Asafir Camels.
Footnote 43:
A Mystic of the twelfth century A.D. who founded the Kádirí order (the
oldest and chiefest of the four universally recognised), to which I
have the honour to belong, teste my diploma (Pilgrimage, Appendix i.).
Visitation is still made to his tomb at Baghdad. The Arabs (who have
no hard g-letter) alter to “Jílán” the name of his birth-place
“Gilan,” a tract between the Caspian and the Black Seas.
Footnote 44:
The well-known Anglo-Indian “Mucuddum;” lit. “one placed before (or
over) others;” an overseer.
Footnote 45:
Koran xiii. 14.
Footnote 46:
_i.e._ his chastity: this fashion of objecting to infamous proposals
is very characteristic: ruder races would use their fists.
Footnote 47:
Arab. “Ráfizí” = the Shi’ah (tribe, sect) or Persian schismatics who
curse the first three Caliphs: the name is taken from their own saying
“Inná rafizná-hum” = verily we have rejected them. The feeling between
Sunni (the so-called orthodox) and Shi’ah is much like the Christian
love between a Catholic of Cork and a Protestant from the Black North.
As Al-Siyuti or any historian will show, this sect became exceedingly
powerful under the later Abbaside Caliphs, many of whom conformed to
it and adopted its practices and innovations (as in the Azan or
prayer-call), greatly to the scandal of their co-religionists. Even in
the present day the hatred between these representatives of Arab
monotheism and Persian Guebrism continues unabated. I have given
sundry instances in my Pilgrimage, _e.g._ how the Persians attempt to
pollute the tombs of the Caliphs they abhor.
Footnote 48:
Arab. “Sakká,” the Indian “Bihishtí” (man from Heaven): Each party in
a caravan has one or more.
Footnote 49:
These “Kirámát” or Saints’ miracles, which Spiritualists will readily
accept, are recorded in vast numbers. Most men have half a dozen to
tell, each of his “Pír” or patron, including the Istidráj or prodigy
of chastisement (Dabistan, iii. 274).
Footnote 50:
Great-grand-daughter of the Imam Hasan, buried in Cairo and famed for
“Kirámát.” Her father, governor of Al-Medinah, was imprisoned by
Al-Mansur and restored to power by Al-Mahdi. She was married to a son
of the Imam Ja’afar al-Sadik and lived a life of devotion in Cairo,
dying in A.H. 218 = 824. The corpse of the Imam al-Shafi’i was carried
to her house, now her mosque and mausoleum: it stood in the Darb
al-Sabúa which formerly divided Old from New Cairo and is now one of
the latter’s suburbs. Lane (M. E. chapt. x.) gives her name but little
more. The mention of her shows that the writer of the tale or the
copyist was a Cairene: Abd al-Kadir is world-known: not so the “Sitt.”
Footnote 51:
Arab. “Farkh akrab” for Ukayrib, a vulgarism.
Footnote 52:
The usual Egyptian irreverence: he relates his abomination as if it
were a Hadis or Tradition of the Prophet with due ascription.
Footnote 53:
A popular name, dim. of Zubdah, cream, fresh butter, “creamkin.”
Footnote 54:
Arab. “Mustahall,” “Mustahill” and vulg. “Muhallil” (= one who renders
lawful). It means a man hired for the purpose who marries _pro formâ_
and after wedding, and bedding with actual consummation, at once
divorces the woman. He is held the reverse of respectable and no
wonder. Hence, probably, Mandeville’s story of the Islanders who, on
the marriage-night, “make another man to lie by their wives, to have
their maidenhead, for which they give great hire and much thanks. And
there are certain men in every town that serve for no other thing; and
they call them cadeberiz, that is to say, the fools of despair,
because they believe their occupation is a dangerous one.” Burckhardt
gives the proverb (No. 79), “A thousand lovers rather than one
Mustahall,” the latter being generally some ugly fellow picked up in
the streets and disgusting to the wife who must permit his embraces.
Footnote 55:
This is a woman’s oath, not used by men.
Footnote 56:
Pronounced “Yá Sín” (chapt. xxxvi.) the “heart of the Koran” much used
for edifying recitation. Some pious Moslems in Egypt repeat it as a
Wazífah, or religious task, or as masses for the dead, and all
educated men know its 83 versets by rote.
Footnote 57:
Arab. “Ál Dáúd” = the family of David, _i.e._ David himself, a popular
idiom. The prophet’s recitation of the “Mazámir” (Psalter) worked
miracles.
Footnote 58:
There is a peculiar thickening of the voice in leprosy which at once
betrays the hideous disease.
Footnote 59:
These lines have occurred in Night clxxxiii. I quote Mr. Payne (in
loco) by way of variety.
Footnote 60:
Where the “Juzám” (leprosy, elephantiasis, morbus sacrum, etc. etc.)
is supposed first to show: the swelling would alter the shape. Lane
(ii. 267) translates “her wrist which was bipartite.”
Footnote 61:
Arab. “Zakariyá” (Zacharias): a play upon the term “Zakar” = the sign
of “masculinity.” Zacharias mentioned in the Koran as the educator of
the Virgin Mary (chapt. iii.) and repeatedly referred to (chapt. xix.
etc.), is a well-known personage amongst Moslems and his church is now
the great Cathedral-Mosque of Aleppo.
Footnote 62:
Arab. “Ark al-Haláwat” = vein of sweetness.
Footnote 63:
Arab. “Futúh,” which may also mean openings, has before occurred.
Footnote 64:
_i.e._ four times without withdrawing.
Footnote 65:
_i.e._ a correspondence of size, concerning which many rules are given
in the Ananga-ranga Shastra which justly declares that discrepancy
breeds matrimonial troubles.
Footnote 66:
Arab. “Ghuráb al-_Bayn_” = raven of the waste or the parting: hence
the bird of Odin symbolises separation (which is also called Al-bayn).
The Raven (Ghurab = Heb. Oreb and Lat. Corvus, one of the prehistoric
words) is supposed to be seen abroad earlier than any other bird; and
it is entitled “Abu Zájir,” father of omens, because lucky when flying
towards the right and _v.v._ It is opposed in poetry to the (white)
pigeon, the emblem of union, peace and happiness. The vulgar declare
that when Mohammed hid in the cave the crow kept calling to his
pursuers, “Ghár! Ghár!” (cavern, cavern): hence the Prophet condemned
him to wear eternal mourning and ever to repeat the traitorous words.
This is the old tale of Coronis and Apollo (Ovid, lib. ii.)
——who blacked the raven o’er
And bid him prate in his white plumes no more.
Footnote 67:
This use of a Turkish title, “Efendi” being = our esquire, and
inferior to a Bey, is a rank anachronism, probably of the copyist.
Footnote 68:
Arab. “Samn” = Hind. “Ghi;” butter melted, skimmed and allowed to
cool.
Footnote 69:
Arab. “Ya Wadúd;” a title of the Almighty: the Mac. Edit. has “O
David!”
Footnote 70:
Arab. “Muwashshahah;” a complicated stanza of which specimens have
occurred. Mr. Payne calls it a “ballad,” which would be a “Kunyat
al-Zidd.”
Footnote 71:
Arab. “Baháim” (plur. of Bahímah = Heb. Behemoth), applied in Egypt
especially to cattle. A friend of the “Oppenheim” house, a name the
Arabs cannot pronounce, was known throughout Cairo as “Jack al-baháim”
(of the cows.)
Footnote 72:
Lit. “The father of side-locks,” a nickname of one of the Tobba Kings.
This “Hasan of the ringlets” who wore two long pig-tails hanging to
his shoulders was the Rochester or Piron of his age: his name is still
famous for brilliant wit, extempore verse and the wildest debauchery.
D’Herbelot’s sketch of his life is very meagre. “His poetry has
survived to the present day and (unhappily) we shall hear more of Abu
Nowás.” On the subject of these patronymics Lane (Mod. Egypt, chapt.
iv.) has a strange remark that “Abu Dáúd is not the Father of Dáúd or
Abu Ali the Father of Ali, but whose Father is (or was) Dáúd or Ali.”
Here, however, he simply confounds Abu = father of (followed by a
genitive), with Abu-h (for Abu-hu) = he, whose father.
Footnote 73:
Arab. “Samúr,” applied in slang language to cats and dogs, hence the
witty Egyptians converted Admiral Seymour (Lord Alcester) into
“Samúr.”
Footnote 74:
The home-student of Arabic may take this letter as a model even in the
present day; somewhat stiff and old-fashioned, but gentlemanly and
courteous.
Footnote 75:
Arab. “Salím” (not Sé-lim) meaning the “Safe and sound.”
Footnote 76:
Arab. “Haláwah” = sweetmeat; meaning an entertainment such as men give
to their friends after sickness or a journey: it is technically called
as above, “The Sweetmeat of Safety.”
Footnote 77:
Arab. “Salát” which from Allah means mercy; from the Angels
intercession and pardon; and from mankind blessing. Concerning the
specific effects of blessing the Prophet, see Pilgrimage (ii. 70). The
formula is often slurred over when a man is in hurry to speak: an
interrupting friend will say “Bless the Prophet!” and he does so by
ejaculating “Sa’am.”
Footnote 78:
Persian, meaning originally a command: it is now applied to a Wazirial
order as opposed to the “Irádah,” the Sultan’s order.
Footnote 79:
Arab. “Mashá’ilí”: lit. the cresset-bearer who has before appeared as
hangman.
Footnote 80:
Another polite formula for announcing a death.
Footnote 81:
As he died heirless the property lapsed to the Treasury.
Footnote 82:
This shaking the kerchief is a signal to disperse and the action
suggests its meaning. Thus it is used in an opposite sense to
“throwing the kerchief,” a pseudo-Oriental practice whose significance
is generally understood in Europe.
Footnote 83:
The body-guard being of two divisions.
Footnote 84:
Arab. “Hadbá,” lit. “hump-backed;” alluding to the Badawi bier; a pole
to which the corpse is slung (Lane). It seems to denote the
protuberance of the corpse when placed upon the bier which before was
flat. The quotation is from Ka’ab’s Mantle-Poem (Burdah v. 37) “Every
son of a female, long though his safety may be, is a day borne upon a
_ridged implement_,” says Mr. Redhouse, explaining the latter as a
“bier with a ridged lid.” Here we differ: the Janázah with a lid is
not a Badawi article: the wildlings use the simplest stretcher; and I
would translate the lines:—
The son of woman, whatso his career,
One day is borne upon the gibbous bier.
Footnote 85:
This is a high honour to any courtier.
Footnote 86:
“Khatun” in Turk. means any lady: mistress, etc., and follows the
name, _e.g._ Fátimah Khatun. Habzalam Bazazah is supposed to be a
fanciful compound, uncouth as the named; the first word consisting of
“Habb” seed, grain; and “Zalam” of Zulm = seed of tyranny. Can it be a
travesty of “Absalom” (Ab Salám, father of peace)? Lane (ii. 284) and
Payne (iii. 286) prefer Habazlam and Hebezlem.
Footnote 87:
Or night. A metaphor for rushing into peril.
Footnote 88:
Plur. of kumkum, cucurbite, gourd-shaped vessel, jar.
Footnote 89:
A popular exaggeration for a very expert thief.
Footnote 90:
Arab. “Buka’at al-dam”: lit. the “low place of blood” (where it
stagnates): so Al-Buká’ah = Cœlesyria.
Footnote 91:
That common and very unpleasant phrase, full of egotism and
self-esteem, “I told you so,” is even more common in the naïve East
than in the West. In this case the son’s answer is far superior to the
mother’s question.
Footnote 92:
In order to keep his oath to the letter.
Footnote 93:
“Tabannuj” literally “hemping” (drugging with hemp or henbane) is the
equivalent in Arab medicine of our “anæsthetics.” These have been used
in surgery throughout the East for centuries before ether and
chloroform became the fashion in the civilised West.
Footnote 94:
Arab. “Durká’ah,” the lower part of the floor, opposed to the “liwan”
or daïs. Liwán = Al-Aywán (Arab. and Pers.) the hall (including the
daïs and the sunken parts).
Footnote 95:
_i.e._ he would toast it as he would a mistress.
Footnote 96:
This till very late years was the custom in Persia; and Fath Ali Shah
never appeared in scarlet without ordering some horrible cruelties. In
Dar-For wearing a red cashmere turban was a sign of wrath and sending
a blood-red dress to a subject meant that he would be slain.
Footnote 97:
That is, this robbery was committed in the palace by some one
belonging to it. References to vinegar are frequent; that of Egypt
being famous in those days. “Optimum et laudatissimum acetum a Romanis
habebatur Ægyptum” (Facciolati); and possibly it was sweetened: the
Gesta (Tale xvii.) mentions “must and vinegar.” In Arab Proverbs, “One
mind by vinegar and another by wine” = each mind goes its own way.
(Arab. Prov. ii. 628); or, “with good and bad,” vinegar being spoilt
wine.
Footnote 98:
We have not heard the last of this old “dowsing rod”: the latest form
of rhabdomancy is an electrical rod invented in the United States.
Footnote 99:
This is the _procès verbal_ always drawn up on such occasions.
Footnote 100:
The sight of running water makes a Persian long for strong drink as
the sight of a fine view makes the Turk feel hungry.
Footnote 101:
Arab. “Min wahid aduww” a peculiarly Egyptian or rather Cairene
phrase.
Footnote 102:
Al-Danaf = the Distressing Sickness: the title would be Ahmad the
Calamity. Al-Zaybak (the Quicksilver) = Mercury Ali: Hasan “Shuuman” =
a pestilent fellow. We shall meet all these worthies again and again:
see the Adventures of Mercury Ali of Cairo, Night dccviii., a sequel
to The Rogueries of Dalilah, Night dcxcviii.
Footnote 103:
For the “Sacrifice-place of Ishmael” (not Isaac) see my Pilgrimage
(iii. 306). According to all Arab ideas Ishmael, being the eldest son,
was the chief of the family after his father. I have noted that this
is the old old quarrel between the Arabs and their cousins the
Hebrews.
Footnote 104:
This black-mail was still paid to the Badawin of Ramlah (Alexandria)
till the bombardment in 1881.
Footnote 105:
The famous Issus of Cilicia, now a port-village on the Gulf of
Scanderoon.
Footnote 106:
Arab. “Wada’á” = the _concha veneris_, then used as small change.
Footnote 107:
Arab. “Sakati” = a dealer in “castaway” articles, such as old metal,
damaged goods, the pluck and feet of animals, etc.
Footnote 108:
The popular tale of Burckhardt’s death in Cairo was that the names of
the three first Caliphs were found written upon his slipper-soles and
that he was put to death by decree of the Olema. It is the merest
nonsense, as the great traveller died of dysentery in the house of my
old friend John Thurburn and was buried outside the Bab al-Nasr of
Cairo, where his tomb was restored by the late Rogers Bay (Pilgrimage
i. 123).
Footnote 109:
Prob. a mis-spelling for Arslán, in Turk, a lion, and in slang a
piastre.
Footnote 110:
Arab. “Maka’ad”; lit. = sitting-room.
Footnote 111:
Arab. “Khammárah”; still the popular term throughout Egypt for a
European Hotel. It is not always intended to be insulting but it is,
meaning the place where Franks meet to drink forbidden drinks.
Footnote 112:
A reminiscence of Mohammed who cleansed the Ka’abah of its 360 idols
(of which 73 names are given by Freytag, Einleitung, etc. pp. 270,
342-57) by touching them with his staff, whereupon all fell to the
ground; and the Prophet cried (Koran xvii. 84), “Truth is come, and
falsehood is vanished: verily, falsehood is a thing that vanisheth”
(magna est veritas, etc.). Amongst the “idols” are said to have been a
statue of Abraham and the horns of the ram sacrificed in lieu of
Ishmael, which (if true) would prove conclusively that the Abrahamic
legend at Meccah is of ancient date and not a fiction of Al-Islam.
Hence, possibly, the respect of the Judaising Tobbas of Himyarland for
the Ka’abah (Pilgrimage, iii. 295).
Footnote 113:
This was evidently written by a Sunni as the Shí’ahs claim to be the
only true Moslems. Lane tells an opposite story (ii. 329). It suggests
the common question in the South of Europe, “Are you a Christian or a
Protestant?”
Footnote 114:
Arab. “Ana fí jírat-ak!” a phrase to be remembered as useful in time
of danger.
Footnote 115:
_i.e._ No Jinni, or Slave of the Jewel, was there to answer.
Footnote 116:
Arab. “Kunsúl” (pron. “Gunsul”) which here means a well-to-do Frank,
and shows the modern date of the tale as it stands.
Footnote 117:
From the Ital. “Capitano.” The mention of cannon and other terms in
this tale shows that either it was written during the last century or
it has been mishandled by copyists.
Footnote 118:
Arab. “Minínah”; a biscuit of flour and clarified butter.
Footnote 119:
Arab. “Waybah;” the sixth part of the Ardabb = 6 to 7 English gallons.
Footnote 120:
He speaks in half-jest _à la Fellah_; and reminds us of “Hangman,
drive on the cart!”
Footnote 121:
Yochanan (whom Jehovah has blessed) Jewish for John, is probably a
copy of the Chaldean Euahanes, the Oannes of Berosus = Ea Khan, Hea
the fish. The Greeks made it Joannes; the Arabs “Yohanná” (contracted
to “Hanná,” Christian) and “Yáhyá” (Moslem). Prester (Priest) John is
probably Ung Khan, the historian prince conquered and slain by Janghiz
Khan in A.D. 1202. The modern history of “John” is very extensive:
there may be a full hundred varieties and derivations of the name.
“Husn Maryam” = the beauty (spiritual, etc.) of the B.V.
Footnote 122:
Primarily being middle-aged; then aid, a patron, servant, etc. Also a
tribe of the Jinn usually made synonymous with “Márid,” evil
controuls, hostile to men: modern spiritualists would regard them as
polluted souls not yet purged of their malignity. The text insinuates
that they were at home amongst Christians and in Genoa.
Footnote 123:
Arab. “Sar’a” = epilepsy, falling sickness, of old always confounded
with “possession” (by evil spirits) or “obsession.”
Footnote 124:
Again the true old charge of falsifying the so-called “Sacred books.”
Here the Koran is called “Furkán.” Sale (sect. iii.) would assimilate
this to the Hebr. Perek or Pirka, denoting a section or portion of
Scripture; but Moslems understand it to be the “Book which
distinguished (faraka, divided) the true from the false.” Thus Caliph
Omar was entitled “Fárúk” = the Distinguisher (between right and
wrong). Lastly, “Furkán,” meaning as in Syr. and Ethiop. deliverance,
revelation, is applied alike to the Pentateuch and Koran.
Footnote 125:
Euphemistic for “thou shalt die.”
Footnote 126:
Lit. “From (jugular) vein to vein” (Arab. Waríd). Our old friend
Lucretius again: “Tantane relligio,” etc.
Footnote 127:
As opposed to the “but” or outer room.
Footnote 128:
Arab. “Darb al-Asfar” in the old Jamalíyah or Northern part of Cairo.
HATIM OF THE TRIBE OF TAYY.
It is told of Hátim of the tribe of Tayy,[129] that when he died, they
buried him on the top of a mountain and set over his grave two troughs
hewn out of two rocks and stone girls with dishevelled hair. At the foot
of the hill was a stream of running water, and when wayfarers camped
there, they heard loud crying and keening in the night, from dark till
daybreak; but when they arose in the morning, they found nothing but the
girls carved in stone. Now when Zú ‘l-Kurá’a,[130] King of Himyar, going
forth of his tribe, came to that valley, he halted to pass the night
there——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Seventieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Zu ‘l-Kura’a
passed by the valley he nighted there; and, when he drew near the
mountain, he heard the keening and said, “What lamenting is that on
yonder hill?” They answered him, saying, “Verily this be the tomb of
Hatim al-Táyyi over which are two troughs of stone and stone figures of
girls with dishevelled hair; and all who camp in this place by night
hear this crying and keening.” So he said jestingly, “O Hatim of Tayy!
we are thy guests this night, and we are lank with hunger.” Then sleep
overcame him, but presently he awoke in affright and cried out, saying,
“Help, O Arabs! Look to my beast!” So they came to him, and finding his
she-camel struggling and struck down, they stabbed her in the throat and
roasted her flesh and ate. Then they asked him what had happened and he
said, “When I closed my eyes, I saw in my sleep Hatim of Tayy who came
to me sword in hand and cried:—Thou comest to us and we have nothing by
us. Then he smote my she-camel with his sword, and she had surely died
even though ye had not come to her and slaughtered her.”[131] Now when
morning dawned the King mounted the beast of one of his companions and,
taking the owner up behind him, set out and fared on till midday, when
they saw a man coming towards them, mounted on a camel and leading
another, and said to him, “Who art thou?” He answered, “I am Adi,[132]
son of Hatim of Tayy; where is Zu ‘l-Kura’a, Emir of Himyar?” Replied
they, “This is he;” and he said to the prince, “Take this she-camel in
place of thy beast which my father slaughtered for thee.” Asked Zu
‘l-Kura’a, “Who told thee of this?” and Adi answered, “My father
appeared to me in a dream last night and said to me:—Harkye, Adi; Zu
‘l-Kura’a King of Himyar, sought the guest-rite of me and I, having
naught to give him, slaughtered his she-camel, that he might eat: so do
thou carry him a she-camel to ride, for I have nothing.” And Zu
‘l-Kura’a took her, marvelling at the generosity of Hatim of Tayy alive
and dead. And amongst instances of generosity is the
-----
Footnote 129:
A noble tribe of Badawin that migrated from Al-Yaman and settled in
Al-Najd. Their Chief, who died a few years before Mohammed’s birth,
was Al-Halim (the “black crow”), a model of Arab manliness and
munificence; and although born in the Ignorance he will enter Heaven
with the Moslems. Hatim was buried on the hill called Owárid: I have
already noted this favourite practice of the wilder Arabs and the
affecting idea that the Dead may still look upon his kith and kin.
There is not an Arab book nor, indeed, a book upon Arabia which does
not contain the name of Hatim: he is mentioned as unpleasantly often
as Aristides.
Footnote 130:
Lord of “Cattle-feet,” this King’s name is unknown; but the Kámús
mentions two Kings called Zu ‘l Kalá’a, the Greater and the Less.
Lane’s Shaykh (ii. 333) opined that the man who demanded Hatim’s
hospitality was one Abu ‘l-Khaybari.
Footnote 131:
The camel’s throat, I repeat, is not cut as in the case of other
animals; the muscles being too strong: it is slaughtered by the
“nahr,” _i.e._ thrusting a knife into the hollow at the commissure of
the chest. (Pilgrimage iii. 303.)
Footnote 132:
Adi became a Moslem and was one of the companions of the Prophet.
TALE OF MA’AN THE SON OF ZAIDAH.[133]
It is told of Ma’an bin Záidah that, being out one day a-chasing and
a-hunting, he became athirst but his men had no water with them; and
while thus suffering behold, three damsels met him bearing three skins
of water;——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-first Night,[134]
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that three girls met
him bearing three skins of water; so he begged drink of them, and they
gave him to drink. Then he sought of his men somewhat to give the
damsels but they had no money; so he presented to each girl ten
golden-piled arrows from his quiver. Whereupon quoth one of them to her
friend, “Well-a-day! These fashions pertain to none but Ma’an bin
Zaidah! so let each one of us say somewhat of verse in his praise.” Then
quoth the first:—
He heads his arrows with piles of gold, ✿ And while shooting his foes is
his bounty doled:
Affording the wounded a means of cure, ✿ And a sheet for the bider
beneath the mould!
And quoth the second:—
A warrior showing such open hand, ✿ His boons all friends and all foes
enfold:
The piles of his arrows of or are made, ✿ So that battle his bounty may
not withhold!
And quoth the third:—
From that liberal hand on his foes he rains ✿ Shafts aureate-headed and
manifold:
Wherewith the hurt shall chirurgeon pay, ✿ And for slain the shrouds
round their corpses roll’d.[135]
And there is also told a tale of
-----
Footnote 133: