for Joseph' And his eyes became white with mourning. … (Quoth Joseph to
his brethren), 'Take this my inner garment and throw it on my father's
face and he shall recover his sight.' . . . So, when the messenger of
good tidings came (to Jacob) he threw it (the shirt) over his face and
he recovered his eye-sight." Koran, xii. 84, 93, 96. The commentators,
by way of improvement, assure us that the shirt was that worn by
Abraham when thrown into the fire (Koran, chaps. xvi.) by Nimrod (!).
We know little concerning "Jacob's daughters" who named the only bridge
spanning the upper Jordan, and who have a curious shrine tomb near
Jewish "Safe" (North of Tiberias), one of the four "Holy Cities." The
Jews ignore these "daughters of Jacob" and travellers neglect them.
[FN#17] Easterns, I have remarked, mostly recognise the artistic truth
that the animal-man is handsomer than woman and that "fair sex" is
truly only of skin-colour. The same is the general-rule throughout
creation, for instance the stallion compared with the mare, the cock
with the hen; while there are sundry exceptions such as the Falconidae.
[FN#18] The Badawi (who is nothing if not horsey) compares the gait of
a woman who walks well (in Europe rarely seen out of Spain) with the
slightly swinging walk of a thoroughbred mare, bending her graceful
neck and looking from side to side at objects as she passes.
[FN#19] Li'llбhi (darr') al-kбil, a characteristic idiom. "Darr"=giving
(rich) milk copiously and the phrase expresses admiration, "To Allah be
ascribed (or Allah be praised for) his rich eloquence who said etc.
Some Hebraists would render it, "Divinely (well) did he speak who
said," etc., holding "Allah" to express a superlative like "Yah" Jah)
in Gen. iv. 1; x. 9. Nimrod was a hunter to the person (or presence) of
Yah, i.e. mighty hunter.
[FN#20] Hamzah and Abbбs were the famous uncles of Mohammed often
noticed: Ukayl is not known; possibly it may be Akнl, a son of the
fourth Caliph, Ali.
[FN#21] The Eastern ring is rarely plain; and, its use being that of a
signet, it is always in intaglio: the Egyptians invented engraving
hieroglyphics on wooden stamps for marking bricks and applied the
process to the ring. Moses B. C. 1491 (Exod. xxviii. 9) took two
onyx-stones, and graved on them the names of the children of Israel.
From this the signet ring was but a step. Herodotus mentions an emerald
seal-set in gold, that of Polycrates, the work of Theodorus, son of
Telecles the Samian (iii. 141). The Egyptians also were perfectly
acquainted with working in cameo (anaglyph) and rilievo, as may be seen
in the cavo rilievo of the finest of their hieroglyphs. The Greeks
borrowed from them the cameo and applied it to gems (e.g. Tryphon's in
the Marlborough collection), and they bequeathed the art to the Romans.
We read in a modern book "Cameo means an onyx, and the most famous
cameo in the world is the onyx containing the Apotheosis of Augustus."
The ring is given in marriage because it was a seal—by which orders
were signed (Gen. xxxviii. 18 and Esther iii. 10-12). I may note that
the seal-ring of Cheops (Khufu), found in the Greatest Pyramid, was in
the possession of my old friend, Doctor Abbott, of Auburn (U.S.), and
was sold with his collection. It is the oldest ring in the world, and
settles the Cheops-question.
[FN#22] This habit of weeping when friends meet after long parting is
customary, I have noted, amongst the American "Indians," the Badawin of
the New World; they shed tears thinking of the friends they have lost.
Like most primitive people they are ever ready to weep as was Жneas or
Shakespeare's saline personage,
"This would make a man, a man of salt
To use his eyes for garden waterpots."
(King Lear, iv. 6.)
[FN#23] Here poetical-justice is not done; in most Arab tales the two
adulterous Queens would have been put to death.
[FN#24] Pronounce Aladdin Abush-Shбmбt.
[FN#25] Arab. "Misr," vulg. Masr: a close connection of Misraim the
"two Misrs," Egypt, upper and lower.
[FN#26] The Persians still call their Consuls "Shah-bander," lit. king
of the Bandar or port.
[FN#27] Arab. "Dukhъl," the night of going in, of seeing the bride
unveiled for the first time, etcaetera.
[FN#28] Arab. "Barsh" or "Bars," the commonest kind. In India it is
called Ma'jъn (=electuary, generally): it is made of Ganja or young
leaves, buds, capsules and florets of hemp (C. saliva), poppy-seed and
flowers of the thorn-apple (daiura) with milk and auger-candy, nutmegs,
cloves, mace and saffron, all boiled to the consistency of treacle
which hardens when cold. Several-recipes are given by Herklots
(Glossary s.v. Majoon). These electuaries are usually prepared with
"Charas," or gum of hemp, collected by hand or by passing a blanket
over the plant in early morning, and it is highly intoxicating. Another
intoxicant is "Sabzi," dried hemp-leaves, poppy-seed, cucumber heed,
black pepper and cardamoms rubbed down in a mortar with a wooden
pestle, and made drinkable by adding milk, ice-cream, etc. The Hashish
of Arabia is the Hindustani Bhang, usually drunk and made as follows.
Take of hemp-leaves, well washed, 3 drams black pepper 45 grains and of
cloves, nutmeg and mace (which add to the intoxication) each 12 grains.
Triturate in 8 ounces of water or the juice of watermelon or cucumber,
strain and drink. The Egyptian Zabнbah is a preparation of hemp
florets, opium and honey, much affected by the lower orders, whence the
proverb: "Temper thy sorrow with Zabibah. In Al-Hijaz it is mixed with
raisins (Zabнb) and smoked in the water-pipe. (Burck hardt No. 73.)
Besides these there is (1) "Post" poppy-seed prepared in various ways
but especially in sugared sherbets; (2) Datura (stramonium) seed, the
produce of the thorn-apple breached and put into sweetmeats by
dishonest confectioners; it is a dangerous intoxicant, producing
spectral-visions, delirium tremens, etc., and (3) various preparations
of opium especially the "Madad," pills made up with toasted betel-leaf
and smoked. Opium, however, is usually drunk in the shape of "Kusumba,"
a pill placed in wet cotton and squeezed in order to strain and clean
it of the cowdung and other filth with which it is adulterated.
[FN#29] Arab. "Sikankъr" (Gr. {Greek letters}, Lat. Scincus) a lizard
(S. officinalis) which, held in the hand, still acts as an aphrodisiac
in the East, and which in the Middle Ages was considered a
universal-medicine. In the "Adja'ib al-Hind" (Les Merveilles de l'Inde)
we find a notice of a bald-headed old man who was compelled to know his
wife twice a day and twice a night in consequence of having eaten a
certain fish. (Chaps. Ixxviii. of the translation by M. L. Marcel
Devic, from a manuscript of the tenth century, Paris Lemaire, 1878.)
Europeans deride these prescriptions, but Easterns know better: they
affect the fancy, that is the brain, and often succeed in temporarily
relieving impotence. The recipes for this evil, which is incurable only
when it comes from heart-affections, are innumerable in the East; and
about half of every medical-work is devoted to them. Many a quack has
made his fortune with a few bottles of tincture of cantharides, and a
man who could discover a specific would become a millionaire in India
only. The curious reader will consult for specimens the Ananga-Ranga
Shastra by Koka Pandit; or the "Rujъ 'al-Shaykh ila 'l-Sabбh fi Kuwwati
'l-Bбh" (the Return of the Old Man to Youth in power of Procreation) by
Ahmad bin Sulaymбn known as Ibn Kamбl-Bбshб, in 139 chapters
lithographed at Cairo. Of these aphrodisiacs I shall have more to say.
[FN#30] Alб al-Din (our old friend Aladdin) = Glory of the Faith, a
name of which Mohammed who preferred the simplest, like his own, would
have highly disapproved. The most grateful names to Allah are Abdallah
(Allah's Slave) and Abd al-Rahman (Slave of the Compassionate); the
truest are Al-Hбrith (the gainer, "bread winner") and Al-Hammбm (the
griever); and the hatefullest are Al-Harb (witch) and Al-Murrah
(bitterness, Abu Murrah being a kunyat or by-name of the Devil). Abu
al-Shбmбt (pronounced Abushshбmбt)=Father of Moles, concerning which I
have already given details. These names ending in -Din (faith) began
with the Caliph Al-Muktadi bi-Amri 'llah (regn. A.H. 467= 1075), who
entitled his Wazir "Zahнr al-Din (Backer or Defender of the Faith) and
this gave rise to the practice. It may be observed that the
superstition of naming by omens is in no way obsolete.
[FN#31] Meaning that he appeared intoxicated by the pride of his beauty
as though it had been strong wine.
[FN#32] i.e. against the evil eye.
[FN#33] Meaning that he had been delicately reared.
[FN#34] A traditional-saying of Mohammed.
[FN#35] So Boccaccio's "Capo bianco" and "Coda verde." (Day iv.,
Introduct.)
[FN#36] The opening chapter is known as the "Mother of the Book" (as
opposed to Yб Sнn, the "heart of the Koran"), the "Surat (chapter) of
Praise," and the "Surat of repetition" (because twice revealed?) or
thanksgiving, or laudation (Ai-Masбni) and by a host of other names for
which see Mr. Rodwell who, however, should not write "Fatthah" (p.
xxv.) nor "Fathah" (xxvii.). The Fбtihah, which is to Al-Islam much
what the "Paternoster" is to Christendom, consists of seven verses, in
the usual-Saj'a or rhymed prose, and I have rendered it as follows:
In the name of the Compassionating, the Compassionate! * Praise be to
Allah who all the Worlds made * The Compassionating, the Compassionate
* King of the Day of Faith! * Thee only do we adore and of Thee only do
we crave aid * Guide us to the path which is straight * The path of
those for whom Thy love is great, not those on whom is hate, nor they
that deviate * Amen! O Lord of the World's trine.
My Pilgrimage (i. 285; ii. 78 and passim) will supply instances of its
application; how it is recited with open hands to catch the blessing
from Heaven and the palms are drawn down the face (Ibid. i. 286), and
other details,
[FN#37] i.e. when the evil eye has less effect than upon children.
Strangers in Cairo often wonder to see a woman richly dressed leading
by the hand a filthy little boy (rarely a girl) in rags, which at home
will be changed to cloth of gold.
[FN#38] Arab. "Asнdah" flour made consistent by boiling in water with
the addition of "Same" clarified butter) and honey: more like pap than
custard.
[FN#39] Arab. "Ghбbah" = I have explained as a low-lying place where
the growth is thickest and consequently animals haunt it during the
noon-heats
[FN#40] Arab. "Akkбm," one who loads camels and has charge of the
luggage. He also corresponds with the modern Mukharrij or camel-hirer
(Pilgrimage i. 339), and hence the word Moucre (Moucres) which, first
used by La Brocquiиre (A.D. 1432), is still the only term known to the
French.
[FN#41] i.e. I am old and can no longer travel.
[FN#42] Taken from Al-Asma'i, the "Romance of Antar," and the episode
of the Asafir Camels.
[FN#43] A Mystic of the twelfth century A.D. who founded the Kбdirн
order (the oldest and chiefest of the four universally recognised), to
which I have the honour to belong, teste my diploma (Pilgrimage,
Appendix i.). Visitation is still made to his tomb at Baghdad. The
Arabs (who have no hard g-letter) alter to "Jнlбn" the name of his
birth-place "Gilan," a tract between the Caspian and the Black Seas.
[FN#44] The well-known Anglo-Indian "Mucuddum;" lit. "one placed before
(or over) others"
[FN#45] Koran xiii. 14.
[FN#46] i.e.. his chastity: this fashion of objecting to infamous
proposals is very characteristic: ruder races would use their fists.
[FN#47] Arab. "Rбfizн"=the Shi'ah (tribe, sect) or Persian schismatics
who curse the first three Caliphs: the name is taken from their own
saying "Innб rafiznб-hum"=verily we have rejected them. The feeling
between Sunni (the so-called orthodox) and Shi'ah is much like the
Christian love between a Catholic of Cork and a Protestant from the
Black North. As Al-Siyuti or any historian will show, this sect became
exceedingly powerful under the later Abbaside Caliphs, many of whom
conformed to it and adopted its tractices and innovations (as in the
Azan or prayer-call), greatly to the scandal-of their co-religionists.
Even in the present day the hatred between these representatives of
Arab monotheism and Persian Guebrism continues unabated. I have given
sundry instances m my Pilgrimage, e.g. how the Persians attempt to
pollute the tombs of the Caliphs they abhor.
[FN#48] Arab. "Sakkб," the Indian "Bihishtн" (man from Heaven):
Each party in a caravan has one or more.
[FN#49] These "Kirбmбt" or Saints' miracles, which Spiritualists will
readily accept, are recorded in vast numbers. Most men have half a
dozen to tell, each of his "Pнr" or patron, including the Istidrбj or
prodigy of chastisement. (Dabistan, iii. 274.)
[FN#50] Great granddaughter of the Imam Hasan buried in Cairo and famed
for "Kirбmбt." Her father, governor of Al-Medinah, was imprisoned by
Al-Mansur and restored to power by Al-Mahdi. She was married to a son
of the Imam Ja'afar al-Sadik and lived a life of devotion in Cairo,
dying in A.H. 218=824. The corpse of the Imam al-Shafi'i was carried to
her house, now her mosque and mausoleum: it stood in the Darb al-Sabъa
which formerly divided Old from New Cairo and is now one of the
latter's suburbs. Lane (M. E. chaps. x.) gives her name but little
more. The mention of her shows that the writer of the tale or the
copyist was a Cairene : Abd al-Kadir is world-known : not so the
"Sitt."
[FN#51] Arab. "Farkh akrab" for Ukayrib, a vulgarism.
[FN#52] The usual Egyptian irreverence: he relates his abomination as
if it were a Hadis or Tradition of the Prophet with due ascription.
[FN#53] A popular name, dim. of Zubdah cream, fresh butter, "creamkin."
[FN#54] Arab. "Mustahall," "Mustahill' and vulg. "Muhallil" (=one who
renders lawful). It means a man hired for the purpose who marries pro
forma and after wedding, and bedding with actual-consummation, at once
divorces the woman. He is held the reverse of respectable and no
wonder. Hence, probably, Mandeville's story of the Islanders who, on
the marriage-night, "make another man to lie by their wives, to have
their maidenhead, for which they give great hire and much thanks. And
there are certain men in every town that serve for no other thing; and
they call them cadeberiz, that is to say, the fools of despair, because
they believe their occupation is a dangerous one." Burckhardt gives the
proverb (No. 79), "A thousand lovers rather than one Mustahall," the
latter being generally some ugly fellow picked up in the streets and
disgusting to the wife who must permit his embraces.
[FN#55] This is a woman's oath. not used by men.
[FN#56] Pronounced "Yб Sнn" (chaps. xxxvi.) the "heart of the
Koran" much used for edifying recitation. Some pious Moslems in
Egypt repeat it as a Wazifah, or religious task, or as masses for
the dead, and all educated men know its 83 versets by rote.
[FN#57] Arab. "Бl-Dбъd"=the family of David, i.e. David himself, a
popular idiom. The prophet's recitation of the "Mazбmir" (Psalter)
worked miracles.
[FN#58] There is a peculiar thickening of the voice in leprosy which at
once betrays the hideous disease.
[FN#59] These lines have occurred in Night clxxxiii. I quote
Mr. Payne (in loco) by way of variety.
[FN#60] Where the "Juzбm" (leprosy, elephantiasis, morbus sacrum, etc.
etc.) is supposed first to show: the swelling would alter the shape.
Lane (ii. 267) translates "her wrist which was bipartite."
[FN#61] Arab. "Zakariyб" (Zacharias): a play upon the term "Zakar"=the
sign of "masculinity." Zacharias, mentioned in the Koran as the
educator of the Virgin Mary (chaps. iii.) and repeatedly referred to
(chaps. xix. etc.), is a well-known personage amongst Moslems and his
church is now the great Cathedral-Mosque of Aleppo.
[FN#62] Arab. " Ark al-Halбwat " = vein of sweetness.
[FN#63] Arab. "Futъh," which may also mean openings, has before
occurred.
[FN#64] i.e. four times without withdrawing.
[FN#65] i.e. a correspondence of size, concerning which many rules are
given in the Ananga-Rangha Shastra which justly declares that
discrepancy breeds matrimonial-troubles.
[FN#66] Arab. "Ghurбb al-Bayn"= raven of the waste or the parting:
hence the bird of Odin symbolises separation (which is also called
Al-bayn). The Raven (Ghurab = Heb. Oreb and Lat. Corvus, one of the
prehistoric words) is supposed to be seen abroad earlier than any other
bird; and it is entitled "Abu Zajir," father of omens, because lucky
when flying towards the right and v.v. It is opposed in poetry to the
(white) pigeon, the emblem of union, peace and happiness. The vulgar
declare that when Mohammed hid in the cave the crow kept calling to his
pursuers, "Ghбr! Ghбr!" (cavern, cavern): hence the Prophet condemned
him to wear eternal-mourning and ever to repeat the traitorous words.
This is the old tale of Coronis and Apollo (Ovid, lib. ii.).
—————" who blacked the raven o'er And bid him prate in his white plumes
no more."
[FN#67] This use of a Turkish title "Efendi" being=our esquire, and
inferior to a Bey, is a rank anachronism, probably of the copyist.
[FN#68] Arab. "Samn"=Hind. "Ghi" butter melted, skimmed and allowed to
cool.
[FN#69] Arab. "Ya Wadъd," a title of the Almighty: the Mac.
Edit. has "O David!"
[FN#70] Arab. "Muwashshahah;" a complicated stanza of which specimens
have occurred. Mr. Payne calls it a "ballad," which would be a "Kunyat
al-Zidd."
[FN#71] Arab. "Bahбim" (plur. of Bahнmah=Heb. Behemoth), applied in
Egypt especially to cattle. A friend of the "Oppenheim" house, a name
the Arabs cannot pronounce was known throughout Cairo as "Jack
al-bahбim" (of the cows).
[FN#72] Lit. "The father of side-locks," a nickname of one of the Tobba
Kings. This "Hasan of: the ringlets" who wore two long pig-tails
hanging to his shoulders was the Rochester or Piron of his age: his
name is still famous for brilliant wit, extempore verse and the wildest
debauchery. D'Herbelot's sketch of his life is very meagre. His poetry
has survived to the present day and (unhappily) we shall] hear more of
"Abu Nowбs." On the subject of these patronymics Lane (Mod. Egypt,
chaps. iv.) has a strange remark that "Abu Dбъd i' not the Father of
Dбъd or Abu Ali the Father of Ali, but whose Father is (or was) Dбъd or
Ali." Here, however, he simply confounds Abu = father of (followed by a
genitive), with Abu-h (for Abu-hu) = he, whose father.
[FN#73] Arab. "Samъr," applied in slang language to cats and dogs,
hence the witty Egyptians converted Admiral-Seymour (Lord Alcester)
into "Samъr."
[FN#74] The home-student of Arabic may take this letter as a model even
in the present day; somewhat stiff and old-fashioned, but gentlemanly
and courteous.
[FN#75] Arab. "Salнm" (not Sй-lim) meaning the "Safe and sound."
[FN#76] Arab. "Halбwah"=sweetmeat, meaning an entertainment such as men
give to their friends after sickness or a journey. it is technically
called as above, "The Sweetmeat of Safety."
[FN#77] Arab. "Salбt" which from Allah means mercy, from the
Angels intercession and pardon; and from mankind blessing.
Concerning the specific effects of blessing the Prophet, see
Pilgrimage (ii. 70). The formula is often slurred over when a man
is in a hurry to speak: an interrupting friend will say " Bless the
Prophet!" and he does so by ejaculating "Sa'am."
[FN#78] Persian, meaning originally a command: it is now applied to a
Wazirial-order as opposed to the " Irбdah," the Sultan's order.
[FN#79] Arab. " Mashб'ilн" lit. the cresses-bearer who has before
appeared as hangman.
[FN#80] Another polite formula for announcing a death.
[FN#81] As he died heirless the property lapsed to the Treasury.
[FN#82]This shaking the kerchief is a signal to disperse and the action
suggests its meaning. Thus it is used in an opposite sense to "throwing
the kerchief," a pseudo-Oriental practice whose significance is
generally understood in Europe.
[FN#83] The body-guard being of two divisions.
[FN#84] Arab. "Hadbб," lit. "hump-backed;" alluding to the Badawi bier;
a pole to which the corpse is slung (Lane). It seems to denote the
protuberance of the corpse when placed upon the bier which before was
flat. The quotation is from Ka'ab's Mantle-Poem (Burdah v . 37), "Every
son of a female, long though his safety may be, is a day borne upon a
ridged implement," says Mr. Redhouse, explaining the latter as a "bier
with a ridged lid." Here we differ: the Janбzah with a lid is not a
Badawi article: the wildlings use the simplest stretcher; and I would
translate the lines,
"The son of woman, whatso his career
One day is borne upon the gibbous bier."
[FN#85] This is a high honour to any courtier.
[FN#86] "Khatun" in Turk. means any lady: mistress, etc., and follows
the name, e.g. Fбtimah Khatun. Habzalam Bazazah is supposed to be a
fanciful compound, uncouth as the named; the first word consisting of
"Habb" seed, grain; and "Zalam" of Zulm=seed of tyranny. Can it be a
travesty of "Absalom" (Ab Salбm, father of peace)? Lane (ii. 284) and
Payne (iii. 286) prefer Habazlam and Hebezlem.
[FN#87] Or night. A metaphor for rushing into peril.
[FN#88] Plur. of kumkum, cucurbite, gourd-shaped vessel, jar.
[FN#89] A popular exaggeration for a very expert thief.
[FN#90] Arab. "Buka'at Ad-bum": lit. the "low place of blood" (where it
stagnates): so Al-Bukб'ah = Cњlesyria.
[FN#91] That common and very unpleasant phrase, full of egotism and
self-esteem, "I told you so," is even more common in the naпve East
than in the West. In this case the son's answer is far superior to the
mother's question.
[FN#92] In order to keep his oath to the letter.
[FN#93] "Tabannuj; " literally "hemping" (drugging with hemp or
henbane) is the equivalent in Arab medicine of our "anжsthetics." These
have been used in surgery throughout the East for centuries before
ether and chloroform became the fashion in the civilised West.
[FN#94] Arab. "Durkб'ah," the lower part of the floor, opposed to the
"liwбn" or daпs. Liwбn =Al-Aywбn (Arab. and Pers.) the hall (including
the daпs and the sunken parts)
[FN#95] i.e. he would toast it as he would a mistress.
[FN#96] This till very late years was the custom in Persia, and Fath
Ali Shah never appeared in scarlet without ordering some horrible
cruelties. In Dar-For wearing a red cashmere turban was a sign of wrath
and sending a blood red dress to a subject meant that he would be
slain.
[FN#97] That is, this robbery was committed in the palace by some one
belonging to it. References to vinegar are frequent; that of Egypt
being famous in those days. "Optimum et laudatissimum acetum a Romanis
habebatur Жgyptum" (Facciolati); and possibly it was sweetened: the
Gesta (Tale xvii.) mentions "must and vinegar." In Arab Proverbs, One
mind by vinegar and another by wine"=each mind goes its own way, (Arab.
Prov. . 628); or, "with good and bad," vinegar being spoilt wine.
[FN#98] We have not heard the last of this old "dowsing rod": the
latest form of rhabdomancy is an electrical-rod invented in the United
States.
[FN#99] This is the procиs verbal always drawn up on such occasions.
[FN#100] The sight of running water makes a Persian long for strong
drink as the sight of a fine view makes the Turk feel hungry.
[FN#101] Arab. "Min wahid aduww " a peculiarly Egyptian or rather
Cairene phrase.
[FN#102] Al-Danaf=the Distressing Sickness: the title would be Ahmad
the Calamity. Al-Zaybak (the Quicksilver)=Mercury Ali Hasan "Shuuman"=a
pestilent fellow. We shall meet all these worthies again and again: see
the Adventures of Mercury Ali of Cairo, Night dccviii., a sequel to The
Rogueries of Dalilah, Night dcxcviii.
[FN#103] For the "Sacrifice-place of Ishmael" (not Isaac) see my
Pilgrimage (iii. 306). According to all Arab ideas Ishmael, being the
eldest son, was the chief of the family after his father. I have noted
that this is the old old quarrel between the Arabs and their cousins
the Hebrews.
[FN#104] This black-mail was still paid to the Badawin of Ramlah
(Alexandria) till the bombardment in 1881.
[FN#105] The famous Issus of Cilicia, now a port-village on the
Gulf of Scanderoon.
[FN#106] Arab. " Wada'б" = the concha veneris, then used as small
change.
[FN#107] Arab. "Sakati"=a dealer in "castaway" articles, such es old
metal,damaged goods, the pluck and feet of animals, etc.