assemblies or seances translated (or attempted) into all the languages
of Europe. We have two in English, the first by Theodore Preston, M.A.
(London, Madden, 1850); but it contains only twenty of the fifty
pieces. The second by the late Mr. Chenery (before alluded to) ends
with the twenty-sixth assembly: one volume in fact, the other never
having been finished. English readers, therefore, are driven to the
grand edition of the Makαmαt in folio by Baron Silvestre de Sacy.
[FN#239] The sword of the eye has a Hamαil (baldrick worn over right
shoulder, Pilgrimage i. 352) to support the "Ghimd" (vulg. Ghamad) or
scabbard (of wood or leather): and this baldrick is the young whisker.
[FN#240] The conceit of "Sulαfat" (ptisane, grape juice allowed to
drain on the slabs) and "Sawαlif" (tresses, locks) has been explained.
The newest wine is the most inebriating, a fact not much known in
England, but familiar to the drinker of "Vino novo."
[FN#241] Koran xii. 51, this said by the nobleman's (Potiphar's) wife
who adds, "I selected him to lie with me; and he (Joseph) is one of
those who speak truth."
[FN#242] Here we have a specimen of the strained Saj'a or balanced
prose: slave-girls (jawαrν) are massed with flowing tears (dam'u jαri)
on account of the Kαfiyah or rhyme.
[FN#243] The detected sodomite is punished with death according to
Moslem law, but again comes the difficulty of proof. At Shiraz I have
heard of a pious Moslem publicly executing his son.
[FN#244] Koran xxvi. 165 et seq. The Lord speaks to the "people of Lot"
(Sodomites). Mr. Payne renders "Min al-αlamνma," "from the four corners
of the world."
[FN#245] Meaning before and behind, a Moslemah "Bet Balmanno."
[FN#246] Arab. " Lϊti," (plur. Lawαtν), much used in Persian as a
buffoon, a debauchee, a rascal. The orig. sig. is "One of (the people
of) Lot." The old English was Ingle or Yngle (a bardachio, a catamite,
a boy kept for sodomy), which Minsheu says is, "Vox hispanica et
significat Latinθ Inguen" (the groin). Our vulgar modern word like the
Italian bugiardo is pop. derived from Fr. Bougre, alias Bulgarus, a
Bulgarian, a heretic: hence Boulgrin (Rabelais i. chaps. ii.) is
popularly applied to the Albigeois (Albigenses, whose persecution began
shortly after A.D. 1200) and the Lutherans. I cannot but think that
"bougre" took its especial modern signification after the French became
acquainted with the Brazil, where the Huguenots (in A.D. 1555) were
founding a Nouvelle France, alias Equinoctiale, alias Antarctique, and
whence the savages were carried as curiosities to Paris. Their generic
name was "Bugre" (properly a tribe in Southern Brazil, but applied to
all the redskins) and they were all born Sodomites. More of this in the
terminal Essay.
[FN#247] His paper is the whiteness of his skin. I have quoted the
Persian saying of a young beard: "his cheeks don mourning for his
beauty's death."
[FN#248] Arab. "Khabαl," lit. the pus which flows from the bodies of
the damned.
[FN#249] Most characteristic of Egypt is all this scene. Her reverence,
it is true, sits behind a curtain; but her virtue uses language which
would shame the lowest European prostitute; and which is filthy almost
as Dean Swift's.
[FN#250] Arab. "Niyat:" the Moslem's idea of intentions quite runs with
the Christian's. There must be a "Niyat" or purpose of prayer or the
devotion is valueless. Lane tells a pleasant tale of a thief in the
Mosque, saying "I purpose (before Prayer) to carry off this nice pair
of new shoes!"
[FN#251] Arab. "Ya 'l-Ajϊz" (in Cairo "Agooz" pronounced "Ago-o- oz"):
the address is now insulting and would elicit "The old woman in thine
eye" (with fingers extended). In Egypt the polite address is "O lady
(Sitt), O pilgrimess, O bride, and O daughter" (although she be the
wrong side of fifty). In Arabia you may say "O woman (Imraah)" but in
Egypt the reply would be "The woman shall see Allah cut out thy heart!"
So in Southern Italy you address "bella fι" (fair one) and cause a
quarrel by "vecchiarella."
[FN#252] Governor of Egypt, Khorasan, etc. under Al-Maamun.
[FN#253] i.e., a companion, a solacer: it is also a man's name (vol. i.
xxiv.).
[FN#254] At Baghdad; evidently written by a Baghdad or Mosul man.
[FN#255] A blind traditionist of Bassorah (ninth century).
[FN#256] Arab. "Zaghab"=the chick's down; the warts on the cucumber
which sometimes develop into projections.
[FN#257] The Persian saying is, A kiss without moustachio is bread
without salt.
[FN#258] "And We will prove you with evil, and with good, for a trial
of you; and unto Us shall ye return." (Koran xxi. 36.) The saying is
always in the Moslem's mouth.
[FN#259] Arab. "Sunnat," lit.=a law, especially applied to the habit
and practice of the Apostle in religious and semi-religious matters,
completing the "Hadis," or his spoken words. Anything unknown is
entitled "Bida'ah"=innovation. Hence the strict Moslem is a model
Conservative whose exemplar of life dates from the seventh century.
This fact may be casuistically explained away; but is not less an
obstacle to all progress and it will be one of the principal dangers
threatening Al-Islam. Only fair to say that an "innovation" introduced
by a perfect follower of the Prophet is held equal theoretically to a
Sunnat; but vulgarly it is said, "The rabble will not take gold which
is not coined."
[FN#260] Arab. "Arsh"=the ninth Heaven, the Throne of the Deity, above
the Seven Heavens of the planets and the Primum Mobile which, in the
Ptolemaic system, sets them all in motion.
[FN#261] This description of a good Moslem's death is at once concise,
pathetic and picturesque.
[FN#262] This is the first mention of coffee; apparently
introduced by the scribe: the word rendered "coffee-makers" is
"Kahwajiyah"; an Arab. plur. of a Turkish termination (-ji) to an
Arab. word "Kahwah" (before noticed).
[FN#263] Picnics are still made to Rauzah (Rodah) island: I have
enjoyed many a one, but the ground is all private property.
[FN#264] Arab. "Hosh," plur. Hνshαn, the low courts surrounded by mean
lodgings which in "native" Cairo still contrast so strongly with the
"gingerbread" of the new buildings.
[FN#265] This is the Moslem equivalent of "thank you." He looks upon
the donor as the channel through which Allah sends him what he wants
and prays for more to come. Thus "May your shadow never be less" means,
May you increase in prosperity so that I may gain thereby! And if a
beggar is disposed to be insolent (a very common case), he will tell
you his mind pretty freely on the subject, and make it evident to you
that all you have is also his and that La propriιtι (when not shared)
est le vol.
[FN#266] I have noticed in my Pilgrimage (i. 51-53) the kindly care
with which the stranger is treated by Moslems, a marvellous contrast to
the ways of "civilization."
[FN#267] Arab. "Dimyat," vulg. pronounced "Dumνyat."
[FN#268] Where the door-keepers sit and receive their friends.
[FN#269] This is a traveller's 'Kit' in the East.
[FN#270] Arab. "Takht-rawαn," from Persian meaning "moveable throne."
[FN#271] The use of the expression proved the speaker to be a
Moslem Jinnν.
[FN#272] The "haunted" house proper, known to the vulgar and to
spiritualists becomes, I have said, amongst Moslems a place tenanted by
Jinns.
[FN#273] Needless to say there never was a Sultan or a King of Baghdad
nor a Duke of Athens. This story would seem not to have been written by
the author of "the Emir bin Tahir," etc. Night ccccxxiv.
[FN#274] Plur. of Αlim=one learned in the law, a D.D. Mohammed did his
best to abolish the priest and his craft by making each Moslem
paterfamilias a pontifex in his own household and he severely condemned
monkery and celibacy. But human nature was too much for him: even
before his death ascetic associations began to crop up. Presently the
Olema in Al-Islam formed themselves into a kind of clergy; with the
single but highly important difference that they must (or ought to)
live by some honest secular calling and not by the "cure of souls";
hence Mahomet IV. of Turkey was solemnly deposed. So far and no farther
Mohammed was successful and his success has secured for him the lively
and lasting hatred of the ecclesiastical caste which he so honestly and
wisely attempted to abate. Even to the present day missionaries have a
good word for the Guebre and the Buddhist, the Brahmanist and the
Confucian, but none for the Moslem: Dr. Livingstone, for one instance
of many, evidently preferred the Fetichist, whom he could convert, to
the Unitarian Faithful whom he could not.
[FN#275] i.e. they recited seven times (an unusual number), for greater
solemnity, the opening Chapter of the Koran which does general duty on
such occasions as making covenants and swearing fealty. This
proclaiming a King by acclamation suggests the origin of the old and
venerable Portuguese institution.
[FN#276] By affixing his own seal and that of the King. This in later
times was supplanted by the "Tughrα," the imperial cypher or
counter-mark (much like a writing master's flourish), with which Europe
has now been made familiar through the agency of Turkish tobacco.
[FN#277] Arab. "Wird"=the twenty-five last chapters of the Koran which
are repeated, one or more at a time, after the end of the "Farz," or
obligatory prayers and ad libitum with the Sunnat or customary, and the
Nαfilah or supererogatory.
[FN#278] The sensible creed of Al-Islam freely allows anthropophagy
when it saves life; a contrast to the sentimentalism of the West which
brings a "charge of cannibalism" against unfortunate expeditionists. I
particularly allude to the scandalous pulings of the English Press over
the gallant and unfortunate Greely voyage. (The Academy, Sept. 25,
1884.)
[FN#279] The story is mere Ζsopic: the "Two dogs" contains it all. One
of Mohammed's sensible sayings is recorded and deserves
repetition:—"Empire endureth with infidelity (idolatry, etc.), but not
with tyranny."
[FN#280] This couplet occurs in Night xxi. (vol. i. 207); so I give
Torrens (p.207) by way of variety.
[FN#281] Lane (ii. 636) omits this tale, "as it would not only require
a volume of commentary but be extremely tiresome to most readers."
Quite true; but it is valuable to Oriental Students who are beginning
their studies, as an excellent compendium of doctrine and practice
according to the Shafi'ν School.
[FN#282] Pronounced Aboo 'l-Husn = Father of Beauty, a fancy name.
[FN#283] As in most hot climates so in Egypt the dead are buried at
once despite the risk of vivisepulture. This seems an instinct with the
Semitic (Arabian) race teste Abraham, as with the Gypsy. Hence the
Moslems have invoked religious aid. The Mishkαt al-Masαbih (i. 387)
makes Mohammed say, "When any one of you dieth you may not keep him in
the house but bear him quickly to his grave"; and again, "Be quick in
raising up the bier: for if the dead have been a good man, it is good
to bear him gravewards without delay; and if bad, it is frowardness ye
put from your necks."
[FN#284] This biting of the hand in Al-Harνri expresses bitterness of
repentance and he uses more than once the Koranic phrase (chapter vii.,
148) "Sukita fν aydνhim," lit. where it (the biting) was fallen upon
their hands; i.e. when it repented them; "sukita" being here not a
passive verb as it appears, but an impersonal form uncommon in Arabic.
The action is instinctive, a survival of the days when man was a
snarling and snapping animal (physically) armed only with claws and
teeth.
[FN#285] Arab. "'Alam," applied to many things, an "old man" of stones
(Kαkϊr), a signpost with a rag on the top, etc.
[FN#286] The moon of Ramazan was noticed in Night ix. That of Sha'aban
(eighth month) begins the fighting month after the conclusion of the
Treuga Dei in Rajab. See Night ccclxxviii.
[FN#287] These lines have occurred in Night cccxix. I give Mr.
Payne's version for variety.
[FN#288] i.e. in her prime, at fourteen to fifteen.
[FN#289] i.e. pale and yellow.
[FN#290] The word means the wood; but it alludes to a preparation made
by levigating it on a stone called in India "Sandlαsα." The gruel-like
stuff is applied with the right hand to the right side of the neck,
drawing the open fingers from behind forwards so as to leave four
distinct streaks, then down to the left side, and so on to the other
parts of the body.
[FN#291] Arab. "Haykal" which included the Porch, the Holy and
the Holy of Holies. The word is used as in a wider sense by
Josephus A. J. v. v. 3. In Moslem writings it is applied to a
Christian Church generally, on account of its images.
[FN#292] These lines having occurred before, I here quote Mr.
Payne.
[FN#293] Arab writers often mention the smile of beauty, but rarely,
after European fashion, the laugh, which they look upon as undignified.
A Moslem will say "Don't guffaw (Kahkahah) in that way; leave giggling
and grinning to monkeys and Christians." The Spaniards, a grave people,
remark that Christ never laughed. I would draw the reader's attention
to a theory of mine that the open-hearted laugh has the sound of the
vowels a and o; while e, i, and u belong to what may be roughly classed
as the rogue order.
[FN#294] i.e. gaining the love of another, love.
[FN#295] i.e. the abrogated passages and those by which they are
abrogated. This division is necessary for "inspired volumes," which
always abound in contradictions. But the charge of "opportunism"
brought against the Koran is truly absurd; as if "revelation" could
possibly be aught save opportune.
[FN#296] Koran iv. 160, the chapter "Women."
[FN#297] She unveiled, being a slave-girl and for sale. If a free woman
show her face to a Moslem, he breaks out into violent abuse, because
the act is intended to let him know that he is looked upon as a small
boy or an eunuch or a Chriastian—in fact not a man.
[FN#298] Ilah=Heb. El, a most difficult root, meaning strength,
interposition, God (Numen) "the" (article) "don't" (do not), etc. etc.
[FN#299] As far as I know Christians are the only worshippers who kneel
as if their lower legs were cut off and who "join hands" like the
captive offering his wrists to be bound (dare manus). The posture,
however, is not so ignoble as that of the Moslem "Sijdah" (prostration)
which made certain North African tribes reject Al-Islam saying, "These
men show their hind parts to heaven."
[FN#300] i.e. saying "I intend (purpose) to pray (for instance) the
two-bow prayer (ruka'tayn) of the day-break," etc.
[FN#301] So called because it prohibits speaking with others till the
prayer is ended.
[FN#302] Lit. "any thing opposite;" here used for the Ka'abah towards
which men turn in prayer; as Guebres face the sun or fire and idolators
their images. "Al-Kiblatayn" (= the two Kiblahs) means Meccah and
Jerusalem, which was faced by Moslems as well as Jews and Christians
till Mohammed changed the direction. For the occasion of the change see
my Pilgrimage, ii. 320.
[FN#303] Which includes Tayammum or washing with sand. This is a very
cleanly practice in a hot, dry land and was adopted long before
Mohammed. Cedrenus tells of baptism with sand being administered to a
dying traveller in the African desert.
[FN#304] The Koranic order for Wuzϊ is concise and as usual obscure,
giving rise to a host of disputes and casuistical questions. Its text
runs (chapt. v.), "O true believers, when you prepare to pray, wash
(Ghusl) your faces, and your hands unto the elbows; and rub (Mas-h)
your hands and your feet unto the ankles; and if ye be unclean by
having lain with a woman, wash (Ghusl) yourselves all over." The
purifications and ceremonious ablutions of the Jews originated this
command; and the early Christians did very unwisely in not making the
bath obligatory. St. Paul (Heb. xi. 22) says, "Let us draw near with a
true heart…having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our
bodies washed with clean (or pure) water." But this did not suffice.
Hence the Eastern Christian, in hot climates where cleanliness should
rank before godliness, is distinguished by his dirt which as a holy or
reverend man he makes still dirtier, and he offers an ugly comparison
with the Moslem and especially the Hindu. The neglect of commands to
wash and prohibitions to drink strong waters are the two grand physical
objections of the Christian code of morality.
[FN#305] Arab. "Istinshαk"=snuffing up water from the palm of the right
hand so as to clean thoroughly the nostrils. This "function" is
unreasonably neglected in Europe, to the detriment of the mucous
membrane and the olfactory nerves.
[FN#306] So as to wash between them. The thick beard is combed out with
the fingers.
[FN#307] Poor human nature! How sad to compare ita pretensions with its
actualities.
[FN#308] Complete ablution is rendered necessary chiefly by the
emission of semen either in copulation or in nocturnal pollution. The
water must be pure and not less than a certain quantity, and it must
touch every part of the skin beginning with the right half of the
person and ending with the left. Hence a plunge-bath is generally
preferred.
[FN#309] Arab. "Ta'mνm," lit. crowning with turband, or tiara,
here=covering, i.e. wetting.
[FN#310] This practice (saying "I purpose to defer the washing of the
feet," etc.) is now somewhat obsolete.
[FN#311] Arabs have a prejudice against the hydropathic treatment of
wounds, holding that water poisons them: and, as the native produce
usually contains salt, soda and magnesia, they are justified by many
cases. I once tried water-bandages in Arabia and failed dismally.
[FN#312] The sick man says his prayers lying in bed, etc., and as he
best can.
[FN#313] i.e. saying, "And peace be on us and on the worshippers of
Allah which be pious."
[FN#314] i.e. saying, " I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the
Stoned."
[FN#315] Certain parts should be recited aloud (jahr) and others sotto
voce (with mussitation=Khafi). No mistake must be made in this matter
where a Moslem cannot err.
[FN#316] Hence an interest of two-and-a-half percent is not held to be
"Ribα" or unlawful gain of money by money, usury.
[FN#317] The meal must be finished before the faster can plainly
distinguish the white thread from the black thread (Koran ii. 183);
some understand this literally, others apply it to the dark and silvery
streak of zodiacal light which appears over the Eastern horizon an hour
or so before sunrise. The fast then begins and ends with the
disappearance of the sun. I have noticed its pains and penalties in my
Pilgrimage, i. 110, etc.
[FN#318] For the "Azαn" or call to prayer see Lane, M. E., chapt.
xviii. The chant, however, differs in every country, and a practical
ear will know the land by its call.
[FN#319] Arab. "Hadνs" or saying of the Apostle.
[FN#320] "Al-I'itikaf" resembles the Christian "retreat;" but the
worshipper generally retires to a mosque, especially in Meccah. The
Apostle practised it on Jabal Hira and other places.
[FN#321] The word is the Heb. "Hagg" whose primary meaning is
circularity of form or movement. Hence it applied to religious
festivals in which dancing round the idol played a prime part; and
Lucian of "saltation" says, dancing was from the beginning and coeval
with the ancient god, Love. But man danced with joy before he
worshipped, and, when he invented a systematic saltation, he made it
represent two things, and only two things, love and war, in most
primitive form, courtship and fighting.
[FN#322] Two adjoining ground-waves in Meccah. For these and for the
places subsequently mentioned the curious will consult my Pilgrimage,
iii. 226, etc.
[FN#323] The 'Umrah or lesser Pilgrimage, I have noted, is the ceremony
performed in Meccah at any time out of the pilgrim-season proper, i.e.
between the eighth and tenth days of the twelfth lunar month Zu
'l-Hijjah. It does not entitle the Moslem to be called Hαjj (pilgrim)
or Hαjν as Persians and Indians corrupt the word.
[FN#324] I need hardly note that Mohammed borrowed his
pilgrimage-practices from the pagan Arabs who, centuries before his
day, danced around the Meccan Ka'abah. Nor can he be blamed for having
perpetuated a Gentile rite, if indeed it be true that the Ka'abah
contained relics of Abraham and Ishmael.
[FN#325] On first sighting Meccah. See Night xci.
[FN#326] Arab. "Tawαf:" the place is called Matαf and the guide
Mutawwif. (Pilgrimage, iii. 193, 205.) The seven courses are termed
Ashwαt.
[FN#327] Stoning the Devil at Mina. (Pilgrimage, iii. 282.) Hence
Satan's title "the Stoned" (lapidated not castrated).
[FN#328] Koran viii. 66; in the chapter entided "Spoil," and relating
mainly to the "day of Al-Bedr.
[FN#329] Arab. "AI-Ikαlah"= cancelling: Mr. Payne uses the technical
term "resiliation."
[FN#330] Freedman of Abdallah, son of the Caliph Omar and noted as a
traditionist.
[FN#331] i.e. at a profit: the exchange must be equal—an ordinance
intended to protect the poor. Arabs have strange prejudices in these
matters; for instance it disgraces a Badawi to take money for milk.
[FN#332] Arab. "Jamα'ah," which in theology means the Greek , our
"Church," the congregation of the Faithful under a lawful head. Hence
the Sunnis call themselves "People of the Sunnat and Jamα'at." In the
text it is explained as "Ulfat" or intimacy.
[FN#333] Arab. "Al-Khalνl," i.e. of Allah=Abraham. Mohammed, following
Jewish tradition, made Abraham rank second amongst the Prophets,
inferior only to himself and superior to Hazrat Isa=Jesus. I have noted
that Ishmael the elder son succeeded his father. He married Da'alah
bint Muzαz bin Omar, a Jurhamite, and his progeny abandoning Hebrew
began to speak Arabic (ta'arraba); hence called Muta'arribah or
Arabised Arabs. (Pilgrimage iii. 190.) He died at Meccah and was buried
with his mother in the space North of the Ka'abah called Al-Hijr which
our writers continue to confuse with the city Al-Hijr. (Ibid. 165-66.)
[FN#334] This ejaculation, "In the name of Allah" is, I have noted,
equivalent to "saying grace." If neglected it is a sin and entails a
curse.
[FN#335] The ceremonious posture is sitting upon the shin-bones, not
tailor-fashion; and "bolting food" is a sign of boorishness.
[FN#336] Arab. "Zidd," the word is a fair specimen of Arabic ambiguity
meaning primarily opposite or contrary (as virtue to vice), secondarily
an enemy or a friend (as being opposite to an enemy).
[FN#337] "The whole earth (shall be) but His handful on the
Resurrection day and in His right hand shall the Heaven be rolled up
(or folded together)."-Koran xxxix. 67.
[FN#338] See Night lxxxi.
[FN#339] Koran lxxviii. 19.
[FN#340] Arab. "Al-Munαfik," technically meaning one who outwardly
professes Al-Islam while inwardly hating it. Thus the word is by no
means synonymous with our "hypocrite," hypocrisy being the homage vice
pays to virtue; a homage, I may observe, nowhere rendered more
fulsomely than among the so-called Anglo-Saxon race.
[FN#341] Arab. "Tawakkul alα 'llah": in the imperative the phrase is
vulgarly used="Be off!"
[FN#342] i.e. ceremonial impurity which is sui generis, a very
different thing from general dirtiness.
[FN#343] A thick beard is one which does not show the skin; otherwise
the wearer is a "Kausaj;" in Pers. "Kϊseh." See vol. iii., 246.