第125章

[336]I need hardly notice the brass trays，platters and table-covers with inions which are familiar to every reader：

those made in the East for foreign markets mostly carry imitation inions lest infidel eyes fall upon Holy Writ.

[337]These six distichs are in Night xiii.I borrow Torrens （p.125） to show his peculiar treatment of spinning out 12 lines to 38.

[338]Arab.'Musamirah'=chatting at night.Easterns are inordinately fond of the practice and the wild Arabs often sit up till dawn，talking over the affairs of the tribe，indeed a Shaykh is expected to do so.'Early to bed and early to rise'is a civilised，not a savage or a barbarous saying.Samir is a companion in night talk； Rafik of the road； Rahib in riding horse or camel，Ka'id in sitting，Sharib and Rafis at drink，and Nadim at table：

Ahid is an ally.and Sharik a partner all on the model of 'Fa'il.'

[339]In both lover and beloved the excess of love gave them this clairvoyance.

[340]The prayer will be granted for the excess （not the purity） of her love.

[341]This wailing over the Past is one of the common-places of Badawi poetry.The traveller cannot fail，I repeat，to notice the chronic melancholy of peoples dwelling under the brightest skies.

[342]Moons=Budur [343]in Paradise as a martyr.

[344]i.e.to intercede for me in Heaven； as if the young woman were the prophet.

[345]The comparison is admirable as the two letters are written.It occurs in Al-Hariri （Ass.of Ramlah）.

'So I embraced him close as Lam cleaves to Alif：'And again；

'She laid aside reluctance and I embraced her close As if I were Lam and my love Alif.'

The Lomad Olaph in Syriac is similarly colligated.

[346]Here is a double entendre 'and the infirm letters （viz.a，w and y） not subject to accidence，left him.'The three make up the root 'Awi'=pitying，condoling.

[347]Showing that consummation had taken place.It was a sign of good breeding to avoid all 'indecent hurry'when going to bed.

In some Moslem countries the bridegroom does not consummate the marriage for seven nights； out of respect for （1） father （2） mother （3） brother and so forth.If he hurry matters he will be hooted as an 'impatient man'and the wise will quote，'Man is created of precipitation'（Koran chaps.xxi.38），meaning hasty and inconsiderate.I remark with pleasure that the whole of this tale is told with commendable delicacy.O si sic omnia！

[348]Pers.'Nauroz'（=nau roz，new day）：here used in the Arab.

plur.'Nawariz，as it lasted six days.There are only four：

universal-festivals； the solstices and the equinoxes； and every successive religion takes them from the sun and perverts them to its own private purposes.Lane （ii.496） derives the venerable Nauroz whose birth is hid in the outer glooms of antiquity from the 'Jewish Passover'（！）

[349]Again the 'babes'of the eyes.

[350]i.e.whose glance is as the light of the glowing braise or （embers）.The Arab.'Mikbas'=pan or pot full of small charcoal，is an article well known in Italy and Southern Europe.The word is apparently used here because it rhymes with 'Anfas'（souls，spirits）.

[351]i.e.martyrdom； a Koranic term 'fi sabili 'llahi'= on the way of Allah [352]These rhymes in -y，-ee and -ie are purposely affected，to imitate the cadence of the Arabic.

[353]Arab.'Sujud，'the ceremonial-prostration，touching the ground with the forehead So in the Old Testament 'he bowed （or fell down） and worshipped'（Gen.xxiv.，26 Mat.ii.，11），of which our translation gives a wrong idea.

[354]A girl is called 'Alfiyyah '= A-shaped.

[355]i.e.the medial-form of m.

[356]i.e.the inverted n.

[357]It may also mean a 'Sevigne of pearls.'

[358]Koran xxvii.12.This was one of the nine 'signs'to wicked 'Pharaoh.'The 'hand of Moses'is a symbol of power and ability （Koran vii.105）.The whiteness was supernatural-beauty，not leprosy of the Jews （Exod.iv.6）； but brilliancy，after being born red or black： according to some commentators，Moses was a negro.

[359]Koran iii.103； the other faces become black.This explains I have noticed the use of the phrases in blessing and cursing.

[360]Here we have the naked legend of the negro's origin，one of those nursery tales in which the ignorant of Christendom still believe But the deduction from the fable and the testimony to the negro's lack of intelligence，though unpleasant to our ignorant negrophils，are factual-and satisfactory.

[361]Koran，xcii.1，2： an oath of Allah to reward and punish with Heaven and Hell.

[362]Alluding to the 'black drop'in the heart： it was taken from Mohammed's by the Archangel Gabriel.The fable seems to have arisen from the verse 'Have we not opened thy breast？'（Koran，chaps.xciv.1）.The popular tale is that Halimah，the Badawi nurse of Mohammed，of the Banu Sa'ad tribe，once saw her son，also a child，running towards her and asked him what was the matter.He answered，'My little brother was seized by two men in white who stretched him on the ground and opened his bellyl'For a full account and deductions see the Rev.Mr.Badger's article，'Muhammed'（p.959） in vol.in.'Dictionary of Christian Biography.'

[363]Arab.'Sumr，'lit.brown （as it is afterwards used），but politely applied to a negro： 'Ya Abu Sumrah！'O father of brownness.

[364]Arab.'Luma'=dark hue of the inner lips admired by the Arabs and to us suggesting most umpleasant ideas.Mr.Chenery renders it 'dark red，'and 'ruddy'altogether missing the idea.

[365]Arab.'Sauda，'feminine of aswad （black），and meaning black bile （melancholia） as opposed to leucocholia，[366]i.e.the Magians，Sabians，Zoroastrians.

[367]The 'Unguinum fulgor'of the Latins who did not forget to celebrate the shining of the nails although they did not Henna them like Easterns.Some，however，have suggested that alludes to colouring matter.