第124章

[315]This tetrastich has occurred before： so I quote Mr.Payne （in loco）.

[316]Shaykh of Al-Butnah and Jabiyah，therefore a Syrian of the Hauran near Damascus and grandson to Isu （Esau）.Arab mystics （unlike the vulgar who see only his patience） recognise that inflexible integrity which refuses to utter 'words of wind'and which would not，against his conscience，confess to wrong-doing merely to pacify the Lord who was stronger than himself.The Classics taught this noble lesson in the case of Prometheus versus Zeus.Many articles are called after Job e.g.Ra'ara'Ayyub or Ghubayra （inula Arabica and undulata），a creeper with which he rubbed himself and got well： the Copts do the same on 'Job's Wednesday，'i.e.that before Whit Sunday O.S.Job's father is a nickname of the camel，etc.etc.

[317]Lane （in loco） renders 'I am of their number.'But 'fi al-siyak'means popularly '（driven） to the point of death.'

[318]Lit.= 'pathway，road'； hence the bridge well known as 'finer than a hair and sharper than a sword，'over which all （except Khadijah and a chosen few） must pass on the Day of Doom； a Persian apparatus bodily annexed by Al-Islam.The old Guebres called it Puli Chinavar or Chinavad and the Jews borrowed it from them as they did all their fancies of a future life against which Moses had so gallantly fought.It is said that a bridge over the grisly 'brook Kedron'was called Sirat （the road） and hence the idea，as that of hell-fire from Ge-Hinnom （Gehenna） where children were passed through the fire to Moloch.A doubtful Hadis says，'The Prophet declared Al-Sirat to be the name of a bridge over hell-fire，dividing Hell from Paradise'（pp.17，122，Reynold's trans.

of Al-Siyuti's Traditions，etc.）.In Koran i.5，'Sirat'is simply a path，from sarata，he swallowed，even as the way devours （makes a lakam or mouthful of） those who travel it.The word was orig.

written with Sin but changed for easier articulation to Sad，one of the four Huruf al-Mutabbakat，'the flattened，'formed by the broadened tongue in contact with the palate.This Sad also by the figure Ishmam （=conversion） turns slightly to a Za，the intermediate between Sin and Sad.

[319]The rule in Turkey where catamites rise to the highest rank： C'est un homme de bonne famille （said a Turkish officer in Egypt） il a ete achete.Hence 'Alfi'（one who costs a thousand） is a well-known cognomen.The Pasha of the Syrian caravan，with which I travelled'had been the slave of a slave and he was not a solitary instance.（Pilgrimage i.90.）

[320]The device of the banquet is dainty enough for any old Italian novella； all that now comes is pure Egyptian polissonnerie speaking to the gallery and being answered by roars of laughter.

[321]i.e.'art thou ceremonially pure and therefore fit for handling by a great man like myself？'

[322]In past days before Egypt was 'frankified'many overlanders used to wash away the traces of travel by a Turkish bath which mostly ended in the appearance of a rump wriggling little lad who offered to shampoo them.Many accepted his offices without dreaming of his usual-use or misuse.

[323]Arab.'Imam.'This is （to a Moslem） a most offensive comparison between prayer and car.cop.

[324]Arab.'Fi zaman-hi，'alluding to a peculiarity highly prized by Egyptians； the use of the constrictor vaginae muscles，the sphincter for which Abyssinian women are famous.The 'Kabbazah'（ = holder），as she is called，can sit astraddle upon a man and can provoke the venereal-orgasm，not by wriggling and moving but by tightening and loosing the male member with the muscles of her privities，milking it as it were.Consequently the cassenoisette costs treble the money of other concubines.（Arranga-Ranga，p.127.）

[325]The little eunuchs had evidently studied the Harem.

[326]Lane （ii.494） relates from Al-Makrizi，that when Khamarawayh，Governor of Egypt （ninth century），suffered from insomnia，his physician ordered a pool of quicksilver 50 by 50cubits，to be laid out in front of his palace，now the Rumaylah square.'At the corners of the pool were silver pegs，to which were attached by silver rings strong bands of silk，and a bed of skins，inflated with air，being thrown upon the pool and secured by the bands remained in a continual-state of agreeable vacillation.'We are not told that the Prince was thereby salivated like the late Colonel Sykes when boiling his mercury for thermometric experiments，[327]The name seems now unknown.'Al-Khahi'a'is somewhat stronger than 'Wag，'meaning at least a 'wicked wit.'Properly it is the Span.'perdido，'a youth cast off （Khala'） by his friends；

though not so strong a term as 'Harfush'=a blackguard.

[328]Arab.'Farsakh'=parasang.

[329]Arab.'Nahas asfar'=yellow copper，brass as opposed to Nahas ahmar=copper The reader who cares to study the subject will find much about it in my 'Book of The Sword，'chaps.iv.

[330]Lane （ii.479） translates one stanza of this mukhammas （pentastich） and speaks of 'five more，'which would make six.

[331]A servile name.Delicacy，Elegance.

[332]These verses have occurred twice （Night ix.etc.）： so Igive Lane's version （ii.482）.

[333]A Badawi tribe to which belonged the generous Ma'an bin Za'idab，often mentioned The Nights.

[334]Wealthy harems，I have said，are hot-beds of Sapphism and Tribadism.Every woman past her first youth has a girl whom she calls her 'Myrtle'（in Damascus）.At Agbome，capital-of Dahome，I found that a troop of women was kept for the use of the 'Amazons'

（Mission to Gelele，ii.73）.Amongst the wild Arabs，who ignore Socratic and Sapphic perversions，the lover is always more jealous of his beloved's girl-friends than of men rivals.In England we content ourselves with saying that women corrupt women more than men do.

[335]The Hebrew Pentateuch； Roll of the Law.