Fazil said to his brothers, “Rejoice ye in the prospect of comfort and
gladness.” And when they heard his words they fell to whining with the
whining of dogs, and rubbed their jowls against his feet, as if blessing
him and humbling themselves before him. He mourned over them and took to
stroking their backs till supper time; and when they set on the trays he
bade the dogs sit. So they sat down and ate with him from the tray,
whilst his officers stood gaping and marvelling at his eating with dogs
and all said, “Is he mad or are his wits gone wrong? How can the Viceroy
of Bassorah city, he who is greater than a Wazir, eat with dogs? Knoweth
he not that the dog is unclean[538]?” And they stared at the dogs, as
they ate with him as servants eat with their lords,[539] knowing not
that they were his brothers; nor did they cease staring at them, till
they had made an end of eating, when Abdullah washed his hands and the
dogs also put out their paws and washed; whereupon all who were present
began to laugh at them and to marvel, saying, one to other, “Never in
our lives saw we dogs eat and wash their paws after eating!” Then the
dogs sat down on the divans beside Abdullah, nor dared any ask him of
this; and thus the case lasted till midnight, when he dismissed the
attendants and lay down to sleep and the dogs with him, each on a couch;
whereupon the servants said one to other, “Verily, he hath lain down to
sleep and the two dogs are lying with him.” Quoth another, “Since he
hath eaten with the dogs from the same tray, there is no harm in their
sleeping with him; and this is naught save the fashion of madmen.”
Moreover, they ate not anything of the food which remained in the tray,
saying, “’Tis unclean.” Such was their case; but as for Abdullah, ere he
could think, the earth clave asunder and out rose Sa’idah, who said to
him, “O Abdullah, why hast thou not beaten them this night and why hast
thou undone the collars from their necks? Hast thou acted on this wise
perversely and in mockery of my commandment? But I will at once beat
thee and spell thee into a dog like them.” He replied, “O my lady, I
conjure thee by the graving upon the seal-ring of Solomon David-son (on
the twain be peace!) have patience with me till I tell thee my cause and
after do with me what thou wilt.” Quoth she, “Say on,” and quoth he,
“The reason of my not punishing them is only this. The King of mankind,
the Commander of the Faithful, the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, ordered me
not to beat them this night and took of me oaths and covenants to that
effect; and he saluteth thee with the salam and hath committed to me a
mandate under his own hand, which he bade me give thee. So I obeyed his
order for to obey the Commander of the Faithful is obligatory; and here
is the mandate. Take it and read it and after work thy will.” She
replied, “Hither with it!” So he gave her the letter and she opened it
and read as follows, “In the name of Allah, the Compassionating, the
Compassionate! From the King of mankind, Harun al-Rashid, to the
daughter of the Red King, Sa’idah! But, after. Verily, this man hath
forgiven his brothers and hath waived his claim against them, and we
have enjoined them to reconciliation. Now, when reconciliation ruleth,
retribution is remitted, and if you of the Jinn contradict us in our
commandments, we will contrary you in yours and traverse your
ordinances; but, an ye obey our bidding and further our orders, we will
indeed do the like with yours. Wherefore I bid thee hurt them no hurt,
and if thou believe in Allah and in His Apostle, it behoveth thee to
obey and us to command.[540] So an thou spare them, I will requite thee
with that whereto my Lord shall enable me; and the token of obedience is
that thou remove thine enchantment from these two men, so they may come
before me to-morrow, free. But an thou release them not, I will release
them in thy despite, by the aid of Almighty Allah.” When she had read
the letter, she said, “O Abdullah, I will do nought till I go to my sire
and show him the mandate of the monarch of mankind and return to thee
with the answer in haste.” So saying, she signed with her hand to the
earth, which clave open and she disappeared therein, whilst Abdullah’s
heart was like to fly for joy and he said, “Allah advance the Commander
of the Faithful!” As for Sa’idah, she went in to her father; and,
acquainting him with that which had passed, gave him the Caliph’s
letter, which he kissed and laid on his head. Then he read it and
understanding its contents said, “O my daughter, verily, the ordinance
of the monarch of mankind obligeth us and his commandments are effectual
over us, nor can we disobey him: so go thou and release the two men
forthwith and say to them:—Ye are freed by the intercession of the
monarch of mankind. For, should he be wroth with us, he would destroy us
to the last of us; so do not thou impose on us that which we are
unable.” Quoth she, “O my father, if the monarch of mankind were wroth
with us, what could he do with us?”; and quoth her sire, “He hath power
over us for several reasons. In the first place, he is a man and hath
thus pre-eminence over us[541]; secondly he is the Vicar of Allah; and
thirdly, he is constant in praying the dawn-prayer of two bows[542];
therefore were all the tribes of the Jinn assembled together against him
from the Seven Worlds they could do him no hurt. But he, should he be
wroth with us would pray the dawn-prayer of two bows and cry out upon us
one cry, when we should all present ourselves before him obediently and
be before him as sheep before the butcher. If he would, he could command
us to quit our abiding-places for a desert country wherein we might not
endure to sojourn; and if he desired to destroy us, he would bid us
destroy ourselves, whereupon we should destroy one another. Wherefore we
may not disobey his bidding for, if we did this, he would consume us
with fire nor could we flee from before him to any asylum. Thus is it
with every True Believer who is persistent in praying the dawn-prayer of
two bows; his commandment is effectual over us: so be not thou the means
of our destruction, because of two mortals, but go forthright and
release them, ere the anger of the Commander of the Faithful fall upon
us.” So she returned to Abdullah and acquainted him with her father’s
words, saying, “Kiss for us the hands of the Prince of True Believers
and seek his approval for us.” Then she brought out the tasse and
filling it with water, conjured over it and uttered words which might
not be understood; after which she sprinkled the dogs with the water
saying, “Quit the form of dogs and return to the shape of men!”
Whereupon they became men as before and the spell of the enchantment was
loosed from them. Quoth they, “I testify that there is no god but _the_
God and I testify that Mohammed is the Apostle of God!” Then they fell
on their brother’s feet and hands, kissing them and beseeching his
forgiveness: but he said, “Do ye forgive me;” and they both repented
with sincere repentance, saying, “Verily, the damned Devil lured us and
covetise deluded us: but our Lord hath requited us after our deserts,
and forgiveness is of the signs of the noble.” And they went on to
supplicate their brother and weep and profess repentance for that which
had befallen him from them[543]. Then quoth he to them, “What did ye
with my wife whom I brought from the City of Stone?” Quoth they, “When
Satan tempted us and we cast thee into the sea, there arose strife
between us, each saying, I will have her to wife. Now when she heard
these words and beheld our contention, she knew that we had thrown thee
into the sea; so she came up from the cabin and said to us:—Contend not
because of me, for I will not belong to either of you. My husband is
gone into the sea and I will follow him. So saying, she cast herself
overboard and died.” Exclaimed Abdullah, “In very sooth she died a
martyr[544]! But there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great!” Then he wept for her with sore weeping
and said to his brothers, “It was not well of you to do this deed and
bereave me of my wife.” They answered, “Indeed, we have sinned, but our
Lord hath requited us our misdeed and this was a thing which Allah
decreed unto us, ere He created us.” And he accepted their excuse; but
Sa’idah said to him, “Have they done all these things to thee and wilt
thou forgive them?” He replied, “O my sister, whoso hath power[545] and
spareth, for Allah’s reward he prepareth.” Then said she, “Be on thy
guard against them, for they are traitors;” and farewelled him and fared
forth.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah, when
Sa’idah warned him and blessed him and went her ways, passed the rest of
the night with his brothers and on the morrow, he sent them to the
Hammam and clad each of them, on his coming forth, in a suit worth a
hoard of money. Then he called for the tray of food and they set it
before him and he ate, he and his brothers. When his attendants saw the
twain and knew them for his brothers they saluted them and said to him,
“O our lord, Allah give thee joy of thy reunion with thy dear brothers!
Where have they been this while?” He replied, “It was they whom ye saw
in the guise of dogs; praise be to Allah who hath delivered them from
prison and grievous torment!” Then he carried them to the Divan of the
Caliph and kissing ground before Al-Rashid wished him continuance of
honour and fortune and surcease of evil and enmity.” Quoth the Caliph,
“Welcome, O Emir Abdullah! Tell me what hath befallen thee.” And quoth
he, “O Commander of the Faithful (whose power Allah increase!) when I
carried my brothers home to my lodging, my heart was at rest concerning
them, because thou hadst pledged thyself to their release and I said in
myself, “Kings fail not to attain aught for which they strain, inasmuch
as the divine favour aideth them.” So I took off the collars from their
necks, putting my trust in Allah, and ate with them from the same tray,
which when my suite saw, they made light of my wit and said each to
other, “He is surely mad! How can the governor of Bassorah who is
greater than the Wazir, eat with dogs?” Then they threw away what was in
the tray, saying, “We will not eat the dogs’ orts.” And they went on
befool my reason, whilst I heard their words, but returned them no reply
because of their unknowing that the dogs were my brothers. When the hour
of sleep came, I sent them away and addressed myself to sleep; but, ere
I was ware, the earth clave in sunder and out came Sa’idah, the Red
King’s daughter, enraged against me, with eyes like fire.” And he went
on to relate to the Caliph all what had passed between him and her and
her father and how she had transmewed his brothers from canine to human
form, adding, “And here they are before thee, O Commander of the
Faithful!” The Caliph looked at them and seeing two young men like
moons, said, “Allah requite thee for me with good, O Abdullah, for that
thou hast acquainted me with an advantage[546] I knew not! Henceforth,
Inshallah, I will never leave to pray these two-bow orisons before the
breaking of the dawn, what while I live.” Then he reproved Abdullah’s
brothers for their past transgressions against him and they excused
themselves before the Caliph, who said, “Join hands[547] and forgive one
another and Allah pardon what is past!” Upon which he turned to Abdullah
and said to him, “O Abdullah, make thy brothers thine assistants and be
careful of them.” Then he charged them to be obedient to their brother
and bade them return to Bassorah after he had bestowed on them abundant
largesse. So they went down from the Caliph’s Divan whilst he rejoiced
in this advantage he had obtained by the action aforesaid, to wit,
persistence in praying two inclinations before dawn, and exclaimed, He
spake truth who said, “The misfortune of one tribe fortuneth another
tribe.”[548] On this wise befel it to them from the Caliph; but as
regards Abdullah, he left Baghdad carrying with him his brothers in all
honour and dignity and increase of quality, and fared on till they drew
near Bassorah, when the notables and chief men of the place came out to
meet them and after decorating the city brought them thereinto with a
procession which had not its match and all the folk shouted out
blessings on Abdullah as he scattered amongst them silver and gold.
None, however, took heed to his brothers; wherefore jealousy and envy
entered their hearts, for all he entreated them tenderly as one tenders
an ophthalmic eye; but the more he cherished them, the more they
redoubled in hatred and envy of him: and indeed it is said on the
subject:—
I’d win good will of every one, but whoso envies me ✿ Will not be won on
any wise and makes mine office hard:
How gain the gree of envious wight who coveteth my good, ✿ When naught
will satisfy him save to see my good go marr’d?
Then he gave each a concubine that had not her like, and eunuchs and
servants and slaves white and black, of each kind forty. He also gave
each of them fifty steeds all thoroughbreds and they got them guards and
followers; and he assigned to them revenues and appointed them solde and
stipends and made them his assistants, saying to them, “O my brothers, I
and you are equal and there is no distinction between me and you
twain,”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah
assigned stipends to his brothers and made them his assistants, saying,
“O my brothers, I and you are equal and there is no distinction between
me and you twain, and after Allah and the Caliph, the commandment is
mine and yours. So rule you at Bassorah in my absence and in my
presence, and your commandments shall be effectual; but look that ye
fear Allah in your ordinances and beware of oppression, which if it
endure depopulateth; and apply yourselves to justice, for justice, if it
be prolonged, peopleth a land. Oppress not the True Believers, or they
will curse you and ill report of you will reach the Caliph, wherefore
dishonour will betide both me and you. Go not therefore about to
violence any, but whatso ye greed for of the goods of the folk, take it
from my goods, over and above that whereof ye have need; for ’tis not
unknown to you what is handed down in the Koran of prohibition versets
on the subject of oppression and Allah-gifted is he who said these
couplets:—
Oppression ambusheth in sprite of man ✿ Whom naught withholdeth save the
lack of might:
The sage shall ne’er apply his wits to aught ✿ Until befitting time
direct his sight:
The tongue of Wisdom woneth in the heart; ✿ And in his mouth the tongue
of foolish wight.
Who at occasion’s call lacks power to rise ✿ Is slain by feeblest who
would glut his spite.
A man may hide his blood and breed, but aye ✿ His deeds on darkest
hiddens cast a light.
Wights of ill strain with ancestry as vile ✿ Have lips which never spake
one word aright:
And who committeth case to hands of fool ✿ In folly proveth self as fond
and light;
And who his secret tells to folk at large ✿ Shall rouse his foes to work
him worst despight.
Suffice the generous what regards his lot ✿ Nor meddles he with aught
regards him not.
And he went on to admonish his brothers and bid them to equity and
forbid them from tyranny, doubting not but they would love him the
better for his boon of good counsel[549] and he relied upon them and
honoured them with the utmost honour; but notwithstanding all his
generosity to them, they only waxed in envy and hatred of him, till, one
day, the two being together alone, quoth Nasir to Mansur, “O my brother,
how long shall we be mere subjects of our brother Abdullah, and he in
this estate of lordship and worship? After being a merchant, he is
become an Emir, and from being little, he is grown great: but we, we
grow not great nor is there aught of respect or degree left us; for,
behold, he laugheth at us and maketh us his assistants! What is the
meaning of this? Is it not that we are his servants and under his
subjection? But, long as he abideth in good case, our rank will never be
raised nor shall we be aught of repute; wherefore we shall not fulfil
our wish, except we slay him and win to his wealth, nor will it be
possible to get his gear save after his death. So, when we have slain
him, we shall become lords and will take all that is in his treasuries
of gems and things of price and divide them between us. Then will we
send the Caliph a present and demand of him the government of Cufah, and
thou shalt be governor of Cufah and I of Bassorah. Thus each of us shall
have formal estate and condition, but we shall never effect this, except
we put him out of the world!” Answered Mansur, “Thou sayest sooth, but
how shall we do to kill him?” Quoth Nasir, “We will make an
entertainment in the house of one of us and invite him thereto and serve
him with the uttermost service. Then will we sit through the night with
him in talk and tell him tales and jests and rare stories till his heart
melteth with sitting up when we will spread him a bed, that he may lie
down to sleep. When he is asleep, we will kneel upon him and throttle
him and throw him into the river; and on the morrow, we will say:—His
sister the Jinniyah came to him, as he sat chatting with us, and said to
him:—O thou scum of mankind, who art thou that thou shouldst complain of
me to the Commander of the Faithful? Deemest thou that we dread him? As
he is a King, so we too are Kings, and if he mend not his manners in our
regard we will do him die by the foulest of deaths. But meantime I will
slay thee, that we may see what the hand of the Prince of True Believers
availeth to do. So saying, she caught him up and clave the earth and
disappeared with him which when we saw, we swooned away. Then we revived
and we reck not what is become of him. And saying this we will send to
the Caliph and tell him the case and he will invest us with the
government in his room. After awhile, we will send him a sumptuous
present and seek of him the government of Cufah, and one of us shall
abide in Bassorah and the other in Cufah. So shall the land be pleasant
to us and we will be down upon the True Believers and win our wishes.”
And quoth Mansur, “Thou counsellest well, O my brother,” and they agreed
upon the murther. So Nasir made an entertainment and said to Abdullah,
“O my brother, verily I am thy brother, and I would have thee hearten my
heart thou and my brother Mansur and eat of my banquet in my house, so I
may boast of thee and that it may be said, The Emir Abdullah hath eaten
of his brother Nasir’s guest meal; when my heart will be solaced by this
best of boons.” Abdullah replied, “So be it, O my brother; there is no
distinction between me and thee and thy house is my house; but since
thou invitest me, none refuseth hospitality save the churl.” Then he
turned to Mansur and said to him, “Wilt thou go with me to thy brother
Nasir’s house and we will eat of his feast and heal his heart?” Replied
Mansur, “As thy head liveth, O my brother, I will not go with thee,
unless thou swear to me that, after thou comest forth of brother Nasir’s
house, thou wilt enter my house and eat of my banquet! Is Nasir thy
brother and am not I thy brother? So, even as thou heartenest his heart,
do thou hearten mine.” Answered Abdullah, “There is no harm in that:
with love and gladly gree! When I come out from Nasir’s house, I will
enter thine, for thou art my brother even as he.” So he kissed his hand
and going forth of the Divan, made ready his feast. On the morrow,
Abdullah took horse and repaired, with his brother Mansur and a company
of his officers, to Nasir’s house, where they sat down, he and Mansur
and his many. Then Nasir set the trays before them and welcomed them; so
they ate and drank and sat in mirth and merriment; after which the trays
and the platters were removed and they washed their hands. They passed
the day in feasting and wine-drinking and diversion and delight till
nightfall, when they supped and prayed the sundown prayers, and the
night orisons; after which they sat conversing and carousing, and Nasir
and Mansur fell to telling stories whilst Abdullah hearkened. Now they
three were alone in the pavilion, the rest of the company being in
another place, and they ceased not to tell quips and tales and rare
adventures and anecdotes, till Abdullah’s heart was dissolved within him
for watching and sleep overcame him.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Abdullah
was a-wearied with watching and wanted to sleep, they also lay beside
him on another couch and waited till he was drowned in slumber and when
they were certified thereof they arose and knelt upon him: whereupon he
awoke and seeing them kneeling on his breast, said to them, “What is
this, O my brothers?” Cried they, “We are no brothers of thine, nor do
we know thee unmannerly that thou art! Thy death is become better than
thy life.” Then they gripped him by the throat and throttled him, till
he lost his senses and abode without motion; so that they deemed him
dead. Now the pavilion wherein they were overlooked the river; so they
cast him into the water; but, when he fell, Allah sent to his aid a
dolphin[550] who was accustomed to come under that pavilion because the
kitchen had a window that gave upon the stream; and, as often as they
slaughtered any beast there, it was their wont to throw the refuse into
the river and the dolphin came and picked it up from the surface of the
water; wherefore he ever resorted to the place. That day they had cast
out much offal by reason of the banquet; so the dolphin ate more than of
wont and gained strength. Hearing the splash of Abdullah’s fall, he
hastened to the spot, where he saw a son of Adam and Allah guided him so
that he took the man on his back and crossing the current made with him
for the other bank, where he cast his burthen ashore. Now the place
where the dolphin cast up Abdullah was a well-beaten highway, and
presently up came a caravan and finding him lying on the river bank,
said, “Here is a drowned man, whom the river hath cast up;” and the
travellers gathered around to gaze at the corpse. The Shaykh of the
caravan was a man of worth, skilled in all sciences and versed in the
mystery of medicine and, withal, sound of judgment: so he said to them,
“O folk, what is the news?” They answered, “Here is a drowned man;”
whereupon he went up to Abdullah and examining him, said to them, “O
folk, there is life yet in this young man, who is a person of condition
and of the sons of the great, bred in honour and fortune, and Inshallah
there is still hope of him.” Then he took him and clothing him in dry
clothes warmed him before the fire; after which he nursed him and tended
him three days’ march till he revived; but he was passing feeble by
reason of the shock, and the chief of the caravan proceeded to medicine
him with such simples as he knew, what while they ceased not faring on
till they had travelled thirty days’ journey from Bassorah and came to a
city in the land of the Persians, by name ’Aúj.[551] Here they alighted
at a Khan and spread Abdullah a bed, where he lay groaning all night and
troubling the folk with his groans. And when morning morrowed the
concierge of the Khan came to the chief of the caravan and said to him,
“What is this sick man thou hast with thee? Verily, he disturbeth us.”
Quoth the chief, “I found him by the way, on the river-bank and well
nigh drowned; and I have tended him, but to no effect, for he recovereth
not.” Said the porter, “Show him to the Shaykhah[552] Rájihah.” “Who is
this Religious?” asked the chief of the caravan, and the door-keeper
answered, “There is with us a holy woman, a clean maid and a comely,
called Rajihah, to whom they present whoso hath any ailment; and he
passeth a single night in her house and awaketh on the morrow, whole and
ailing nothing.” Quoth the chief, “Direct me to her;” and quoth the
porter, “Take up thy sick man.” So he took up Abdullah and the
doorkeeper forewent him, till he came to a hermitage, where he saw folk
entering with many an ex voto offering and other folk coming forth,
rejoicing. The porter went in, till he came to the curtain,[553] and
said, “Permission, O Shaykhah Rajihah! Take this sick man.” Said she,
“Bring him within the curtain;” and the porter said to Abdullah,
“Enter.” So he entered and looking upon the holy woman, saw her to be
his wife whom he had brought from the City of Stone. And when he knew
her she also knew him and saluted him and he returned her salam. Then
said he, “Who brought thee hither?”; and she answered, “When I saw that
thy brothers had cast thee away and were contending concerning me, I
threw myself into the sea; but my Shaykh Al-Khizr Abu al-’Abbás took me
up and brought me to this hermitage, where he gave me leave to heal the
sick and bade cry in the city:—Whoso hath any ailment, let him repair to
the Shaykhah Rajihah; and he also said to me:—Tarry in this hermitage
till the time betide, and thy husband shall come to thee here. So all
the sick used to flock to me and I rubbed them and shampoo’d them and
they awoke on the morrow whole and sound; whereby the report of me
became noised abroad among the folk, and they brought me votive gifts,
so that I have with me abundant wealth. And now I live here in high
honour and worship, and all the people of these parts seek my prayers.”
Then she rubbed him and by the ordinance of Allah the Most High, he
became whole. Now Al-Khizr used to come to her every Friday night, and
it chanced that the day of Abdullah’s coming was a Thursday.[554]
Accordingly, when the night darkened he and she sat, after a supper of
the richest meats, awaiting the coming of Al-Khizr, who made his
appearance anon and carrying them forth of the hermitage, set them down
in Abdullah’s palace at Bassorah, where he left them and went his way.
As soon as it was day, Abdullah examined the palace and knew it for his
own; then, hearing the folk clamouring without, he looked forth of the
lattice and saw his brothers crucified, each on his own cross. Now the
reason of this was as ensueth. When they had thrown him into the Tigris,
the twain arose on the morrow, weeping and saying, “Our brother! the
Jinniyah hath carried off our brother!” Then they made ready a present
and sent it to the Caliph, acquainting him with these tidings and suing
from him the government of Bassorah. He sent for them and questioned
them and they told him the false tale we have recounted, whereupon he
was exceeding wroth.[555] So that night he prayed a two-bow prayer
before daybreak, as of his wont, and called upon the tribes of the Jinn,
who came before him subject-wise, and he questioned them of Abdullah:
when they sware to him that none of them had done him aught of hurt and
said, “We know not what is become of him.” Then came Sa’idah, daughter
of the Red King, and acquainted the Caliph with the truth of Abdullah’s
case, and he dismissed the Jinn. On the morrow, he subjected Nasir and
Mansur to the bastinado till they confessed, one against other:
whereupon the Caliph was enraged with them and cried, “Carry them to
Bassorah and crucify them there before Abdullah’s palace.” Such was
their case; but as regards Abdullah, when he saw his brothers crucified,
he commanded to bury them, then took horse and repairing to Baghdad,
acquainted the Caliph with that which his brothers had done with him,
from first to last and told him how he had recovered his wife; whereat
Al-Rashid marvelled and summoning the Kazi and the witnesses, bade draw
up the marriage-contract between Abdullah and the damsel whom he had
brought from the City of Stone. So he went in to her and woned with her
at Bassorah till there came to them the Destroyer of Delights and the
Severer of societies; and extolled be the perfection of the Living, who
dieth not! Moreover, O auspicious King, I have heard a tale anent.
-----
Footnote 476:
Lane owns that this is “one of the most entertaining tales in the
work,” but he omits it because its chief and best portion is
essentially the same as “The story of the First of the Three Ladies of
Baghdad.” The truth is he was straightened for space by his publisher
and thus compelled to cut out some of the best stories in The Nights.
Footnote 477:
_i.e._ Ibrahim of Mosul, the musician poet often mentioned in The
Nights. I must again warn the reader that the name is pronounced
Is-hák (like Isaac with a central aspirate) not Ishák. This is not
unnecessary when we hear Tait-shill for Tait’s hill and
“Frederick-shall” for Friedrich, shall.
Footnote 478:
_i.e._ He was a proficient, an adept.
Footnote 479:
Arab. from Pers. Dúláb = a waterwheel, a buttery, a cupboard.
Footnote 480:
Arab. “Futúr,” the chhotí házirí of Anglo-India or breakfast proper,
eaten by Moslems immediately after the dawn-prayer except in Ramázán.
Amongst sensible people it is a substantial meal of bread and boiled
beans, eggs, cheese, curded milk and the pastry called fatírah,
followed by coffee and a pipe. See Lane M. E. chapt. v. and my
Pilgrimage ii. 48.
Footnote 481:
This “off-with-his-head” style must not be understood literally. As I
have noted, it is intended by the writer to show the Kingship and the
majesty of the “Vicar of Allah.”
Footnote 482:
Lit. “the calamity of man (insán) is from the tongue” (lisán).
Footnote 483:
For Khatt Sharíf, lit. = a noble letter, see vol. ii. 39.
Footnote 484:
Arab. “Allah yastura-k” = protect thee by hiding what had better be
hidden.
Footnote 485:
Arab. “Janázír” = chains, an Arabised plural of the Pers. Zanjír with
the metathesis or transposition of letters peculiar to the vulgar;
“Janázír” for “Zanájír.”
Footnote 486: