of the day, surnamed, no one knows why, "Sire of the Sea."
[FN#268] This is essential for cleanliness in hot lands: however much the bath
may be used, the body-pile and lower hair, if submitted to a microscope, will
show more or less sordes adherent. The axilla-hair is plucked because if shaved
the growing pile causes itching and the depilatories are held deleterious. At
first vellication is painful but the skin becomes used to it. The pecten is
shaved either without or after using depilatories, of which more presently. The
body-pile is removed by "Takhfíf"; the Libán Shámi (Syrian incense), a fir- gum
imported from Scio, is melted and allowed to cool in the form of a pledget.
This is passed over the face and all the down adhering to it is pulled up by
the roots (Burckhardt No. 420). Not a few Anglo-Indians have adopted these
precautions
[FN#269] This Caliph was a tall, fair, handsome man of awe-inspiring aspect.
Omar used to look at him and say, "This is the Cæsar of the Arabs," while his
wife called him a "fatted ass."
[FN#270] The saying is attributed to Abraham when "exercised" by the unkindly
temper of Sarah; "woman is made hard and crooked like a rib;" and the modern
addition is, "whoso would straighten her, breaketh her."
[FN#271] i.e. "When ready and in erection."
[FN#272] "And do first (before going in to your wives) some act which may be
profitable unto your souls" or, for you: soul's good. (Koran, chaps. ii. 223.)
Hence Ahnaf makes this prayer.
[FN#273] It was popularly said that "Truth-speaking left Omar without a
friend." Entitled "The Just" he was murdered by Abu Lúlúah, alias Fírúz, a
(Magian ?) slave of Al-Maghírah for denying him justice.
[FN#274] Governor of Bassorah under the first four Caliphs. See
D'Herbelot s.v. "Aschári."
[FN#275] Ziyad bin Abi Sufyan, illegitimate brother of the Caliph
Mu'awiyah afterwards governor of Bassorah, Cufa and Al-Hijaz.
[FN#276] The seditions in Kufah were mainly caused by the wilful nepotism of
Caliph Othman bin Asákir which at last brought about his death. His main
quality seems to have been personal beauty: "never was seen man or woman of
fairer face than he and he was the most comely of men:" he was especially famed
for beautiful teeth which in old age he bound about with gold wire. He is
described as of middling stature, large- limbed, broad shouldered, fleshy of
thigh and long in the fore-arm which was hairy. His face inclined to yellow and
was pock-marked; his beard was full and his curly hair, which he dyed yellow,
fell below his ears. He is called "writer of the Koran" from his edition of the
M.S., and "Lord of the two Lights" because he married two of the Prophet's
daughters, Rukayyah and Umm Kulthum; and, according to the Shi'ahs who call him
Othman-i-Lang or" limping Othman," he vilely maltreated them. They justify his
death as the act of an Ijmá' al-Muslimín, the general consensus of Moslems
which ratifies "Lynch law." Altogether Othman is a mean figure in history.
[FN#277] "Nár" (fire) is a word to be used delicately from its connection with
Gehenna. You say, e.g. "bring me a light, a coal (bassah)" etc.; but if you say
"bring me fire! " the enemy will probably remark "He wanteth fire even before
his time!" The slang expression would be "bring the sweet." (Pilgrimage i.
121.)
[FN#278] Omar is described as a man of fair complexion, and very ruddy, but he
waxed tawny with age, when he also became bald and grey. He had little hair on
the cheeks but a long mustachio with reddish ends. In stature he overtopped the
people and was stout as he was tall. A popular saying of Mohammed's is, "All
(very) long men are fools save Omar, and all (very) short men are knaves save
Ali." The Persians, who abhor Omar, compare every lengthy, ungainly, longsome
thing with him; they will say, "This road never ends, like the entrails of
Omar." We know little about Ali's appearance except that he was very short and
stout, broad and full-bellied with a tawny complexion and exceedingly hairy,
his long beard, white as cotton, filling all the space between his shoulders.
He was a "pocket. Hercules," and incredible tales, like that about the gates of
Khaybar, are told of his strength. Lastly, he was the only Caliph who
bequeathed anything to literature: his "Cantiloquium" is famous and he has left
more than one mystical and prophetic work. See Ockley for his "Sentences" and
D'Herbelot s. D. "Ali" and "Gebr." Ali is a noble figure in Moslem history.
[FN#279] The emancipation from the consequences of his sins; or it may mean a
holy death.
[FN#280] Battle fought near Al-Medinah A.D. 625. The word is derived from
"shad" (one). I have described the site in my Pilgrimage, (vol. ii. 227).
[FN#281] "Haphsa" in older writers; Omar's daughter and one of Mohammed's
wives, famous for her connection with the manuscripts of the Koran. From her
were (or claimed to be) descended the Hafsites who reigned in Tunis and
extended their power far and wide over the Maghrib (Mauritania), till
dispossessed by the Turks.
[FN#282] i.e. humbly without the usual strut or swim: it corresponds with the
biblical walking or going softly. (I Kings xxi. 27; Isaiah xxxviii. 15, etc.)
[FN#283] A theologian of the seventh and eighth centuries.
[FN#284] i.e. to prepare himself by good works, especially alms-giving, for the
next world.
[FN#285] A theologian of the eighth century.
[FN#286] Abd al-Aziz was eighth Ommiade (regn. A.H. 99=717) and the fifth of
the orthodox, famed for a piety little known to his house. His most celebrated
saying was, " Be constant in meditation on death: if thou bein straitened case
'twill enlarge it, and if in affluence 'twill straiten it upon thee." He died.
poisoned, it is said, in A.H 101,
[FN#287] Abu Bakr originally called Abd al-Ka'abah (slave of the Ka'abah) took
the name of Abdullah and was surnamed Abu Bakr (father of the virgin) when
Mohammed, who before had married only widows, took to wife his daughter, the
famous or infamous Ayishah. "Bikr" is the usual form, but "Bakr," primarily
meaning a young camel, is metaphorically applied to human youth (Lane's Lex. s.
c.). The first Caliph was a cloth-merchant, like many of the Meccan chiefs. He
is described as very fair with bulging brow, deep set eyes and thin-checked, of
slender build and lean loined, stooping and with the backs of his hands
fleshless. He used tinctures of Henna and Katam for his beard. The Persians who
hate him, call him "Pir-i-Kaftár," the old she-hyaena, and believe that he
wanders about the deserts of Arabia in perpetual rut which the males must
satisfy.
[FN#288] The second, fifth, sixth and seventh Ommiades.
[FN#289] The mother of Omar bin Abd al-Aziz was a granddaughter of
Omar bin al-Khattab.
[FN#290] Brother of this Omar's successor, Yezid II.
[FN#291] So the Turkish proverb "The fish begins to stink at the head."
[FN#292] Calling to the slaves.
[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.
[FN#531] "Dalíl" means a guide; `'Dalílah," a woman who misguides, a bawd. See
the Tale of Dalílah the Crafty, Night dcxcviii.
[FN#532] i.e. she was a martyr.
[FN#533] Arab. "Ghashím" a popular and insulting term, our "Johnny
Raw." Its use is shown in Pilgrimage i. 110.
[FN#534] Bathers pay on leaving the Hammam; all enter without paying.
[FN#535] i.e. she swore him upon his sword and upon the Koran: a loaf of bread
is sometimes added. See Lane (i. 615).