The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night Volume XV Part 29

[FN#265] Or "Yathrib" = Al-Madinah; vol. iv. 114.

[FN#266] Scott (vi. 358 et seqq.) who makes Ali bin Ibrahim, "a faithful eunuch," renders the pa.s.sage, "by some accident the eunuch's turban unfortunately falling off; the precious stones (N.B. the lovers' gift) which, with a summary of the adventures (!) of Eusuff and Aleefa, and his own emba.s.sy to Sind, were wrapped in the folds, tumbled upon the floor,"

[FN#267] i.e. "Drawer-out of Descriptions."

[FN#268] i.e. a Refuser, a Forbidder.

[FN#269] i.e. both could not be seen at the same time.

[FN#270] [The MS. has T Kh D H, which the translator reads "takhuz-hu." I suspect that either the second or eighth form of "ahad" is meant, in the sense that thou comest to an agreement (Ittihad) with him.--ST.]

[FN#271] In the MS. v. 327, we find four hemistichs which evidently belong to Al-Mihrjan; these are:--

Hadet come to court her in fairer guise * I had given Al-Hayfa in bestest style; But in mode like this hast thou wrought me wrong * And made Envy gibe me with jeering smile."

Also I have been compelled to change the next sentence, which in the original is, "And hardly had King Al-Mihrjan ended his words," etc.

[FN#272] In this doggerel, "Kurud" (apes) occurs as a rhyme twice in three couplets.

[FN#273] "Upon the poll of his head" ('ala hamati-hi) says the Arabian author, and instantly stultifies the words.

[FN#274] Arab. "Haudaj" = a camel-litter: the word, often corrupted to Hadaj, is now applied to a rude pack-saddle, a wooden frame of mimosa-timber set upon a "witr" or pad of old tent-cloth, stuffed with gra.s.s and girt with a single cord. Vol.

viii. 235, Burckhardt gives "Maksar," and Doughty (i. 437) "Muksir" as the modern Badawi term for the crates or litters in which are carried the Shaykhly housewives.

[FN#275] In text "Sunnah" = the practice, etc., of the Prophet: vol. v. 36, 167.

[FN#276] This, as the sequel shows, is the far-famed Musician, Ibrahim of Mosul: vol. vii. 113.

[FN#277] In the text King of Al-Sin=China, and in p. 360 of MS.

Yusuf is made "King of China and Sind," which would be much like "King of Germany and Brentford."

[FN#278] This is the full formula repeated in the case of all the ten blessed damsels. I have spared the patience of my readers.

[FN#279] This formula of the cup and lute is decies repet.i.ta, justifying abbreviation.

[FN#280] i.e. The Beginner, the Originator.

[FN#281] The Zephyr, or rather the cool north breeze of upper Arabia, vol. viii. 62.

[FN#282] The "Full Moon"; plur. Budur: vols. iii., 228, iv., 249.

[FN#283] "Dann" = amphora, Gr. {Greek} short for {Greek} = having two handles.

[FN#284] "The large-hipped," a form of Radih.

[FN#285] In text "Minba'ada-hu" making Jesus of later date than Imr al-Kays.

[FN#286] i.e. "The Delight": also a P.N. of one of the Heavens: vols. iii. 19; iv. 143.

[FN#287] i.e. Joy, Contentment.

[FN#288] In text "La khuzibat Ayday al-Firak," meaning, "may separation never ornament herself in sign of gladness at the prospect of our parting." For the Khazib-dye see vol. iii. 105.

[FN#289] i.e. "Bloom or the Tribe." "Zahrat"=a blossom especially yellow and commonly applied to orange-flower. In line 10 of the same page the careless scribe calls the girl "Jauharat (Gem) of the Tribe."

[FN#290] For this h.e.l.l, see vol. viii. 111.

[FN#291] "Core" or "Life-blood of Hearts."

[FN#292] Presently explained.

[FN#293] In text "Afrakh al-Jinn," lit.=Chicks of the Jinns, a mere vulgarism: see "Farkh 'Akrab," vol. iv. 46.

[FN#294] "Ibraa" = deliverance from captivity, etc. Ya = i, and Mim = m, composing the word "Ibrahim." The guttural is concealed in the Hamzah of Ibraa, a good ill.u.s.tration of Dr. Steinga.s.s's valuable remarks in Terminal Essay, pp. 235, 236.

[FN#295] "Kalim" = one who speaks with another, a familiar.

Moses' t.i.tle is Kalimu'llah on account of the Oral Law and certain conversations at Mount Sinai.

[FN#296] In text "Istifa" = choice, selection: hence Mustafa = the Chosen Prophet, Mohammcd; vols i. 7; ii. 40.

[FN#297] In text "Jazr" = cutting, strengthening, flow (of tide).

[FN#298] In the text "Nafishah" Pers. "Nafah," derived, I presume, from "Naf" = belly or t.e.s.t.i.c.l.e, the part which in the musk-deer was supposed to store up the perfume.

[FN#299] For 'Nahavand," the celebrated site in Al-Irak where the Persians sustained their final defeat at the hands of the Arabs A.H. 21. It is also one of the many musical measures, like the Ispahani, the Rasti, the Rayhani, the Busalik, the Nava, etc., borrowed from the conquered 'Ajami.

[FN#300] This second half of the story is laid upon the lines of "The Man of Al-Yaman and his six Slave-girls": vol. iv. 245.

[FN#301] This history again belongs to the cla.s.s termed "Abtar = tailless. In the text we find for all termination, "After this he (Yusuf) invited Mohammed ibn Ibrahim to lie that night in the palace." Scott (vi. 364) ends after his own fashion:--"They (the ten girls) recited extempore verses before the caliph, but the subject of each was so expressive of their wish to return to their beloved sovereign, and delivered in so affecting a manner, that Mamoon, though delighted with their wit and beauty, sacrificed his own pleasure to their feelings, and sent them back to Eusuff by the officer who carried the edict, confirming him in his dominions, where the prince of Sind and the fair Aleefa continued long, amid a nnmerous progeny, to live the protectors of their happy subjects."

[FN#302] This tale is headless as the last is tailless. We must suppose that soon after Mohammed ibn Ibrahim had quitted the Caliph, taking away the ten charmers, Al-Maamun felt his "breast straitened" and called for a story upon one of his Rawis named Ibn Ahyam. This name is repeated in the text and cannot be a clerical error for Ibn Ibrahim.

[FN#303] Scott (vi. 366) "Adventures of the Three Princes, sons of the Sultan of China."

[FN#304] In the text "'Ajam," for which see vol. i. 2, 120.

Al-Irak, I may observe, was the head-quarters of the extensive and dangerous Kharijite heresy; and like Syria has ever a bad name amongst orthodox Moslems.

[FN#305] In the Arab. "Salkh," meaning also a peculiar form of circ.u.mcision, for which see Pilgrimage iii. 80-81. The Jew's condition was of course a trick, presenting an impossibility and intended as a mere pretext for murdering an enemy to his faith.

Throughout the Eastern world this idea prevails, and both Sir Moses Montefiore and M. Cremieux were utterly at fault and certainly knew it when they declared that Europe was teaching it to Asia. Every Israelite community is bound in self-defence, when the murder of a Christian child or adult is charged upon any of its members, to court the most searching enquiry and to abate the scandal with all its might.

[FN#306] The text has "Fi Kib," which Scott (vol. vi. 367) renders "a mat." [According to the Muhit "Kib" is a small thick mat used to produce shade, pl. "Kiyab" and "Akyab." The same authority says the word is of Persian origin, but this seems an error, unless it be related to "Keb" with the Ya majhul, which in the Appendix to the Burhani Kati' is given as synonymous with "Pech," twist, fold. Under "Bardi"==papyrus the Muhit mentions that this is the material from which the mats known by the name of "Akyab" are made.--ST.]

[FN#307] The text has here "Wasayah," probably a clerical error for "wa Miah" (spelt Mayah"), and a hundred pair of pigeons.-- ST.]

[FN#308] Showing utter ignorance of the Jewish rite which must always be performed by the Mohel, an official of the Synagogue duly appointed by the Sheliach==legatus; and within eight days after birth. The rite consists of three operations. Milah==the cut; Priah==tearing the foreskin and Messizah==applying styptics to the wound. The latter process has become a matter of controversy and the Israelite community of Paris, headed by the Chief Rabbi, M. Zadoc Kahin, has lately a.s.sembled to discuss the question. For the difference between Jewish and Moslem circ.u.mcision see vol. v. 209.

[FN#309] The Jewish quarter (Harah), which the Israelites themselves call "Hazer,"==a court-yard, an enclosure. In Mayer's valuable "Conversations-lexicon" the Italian word is derived from the Talmudic "Ghet"==divorce, separation (as parting the Hebrews from the rest of the population) and the Rev. S. R. Melli, Chief Rabbi of Trieste, has kindly informed me that the word is Chaldaic.

[FN#310] [Ar. "Sarmujah," from Persian "Sar-muzah," a kind of hose or gaiter worn over a boot.--ST.]