第123章

[283]Arab.'Zimmi'which Lane （ii.474） aptly translates a 'tributary.'The Koran （chaps.ix.） orders Unbelievers to Islamize or to 'pay tribute by right of subjection'（lit.an yadin=out of hand，an expression much debated）.The least tribute is one dinar per annum which goes to the poor-rate.and for this the Kafir enjoys protection and almost all the civil rights of Moslems.As it is a question of 'loaves and fishes'there is much to say on the subject； 'loaves and fishes'being the main base and foundation of all religious establishments.

[284]This tetrastich has before occurred，so I quote Lane （ii.444）.

[285]In Night xxxv.the same occurs with a difference.

[286]The old rite，I repeat，has lost amongst all but the noblest of Arab tribes the whole of its significance； and the traveller must be careful how he trusts to the phrase 'Nahnu malihin'we are bound together by the salt.

[287]Arab.'Alama'= Ala-ma = upon what ？ wherefore ？

[288]Arab.'Mauz'； hence the Linnean name Musa （paradisiaca，etc.）.The word is explained by Sale （Koran，chaps.xxxvii.146） as 'a small tree or shrub；'and he would identify it with Jonah's gourd.

[289]Lane （ii.446） 'bald wolf or empowered fate，'reading （with Mac.） Kaza for Kattan （cat）.

[290]i.e.'the Orthodox in the Faith.'Rashid is a proper name，witness that scourge of Syria，Rashid Pasha.Born in 1830，of the Haji Nazir Agha family，Darrah-Beys of Macedonian Draina，he was educated in Paris where he learned the usual-hatred of Europeans： he entered the Egyptian service in 1851，and，presently exchanging it for the Turkish，became in due time Wali （Governor-General） of Syria which he plundered most shamelessly.

Recalled in 1872，he eventually entered the Ministry and on June 15.1876，he was shot down，with other villains like himself，by gallant Captain Hasan，the Circassian （Yarham-hu 'llah ！）.

[291]Quoted from a piece of verse，of which more presently.

[292]This tetrastich has occurred before （Night cxciii.）.I quote Lane （ii.449），who quotes Dryden's Spanish Friar，'There is a pleasure sure in being mad Which none but madmen know.'

[293]Lane （ii.449） gives a tradition of the Prophet，'Whoso is in love，and acteth chastely，and concealeth （his passion） and dieth，dieth a martyr.'Sakar is No.5 Hell for Magi Guebres，Parsis，etc.，it is used in the comic Persian curse，'Fi'n-nari wa Sakar al-jadd w'al-pidar'=ln Hell and Sakar his grandfather and his father.

[294]Arab.'Sifr'： I have warned readers that whistling is considered a kind of devilish speech by the Arabs，especially the Badawin，and that the traveller must avoid it.It savours of idolatry： in the Koran we find （chaps.viii.35），'Their prayer at the House of God （Ka'abah） is none other than whistling and hand-clapping；'and tradition says that they whistled through their fingers.Besides many of the Jinn have only round holes by way of mouths and their speech is whistling a kind of bird language like sibilant English.

[295]Arab.'Kil wa kal'=lit.'it was said and he said；'a popular phrase for chit chat，tittle-tattle，prattle and prate，etc.

[296]Arab.'Hadis.'comparing it with a tradition of the Prophet.

[297]Arab.'Mikashshah，'the thick part of a midrib of a palm-frond soaked for some days in water and beaten out till the fibres separate.It makes an exceedingly hard，although not a lasting broom.

[298]Persian，'the youth，the brave；'Sansk.Yuvan： and Lat.

Juvenis.The Kurd，in tales，is generally a sturdy thief； and in real-life is little better.

[299]Arab.'Ya Shatir ；'lit.O clever one （in a bad sense）.

[300]Lane （ii.453） has it.'that I may dress thy hair''etc.

This is Bowdlerising with a witness.

[301]The sign of respect when a personage dismounts.（Pilgrimage i.77.）

[302]So the Hindus speak of 'the defilement of separation'as if it were an impurity.

[303]Lane （i.605） gives a long and instructive note on these public royal-banquets which were expected from the lieges by Moslem subjects.The hanging-penalty is，perhaps，a tattle exaggerated；

but we find the same excess in the priestly Gesta Romanorum.

[304]Had he eaten it he would have become her guest.Amongst the older Badawin it was sufficient to spit upon a man （in entreaty） to claim his protection： so the horse-thieves when caught were placed in a hole in the ground covered over with matting to prevent this happening.Similarly Saladin （Salah al-Din） the chivalrous would not order a cup of water for the robber，Reynald de Chatillon，before putting him to death [305]Arab.'Kishk'properly 'Kashk'=wheat-meal-coarsely ground and eaten with milk or broth.It is de rigueur with the Egyptian Copts on the 'Friday of Sorrow'（Good Friday）： and Lane gives the recipe for making it （M.E.chaps.xxvi.）

[306]In those days distinctive of Moslems.

[307]The euphemism has before been noticed： the Moslem reader would not like to pronounce the words 'I am a Nazarene.'The same formula occurs a little lower down to save the reciter or reader from saying 'Be my wife divorced，'etc.

[308]Arab，'Hajj，'a favourite Egyptianism.We are wrong to write Hajji which an Eastern would pronounce Haj-ji.

[309]This is Cairene 'chaff.'

[310]Whose shell fits very tight.

[311]His hand was like a raven's because he ate with thumb and two fingers and it came up with the rice about it like a camel's hoof in dirty ground.This refers to the proverb （Burckhardt，756），'He comes down a crow-claw （small） and comes up a camel-hoof （huge and round）.'

[312]Easterns have a superstitious belief in the powers of food： I knew a learned man who never sat down to eat without a ceremonious salam to his meat.

[313]Lane （ii.464），uses the vile Turkish corruption 'Rustum，'which，like its fellow 'Rustem，'would make a Persian shudder.

[314]Arab.'Darrij'i.e.let them slide （Americanice）.