Footnotes

[FN#1] Allaho A'alam, a deprecatory formula, used because the writer is

going to indulge in a series of what may possibly be untruths.

[FN#2] The "Sons of Sásán" are the famous Sassanides whose dynasty

ended with the Arabian Conquest (A.D. 641). "Island" Jazírah) in Arabic

also means "Peninsula," and causes much confusion in geographical

matters.

[FN#3] Shahryár not Shahriyar (Persian) = "City-friend." The Bulak

edition corrupts it to Shahrbáz (City-hawk), and the Breslau to

Shahrbán or "Defender of the City," like Marz-ban=Warden of the

Marshes. Shah Zamán (Persian)="King of the Age:" Galland prefers Shah

Zenan, or "King of women," and the Bul. edit. changes it to Shah

Rummán, "Pomegranate King." Al-Ajam denotes all regions not Arab

(Gentiles opposed to Jews, Mlechchhas to Hindus, Tajiks to Turks, etc.,

etc.), and especially Persia; Ajami (a man of Ajam) being an equivalent

of the Gr. Βάρβαρος. See Vol. ii., p. 1.

[FN#4] Galland writes "Vizier," a wretched frenchification of a mincing

Turkish mispronunciation; Torrens, "Wuzeer" (Anglo-Indian and

Gilchristian); Lane, "Wezeer"; (Egyptian or rather Cairene); Payne,

"Vizier," according to his system; Burckhardt (Proverbs), "Vizír;" and

Mr. Keith-Falconer, "Vizir." The root is popularly supposed to be

"wizr" (burden) and the meaning "Minister;" Wazir al-Wuzará being

"Premier." In the Koran (chapt. xx., 30) Moses says, "Give me a Wazir

of my family, Harun (Aaron) my brother." Sale, followed by the

excellent version of the Rev. J. M. Rodwell, translates a "Counsellor,"

and explains by "One who has the chief administration of affairs under

a prince." But both learned Koranists learnt their Orientalism in

London, and, like such students generally, fail only upon the easiest

points, familiar to all old dwellers in the East.

[FN#5] This three-days term (rest-day, drest-day and departure day)

seems to be an instinct-made rule in hospitality. Among Moslems it is a

Sunnat or practice of the Prophet.)

[FN#6] _i.e._, I am sick at heart.

[FN#7] Debauched women prefer negroes on account of the size of their

parts. I measured one man in Somali-land who, when quiescent, numbered

nearly six inches. This is a characteristic of the negro race and of

African animals; _e.g._ the horse; whereas the pure Arab, man and

beast, is below the average of Europe; one of the best proofs by the

by, that the Egyptian is not an Asiatic, but a negro partially

white-washed. Moreover, these imposing parts do not increase

proportionally during erection; consequently, the "deed of kind" takes

a much longer time and adds greatly to the woman's enjoyment. In my

time no honest Hindi Moslem would take his women-folk to Zanzibar on

account of the huge attractions and enormous temptations there and

thereby offered to them. Upon the subject of Imsák = retention of semen

and "prolongation of pleasure," I shall find it necessary to say more.

[FN#8] The very same words were lately spoken in England proving the

eternal truth of The Nights which the ignorant call "downright lies."

[FN#9] The Arab's _Tue la!_

[FN#10] Arab. "Sayd wa kanas": the former usually applied to fishing;

hence Sayda (Sidon) = fish-town. But noble Arabs (except the Caliph

Al-Amin) do not fish; so here it means simply "sport," chasing,

coursing, birding (oiseler), and so forth.

[FN#11] In the Mac. Edit. the negro is called "Mas'úd"; here he utters

a kind of war-cry and plays upon the name, "Sa'ád, Sa'íd, Sa'úd," and

"Mas'ud", all being derived from one root, "Sa'ad" = auspiciousness,

prosperity.

[FN#12] The Arab. singular (whence the French "génie"), fem. Jinniyah;

the Div and Rakshah of old Guebre-land and the "Rakshasa," or "Yaksha,"

of Hinduism. It would be interesting to trace the evident connection,

by no means "accidental," of "Jinn" with the "Genius" who came to the

Romans through the Asiatic Etruscans, and whose name I cannot derive

from "gignomai" or "genitus." He was unknown to the Greeks, who had the

Daimon {Greek Letters}, a family which separated, like the Jinn and the

Genius, into two categories, the good (Agatho-dæmons) and the bad

(Kako-dæmons). We know nothing concerning the status of the Jinn

amongst the pre-Moslemitic or pagan Arabs: the Moslems made him a

supernatural anthropoid being, created of subtile fire (Koran chapts.

xv. 27; lv. 14), not of earth like man, propagating his kind, ruled by

mighty kings, the last being Ján bin Ján, missionarised by Prophets and

subject to death and Judgment. From the same root are "Junún" = madness

(_i.e._, possession or obsession by the Jinn) and "Majnún"=a madman.

According to R. Jeremiah bin Eliazar in Psalm xii. 5, Adam was

excommunicated for one hundred and thirty years, during which he begat

children in his own image (Gen. v. 3) and these were Mazikeen or

Shedeem—Jinns. Further details anent the Jinn will presently occur.

[FN#13] Arab. "Amsár" (cities): in Bul. Edit. "Amtár" (rains), as in

Mac. Edit. So Mr. Payne (I., 5) translates: And when she flashes forth

the lightning of her glance, She maketh eyes to rain, like showers,

with many a tear. I would render it, "She makes whole cities shed

tears," and prefer it for a reason which will generally influence

me—its superior exaggeration and impossibility.

[FN#14] Not "A-frit," pronounced Aye-frit, as our poets have it. This

variety of the Jinn, who, as will be shown, are divided into two races

like mankind, is generally, but not always, a malignant being, hostile

and injurious to mankind (Koran xxvii. 39).

[FN#15] _i.e._, "I conjure thee by Allah;" the formula is technically

called "Inshád."

[FN#16] This introducing the name of Allah into an indecent tale is

essentially Egyptian and Cairene. But see Boccaccio ii. 6, and vii. 9.

[FN#17] So in the Mac. Edit.; in others "ninety." I prefer the greater

number as exaggeration is a part of the humour. In the Hindu "Kathá

Sárit Ságara" (Sea of the Streams of Story), the rings are one hundred

and the catastrophe is more moral, the good youth Yashodhara rejects

the wicked one's advances; she awakes the water-sprite, who is about to

slay him, but the rings are brought as testimony and the improper young

person's nose is duly cut off. (Chap. Ixiii.; p. 80, of the excellent

translation by Prof. C. H. Tawney: for the Bibliotheca Indica:

Calcutta, 1881.) The Kathá, etc., by Somadeva (century xi), is a

poetical version of the prose compendium, the "Vrihat Kathá" (Great

Story) by Gunadhya (cent. vi).

[FN#18] The Joseph of the Koran, very different from him of Genesis. We

shall meet him often enough in The Nights.

[FN#19] "Iblis," vulgarly written "Eblis," from a root meaning The

Despairer, with a suspicious likeness to Diabolos; possibly from

"Balas," a profligate. Some translate it The Calumniator, as Satan is

the Hater. Iblis (who appears in the Arab. version of the N. Testament)

succeeded another revolting angel Al-Haris; and his story of pride

refusing to worship Adam, is told four times in the Koran from the

Talmud (Sanhedrim 29). He caused Adam and Eve to lose Paradise (ii.

34); he still betrays mankind (xxv. 31), and at the end of time he,

with the other devils, will be "gathered together on their knees round

Hell" (xix. 69). He has evidently had the worst of the game, and we

wonder, with Origen, Tillotson, Burns and many others, that he does not

throw up the cards.

[FN#20] A similar tale is still told at Akká (St. John d'Acre)

concerning the terrible "butcher"—Jazzár (Djezzar) Pasha. One can

hardly pity women who are fools enough to run such risks. According to

Frizzi, Niccolò, Marquis of Este, after beheading Parisina, ordered all

the faithless wives of Ferrara to be treated in like manner.

[FN#21] "Shahrázád" (Persian) = City-freer, in the older version

Scheherazade (probably both from Shirzád=lion-born).

"Dunyázád"=World-freer. The Bres. Edit. corrupts theformer to Sháhrzád

or Sháhrazád, and the Mac. and Calc. to Shahrzád or Shehrzád. I have

ventured to restore the name as it should be. Galland for the second

prefers Dinarzade (?) and Richardson Dinazade (Dinázád =

Religion-freer): here I have followed Lane and Payne; though in "First

Footsteps" I was misled by Galland. See Vol. ii. p. 1.

[FN#22] Probably she proposed to "Judith" the King. These learned and

clever young ladies are very dangerous in the East.

[FN#23] In Egypt, etc., the bull takes the place of the Western ox. The

Arab. word is "Taur" (Thaur, Saur); in old Persian "Tora" and Lat.

"Taurus," a venerable remnant of the days before the "Semitic" and

"Aryan" families of speech had split into two distinct growths. "Taur"

ends in the Saxon "Steor" and the English "Steer "

[FN#24] Arab. "Abú Yakzán" = the Wakener, because the ass brays at

dawn.

[FN#25] Arab. "Tibn"; straw crushed under the sledge: the hay of Egypt,

Arabia, Syria, etc. The old country custom is to pull up the corn by

handfuls from the roots, leaving the land perfectly bare: hence the

"plucking up" of Hebrew Holy Writ. The object is to preserve every atom

of "Tibn."

[FN#26] Arab. "Yá Aftah": Al-Aftah is an epithet of the bull, also of

the chameleon.

[FN#27] Arab. "Balíd," a favourite Egyptianism often pleasantly

confounded with "Wali" (a Santon), hence the latter comes to mean "an

innocent," a "ninny."

[FN#28] From the Calc. Edit., Vol. 1., p. 29.

[FN#29] Arab. "Abu Yakzán" is hardly equivalent with "Père l'Eveillé."

[FN#30] In Arab. the wa (x) is the sign of parenthesis.

[FN#31] In the nearer East the light little plough is carried afield by

the bull or ass.

[FN#32] Ocymum basilicum, the "royal herb," so much prized all over the

East, especially in India, where, under the name of "Tulsi," it is a

shrub sacred to the merry god Krishna. I found the verses in a MS. copy

of The Nights.

[FN#33] Arab. "Sadaf," the Kauri, or cowrie, brought from the Maldive

and Lakdive Archipelago. The Kámús describes this "Wada'" or Concha

Veneris as "a white shell (whence to "shell out") which is taken out of

the sea, the fissure of which is white like that of the date-stone. It

is hung about the neck to avert the evil eye." The pearl in Arab. is

"Murwarid," hence evidently "Margarita" and Margaris (woman's name).

[FN#34] Arab. "Kat'a" (bit of leather): some read "Nat'a;" a leather

used by way of table-cloth, and forming a bag for victuals; but it is

never made of bull's hide.

[FN#35] The older "Cadi," a judge in religious matters. The Shuhúd, or

Assessors, are officers of the Mahkamah or Kazi's Court.

[FN#36] Of which more in a future page. He thus purified himself

ceremonially before death.

[FN#37] This is Christian rather than Moslem: a favourite Maltese curse

is "Yahrak Kiddisak man rabba-k!" = burn the Saint who brought thee up!

[FN#38] A popular Egyptian phrase: the dog and the cock speak like

Fellahs.

[FN#39] i. e. between the last sleep and dawn when they would rise to

wash and pray.

[FN#40] Travellers tell of a peculiar knack of jerking the date-stone,

which makes it strike with great force: I never saw this "Inwá"

practised, but it reminds me of the water splashing with one hand in

the German baths.

[FN#41] i.e., sorely against his will.

[FN#42] Arab. "Shaykh"=an old man (primarily), an elder, a chief (of

the tribe, guild, etc.), and honourably addressed to any man. Comp.

among the neo Latins "Sieur," "Signore," "Señor," "Senhor," etc. from

Lat. "Senior," which gave our "Sire" and "Sir." Like many in Arabic the

word has a host of different meanings and most of them will occur in

the course of The Nights. Ibrahim (Abraham) was the first Shaykh or man

who became grey. Seeing his hairs whiten he cried, "O Allah what is

this?" and the answer came that it was a sign of dignified gravity.

Hereupon he exclaimed, "O Lord increase this to me!" and so it happened

till his locks waxed snowy white at the age of one hundred and fifty.

He was the first who parted his hair, trimmed his mustachios, cleaned

his teeth with the Miswák (tooth-stick), pared his nails, shaved his

pecten, snuffed up water, used ablution after stool and wore a shirt

(Tabari).

[FN#43] The word is mostly plural = Jinnís: it is also singular = a

demon; and Ján bin Ján has been noticed.

[FN#44] With us moderns "liver" suggests nothing but malady: in Arabic

and Persian as in the classic literature of Europe it is the seat of

passion, the heart being that of affection. Of this more presently.

[FN#45] Originally in Al-Islam the concubine (Surriyat, etc.) was a

captive taken in war and the Koran says nothing about buying

slave-girls. But if the captives were true believers the Moslem was

ordered to marry not to keep them. In modern days concubinage has

become an extensive subject. Practically the disadvantage is that the

slave-girls, knowing themselves to be the master's property, consider

him bound to sleep with them; which is by no means the mistress's view.

Some wives, however, when old and childless, insist, after the fashion

of Sarah, upon the husband taking a young concubine and treating her

like a daughter—which is rare. The Nights abound in tales of

concubines, but these are chiefly owned by the Caliphs and high

officials who did much as they pleased. The only redeeming point in the

system is that it obviated the necessity of prostitution which is,

perhaps, the greatest evil known to modern society.

[FN#46] Arab. "Al-Kahánah"=the craft of a "Káhin" (Heb. Cohen) a

diviner, soothsayer, etc.

[FN#47] Arab. "Id al-kabír = The Great Festival; the Turkish Bayrám and

Indian Bakar-eed (Kine-fête), the pilgrimage-time, also termed

"Festival of the Kurbán" (sacrifice) because victims are slain, Al-Zuha

(of Undurn or forenoon), Al-Azhá (of serene night) and Al-Nahr (of

throat-cutting). For full details I must refer readers to my "Personal

Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah" (3 vols. 8vo,

London, Longmans, 1855). I shall have often to refer to it.

[FN#48] Arab. "Kalám al-mubáh," i.e., that allowed or permitted to her

by the King, her husband.

[FN#49] Moslem Kings are expected, like the old Gabble Monarchs, to

hold "Darbar" (i.e., give public audience) at least twice a day,

morning and evening. Neglect of this practice caused the ruin of the

Caliphate and of the Persian and Moghul Empires: the great lords were

left uncontrolled and the lieges revolted to obtain justice. The Guebre

Kings had two levée places, the Rozistan (day station) and the

Shabistan (night-station—istán or stán being a nominal form of istádan,

to stand, as Hindo-stán). Moreover one day in the week the sovereign

acted as "Mufti" or Supreme Judge.

[FN#50] Arab. "Al-Bashárah," the gift everywhere claimed in the East

and in Boccaccio's Italy by one who brings good news. Those who do the

reverse expose themselves to a sound strappado.

[FN#51] A euphemistic formula, to avoid mentioning unpleasant matters.

I shall note these for the benefit of students who would honestly

prepare for the public service in Moslem lands.

[FN#52] Arab. "Dínár," from the Latin denarius (a silver coin worth ten

ounces of brass) through the Greek δηνάριον: it is a Koranic word

(chapt. iii.) though its Arab equivalent is "Miskál." It also occurs in

the Kathá before quoted, clearly showing the derivation. In the "Book

of Kalilah and Dimnah" it is represented by the Daric or Persian Dinár,

δαρεικός, from Dárá= a King (whence Darius). The Dinar, sequin or

ducat, contained at different times from 10 and 12 (Abu Hanifah's day)

to 20 and even 25 dirhams or drachmas, and, as a weight, represented a

drachma and a half. Its value greatly varied, but we may assume it here

at nine shillings or ten francs to half a sovereign. For an elaborate

article on the Dinar see Yule's "Cathay and the Way Thither" (ii., pp.

439-443).

[FN#53] The formula used in refusing alms to an "asker" or in rejecting

an insufficient offer: "Allah will open to thee!" (some door of

gain—not mine)! Another favourite ejaculation is "Allah Karim" (which

Turks pronounce "Kyereem") = Allah is All-beneficent! meaning Ask Him,

not me.

[FN#54] The public bath. London knows the word through "The Hummums."

[FN#55] Arab. "Dirham" (Plur. diráhim, also used in the sense of money,

"siller"),the Gr. δραχμή and the drachuma of Plautus (Trin. 2, 4, 23).

The word occurs in the Panchatantra also showing the derivation; and in

the Syriac Kalilah wa Dimnah it is "Zúz." This silver piece was = 6

obols (9 3/4d.) and as a weight = 66 1/2 grains. The Dirham of The

Nights was worth six "Dánik," each of these being a fraction over a

penny. The modern Greek Drachma is=one franc.

[FN#56] In Arabic the speaker always puts himself first, even if he

address the King, without intending incivility.

[FN#57] A she-Ifrit, not necessarily an evil spirit.

[FN#58] Arab. "Kullah" (in Egypt pron. "gulleh"), the wide mouthed jug,

called in the Hijaz "baradiyah;" "daurak" being the narrow. They are

used either for water or sherbet and, being made of porous clay,

"sweat," and keep the contents cool; hence all old Anglo Egyptians

drink from them, not from bottles. Sometimes they are perfumed with

smoke of incense, mastich or Kafal (Amyris Kafal). For their graceful

shapes see Lane's "Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern

Egyptians" (chapt. v) I quote, here and elsewhere, from the fifth

edition, London, Murray, 1860.

[FN#59] "And what is?" etc. A popular way of expressing great

difference. So in India:—"Where is Rajah Bhoj (the great King) and

where is Gangá the oilman?"

[FN#60] Here, as in other places, I have not preserved the monorhyme,

but have ended like the English sonnet with a couplet; as a rule the

last two lines contain a "Husn makta'" or climax.

[FN#61] Lit. "he began to say (or speak) poetry," such improvising

being still common amongst the Badawin as I shall afterwards note. And

although Mohammed severely censured profane poets, who "rove as bereft

of their senses through every valley" and were directly inspired by

devils (Koran xxvi.), it is not a little curious to note that he

himself spoke in "Rajaz" (which see) and that the four first Caliphs

all "spoke poetry." In early ages the verse would not be written, if

written at all, till after the maker's death. I translate "inshád" by

"versifying" or "repeating" or "reciting," leaving it doubtful if the

composition be or be not original. In places, however, it is clearly

improvised and then as a rule it is model doggrel.

[FN#62] Arab. "Allahumma"=Yá Allah (O Allah) but with emphasis the Fath

being a substitute for the voc. part. Some connect it with the Heb.

"Alihím," but that fancy is not Arab. In Al-Hariri and the rhetoricians

it sometimes means to be sure; of course; unless indeed; unless

possibly= Greek νὴ δία.

[FN#63] Probably in consequence of a vow. These superstitious

practices, which have many a parallel amongst ourselves, are not

confined to the lower orders in the East.

[FN#64] i.e., saying "Bismillah!" the pious ejaculation which should

precede every act. In Boccaccio (viii., 9) it is "remembering Iddio e'

Santi."

[FN#65] Arab. Nahás asfar = brass, opposed to "Nahás" and "Nahás

ahmar," = copper.

[FN#66] This alludes to the legend of Sakhr al-Jinni, a famous fiend

cast by Solomon David son into Lake Tiberias whose storms make it a

suitable place. Hence the "Bottle imp," a world-wide fiction of

folk-lore: we shall find it in the "Book of Sindibad," and I need

hardly remind the reader of Le Sage's "Diable Boiteux," borrowed from

"El Diablo Cojuelo," the Spanish novel by Luiz Velez de Guevara.

[FN#67] Márid (lit. "contumacious" from the Heb. root Marad to rebel,

whence "Nimrod" in late Semitic) is one of the tribes of the Jinn,

generally but not always hostile to man. His female is "Máridah."

[FN#68] As Solomon began to reign (according to vulgar chronometry) in

B.C. 1015, the text would place the tale circ. A.D. 785, = A.H. 169.

But we can lay no stress on this date which may be merely fanciful.

Professor Tawney very justly compares this Moslem Solomon with the

Hindu King, Vikramáditya, who ruled over the seven divisions of the

world and who had as many devils to serve him as he wanted.

[FN#69] Arab. "Yá Ba'íd:" a euphemism here adopted to prevent using

grossly abusive language. Others will occur in the course of these

pages.

[FN#70] i. e. about to fly out; "My heart is in my mouth." The

Fisherman speaks with the dry humour of a Fellah.

[FN#71] "Sulayman," when going out to ease himself, entrusted his

seal-ring upon which his kingdom depended to a concubine "Amínah" (the

"Faithful"), when Sakhr, transformed to the King's likeness, came in

and took it. The prophet was reduced to beggary, but after forty days

the demon fled throwing into the sea the ring which was swallowed by a

fish and eventually returned to Sulayman. This Talmudic fable is hinted

at in the Koran (chapt. xxxviii.), and commentators have extensively

embroidered it. Asaf, son of Barkhiya, was Wazir to Sulayman and is

supposed to be the "one with whom was the knowledge of the Scriptures"

(Koran, chapt. xxxvii.), i.e. who knew the Ineffable Name of Allah. See

the manifest descendant of the Talmudic Koranic fiction in the "Tale of

the Emperor Jovinian" (No. lix.) of the Gesta Romanorum, the most

popular book of mediæval Europe composed in England (or Germany) about

the end of the thirteenth century.

[FN#72] Arab. "Kumkum," a gourd-shaped bottle of metal, china or glass,

still used for sprinkling scents. Lane gives an illustration (chapt.

viii., Mod. Egypt.).

[FN#73] Arab. meaning "the Mother of Amir," a nickname for the hyena,

which bites the hand that feeds it.

[FN#74] The intellect of man is stronger than that of the Jinni; the

Ifrit, however, enters the jar because he has been adjured by the Most

Great Name and not from mere stupidity. The seal-ring of Solomon

according to the Rabbis contained a chased stone which told him

everything he wanted to know.

[FN#75] The Mesmerist will notice this shudder which is familiar to him

as preceding the "magnetic" trance.

[FN#76] Arab. "Bahr" which means a sea, a large river, a sheet of

water, etc., lit. water cut or trenched in the earth. Bahri in Egypt

means Northern; so Yamm (Sea, Mediterranean) in Hebrew is West.

[FN#77] In the Bul. Edit. "Ruyán," evidently a clerical error. The name

is fanciful not significant.

[FN#78] The geography is ultra-Shakespearean. "Fárs" (whence "Persia")

is the central Province of the grand old Empire now a mere wreck, "Rúm"

(which I write Roum, in order to avoid Jamaica) is the neo-Roman or

Byzantine Empire, while "Yunan" is the classical Arab term for Greece

(Ionia) which unlearned Moslems believe to be now under water.

[FN#79] The Sun greets Mohammed every morning even as it dances on

Easter Day for Christendom. Risum teneatis?

[FN#80] Arab. "Nadím," a term often occurring. It denotes one who was

intimate enough to drink with the Caliph, a very high honour and a

dangerous. The last who sat with "Nudamá" was Al-Razi bi'llah A.H. 329

= 940. See Al-Siyuti's famous "History of the Caliphs" translated and

admirably annotated by Major H. S. Jarrett, for the Bibliotheca Indica,

Calcutta, 1880.

[FN#81]Arab. Maydán (from Persian); Lane generally translates it "horse

course ' and Payne "tilting yard." It is both and something more; an

open space, in or near the city, used for reviewing troops, races,

playing the Jeríd (cane-spear) and other sports and exercises: thus

Al-Maydan=Gr. hippodrome. The game here alluded to is our -'polo," or

hockey on horseback, a favourite with the Persian Kings, as all old

illustrations of the Shahnamah show. Maydan is also a natural plain for

which copious Arabic has many terms, Fayhah or Sath (a plain

generally), Khabt (a low-lying plain), Bat'há (a low sandy flat),

Mahattah (a plain fit for halting) and so forth. (Pilgrimage iii., 11.)

[FN#82] For details concerning the "Ghusl" see Night xliv.

[FN#83] A popular idiom and highly expressive, contrasting the upright

bearing of the self-satisfied man with the slouch of the miserable and

the skirt-trailing of the woman in grief. I do not see the necessity of

such Latinisms as "dilated" or "expanded."

[FN#84] All these highest signs of favour foreshow, in Eastern tales

and in Eastern life, an approaching downfall of the heaviest; they are

so great that they arouse general jealousy. Many of us have seen this

at native courts.

[FN#85] This phrase is contained in the word "ihdák" =encompassing, as

the conjunctiva does the pupil.

[FN#86] I have noted this formula, which is used even in conversation

when about to relate some great unfact.

[FN#87] We are obliged to English the word by "valley," which is about

as correct as the "brook Kedron," applied to the grisliest of ravines.

The Wady (in old Coptic wah, oah, whence "Oasis") is the bed of a

watercourse which flows only after rains. I have rendered it by

"Fiumara" (Pilgrimage i., 5, and ii., 196, etc.), an Italian or rather

a Sicilian word which exactly describes the "wady."

[FN#88] I have described this scene which Mr. T. Wolf illustrated by an

excellent lithograph in "Falconry, etc." (London, Van Voorst,

MDCCCLII.)

[FN#89] Arab. "Kaylúlah," mid-day sleep; called siesta from the sixth

canonical hour.

[FN#90] This parrot-story is world-wide in folk-lore and the belief in

metempsychosis, which prevails more or less over all the East, there

lends it probability. The "Book of Sindibad" (see Night dlxxix. and

"The Academy," Sept. 20, 1884, No. 646) converts it into the "Story of

the Confectioner, his Wife and the Parrot," and it is the base of the

Hindostani text-book, "Tota-Kaháni" (Parrot-chat), an abridgement of

the Tutinámah (Parrot-book) of Nakhshabi (circ. A.D. 1300), a congener

of the Sanskrit "Suka Saptati," or Seventy Parrot-stories. The tale is

not in the Bul. or Mac. Edits. but occurs in the Bresl. (i., pp. 90,

91) much mutilated; and better in the Calc. Edit I cannot here refrain

from noticing how vilely the twelve vols. of the Breslau Edit have been

edited; even a table of contents being absent from the first four

volumes.

[FN#91] The young "Turk" is probably a late addition, as it does not

appear in many of the MSS., e. g. the Bresl. Edit. The wife usually

spreads a cloth over the cage; this in the Turkish translation becomes

a piece of leather.

[FN#92] The Hebrew-Syrian month July used to express the height of

summer. As Herodotus tells us (ii. 4) the Egyptians claimed to be the

discoverers of the solar year and the portioners of its course into

twelve parts.

[FN#93] This proceeding is thoroughly characteristic of the servile

class; they conscientiously conceal everything from the master till he

finds a clew; after which they tell him everything and something more.

[FN#94] Until late years, merchants and shopkeepers in the nearer East

all carried swords, and held it a disgrace to leave the house unarmed.

[FN#95] The Bresl. Edit. absurdly has Jazírah (an island).

[FN#96] The Ghúlah (fem. of Ghúl) is the Heb. Lilith or Lilis; the

classical Lamia; the Hindu Yogini and Dákini; the Chaldean Utug and

Gigim (desert-demons) as opposed to the Mas (hill-demon) and Telal (who

steal into towns); the Ogress of our tales and the Ba{l}a yaga {Баба

Яга} (Granny-witch) of Russian folk-lore. Etymologically "Ghul" is a

calamity, a panic fear; and the monster is evidently the embodied

horror of the grave and the graveyard.

[FN#97] Arab. "Shább" (Lat. juvenis) between puberty and forty or

according to some fifty; when the patient becomes a "Rajul ikhtiyár"

(man of free will) politely termed, and then a Shaykh or Shaybah

(grey-beard, oldster).

[FN#98] Some proverbial name now forgotten. Torrens (p. 48) translates

it "the giglot" (Fortune?) but "cannot discover the drift."

[FN#99] Arab. "Ihtizáz," that natural and instinctive movement caused

by good news suddenly given, etc.

[FN#100] Arab. "Kohl," in India, Surmah, not a "collyrium," but

powdered antimony for the eyelids. That sold in the bazars is not the

real grey ore of antimony but a galena or sulphuret of lead. Its use

arose as follows. When Allah showed Himself to Moses on Sinai through

an opening the size of a needle, the Prophet fainted and the Mount took

fire: thereupon Allah said, "Henceforth shalt thou and thy seed grind

the earth of this mountain and apply it to your eyes!" The powder is

kept in an étui called Makhalah and applied with a thick blunt needle

to the inside of the eyelid, drawing it along the rim; hence etui and

probe denote the sexual rem in re and in cases of adultery the question

will be asked, "Didst thou see the needle in the Kohl-pot ?" Women

mostly use a preparation of soot or lamp-black (Hind. Kajala, Kajjal)

whose colour is easily distinguished from that of Kohl. The latter

word, with the article (Al-Kohl) is the origin of our "alcohol;" though

even M. Littré fails to show how "fine powder" became "spirits of

wine." I found this powder (wherewith Jezebel "painted" her eyes) a

great preservative from ophthalmia in desert-travelling: the use in

India was universal, but now European example is gradually abolishing

it.

[FN#101] The tale of these two women is now forgotten.

[FN#102] Arab. "Atadakhkhal." When danger threatens it is customary to

seize a man's skirt and cry "Dakhíl-ak!" ( = under thy protection).

Among noble tribes the Badawi thus invoked will defend the stranger

with his life. Foreigners have brought themselves into contempt by thus

applying to women or to mere youths.

[FN#103] The formula of quoting from the Koran.

[FN#104] Lit. "Allah not desolate me" (by thine absence). This is still

a popular phrase—Lá tawáhishná = Do not make me desolate, i.e. by

staying away too long, and friends meeting after a term of days exclaim

"Auhashtani!"=thou hast made me desolate, Je suis desole.

[FN#105] Charming simplicity of manners when the Prime Minister carries

the fish (shade of Vattel!)!) to the cookmaid. The "Gesta Romanorum" is

nowhere more naïve.

[FN#106] Arab. "Kahílat al-taraf" = lit. eyelids lined with Kohl; and

figuratively "with black lashes and languorous look." This is a phrase

which frequently occurs in The Nights and which, as will appear,

applies to the "lower animals" as well as to men. Moslems in Central

Africa apply Kohl not to the thickness of the eyelid but upon both

outer lids, fixing it with some greasy substance. The peculiar Egyptian

(and Syrian) eye with its thick fringes of jet-black lashes, looking

like lines of black drawn with soot, easily suggests the simile. In

England I have seen the same appearance amongst miners fresh from the

colliery.

[FN#107] Of course applying to her own case.

[FN#108] Prehistoric Arabs who measured from 60 to 100 cubits high:

Koran, chapt. xxvi., etc. They will often be mentioned in The Nights.

[FN#109] I Arab. "Dastúr" (from Persian) = leave, permission. The word

has two meanings (see Burckhardt, Arab. Prov. No. 609) and is much

used, ea. before walking up stairs or entering a room where strange

women might be met. So "Tarík" = Clear the way (Pilgrimage, iii., 319).

The old Persian occupation of Egypt, not to speak of the Persian

speaking Circassians and other rulers has left many such traces in

popular language. One of them is that horror of travelers—"Bakhshísh"

pron. bakh-sheesh and shortened to shísh from the Pers. "bakhshish."

Our "Christmas box" has been most unnecessarily derived from the same,

despite our reading:—

Gladly the boy, with Christmas box in hand.

And, as will be seen, Persians have bequeathed to the outer world worse

things than bad language, e.g. heresy and sodomy.

[FN#110] He speaks of his wife but euphemistically in the masculine.

[FN#111] A popular saying throughout Al-Islam.

[FN#112] Arab. "Fata": lit.=a youth; a generous man, one of noble mind

(as youth-tide should be). It corresponds with the Lat. "vir," and has

much the meaning of the Ital. "Giovane," the Germ. "Junker" and our

"gentleman."

[FN#113] From the Bul. Edit.

[FN#114] The vagueness of his statement is euphemistic.

[FN#115] This readiness of shedding tears contrasts strongly with the

external stoicism of modern civilization; but it is true to Arab

character, and Easterns, like the heroes of Homer and Italians of

Boccacio, are not ashamed of what we look upon as the result of

feminine hysteria—"a good cry."

[FN#116] The formula (constantly used by Moslems) here denotes

displeasure, doubt how to act and so forth. Pronounce, "Lá haula wa lá

kuwwata illá bi 'lláhi 'I-Aliyyi 'I-Azim." As a rule mistakes are

marvellous: Mandeville (chapt. xii.) for "Lá iláha illa 'lláhu wa

Muhammadun Rasúlu 'llah" writes "La ellec sila, Machomete rores alla."

The former (lá haula, etc.), on account of the four peculiar Arabic

letters, is everywhere pronounced differently. and the exclamation is

called "Haulak" or "Haukal."

[FN#117] An Arab holds that he has a right to marry his first cousin,

the daughter of his father's brother, and if any win her from him a

death and a blood-feud may result. It was the same in a modified form

amongst the Jews and in both races the consanguineous marriage was not

attended by the evil results (idiotcy, congenital deafness, etc.)

observed in mixed races like the English and the Anglo-American. When a

Badawi speaks of "the daughter of my uncle" he means wife; and the

former is the dearer title, as a wife can be divorced, but blood is

thicker than water.

[FN#118] Arab. "Kahbah;" the coarsest possible term. Hence the unhappy

"Cava" of Don Roderick the Goth, which simply means The Whore.

[FN#119] The Arab "Banj" and Hindú "Bhang" (which I use as most

familiar) both derive from the old Coptic "Nibanj" meaning a

preparation of hemp (Cannabis sativa seu Indica); and here it is easy

to recognise the Homeric "Nepenthe." Al-Kazwini explains the term by

"garden hemp (Kinnab bostáni or Sháhdánaj). On the other hand not a few

apply the word to the henbane (hyoscyamus niger) so much used in

mediæval Europe. The Kámús evidently means henbane distinguishing it

from Hashish al haráfísh" = rascals' grass, i.e. the herb

Pantagruelion. The "Alfáz Adwiya" (French translation) explains

"Tabannuj" by "Endormir quelqu'un en lui faisant avaler de la

jusquiame." In modern parlance Tabannuj is = our anæsthetic

administered before an operation, a deadener of pain like myrrh and a

number of other drugs. For this purpose hemp is always used (at least I

never heard of henbane); and various preparations of the drug are sold

at an especial bazar in Cairo. See the "powder of marvellous virtue" in

Boccaccio, iii., 8; and iv., 10. Of these intoxicants, properly so

termed, I shall have something to say in a future page.

The use of Bhang doubtless dates from the dawn of civilisation, whose

earliest social pleasures would be inebriants. Herodotus (iv. c. 75)

shows the Scythians burning the seeds (leaves and capsules) in worship

and becoming drunken with the fumes, as do the S. African Bushmen of

the present day. This would be the earliest form of smoking: it is

still doubtful whether the pipe was used or not. Galen also mentions

intoxication by hemp. Amongst Moslems, the Persians adopted the drink

as an ecstatic, and about our thirteenth century Egypt, which began the

practice, introduced a number of preparations to be noticed in the

course of The Nights.

[FN#120] The rubbish heaps which outlie Eastern cities, some (near

Cairo) are over a hundred feet high.

[FN#121] Arab. "Kurrat al-ayn;" coolness of eyes as opposed to a hot

eye ("sakhin") one red with tears. The term is true and picturesque so

I translate it literally. All coolness is pleasant to dwellers in

burning lands: thus in Al-Hariri Abu Zayd says of Bassorah, "I found

there whatever could fill the eye with coolness." And a "cool booty"

(or prize) is one which has been secured without plunging into the

flames of war, or simply a pleasant prize.

[FN#122] Popularly rendered Caucasus (see Night cdxcvi): it corresponds

so far with the Hindu "Udaya" that the sun rises behind it; and the

"false dawn" is caused by a hole or gap. It is also the Persian Alborz,

the Indian Meru (Sumeru), the Greek Olympus and the Rhiphæan Range

(Veliki Camenypoys) or great starry girdle of the world, etc.

[FN#123] Arab. "Mizr" or "Mizar;" vulg. Búzah; hence the medical Lat.

Buza, the Russian Buza (millet beer), our booze, the O. Dutch "buyzen"

and the German "busen." This is the old of negro and negroid Africa,

the beer of Osiris, of which dried remains have been found in jars

amongst Egyptian tombs. In Equatorial Africa it known as Pombe; on the

Upper Nile "Merissa" or "Mirisi" and amongst the Kafirs (Caffers)

"Tshuala," "Oala" or "Boyala:" I have also heard of "Buswa"in Central

Africa which may be the origin of "Buzah." In the West it became,

(Romaic ), Xythum and cerevisia or cervisia, the humor ex hordeo, long

before the days of King Gambrinus. Central Africans drink it in immense

quantities: in Unyamwezi the standing bedsteads, covered with

bark-slabs, are all made sloping so as to drain off the liquor. A chief

lives wholly on beef and Pombe which is thick as gruel below. Hops are

unknown: the grain, mostly Holcus, is made to germinate, then pounded,

boiled and left to ferment. In Egypt the drink is affected chiefly by

Berbers, Nubians and slaves from the Upper Nile, but it is a superior

article and more like that of Europe than the "Pombe." I have given an

account of the manufacture in The Lake Regions of Central Africa, vol.

ii., p. 286. There are other preparations, Umm-bulbul (mother

nightingale), Dinzáyah and Súbiyah, for which I must refer to the

Shaykh El-Tounsy.

[FN#124] There is a terrible truth in this satire, which reminds us of

the noble dame who preferred to her handsome husband the palefrenier

laid, ord et infâme of Queen Margaret of Navarre (Heptameron No. xx.).

We have all known women who sacrificed everything despite themselves,

as it were, for the most worthless of men. The world stares and scoffs

and blames and understands nothing. There is for every woman one man

and one only in whose slavery she is "ready to sweep the floor." Fate

is mostly opposed to her meeting him but, when she does, adieu husband

and children, honour and religion, life and "soul." Moreover Nature

(human) commands the union of contrasts, such as fair and foul, dark

and light, tall and short; otherwise mankind would be like the canines,

a race of extremes, dwarf as toy-terriers, giants like mastiffs, bald

as Chinese "remedy dogs," or hairy as Newfoundlands. The famous Wilkes

said only a half truth when he backed himself, with an hour s start,

against the handsomest man in England; his uncommon and remarkable

ugliness (he was, as the Italians say, un bel brutto) was the highest

recommendation in the eyes of very beautiful women.

[FN#125] Every Moslem burial-ground has a place of the kind where

honourable women may sit and weep unseen by the multitude. These visits

are enjoined by the Apostle:—Frequent the cemetery, 'twill make you

think of futurity! Also:—Whoever visiteth the graves of his parents (or

one of them) every Friday, he shall be written a pious son, even though

he might have been in the world, before that, a disobedient.

(Pilgrimage, ii., 71.) The buildings resemble our European "mortuary

chapels." Said, Pasha of Egypt, was kind enough to erect one on the

island off Suez, for the "use of English ladies who would like shelter

whilst weeping and wailing for their dead." But I never heard that any

of the ladies went there.

[FN#126] Arab. "Ajal"=the period of life, the appointed time of death:

the word is of constant recurrence and is also applied to sudden death.

See Lane's Dictionary, s.v.

[FN#127] "The dying Badawi to his tribe" (and lover) appears to me

highly pathetic. The wild people love to be buried upon hill slopes

whence they can look down upon the camp; and they still call out the

names of kinsmen and friends as they pass by the grave-yards. A similar

piece occurs in Wetzstein (p. 27, "Reisebericht ueber Hauran," etc.):—

O bear with you my bones where the camel bears his load

And bury me before you, if buried I must be;

And let me not be burled 'neath the burden of the vine

But high upon the hill whence your sight I ever see!

As you pass along my grave cry aloud and name your names

The crying of your names shall revive the bones of me:

I have fasted through my life with my friends, and in my

death, I will feast when we meet, on that day of joy and

glee.

[FN#128] The Akásirah (plur. of Kasrá=Chosroës) is here a title of the

four great dynasties of Persian Kings. 1. The Peshdadian or Assyrian

race, proto-historics for whom dates fail, 2. The Káyánián (Medes and

Persians) who ended with the Alexandrian invasion in B. C. 331. 3. The

Ashkánián (Parthenians or Arsacides) who ruled till A. D. 202; and 4.

The Sassanides which have already been mentioned. But strictly speaking

"Kisri" and "Kasra" are titles applied only to the latter dynasty and

especially to the great King Anushirwan. They must not be confounded

with "Khusrau" (P. N. Cyrus, Ahasuerus? Chosroës?), and yet the three

seem to have combined in "Cæsar," Kaysar and Czar. For details

especially connected with Zoroaster see vol. I, p. 380 of the Dabistan

or School of Manners, translated by David Shea and Anthony Troyer,

Paris, 1843. The book is most valuable, but the proper names are so

carelessly and incorrectly printed that the student is led into

perpetual error.

[FN#129] The words are the very lowest and coarsest; but the scene is

true to Arab life.

[FN#130] Arab."Hayhát:" the word, written in a variety of ways is

onomatopoetic, like our "heigh-ho!" it sometimes means "far from me (or

you) be it!" but in popular usage it is simply "Alas."

[FN#131] Lane (i., 134) finds a date for the book in this passage. The

Soldan of Egypt, Mohammed ibn Kala'ún, in the early eighth century

(Hijrah = our fourteenth), issued a sumptuary law compelling Christians

and Jews to wear indigo-blue and saffron-yellow turbans, the white

being reserved for Moslems. But the custom was much older and

Mandeville (chapt. ix.) describes it in A. D. 1322 when it had become

the rule. And it still endures; although abolished in the cities it is

the rule for Christians, at least in the country parts of Egypt and

Syria. I may here remark that such detached passages as these are

absolutely useless for chronology: they may be simply the additions of

editors or mere copyists.

[FN#132] The ancient "Mustaphá" = the Chosen (prophet, i. e. Mohammed),

also titled Al-Mujtaba, the Accepted (Pilgrimage, ii., 309).

"Murtaza"=the Elect, i.e. the Caliph Ali is the older "Mortada" or

"Mortadi" of Ockley and his day, meaning "one pleasing to (or

acceptable to) Allah." Still older writers corrupted it to "Mortis Ali"

and readers supposed this to be the Caliph's name.

[FN#133] The gleam (zodiacal light) preceding the true dawn; the

Persians call the former Subh-i-kázib (false or lying dawn) opposed to

Subh-i-sádik (true dawn) and suppose that it is caused by the sun

shining through a hole in the world-encircling Mount Kaf.

[FN#134] So the Heb. "Arún" = naked, means wearing the lower robe only;

= our "in his shirt."

[FN#135] Here we have the vulgar Egyptian colloquialism "Aysh" (—Ayyu

shayyin) for the classical "Má" = what.

[FN#136] "In the name of Allah!" here said before taking action.

[FN#137] Arab. "Mamlúk" (plur. Mamálik) lit. a chattel; and in The

Nights a white slave trained to arms. The "Mameluke Beys" of Egypt were

locally called the "Ghuzz," I use the convenient word in its old

popular sense;

'Tis sung, there's a valiant Mameluke

In foreign lands ycleped (Sir Luke)-

HUDIBRAS.

And hence, probably, Molière's "Mamamouchi"; and the modern French use

"Mamaluc." See Savary's Letters, No. xl.

[FN#138] The name of this celebrated successor of Nineveh, where some

suppose The Nights were written, is orig. Μεσοπύλαι (middle-gates)

because it stood on the way where four great highways meet. The Arab.

form "Mausil" (the vulgar "Mosul") is also significant, alluding to the

"junction" of Assyria and Babylonia. Hence our "muslin."

[FN#139] This is Mr. Thackeray's "nose-bag." I translate by

"walking-shoes" the Arab "Khuff" which are a manner of loose boot

covering the ankle; they are not usually embroidered, the ornament

being reserved for the inner shoe.

[FN#140] _i.e._ Syria (says Abulfeda) the "land on the left" (of one

facing the east) as opposed to Al-Yaman the "land on the right." Osmani

would mean Turkish, Ottoman. When Bernard the Wise (Bohn, p. 24) speaks

of "Bagada and Axiam" (Mabillon's text) or "Axinarri" (still worse), he

means Baghdad and Ash-Shám (Syria, Damascus), the latter word puzzling

his Editor. Richardson (Dissert, lxxii.) seems to support a hideous

attempt to derive Shám from Shámat, a mole or wart, because the country

is studded with hillocks! Al-Shám is often applied to Damascus-city

whose proper name Dimishk belongs to books: this term is generally

derived from Dimáshik b. Káli b. Málik b. Sham (Shem). Lee (Ibn

Batùtah, 29) denies that ha-Dimishki means "Eliezer of Damascus."

[FN#141] From Oman = Eastern Arabia.

[FN#142] Arab. "Tamar Hannà" lit. date of Henna, but applied to the

flower of the eastern privet (Lawsonia inermis) which has the sweet

scent of freshly mown hay. The use of Henna as a dye is known even in

England. The "myrtle" alluded to may either have been for a perfume (as

it is held an anti-intoxicant) or for eating, the bitter aromatic

berries of the "Ás" being supposed to flavour wine and especially Raki

(raw brandy).

[FN#143] Lane. (i. 211) pleasantly remarks, "A list of these sweets is

given in my original, but I have thought it better to omit the names"

(!) Dozy does not shirk his duty, but he is not much more satisfactory

in explaining words interesting to students because they are unfound in

dictionaries and forgotten by the people. "Akrás (cakes) Laymunìyah (of

limes) wa Maymunìyah" appears in the Bresl. Edit. as "Ma'amuniyah"

which may mean "Ma'amun's cakes" or "delectable cakes." "Amshát" =

(combs) perhaps refers to a fine kind of Kunàfah (vermicelli) known in

Egypt and Syria as "Ghazl al-banát" = girl's spinning.

[FN#144] The new moon carefully looked for by all Moslems because it

begins the Ramazán-fast.

[FN#145] Solomon's signet ring has before been noticed.

[FN#146] The "high-bosomed" damsel, with breasts firm as a cube, is a

favourite with Arab tale tellers. Fanno baruffa is the Italian term for

hard breasts pointing outwards.

[FN#147] A large hollow navel is looked upon not only as a beauty, but

in children it is held a promise of good growth.

[FN#148] Arab. "Ka'ah," a high hall opening upon the central court: we

shall find the word used for a mansion, barrack, men's quarters, etc.

[FN#149] Babel = Gate of God (El), or Gate of Ilu (P. N. of God), which

the Jews ironically interpreted "Confusion." The tradition of Babylonia

being the very centre of witchcraft and enchantment by means of its

Seven Deadly Spirits, has survived in Al-Islam; the two fallen angels

(whose names will occur) being confined in a well; Nimrod attempting to

reach Heaven from the Tower in a magical car drawn by monstrous birds

and so forth. See p. 114, François Lenormant's "Chaldean Magic,"

London, Bagsters.

[FN#150] Arab. "Kámat Alfíyyah" = like the letter Alif, a straight

perpendicular stroke. In the Egyptian hieroglyphs, the origin of every

alphabet (not syllabarium) known to man, one form was a flag or leaf of

water-plant standing upright. Hence probably the Arabic Alif-shape;

while other nations preferred other modifications of the letter (ox's

head, etc), which in Egyptian number some thirty-six varieties, simple

and compound.

[FN#151] I have not attempted to order this marvellous confusion of

metaphors so characteristic of The Nights and the exigencies of

Al-Saj'a = rhymed prose.

[FN#152] Here and elsewhere I omit the "kála (dice Turpino)" of the

original: Torrens preserves "Thus goes the tale" (which it only

interrupts). This is simply letter-wise and sense-foolish.

[FN#153] Of this worthy more at a future time.

[FN#154] i.e., sealed with the Kazi or legal authority's seal of

office.

[FN#155] "Nothing for nothing" is a fixed idea with the Eastern woman:

not so much for greed as for a sexual point d' honneur when dealing

with the adversary—man.

[FN#156] She drinks first, the custom of the universal East, to show

that the wine she had bought was unpoisoned. Easterns, who utterly

ignore the "social glass" of Western civilisation drink honestly to get

drunk; and, when far gone are addicted to horse-play (in Pers.

"Badmasti" = le vin mauvais) which leads to quarrels and bloodshed.

Hence it is held highly irreverent to assert of patriarchs, prophets

and saints that they "drank wine;" and Moslems agree with our

"Teatotallers" in denying that, except in the case of Noah,

inebriatives are anywhere mentioned in Holy Writ.

[FN#157] Arab. "Húr al-Ayn," lit. (maids) with eyes of lively white and

black, applied to the virgins of Paradise who will wive with the happy

Faithful. I retain our vulgar "Houri," warning the reader that it is a

masc. for a fem. ("Huríyah") in Arab, although accepted in Persian, a

genderless speach.

[FN#158] Arab. "Zambúr," whose head is amputated in female

circumcision. See Night cccclxxiv.

[FN#159] Ocymum basilicum noticed in Introduction, the bassilico of

Boccaccio iv. 5. The Book of Kalilah and Dimnah represents it as

"sprouting with something also whose smell is foul and disgusting and

the sower at once sets to gather it and burn it with fire." (The Fables

of Bidpai translated from the later Syriac version by I. G. N.

Keith-Falconer, etc., etc., etc., Cambridge University Press, 1885).

Here, however, Habk is a pennyroyal (mentha puligium), and probably

alludes to the pecten.

[FN#160] i. e. common property for all to beat.

[FN#161] "A digit of the moon" is the Hindú equivalent.

[FN#162] Better known to us as Caravanserai, the "Travellers' Bungalow"

of India: in the Khan, however, shelter is to be had, but neither bed

nor board.

[FN#163] Arab. "Zubb." I would again note that this and its synonyms

are the equivalents of the Arabic, which is of the lowest. The

tale-teller's evident object is to accentuate the contrast with the

tragical stories to follow.

[FN#164] "ln the name of Allah," is here a civil form of dismissal.

[FN#165] Lane (i. 124) is scandalised and naturally enough by this

scene, which is the only blot in an admirable tale admirably told. Yet

even here the grossness is but little more pronounced than what we find

in our old drama (_e. g._, Shakespeare's King Henry V.) written for the

stage, whereas tales like The Nights are not read or recited before

both sexes. Lastly "nothing follows all this palming work:" in Europe

the orgie would end very differently. These "nuns of Theleme" are

physically pure: their debauchery is of the mind, not the body. Galland

makes them five, including the two doggesses.

[FN#166] So Sir Francis Walsingham's "They which do that they should

not, should hear that they would not."

[FN#167] The old "Calendar," pleasantly associated with that form of

almanac. The Mac. Edit. has Karandaliyah," a vile corruption, like Ibn

Batutah's "Karandar" and Torrens' "Kurundul:" so in English we have the

accepted vulgarism of "Kernel" for Colonel. The Bul. Edit. uses for

synonym "Su'ulúk"=an asker, a beggar. Of these mendicant monks, for

such they are, much like the Sarabaites of mediæval Europe, I have

treated and of their institutions and its founder, Shaykh Sharif Bu Ali

Kalandar (ob. A. H. 724 =1323-24), at some length in my "History of

Sindh," chapt. viii. See also the Dabistan (i. 136) where the good

Kalandar exclaims:—

If the thorn break in my body, how trifling the pain!

But how sorely I feel for the poor broken thorn!

D'Herbelot is right when he says that the Kalandar is not generally

approved by Moslems: he labours to win free from every form and

observance and he approaches the Malámati who conceals all his good

deeds and boasts of his evil doings—our "Devil's hypocrite."

[FN#168] The "Kalandar" disfigures himself in this manner to show

"mortification."

[FN#169] Arab. "Gharíb:" the porter is offended because the word

implies "poor devil;" esp. one out of his own country.

[FN#170] A religious mendicant generally.

[FN#171] Very scandalous to Moslem "respectability" Mohammed said the

house was accursed when the voices of women could be heard out of

doors. Moreover the neighbours have a right to interfere and abate the

scandal.

[FN#172] I need hardly say that these are both historical personages;

they will often be mentioned, and Ja'afar will be noticed in the

Terminal Essay.

[FN#173] Arab. "Sama ’an wa tá’atan"; a popular phrase of assent

generally translated "to hear is to obey;" but this formula may be and

must be greatly varied. In places it means "Hearing (the word of Allah)

and obeying" (His prophet, viceregent, etc.)

[FN#174] Arab. "Sawáb"=reward in Heaven. This word for which we have no

equivalent has been naturalized in all tongues (e. g. Hindostani)

spoken by Moslems.

[FN#175] Wine-drinking, at all times forbidden to Moslems, vitiates the

Pilgrimage rite: the Pilgrim is vowed to a strict observance of the

ceremonial law and many men date their "reformation" from the "Hajj."

Pilgrimage, iii., 126.

[FN#176] Here some change has been necessary; as the original text

confuses the three "ladies."

[FN#177] In Arab. the plural masc. is used by way of modesty when a

girl addresses her lover and for the same reason she speaks of herself

as a man.

[FN#178] Arab. "Al-Na'ím", in full "Jannat-al-Na'ím" = the Garden of

Delights, i.e. the fifth Heaven made of white silver. The generic name

of Heaven (the place of reward) is "Jannat," lit. a garden; "Firdaus"

being evidently derived from the Persian through the Greek παράδεισος,

and meaning a chase, a hunting park. Writers on this subject should

bear in mind Mandeville's modesty, "Of Paradise I cannot speak

properly, for I was not there."

[FN#179] Arab. "Mikra'ah," the dried mid-rib of a date-frond used for

many purposes, especially the bastinado.

[FN#180] According to Lane (i., 229) these and the immediately

following verses are from an ode by Ibn Sahl al-Ishbili. They are in

the Bul. Edit. not the Mac. Edit.

[FN#181] The original is full of conceits and plays on words which are

not easily rendered in English.

[FN#182] Arab. "Tarjumán," same root as Chald. Targum ( = a

translation), the old "Truchman," and through the Ital. "tergomano" our

"Dragoman," here a messenger.

[FN#183] Lit. the "person of the eyes," our "babe of the eyes," a

favourite poetical conceit in all tongues; much used by the

Elizabethans, but now neglected as a silly kind of conceit. See Night

ccix.

[FN#184] Arab. "Sár" (Thár) the revenge-right recognised by law and

custom (Pilgrimage, iii., 69).

[FN#185] That is "We all swim in the same boat."

[FN#186] Ja'afar ever acts, on such occasions, the part of a wise and

sensible man compelled to join in a foolish frolic. He contrasts

strongly with the Caliph, a headstrong despot who will not be gainsaid,

whatever be the whim of the moment. But Easterns would look upon this

as a proof of his "kingliness."

[FN#187] Arab. "Wa'l-Salám" (pronounced Was-Salám); meaning "and here

ends the matter." In our slang we say "All right, and the child's name

is Antony."

[FN#188] This is a favourite jingle, the play being upon "ibrat" (a

needle-graver) and " 'ibrat" (an example, a warning).

[FN#189] That is "make his bow," as the English peasant pulls his

forelock. Lane (i., 249) suggests, as an afterthought, that it

means:—"Recover thy senses; in allusion to a person's drawing his hand

over his head after sleep or a fit." But it occurs elsewhere in the

sense of "cut thy stick."

[FN#190] This would be a separate building like our family tomb and

probably domed, resembling that mentioned in "The King of the Black

Islands." Europeans usually call it "a little Wali;" or, as they write

it, "Wely," the contained for the container; the "Santon" for the

"Santon's tomb." I have noticed this curious confusion (which begins

with Robinson, i. 322) in "Unexplored Syria," i. 161.

[FN#191] Arab. "Wiswás," = diabolical temptation or suggestion. The

"Wiswásí" is a man with scruples (scrupulus, a pebble in the shoe),

e.g. one who fears that his ablutions were deficient, etc.

[FN#192] Arab. "Katf" = pinioning by tying the arms behind the back and

shoulders (Kitf) a dire disgrace to free-born men.

[FN#193] Arab. "Nafs."=Hebr. Nephesh (Nafash) =soul, life as opposed to

"Ruach"= spirit and breath. In these places it is equivalent to "I said

to myself." Another form of the root is "Nafas," breath, with an idea

of inspiration: so 'Sáhib Nafas" (=master of breath) is a minor saint

who heals by expiration, a matter familiar to mesmerists (Pilgrimage,

i., 86).

[FN#194] Arab. "Kaus al-Banduk;" the "pellet bow" of modern India; with

two strings joined by a bit of cloth which supports a ball of dry clay

or stone. It is chiefly used for birding.

[FN#195] In the East blinding was a common practice, especially in the

case of junior princes not required as heirs. A deep perpendicular

incision was made down each corner of the eyes; the lids were lifted

and the balls removed by cutting the optic nerve and the muscles. The

later Caliphs blinded their victims by passing a red-hot sword blade

close to the orbit or a needle over the eye-ball. About the same time

in Europe the operation was performed with a heated metal basin—the

well known bacinare (used by Ariosto), as happened to Pier delle Vigne

(Petrus de Vineâ), the "godfather of modern Italian."

[FN#196] Arab. "Khinzír" (by Europeans pronounced "Hanzír"), prop. a

wild-boar, but popularly used like our "you pig!"

[FN#197] Striking with the shoe, the pipe-stick and similar articles is

highly insulting, because they are not made, like whips and scourges,

for such purpose. Here the East and the West differ diametrically.

"Wounds which are given by instruments which are in one's hands by

chance do not disgrace a man," says Cervantes (D. Q. i., chapt. 15),

and goes on to prove that if a Zapatero (cobbler) cudgel another with

his form or last, the latter must not consider himself cudgelled. The

reverse in the East where a blow of a pipe stick cost Mahommed Ali

Pasha's son his life: Ishmail Pasha was burned to death by Malik Nimr,

chief of Shendy (Pilgrimage, i., 203). Moreover, the actual wound is

less considered in Moslem law than the instrument which caused it: so

sticks and stones are venial weapons, whilst sword and dagger, gun and

pistol are felonious. See ibid. (i., 336) for a note upon the weapons

with which nations are policed.

[FN#198] Incest is now abominable everywhere except amongst the

overcrowded poor of great and civilised cities. Yet such unions were

common and lawful amongst ancient and highly cultivated peoples, as the

Egyptians (Isis and Osiris), Assyrians and ancient Persians.

Physiologically they are injurious only when the parents have

constitutional defects: if both are sound, the issue, as amongst the

so-called "lower animals " is viable and healthy.

[FN#199] Dwellers in the Northern Temperates can hardly imagine what a

dust-storm is in sun parched tropical lands. In Sind we were often

obliged to use candles at mid-day, while above the dust was a sun that

would roast an egg.

[FN#200] Arab. “’Urban,” now always used of the wild people, whom the

French have taught us to call _les Bedouins_; "Badw" being a waste or

desert, and Badawi (fem. Badawíyah, plur. Badáwi and Bidwán), a man of

the waste. Europeans have also learnt to miscall the Egyptians "Arabs":

the difference is as great as between an Englishman and a Spaniard.

Arabs proper divide their race into sundry successive families. "The

Arab al-Arabá" (or al-Aribah, or al-Urubíyat) are the autochthones,

prehistoric, proto-historic and extinct tribes; for instance, a few of

the Adites who being at Meccah escaped the destruction of their wicked

nation, but mingled with other classes. The "Arab al-Muta'arribah,"

(Arabised Arabs) are the first advenæ represented by such noble strains

as the Koraysh (Koreish), some still surviving. The "Arab

al-Musta'aribah" (insititious, naturalized or instituted Arabs, men who

claim to be Arabs) are Arabs like the Sinaites, the Egyptians and the

Maroccans descended by intermarriage with other races. Hence our

"Mosarabians" and the "Marrabais" of Rabelais (not, "a word compounded

of Maurus and Arabs"). Some genealogists, however, make the

Muta'arribah descendants of Kahtan (possibly the Joktan of Genesis x.,

a comparatively modern document, B.C. 700?); and the Musta'aribah those

descended from Adnán the origin of Arab genealogy. And, lastly, are the

"Arab al-Musta'ajimah," barbarised Arabs, like the present population

of Meccah and Al-Medinah. Besides these there are other tribes whose

origin is still unknown, such as the Mahrah tribes of Hazramaut, the

"Akhdám" (=serviles) of Oman (Maskat); and the "Ebná" of Al-Yaman: Ibn

Ishak supposes the latter to be descended from the Persian soldiers of

Anushirwan who expelled the Abyssinian invader from Southern Arabia.

(Pilgrimage, iii., 31, etc.)

[FN#201] Arab. "Amír al-Muuminín." The title was assumed by the Caliph

Omar to obviate the inconvenience of calling himself "Khalífah"

(successor) of the Khalífah of the Apostle of Allah (i.e. Abu Bakr);

which after a few generations would become impossible. It means "Emir

(chief or prince) of the Muumins," men who hold to the (true Moslem)

Faith, the "Imán" (theory, fundamental articles) as opposed to the

"Dín," ordinance or practice of the religion. It once became a Wazirial

time conferred by Sultan Malikshah (King King-king) on his Nizám

al-Mulk. (Richardson's Dissert. lviii.)

[FN#202] This may also mean "according to the seven editions of the

Koran " the old revisions and so forth (Sale, Sect. iii. and D'Herbelot

"Alcoran.") The schools of the "Mukri," who teach the right

pronunciation wherein a mistake might be sinful, are seven, Harnzah,

Ibn Katír, Ya'akúb, Ibn Amir, Kisái, Asim and Hafs, the latter being

the favourite with the Hanafis and the only one now generally known in

Al-Islam.

[FN#203] Arab. "Sadd"=wall, dyke, etc. the "bund" or "band" of

Anglo-India. Hence the "Sadd" on the Nile, the banks of grass and

floating islands which "wall" the stream. There are few sights more

appalling than a sandstorm in the desert, the "Zauba'ah" as the Arabs

call it. Devils, or pillars of sand, vertical and inclined, measuring a

thousand feet high, rush over the plain lashing the sand at their base

like a sea surging under a furious whirlwind; shearing the grass clean

away from the roots, tearing up trees, which are whirled like leaves

and sticks in air and sweeping away tents and houses as if they were

bits of paper. At last the columns join at the top and form, perhaps

three thousand feet above the earth, a gigantic cloud of yellow sand

which obliterates not only the horizon but even the mid-day sun. These

sand-spouts are the terror of travellers. In Sind and the Punjab we

have the dust-storm which for darkness, I have said, beats the blackest

London fog.

[FN#204] Arab. Sár = the vendetta, before mentioned, as dreaded in

Arabia as in Corsica.

[FN#205] Arab. "Ghútah," usually a place where irrigation is abundant.

It especially applies (in books) to the Damascus-plain because "it

abounds with water and fruit trees." Bochart (Geog. Sacra, p. 90)

derives ﬠיטה (utah) from ﬠוץ Uz, son of Arab, who (he says) founded

Damascus. The Ghutah is one of the four earthly paradises, the others

being Basrah (Bassorah), Shiraz and Samarcand. Its peculiarity is the

likeness to a seaport; the Desert which rolls up almost to its doors

being the sea and its ships being the camels. The first Arab to whom we

owe this admirable term for the "Companion of Job" is "Tarafah" one of

the poets of the Suspended Poems: he likens (v. v. 3, 4) the camels

which bore away his beloved to ships sailing from Aduli. But "ships of

the desert" is doubtless a term of the highest antiquity.

[FN#206] The exigencies of the "Saj'a," or rhymed prose, disjoint this

and many similar passages.

[FN#207] The "Ebony" Islands; Scott's "Isle of Ebene," i., 217.

[FN#208] "Jarjarís" in the Bul. Edit.

[FN#209] Arab. "Takbís." Many Easterns can hardly sleep without this

kneading of the muscles, this "rubbing" whose hygienic properties

England is now learning.

[FN#210] The converse of the breast being broadened, the drooping,

"draggle-tail" gait compared with the head held high and the chest

inflated.

[FN#211] This penalty is mentioned in the Koran (chapt. v.) as fit for

those who fight against Allah and his Apostle, but commentators are not

agreed if the sinners are first to be put to death or to hang on the

cross till they die. Pharaoh (chapt. xx.) threatens to crucify his

magicians on palm-trees, and is held to be the first crucifier.

[FN#212] Arab. "'Ajami"=foreigner, esp. a Persian: the latter in The

Nights is mostly a villain. I must here remark that the contemptible

condition of Persians in Al-Hijáz (which I noted in 1852, Pilgrimage,

i., 327) has completely changed. They are no longer, "The slippers of

Ali and hounds of Omar:" they have learned the force of union and now,

instead of being bullied, they bully.

[FN#213] The Calc. Edit. turns them into Tailors (Khayyátín) and

Torrens does not see the misprint.

[FN#214] i.e. Axe and sandals.

[FN#215] Lit. "Strike his neck."

[FN#216] A phrase which will frequently recur; meaning the situation

suggested such words a these.

[FN#217] The smiter with the evil eye is called “A’in” and the person

smitten “Ma’ín” or “Ma’ún.”

[FN#218] Arab. "Sákiyah," the well-known Persian wheel with pots and

buckets attached to the tire. It is of many kinds, the boxed, etc.,

etc., and it is possibly alluded to in the "pitcher broken at the

fountain" (Ecclesiastes xii. 6) an accident often occurring to the

modern "Noria." Travellers mostly abuse its "dismal creaking" and

"mournful monotony": I have defended the music of the water-wheel in

Pilgrimage ii. 198.

[FN#219] Arab. "Zikr" lit. remembering, mentioning (i. c. the names of

Allah), here refers to the meetings of religious for devotional

exercises; the "Zikkirs," as they are called, mostly standing or

sitting in a circle while they ejaculate the Holy Name. These

"rogations" are much affected by Darwayshes, or begging friars, whom

Europe politely divides into "dancing" and "howling"; and, on one

occasion, greatly to the scandal of certain Engländerinns to whom I was

showing the Ezbekiyah I joined the ring of "howlers." Lane (Mod. Egypt,

see index) is profuse upon the subject of "Zikrs" and Zikkírs. It must

not be supposed that they are uneducated men: the better class,

however, prefers more privacy.

[FN#220] As they thought he had been there for prayer or penance.

[FN#221] Arab. "Ziyárat," a visit to a pious person or place.

[FN#222] This is a paternal salute in the East where they are

particular about the part kissed. A witty and not unusually gross

Persian book, called the "Al-Námah" because all questions begin with

"Al" (the Arab article) contains one "Al-Wajib al-busidan?" (what best

deserves bussing?) and the answer is "Kus-i-nau-pashm," (a bobadilla

with a young bush).

[FN#223] A weight of 71-72 English grains in gold; here equivalent to

the diner.

[FN#224] Compare the tale of The Three Crows in Gammer Grethel, Evening

ix.

[FN#225] The comparison is peculiarly apposite; the earth seen from

above appears hollow with a raised rim.

[FN#226] A hundred years old.

[FN#227] "Bahr" in Arab. means sea, river, piece of water; hence the

adjective is needed.

[FN#228] The Captain or Master of the ship (not the owner). In Al-Yaman

the word also means a "barber," in virtue of the root, Raas, a head.

[FN#229] The text has "in the character Ruká'í,"," or Riká'í,, the

correspondence-hand.

[FN#230] A curved character supposed to be like the basil-leaf

(rayhán). Richardson calls it "Rohani."

[FN#231] I need hardly say that Easterns use a reed, a Calamus (Kalam

applied only to the cut reed) for our quills and steel pens.

[FN#232] Famous for being inscribed on the Kiswah (cover) of Mohammed's

tomb; a large and more formal hand still used for engrossing and for

mural inscriptions. Only seventy two varieties of it are known

(Pilgrimage, ii., 82).

[FN#233] The copying and transcribing hand which is either Arabi or

Ajami. A great discovery has been lately made which upsets all our old

ideas of Cufic, etc. Mr. Löytved of Bayrut has found, amongst the

Hauranic inscriptions, one in pure Naskhi, dating A. D. 568, or fifty

years before the Hijrah; and it is accepted as authentic by my learned

friend M. Ch. Clermont-Ganneau (p. 193, Pal. Explor. Fund. July 1884).

In D'Herbelot and Sale's day the Koran was supposed to have been

written in rude characters, like those subsequently called "Cufic,"

invented shortly before Mohammed's birth by Murámir ibn Murrah of Anbar

in Irák, introduced into Meccah by Bashar the Kindian, and perfected by

Ibn Muklah (Al-Wazir, ob. A. H. 328=940). We must now change all that.

See Catalogue of Oriental Caligraphs, etc., by G. P, Badger, London,

Whiteley, 1885.

[FN#234] Capital and uncial letters; the hand in which the Ka'abah veil

is inscribed (Pilgrimage iii. 299, 300).

[FN#235] A "Court hand" says Mr. Payne (i. 112): I know nothing of it.

Other hands are: the Ta'alík; hanging or oblique, used for finer MSS.

and having, according to Richardson, "the same analogy to the Naskhi as

our Italic has to the Roman." The Nasta' lík (not Naskh-Ta'alik) much

used in India, is, as the name suggests, a mixture of the Naskhi

(writing of transactions) and the Ta'alik. The Shikastah (broken hand)

everywhere represents our running hand and becomes a hard task to the

reader. The Kirmá is another cursive character, mostly confined to the

receipts and disbursements of the Turkish treasury. The Diváni, or

Court (of Justice) is the official hand, bold and round. a business

character, the lines often rising with a sweep or curve towards the

(left) end. The Jáli or polished has a variety, the Jali-Ta'alik: the

Sulsi (known in many books) is adopted for titles of volumes, royal

edicts, diplomas and so forth; "answering much the same purpose as

capitals with us, or the flourished letters in illuminated manuscripts"

(Richardson) The Tughrái is that of the Tughrá, the Prince's cypher or

flourishing signature in ceremonial writings, and containing some such

sentence as: Let this be executed. There are others e. g. Yákuti and

Sirenkil known only by name. Finally the Maghribi (Moorish) hand

differs in form and diacritical points from the characters used further

east almost as much as German running hand does from English. It is

curious that Richardson omits the Jali (intricate and convoluted) and

the divisions of the Sulusí, Sulsi or Sulus (Thuluth) character, the

Sulus al-Khafíf, etc.

[FN#236] Arab. "Baghlah"; the male (Baghl) is used only for loads. This

is everywhere the rule: nothing is more unmanageable than a restive

"Macho", and he knows that he can always get you off his back when so

minded. From "Baghlah" is derived the name of the native craft

Anglo-Indicè a "Buggalow."

[FN#237] In Heb. ""Ben-Adam" is any man opp. to "Beni ish" (Psalm iv.

3) =filii viri, not homines.

[FN#238] This posture is terribly trying to European legs; and few

white men (unless brought up to it) can squat for any time on their

heels. The “tailor-fashion,” with crossed legs, is held to be free and

easy.

[FN#239] Arab. "Katá"=Pterocles Alchata, the well-known sand-grouse of

the desert. It is very poor white flesh.

[FN#240] Arab. “Khubz” which I do not translate “cake” or “bread,” as

that would suggest the idea of our loaf. The staff of life in the East

is a thin flat circle of dough baked in the oven or on the griddle, and

corresponding with the Scotch “scone,” the Spanish tortilla and the

Australian “flap-jack.”

[FN#241] Arab. "Harísah," a favourite dish of wheat (or rice) boiled

and reduced to a paste with shredded meat, spices and condiments. The

"bangles" is a pretty girl eating with him.

[FN#242] These lines are repeated with a difference in Night cccxxx.

They affect Rims cars, out of the way, heavy rhymes: e. g. here Sakáríj

(plur. of Sakrúj, platters, porringers); Tayáhíj (plur. of Tayhúj, the

smaller caccabis-partridge); Tabáhíj (Persian Tabahjah, an omelet or a

stew of meat, onions, eggs, etc.) Ma'áríj ("in stepped piles" like the

pyramids; which Lane ii. 495, renders "on the stairs"); Makáríj (plur.

of Makraj, a small pot); Damálíj (plur. of dumlúj, a bracelet, a

bangle); Dayábíj (brocades) and Tafáríj (openings, enjoyments). In

Night cccxxx. we find also Sikábíj (plur. of Sikbáj, marinated meat

elsewhere explained); Faráríj (plur. of farrúj, a chicken, vulg. farkh)

and Dakákíj (plur. of dakújah, a small jar). In the first line we have

also (though not a rhyme) Gharánik Gr. Γερανὸς, a crane, preserved in

Romaic. The weeping and wailing are caused by the remembrance that all

these delicacies have been demolished like a Badawi camp.

[FN#243] This is the vinum coctum, the boiled wine, still a favourite

in Southern Italy and Greece.

[FN#244] Eastern topers delight in drinking at dawn: upon this subject

I shall have more to say in other Nights.

[FN#245] Arab. "Adab," a crux to translators, meaning anything between

good education and good manners. In mod. Turk. "Edibiyyet" (Adabiyat) =

belles lettres and "Edebi' or "Edíb" = a littérateur.

[FN#246] The Caliph Al-Maamún, who was a bad player, used to say, "I

have the administration of the world and am equal to it, whereas I am

straitened in the ordering of a space of two spans by two spans." The

"board" was then "a square field of well-dressed leather."

[FN#247] The Rabbis (after Matth. xix. 12) count three kinds of

Eunuchs; (1) Seris chammah=of the sun, i.e. natural, (2) Seris

Adam=manufactured per homines; and (3) Seris Chammayim—of God (i.e..

religious abstainer). Seris (castrated) or Abd (slave) is the general

Hebrew name.

[FN#248] The "Lady of Beauty."

[FN#249] "Káf" has been noticed as the mountain which surrounds earth

as a ring does the finger:: it is popularly used like our Alp and

Alpine. The "circumambient Ocean" (Bahr al-muhit) is the Homeric

Ocean-stream.

[FN#250] The pomegranate is probably chosen here because each fruit is

supposed to contain one seed from Eden-garden. Hence a host of

superstitions (Pilgrimage iii., 104) possibly connected with the

Chaldaic-Babylonian god Rimmon or Ramanu. Hence Persephone or Ishtar

tasted the "rich pomegranate's seed." Lenormant, loc. cit. pp. 166,

182.

[FN#251] i.e. for the love of God—a favourite Moslem phrase.

[FN#252] Arab. "Báb," also meaning a chapter (of magic, of war, etc.),

corresponding with the Persian "Dar" as in Sad-dar, the Hundred Doors.

Here, however, it is figurative "I tried a new mode." This scene is in

the Mabinogion.

[FN#253] I use this Irish term = crying for the dead, as English wants

the word for the præfica, or myrialogist. The practice is not

encouraged in Al-Islam; and Caliph Abu Bakr said, ; "Verily a corpse is

sprinkled with boiling water by reason of the lamentations of the

living, i.e. punished for not having taken measures to prevent their

profitless lamentations. But the practice is from Negroland whence it

reached Egypt, and the people have there developed a curious system in

the "weeping-song" I have noted this in "The Lake Regions of Central

Africa." In Zoroastrianism (Dabistan, chapt. xcvii.) tears shed for the

dead form a river in hell, black and frigid.

[FN#254] These lines are hardly translatable. Arab. "Sabr" means

"patience" as well as "aloes," hereby lending itself to a host of puns

and double entendres more or less vile. The aloe, according to

Burckhardt, is planted in graveyards as a lesson of patience: it is

also slung, like the dried crocodile, over house doors to prevent evil

spirits entering: "thus hung without earth and water," says Lane (M.E.,

chapt. xi.), "it will live for several years and even blossom. Hence

(?) it is called Sabr, which signifies patience. But Sibr as well as

Sabr (a root) means "long sufferance." I hold the practice to be one of

the many Inner African superstitions. The wild Gallas to the present

day plant aloes on graves, and suppose that when the plant sprouts the

deceased has been admitted to the gardens of Wák, the Creator.

(Pilgrimage iii. 350.)

[FN#255] Every city in the East has its specific title: this was given

to Baghdad either on account of its superior police or simply because

it was the Capital of the Caliphate. The Tigris was also called the

"River of Peace (or Security)."

[FN#256] This is very characteristic: the passengers finding themselves

in difficulties at once take command. See in my Pilgrimage (I. chapt.

xi.) how we beat and otherwise maltreated the Captain of the "Golden

Wire."

[FN#257] The fable is probably based on the currents which, as in

Eastern Africa, will carry a ship fifty miles a day out of her course.

We first find it in Ptolemy (vii. 2) whose Maniólai Islands, of India

extra Gangem, cause iron nails to fly out of ships, the effect of the

Lapis Herculeus (Loadstone). Rabelais (v. c. 37) alludes to it and to

the vulgar idea of magnetism being counteracted by Skordon (Scordon or

garlic). Hence too the Adamant (Loadstone) Mountains of Mandeville

(chapt. xxvii.) and the "Magnetic Rock" in Mr Puttock's clever "Peter

Wilkins." I presume that the myth also arose from seeing craft built,

as on the East African Coast, without iron nails. We shall meet with

the legend again. The word Jabal ("Jebel" in Egypt) often occurs in

these pages. The Arabs apply it to any rising ground or heap of rocks;

so it is not always = our mountain. It has found its way to Europe e.

g. Gibraltar and Monte Gibello (or Mongibel in poetry) "Mt. Ethne that

men clepen Mounte Gybelle." Other special senses of Jabal will occur.

[FN#258] As we learn from the Nubian Geographer the Arabs in early ages

explored the Fortunate Islands (Jazírát al-Khálidát=Eternal Isles), or

Canaries, on one of which were reported a horse and horseman in bronze

with his spear pointing west. Ibn al-Wardi notes two images of hard

stone, each an hundred cubits high, and upon the top of each a figure

of copper pointing with its hand backwards, as though it would

say:—Return for there is nothing behind me!" But this legend attaches

to older doings. The 23rd Tobba (who succeeded Bilkis), Malik bin

Sharhabíl, (or Sharabíl or Sharahíl) surnamed Náshir al-Ní'am=scatterer

of blessings, lost an army in attempting the Western sands and set up a

statue of copper upon whose breast was inscribed in antique

characters:—

There is no access behind me,

Nothing beyond,

(Saith) The Son of Sharabíl.

[FN#259] i.e. I exclaimed "Bismillah!"

[FN#260] The lesser ablution of hands, face and feet; a kind of

"washing the points." More in Night ccccxl.

[FN#261] Arab. "Ruka'tayn"; the number of these bows which are followed

by the prostrations distinguishes the five daily prayers.

[FN#262] The "Beth Kol" of the Hebrews; also called by the Moslems

"Hátif"; for which ask the Spiritualists. It is the Hindu "voice

divine" or "voice from heaven."

[FN#263] These formulae are technically called Tasmiyah, Tahlil (before

noted) and Takbír: the "testifying" is Tashhíd.

[FN#264] Arab. "Samn," (Pers. "Raughan" Hind. "Ghi") the "single sauce"

of the East; fresh butter set upon the fire, skimmed and kept (for a

century if required) in leather bottles and demijohns. Then it becomes

a hard black mass, considered a panacea for wounds and diseases. It is

very "filling": you say jocosely to an Eastern threatened with a sudden

inroad of guests, "Go, swamp thy rice with Raughan." I once tried

training, like a Hindu Pahlawan or athlete, on Gur (raw sugar), milk

and Ghi; and the result was being blinded by bile before the week

ended.

[FN#265] These handsome youths are always described in the terms we

should apply to women.

[FN#266] The Bul. Edit. (i. 43) reads otherwise:—I found a garden and a

second and a third and so on till they numbered thirty and nine; and,

in each garden, I saw what praise will not express, of trees and rills

and fruits and treasures. At the end of the last I sighted a door and

said to myself, "What may be in this place?; needs must I open it and

look in!" I did so accordingly and saw a courser ready saddled and

bridled and picketed; so I loosed and mounted him, and he flew with me

like a bird till he set me down on a terrace-roof; and, having landed

me, he struck me a whisk with his tail and put out mine eye and fled

from me. Thereupon I descended from the roof and found ten youths all

blind of one eye who, when they saw me exclaimed, "No welcome to thee,

and no good cheer!" I asked them, "Do ye admit me to your home and

society?" and they answered, "No, by Allah' thou shalt not live amongst

us." So I went forth with weeping eyes and grieving heart, but Allah

had written my safety on the Guarded Tablet so I reached Baghdad in

safety, etc. This is a fair specimen of how the work has been curtailed

in that issue.

[FN#267] Arabs date pregnancy from the stopping of the menses, upon

which the foetus is supposed to feed. Kalilah wa Dimnah says, "The

child's navel adheres to that of his mother and thereby he sucks" (i.

263).

[FN#268] This is contrary to the commands of Al-Islam, Mohammed

expressly said "The Astrologers are liars, by the Lord of the

Ka'abah!"; and his saying is known to almost all Moslems, lettered or

unlettered. Yet, the further we go East (Indiawards) the more we find

these practices held in honour. Turning westwards we have:

Iuridicis, Erebo, Fisco, fas vivere rapto:

Militibus, Medicis, Tortori occidere ludo est;

Mentiri Astronomis, Pictoribus atque Poetis.

[FN#269] He does not perform the Wuzu or lesser ablution because he

neglects his dawn prayers.

[FN#270] For this game see Lane (M. E. Chapt. xvii.) It is usually

played on a checked cloth not on a board like our draughts; and

Easterns are fond of eating, drinking and smoking between and even

during the games. Torrens (p. 142) translates "I made up some dessert,"

confounding "Mankalah" with "Nukl" (dried fruit, quatre-mendiants).

[FN#271] Quoted from Mohammed whose saying has been given.

[FN#272] We should say "the night of the thirty-ninth."

[FN#273] The bath first taken after sickness.

[FN#274] Arab. "Dikák" used by way of soap or rather to soften the

skin: the meal is usually of lupins, "Adas"="Revalenta Arabica," which

costs a penny in Egypt and half-a-crown in England.

[FN#275] Arab. "Sukkar-nabát." During my day (1842-49) we had no other

sugar in the Bombay Presidency.

[FN#276] This is one of the myriad Arab instances that the decrees of

"Anagké," Fate, Destiny, Weird, are inevitable. The situation is highly

dramatic; and indeed The Nights, as will appear in the Terminal Essay,

have already suggested a national drama.

[FN#277] Having lately been moved by Ajib.

[FN#278] Mr. Payne (i. 131) omits these lines which appear out of

place; but this mode of inappropriate quotation is a characteristic of

Eastern tales.

[FN#279] Anglicè "him."

[FN#280] This march of the tribe is a lieu commun of Arab verse e.g.

the poet Labid's noble elegy on the "Deserted Camp." We shall find

scores of instances in The Nights.

[FN#281] I have heard of such sands in the Desert east of Damascus

which can be crossed only on boards or camel furniture; and the same is

reported of the infamous Region "Al-Ahkáf" ("Unexplored Syria").

[FN#282] Hence the Arab. saying "The bark of a dog and not the gleam of

a fire;" the tired traveller knows from the former that the camp is

near, whereas the latter shows from great distances.

[FN#283] Dark blue is the colour of mourning in Egypt as it was of the

Roman Republic. The Persians hold that this tint was introduced by Kay

Kawús (B. C. 600) when mourning for his son Siyáwush. It was continued

till the death of Husayn on the 10th of Muharram (the first month, then

representing the vernal equinox) when it was changed for black. As a

rule Moslems do not adopt this symbol of sorrow (called "Hidád")

looking upon the practice as somewhat idolatrous and foreign to Arab

manners. In Egypt and especially on the Upper Nile women dye their

hands with indigo and stain their faces black or blacker.

[FN#284] The older Roc, of which more in the Tale of Sindbad. Meanwhile

the reader curious about the Persian Símurgh (thirty bird) will consult

the Dabistan, i., 55,191 and iii., 237, and Richardson's Diss. p.

xlviii. For the Anka (Enka or Unka—long necked bird) see Dab. iii., 249

and for the Humá (bird of Paradise) Richardson lxix. We still lack

details concerning the Ben or Bennu (nycticorax) of Egypt which with

the Article pi gave rise to the Greek "phoenix."

[FN#285] Probably the Haledj of Forskal (p. xcvi. Flor. Ægypt. Arab.),

"lignum tenax, durum, obscuri generis." The Bres. Edit. has "ákúl"=teak

wood, vulg. "Sáj."

[FN#286] The knocker ring is an invention well known to the Romans.

[FN#287] Arab. "Sadr"; the place of honour; hence the "Sudder Adawlut"

(Supreme Court) in the Anglo-Indian jargon.

[FN#288] Arab. "Ahlan wa sahlan wa marhabá," the words still popularly

addressed to a guest.

[FN#289] This may mean "liquid black eyes"; but also, as I have

noticed, that the lashes were long and thick enough to make the eyelids

appear as if Kohl-powder had been applied to the inner rims.

[FN#290] A slight parting between the two front incisors, the upper

only, is considered a beauty by Arabs; why it as hard to say except for

the racial love of variety. "Sughr" (Thugr) in the text means,

primarily, the opening of the mouth, the gape: hence the front teeth.

[FN#291] i.e. makes me taste the bitterness of death, "bursting the

gall-bladder" (Marárah) being our "breaking the heart."

[FN#292] Almost needless to say that forbidden doors and rooms form a

lieu-commun in Fairie: they are found in the Hindu Katha Sarit Sagara

and became familiar to our childhood by "Bluebeard."

[FN#293] Lit. "apply Kohl to my eyes," even as Jezebel "painted her

face," in Heb. put her eyes in painting (2 Kings ix. 30).

[FN#294] Arab. "Al-Barkúk," whence our older "Apricock." Classically it

is "Burkúk" and Pers. for Arab. "Mishrnish," and it also denotes a

small plum or damson. In Syria the side next the sun" shows a glowing

red flush.