Orientalists. I have seen illuminated Persian manuscripts that must each
have been the toil of many years, every page painted, not with
representations of life and manners, but usually like the curves and
lines of a Turkey carpet, conveying no idea whatever, as absurd to the
eye as nonsense-verses to the ear. The little of their literature that
has reached us is equally worthless. Our _barbarian_ scholars have
called Ferdusi the Oriental Homer. We have a specimen of his poem; the
translation is said to be bad, and certainly must be unfaithful, for it
is in rhyme; but the vilest copy of a picture at least represents the
subject and the composition. To make this Iliad of the East, as they
have sacrilegiously stiled it, a good poem, would be realizing the
dreams of Alchemy, and transmuting lead into gold.
The Arabian Tales certainly abound with genius; they have lost their
metaphorical rubbish in passing through the filter of a French
translation.
[4] The Arabians call this palace one of the wonders of the world. It
was built for Noman-al-Aouar, one of those Arabian Kings who reigned at
Hirah. A single stone fastened the whole structure; the colour of the
walls varied frequently in a day. Noman richly rewarded the architect
Sennamar; but recollecting afterwards that he might build palaces equal,
or superior in beauty for his rival kings, ordered that he should be
thrown from the highest tower of the edifice.
_D'Herbelot._
[5] The tribe of Ad were descended from Ad, the son of Aus or Uz, the
son of Irem, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, who after the confusion
of tongues, settled in Al Ahkaf, or the winding sands, in the province
of Hadramaut, where his posterity greatly multiplied. Their first King
was Shedad, the son of Ad, of whom the eastern writers deliver many
fabulous things, particularly that he finished the magnificent city his
father had begun, wherein he built a fine palace, adorned with delicious
gardens, to embellish which he spared neither cost nor labour, proposing
thereby to create in his subjects a superstitious veneration of himself
as a God. This garden or paradise was called the garden of Irem, and is
mentioned in the Koran, and often alluded to by the Oriental writers.
The city they tell us, is still standing in the desarts of Aden, being
preserved by providence as a monument of divine justice, though it be
invisible, unless very rarely, when God permits it to be seen: a favour
one Colabah pretended to have received in the reign of the Khalif
Moawiyah, who sending for him to know the truth of the matter, Colabah
related his whole adventure; that is he was seeking a Camel he had lost,
he found himself on a sudden at the gates of this city, and entering it,
saw not one inhabitant, at which being terrified, he stayed no longer
than to take with him some fine stones which he shewed the Khalif.
_Sale._
The descendants of Ad in process of time falling from the worship of the
true God into idolatry, God sent the prophet Houd (who is generally
agreed to be Heber) to preach the unity of his essence and reclaim them.
Houd preached for many years to this people without effect, till God at
last was weary of waiting for their repentance. The first punishment
which he inflicted was a famine of three years continuance, during all
which time the heavens were closed upon them. This, with the evils which
it caused, destroyed a great part of this people, who were then the
richest and most powerful of all in Arabia.
The Adites seeing themselves reduced to this extremity, and receiving no
succour from their false Gods, resolved to make a pilgrimage to a place
in the province of Hegiaz, where at present Mecca is situated. There was
then a hillock of red sand there, around which a great concourse of
different people might always be seen; and all these nations, the
faithful as well as the unfaithful, believed that by visiting this spot
with devotion, they should obtain from God whatever they petitioned for,
respecting the wants and necessities of life.
The Adites having then resolved to undertake this religious journey,
chose seventy men, at whose head they appointed Mortadh and Kail, the
two most considerable personages of the country, to perform this duty in
the name of the whole nation, and by this means procure rain from
Heaven, without which their country must be ruined. The deputees
departed, and were hospitably received by Moawiyah, who at that time
reigned in the province of Hegiaz. They explained to him the occasion of
their journey, and demanded leave to proceed and perform their devotions
at the Red Hillock, that they might procure rain.
Mortadh, who was the wisest of this company, and who had been converted
by the Prophet Houd, often remonstrated with his associates that it was
useless to to take this journey for the purpose of praying at this
chosen spot, unless they had previously adopted the truths which the
Prophet preached, and seriously repented of their unbelief. For how,
said he, can you hope that God will shed upon us the abundant showers of
his mercy, if we refuse to hear the voice of him whom he hath sent to
instruct us?
Kail who was one of the most obstinate in error, and consequently of the
Prophets worst enemies, hearing the discourses of his colleague,
requested King Moawiyah to detain Mortadh prisoner, whilst he and the
remainder of his companions proceeded to make their prayers upon the
Hillock. Moawiyah consented, and detaining Mortadh captive, permitted
the others to pursue their journey and accomplish their vow.
Kail, now the sole chief of the deputation, having arrived at the place,
prayed thus, Lord give to the people of Ad such rains as it shall please
thee. And he had scarcely finished when there appeared three clouds in
the sky, one white, one red, the third black. At the same time these
words were heard to proceed from Heaven, chuse which of the three thou
wilt. Kail chose the black, which he imagined the fullest, and most
abundant in water, of which they were in extreme want. After having
chosen, he immediately quitted the place and took the road to his own
country, congratulating himself on the happy success of his pilgrimage.
As soon as Kail arrived in the valley of Magaith, a part of the
territory of the Adites, he informed his countrymen of the favourable
answer he had received, and of the cloud which was soon to water all
their lands. The senseless people all came out of their houses to
receive it, but this cloud, which was big with the divine vengeance
produced only a wind, most cold and most violent, which the Arabs call
Sarsar; it continued to blow for seven days and seven nights, and
exterminated all the unbelievers of the country, leaving only the
Prophet Houd alive, and those who had heard him and turned to the faith.
_D'Herbelot_
[6] Al-Ahkaf signifies the Winding Sands.
[7] I have heard from a certain Cyprian botanist, that the Ebony does
not produce either leaves or fruit, and that it is never seen exposed to
the sun: that its roots are indeed under the earth, which the AEthiopians
dig out, and that there are men among them skilled in finding the place
of its concealment.
_Pausanias, translated by Taylor._
[8] The Adites worshipped four Idols, Sakiah the dispenser of rain,
Hafedah the protector of travellers, Razecah the giver of food, and
Salemah the preserver in sickness.
_D'Herbelot. Sale._
[9] Mecca was thus called. Mohammed destroyed the other superstitions of
the Arabs, but he was obliged to adopt their old and rooted veneration
for the Well and the Black Stone, and transfer to Mecca the respect and
reverence which he had designed for Jerusalem.
[10] Some of the Pagan Arabs when they died, had their Camel tied by
their sepulchre, and so left without meat or drink to perish, and
accompany them to the other world, lest they should be obliged at the
Resurrection to go on foot, which was accounted very scandalous.
Ali affirmed that the pious when they come forth from their sepulchres
shall find ready prepared for them white-winged Camels with saddles of
gold. Here are some footsteps of the doctrine of the ancient Arabians.
_Sale._
[11]
"She stared me in the face."
This line is in one of the most beautiful passages of our old Ballads,
so full of beauty. I have never seen the Ballad in print, and with some
trouble, have procured only an imperfect copy from memory. It is
necessary to insert some of the preceding stanzas. The title is
_Old Poulter's mare._
At length old age came on her
And she grew faint and poor,
Her master he fell out with her
And turned her out of door,
Saying, if thou wilt not labour,
I prithee go thy way,--
And never let me see thy face
Until thy dying day.
These words she took unkind
And on her way she went,
For to fulfill her master's will
Always was her intent,
The hills were very high
The vallies very bare,
The summer it was hot and dry,--
It starved Old Poulter's Mare.
Old Poulter he grew sorrowful
And said to his kinsman Will,
I'd have thee go and seek the Mare
O'er valley and o'er hill,
Go, go, go, go, says Poulter,
And make haste back again,
For until thou hast found the Mare
In grief I shall remain.
Away went Will so willingly,
And all day long he sought:
Till when it grew towards the night,
He in his mind bethought,
He would go home and rest him
And come again to-morrow,
For if he could not find the Mare
His heart would break with sorrow.
He went a little farther
And turned his head aside,
And just by goodman Whitfield's gate
Oh there the Mare he spied.
He asked her how she did,
_She stared him in the face,
Then down she laid her head again,--
She was in wretched case._
[12] Concerning the Pyramids, "I shall put down, says Greaves, that
which is confessed by the Arabian writers to be the most probable
relation, as is reported by Ibn Abd Alhokm, whose words out of the
Arabick are these. "The greatest part of chronologers agree, that he
which built the Pyramids, was, Saurid Ibn Salhouk, King of Egypt, who
lived three hundred years before the flood. The occasion of this was,
because he saw in his sleep, that the whole earth was turned over with
the inhabitants of it, the men lying upon their faces, and the stars
falling down and striking one another, with a terrible noise; and being
troubled, he concealed it. After this he saw the fixed stars falling to
the earth, in the similitude of white fowl, and they snatched up men,
carrying them between two great mountains; and these mountains closed
upon them, and the shining stars were made dark. Awaking with great
fear, he assembles the chief priests of all the provinces of Egypt, an
hundred and thirty priests, the chief of them was called Aclimum.
Relating the whole matter to them, they took the altitude of the stars,
and making their prognostication, foretold of a deluge. The King said,
will it come to our country? they answered, yea, and will destroy it.
And there remained a certain number of years for to come, and he
commanded in the mean space to build the Pyramids, and a vault to be
made, into which the river Nilus entering should run into the countries
of the west, and into the land Al-Said. And he filled them with
_telesmes_,[b] and with strange things, and with riches and treasures
and the like. He engraved in them all things that were told him by wise
men, as also all profound sciences, the names of _alakakirs_,[c] the
uses and hurts of them; the science of astrology and of arithmetick, and
of geometry, and of physick. All this may be interpreted by him that
knows their characters and language. After he had given order for this
building, they cut out vast columns and wonderful stones. They fetch
massy stones from the AEthopians, and made with these the foundation of
the three Pyramids, fastening them together with lead and iron. They
built the gates of them forty cubits under ground, and they made the
height of the Pyramids one hundred royal cubits, which are fifty of ours
in these times; he also made each side of them an hundred royal cubits.
The beginning of this building was in a fortunate horoscope. After that
he had finished it, he covered it with coloured satten from the top to
the bottom; and he appointed a solemn festival, at which were present
all the inhabitants of his kingdom. Then he built in the western Pyramid
thirty treasures, filled with store of riches, and utensils, and with
signatures made of precious stones, and with instruments of iron, and
vessels of earth, and with arms that rust not, and with glass which
might be bended and yet not broken, and with several kind of alakakirs,
single and double, and with deadly poisons, and with other things
besides. He made also in the east Pyramid divers celestial spheres and
stars, and what they severally operate in their aspects, and the
perfumes which are to be used to them, and the books which treat of
these matters. He also put in the coloured Pyramid the commentaries of
the Priests, in chests of black marble, and with every Priest a book, in
which were the wonders of his profession, and of his actions, and of his
nature, and what was done in his time, and what is, and what shall be,
from the beginning of time to the end of it. He placed in every Pyramid
a treasurer. The treasurer of the westerly Pyramid was a statue of
marble stone, standing upright with a lance, and upon his head a serpent
wreathed. He that came near it, and stood still, the serpent bit him of
one side, and wreathing round about his throat and killing him, returned
to his place. He made the treasurer of the east Pyramid, an idol of
black agate, his eyes open and shining, sitting upon a throne with a
lance; when any looked upon him, he heard of one side of him a voice,
which took away his sense, so that he fell prostrate upon his face, and
ceased not till he died. He made the treasurer of the coloured Pyramid a
statue of stone, called _Albut_, sitting: he which looked towards it was
drawn by the statue, till he stuck to it, and could not be separated
from it, till such time as he died. The Coptites write in their books,
that there is an inscription engraven upon them, the exposition of which
in Arabick is this, _I_ KING SAURID _built the Pyramids in such and such
a time, and finished them in six years: he that comes after me, and says
that he is equal to me, let him destroy them in six hundred years; and
yet it is known, that it is easier to pluck down, than to build up: I
also covered them, when I had finished them, with satten; and let him
cover them with mats._ After that ALMAMON the Calif entered AEgypt, and
saw the Pyramids. He desired to know what was within, and therefore
would have them opened. They told him it could not possibly be done. He
replied I will have it certainly done. And that hole was opened for him,
which stands open to this day, with fire and vinegar. Two smiths
prepared and sharpened the iron and engines, which they forced in, and
there was a great expence in the opening of it. The thickness of the
wall was found to be twenty cubits; and when they came to the end of the
wall, behind the place they had digged, there was an ewer of green
emerald; in it were a thousand dinars very weighty, every dinar was an
ounce of our ounces: they wondered at it, but knew not the meaning of
it. Then ALMAMON said, cast up the account, how much hath been spent in
making the entrance; they cast it up, and lo it was the same sum which
they found, it neither exceeded nor was defective. Within they found a
square well, in the square of it there were doors, every door opened
into a house (or vault) in which there were dead bodies wrapped up in
linen. They found towards the top of the Pyramid, a chamber, in which
there was an hollow stone: in it was a statue of stone like a man, and
within it a man, upon whom was a breast-plate of gold set with jewels;
upon his breast was a sword of invaluable price, and at his head a
carbuncle of the bigness of an egg, shining like the light of the day;
and upon him were characters written with a pen, no man knows what they
signify. After ALMAMON had opened it, men entered into it for many
years, and descended by the slippery passage which is in it; and some of
them came out safe, and others died."
_Greaves's Pyramidographia._
[b] That which the Arabians commonly mean by _telesmes_, are
certain _sigilla_ or _amuleta_, made under such and such
an aspect, or configuration of the stars and planets, with
several characters accordingly inscribed.
[c] _Alakakir_, amongst other significations, is the name of a
precious stone; and therefore in Abulfeda it is joined with
_yacut_, a ruby. I imagine it here to signify some magical
spell, which it may be was engraven on this stone.
[13] The Carbuncle is to be found in most of the subterranean palaces of
Romance. I have no where seen so circumstantial an account of its
wonderful properties as in a passage of Thuanus, quoted by Setphanius in
his notes to Saxo Grammaticus.
"Whilst the King was at Bologna a stone wonderful in its species and
nature was brought to him from the East Indies, by a man unknown, who
appeared by his manners to be a Barbarian. It sparkled as tho' all
burning with an incredible splendour, flashing radiance, and shooting on
every side its beams, it filled the surrounding air to a great distance
with a light scarcely by any eyes endurable. In this also it was
wonderful, that being most impatient of the earth, if it was confined,
it would force its way and immediately fly aloft; neither could it be
contained by any art of man in a narrow place, but appeared only to love
those of ample extent. It was of the utmost purity stained by no soil
nor spot. Certain shape it had none, for its figure was inconstant and
momentarily changing, and tho' at a distance it was beautiful to the
eye, it would not suffer itself to be handled with impunity, but hurt
those who obstinately struggled with it, as many persons before many
spectators experienced. If by chance any part of it was broken off, for
it was not very hard, it become nothing less.
_Thuanus. Lib. 8._
In the Mirror of Stones, Carbuncles are said to be male and female. The
females throw out their brightness: the stars appear burning within the
males.
Like many other jewels the Carbuncle was supposed to be an animal
substance, formed in the serpent. The serpent's ingenious method of
preserving it from the song of the charmer is related in an after note.
Book 9.
[14] Adam, says a Moorish Author, after having eaten the forbidden
fruit, sought to hide himself under the shade of the trees that form the
bowers of Paradise: the Gold and Silver trees refused their shade to the
father of the human race. God asked them why they did so: because,
replied the trees, Adam has transgressed against your commandment. Ye
have done well, answered the Creator; and that your fidelity may be
rewarded, 'tis my decree that men shall hereafter become your slaves,
and that in search of you they shall dig into the very bowels of the
earth.
_Chenier._
[15] A great number of stringy fibres seem to stretch out from the
boughs of the Palm, on each side, which cross one another in such a
manner, that they take out from between the boughs, a sort of bark like
close net-work, and this they spin out with the hand, and with it make
cords of all sizes, which are mostly used in Egypt. They also make of it
a sort of brush for cloaths.
_Pococke._
[16] Shedad was the first King of the Adites. I have ornamented his
palace less profusely than the oriental writers who describe it. In the
notes to the _Bahar-Danush_ is the following account of its magnificence
from the _Tofet al Mujalis_.
A pleasant and elevated spot being fixed upon, Shuddaud dispatched an
hundred chiefs to collect skilful artists and workmen from all
countries. He also commanded the monarchs of Syria and Ormus to send him
all their jewels and precious stones. Forty camel loads of gold, silver,
and jewels, were daily used in the building, which contained a thousand
spacious quadrangles of many thousand rooms. In the areas were
artificial trees of gold and silver, whose leaves were emeralds, and
fruit clusters of pearls and jewels. The ground was strewed with
ambergris, musk, and saffron. Between every two of the artificial trees
was planted one of delicious fruit. This romantic abode took up five
hundred years in the completion. When finished, Shuddaud marched to view
it; and, when arrived near, divided two hundred thousand youthful
slaves, whom he had brought with him from Damascus, into four
detachments, which were stationed in cantonments prepared for their
reception on each side of the garden, towards which he proceeded with
his favourite courtiers. Suddenly was heard in the air a voice like
thunder, and Shuddaud looking up, beheld a personage of majestic figure
and stern aspect, who said, "I am the Angel of Death, commissioned to
seize thy impure soul."
Shuddaud exclaimed, "give me leisure to enter the garden," and was
descending from his horse, when the seizer of life snatched away his
impure spirit, and he fell dead upon the ground. At the same time
lightnings flashed and destroyed the whole army of the infidel; and the
rose garden of Irim became concealed from the sight of man.
[17] Lamai relates that a great Monarch, whom he does not name, having
erected a superb Palace, wished to show it to every man of talents and
taste in the city; he therefore invited them to a banquet, and after the
repast was finished asked them if they knew any building more
magnificent and more perfect, in the architecture, in the ornaments and
in the furniture. All the guests contented themselves with expressing
their admiration, and lavishing praise, except one, who led a retired
and austere life, and was one of those persons whom the Arabians call
Zahed.
This man spoke very freely to the Prince and said to him, I find a great
defect in this building, it is, that the foundation is not good, nor the
walls sufficiently strong, so that Azrael can enter on every side, and
the Sarsar can easily pass thro'. And when they showed him the walls of
the Palace ornamented with azure and gold, of which the marvellous
workmanship surpassed in costliness the richness of the materials, he
replied, there is still a great inconvenience here! it is that we can
never estimate these works well, till we are laid backwards. Signifying
by these words that we never understand these things rightly, till we
are upon our death-bed, when we discover their vanity.
_D'Herbelot._
[18]
Las horrendas palabras parecian
salir por una trompa resontane,
y que los yertos labios no movian.
_Lupercio Leonardo._
[19] Death is come up into our windows, and entered into our palaces, to
cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.
_Jeremiah_ IX. 21.
The Trees shall give fruit and who shall gather them? The Grapes shall
ripen and who shall tread them? for all places shall be desolate of men.
2. _Esdras._ XVI. 25.
For strong is his right hand that bendeth the Bow, his arrows that he
shooteth are sharp, and shall not miss when they begin to be shot into
the ends of the world.
2. _Esdras._ XVI. 13.
[20] There are several trees or shrubs of the genus Mimosa. One of these
trees drops its branches whenever any person approaches it, seeming as
if it saluted those who retire under its shade, this mute hospitality
has so endeared this tree to the Arabians that the injuring or cutting
of it down is strictly prohibited.
_Niebuhr._
[21] The Angel of Death, say the Rabbis, holdeth his sword in his hand
at the bed's head, having on the end thereof three drops of gall, the
sick man spying this deadly Angel, openeth his mouth with fear and then
those drops fall in, of which one killeth him, the second maketh him
pale, the third rotteth and putrifieth.
_Purchas._
Possibly the expression to taste the bitterness of death, may refer to
this.
[22] The manner how the Teraphim were made is fondly conceited thus
among the Rabbies. They killed a man that was a first born son, and
wrung off his head, and seasoned it with salt and spices, and wrote upon
a plate of gold the name of an uncleane spirit, and put it under the
head upon a wall, and lighted candles before it and worshipped it.
_Godwyn's Moses and Aaron._
In _Rabbi Eleazar_ it is said to be the head of a child.
[23] The Devil, whom Mohammed names Eblis, from his dispair, was once
one of those Angels who are nearest to God's presence, called Azazil;
and fell (according to the doctrine of the Koran) for refusing to pay
homage to Adam at the command of God.
_Koran. Chap._ 2. 7. 15.