly of Basrah) and so Al-awwáh=one who cries from grief "Awáh." A favourite conversational form is "Yehh" with the aspirate exasperated, but it is an expression of astonishment rather than sorrow. It enters into Europe travel-books.

[FN#518] In the text "burst her gall-bladder."

[FN#519] The death of Azizah is told with true Arab pathos and simplicity: it still draws tear. *from the eyes of the Badawi, and I never read it without a "lump in the throat."

[FN#520] Arab. "Inshallah bukra!" a universal saying which is the horror of travellers.

[FN#521] I have explained "Nu'uman's flower" as the anemone which in Grecised Arabic is "Anúmiyá." Here they are strewed over the tomb; often the flowers are planted in a small bed of mould sunk in the upper surface.

[FN#522] Arab. "Barzakh" lit. a bar, a partition: in the Koran (chapts. xxiii. and xxxv.) the space or the place between death and resurrection where souls are stowed away. It corresponds after a fashion with the classical Hades and the Limbus (Limbo) of Christendom, e.g.. Limbus patrum, infantum, fatuorum. But it must not be confounded with Al-A'aráf, The Moslem purgatory.

[FN#523] Arab. "Zukák al-Nakíb," the latter word has been explained as a chief, leader, head man.

[FN#524] Moslems never stand up at such times, for a spray of urine would make their clothes ceremonially impure: hence the scrupulous will break up with stick or knife the hard ground in front of them. A certain pilgrim was reported to have made this blunder which is hardly possible in Moslem dress. A high personage once asked me if it was true that he killed a man who caught him in a standing position; and I found to my surprise that the absurd scandal was already twenty years old. After urinating the Moslem wipes the os penis with one to three bits of stone, clay or handfuls of earth, and he must perform Wuzu before he can pray. Tournefort (Voyage au Levant iii. 335) tells a pleasant story of certain Christians at Constantinople who powdered with "Poivre-d'Inde" the stones in a wall where the Moslems were in the habit of rubbing the os penis by way of wiping The same author (ii. 336) strongly recommends a translation of Rabelais' Torcheculative chapter (Lib i., chaps. 13) for the benefit of Mohammedans.

[FN#525] Arab. "Nuhás ahmar," lit. red brass.

[FN#526] The cup is that between the lady's legs.

[FN#527] A play upon "Sák" = calf, or leg, and "Sákí," a cup- bearer. The going round (Tawáf) and the running (Sa'i) allude to the circumambulation of the Ka'abah, and the running between Mount Safá and Marwah (Pilgrimage ii. 58, and iii. 343). A religious Moslem would hold the allusion highly irreverent.

[FN#528] Lane (i. 614) never saw a woman wearing such kerchief which is deshabille. It is either spread over the head or twisted turband-wise.

[FN#529] The "Kasabah" was about two fathoms of long measure, and sometimes 12 ½ feet; but the length has been reduced.

[FN#530] "Bat and ball," or hockey on horseback (Polo) is one of the earliest Persian games as shown by every illustrated copy of Firdausi's "Shahnámeh." This game was played with a Kurrah or small hand-ball and a long thin bat crooked at the end called in Persian Chaugán and in Arabic Saulaján. Another sense of the word is given in the Burhán-i-Káti translated by Vullers (Lex. Persico-Latinum), a large bandy with bent head to which is hung an iron ball, also called Kaukabah (our "morning-star") and like the umbrella it denotes the grandees of the court. The same Kaukabah particularly distinguished one of the Marquesses of Waterford. This Polo corresponds with the folliculus, the pallone, the baloun-game (moyen âge) of Europe, where the horse is not such a companion of man; and whereof the classics sang:—

Folle decet pueros ludere, folle senes.

In these days we should spell otherwise the "folle" of seniors playing at the ball or lawn-tennis.