第143章

[418]See the same idea in vol.i.132，and 349.

[419]'They will ask thee concerning wine and casting of lots；say：'In both are great sin and great advantages to mankind；but the sin of them both is greater than their advantage.''See Koran ii.216.Mohammed seems to have made up his mind about drinking by slow degrees；and the Koranic law is by no means so strict as the Mullahs have made it.The prohibitions，revealed at widely different periods and varying in import and distinction，have been discussed by Al-Bayzawi in his commentary on the above chapter.He says that the first revelation was in chapt.xvi.69 but，as the passage was disregarded，Omar and others consulted the Apostle who replied to them in chapt.ii.216.Then，as this also was unnoticed，came the final decision in chapt.v.92，making wine and lots the work of Satan.Yet excuses are never wanting to the Moslem，he can drink Champagne and Cognac，both unknown in Mohammed's day and he can use wine and spirits medicinally，like sundry of ourselves；who turn up the nose of contempt at the idea of drinking for pleasure.

[420]i.e.a fair-faced cup-bearer.The lines have occurred before： so I quote Mr.Payne.

[421]It is the custom of the Arabs to call their cattle to water by whistling；not to whistle to them，as Europeans do；whilst making water.

[422]i.e.bewitching.See vol.i.85.These incompatible metaphors are brought together by the Saj'a （prose rhyme）in--'iyah.'

[423]Mesopotamian Christians，who still turn towards Jerusalem，face the West，instead of the East，as with Europeans：

here the monk is so dazed that he does not know what to do.

[424]Arab.'Bayt Sha'ar'= a house of hair （tent） or a couplet of verse.Watad （a tentpeg） also is prosodical，a foot when the two first letters are'moved'（vowelled） and the last is jazmated （quiescent），e.g.Lakad.It is termed Majmu'a （united）；as opposed to'Mafruk'（separated），e.g.Kabla，when the'moved'consonants are disjoined by a quiescent.

[425]Lit.standing on their heads，which sounds ludicrous enough in English，not in Arabic.

[426]These lines are in vol.iii.251.I quote Mr.Payne who notes'The bodies of Eastern women of the higher classes by dint of continual maceration，Esther-fashion，in aromatic oils and essences，would naturally become impregnated with the sweet scents of the cosmetics used.'

[427]These lines occur in vol.i.218： I quote Torrens for variety.

[428]So we speak of a'female screw.'The allusion is to the dove-tailing of the pieces.This personification of the lute has occurred before： but I solicit the reader's attention to it；it has a fulness of Oriental flavour all its own.

[429]I again solicit the reader's attention to the simplicity，the pathos and the beauty of this personification of the lute.

[430]'They'for she.

[431]The Arabs very justly make the''Andalib'=nightingale，masculine.

[432]Anwar = lights or flowers： See Night dccclxv.supra p.270.

[433]These couplets have occurred in vol.i.168；so I quote Mr.Payne.

[434]i.e.You may have his soul but leave me his body：

company with him in the next world and let me have him in this.

[435]Alluding to the Koranic （cxiii.1.），'I take refuge with the Lord of the Daybreak from the mischief of that which He hath created，etc.'This is shown by the first line wherein occurs the Koranic word'Ghasik'（cxiii.3） which may mean the first darkness when it overspreadeth or the moon when it is eclipsed.

[436]'Malak'= level ground；also tract on the Nile sea.

Lane M.E.ii.417，and Bruckhardt Nubia 482.

[437]This sentiment has often been repeated.

[438]The owl comes in because'Bum'（pron.boom） rhymes with Kayyum = the Eternal.

[439]For an incident like this see my Pilgrimmage （vol.i.176）.How true to nature the whole scene is；the fond mother excusing her boy and the practical father putting the excuse aside.European paternity，however，would probably exclaim，'The beast's in liquor！'

[440]In ancient times this seems to have been the universal and perhaps instinctive treatment of the hand that struck a father.By Nur al-Din's flight the divorce-oath became technically null and void for Taj al-Din had sworn to mutilate his son next morning.

[441]So Roderic Random and his companions'sewed their money between the lining and the waistband of their breeches，except some loose silver for immediate expense on the road.'For a deion of these purses see Pilgrimage i.37.

[442]Arab.Rashid （our Rosetta），a corruption of the Coptic Trashit；ever famous for the Stone.

[443]For a parallel passage in praise of Alexandria see vol.i.290，etc.The editor or scribe was evidently an Egyptian.

[444]Arab.'Saghr'（Thagr），the opening of the lips showing the teeth.See vol.i.p.156.

[445]Iskandariyah，the city of Iskandar or Alexander the Great，whose'Soma'was attractive to the Greeks as the corpse of the Prophet Daniel afterwards was to the Moslems.The choice of site，then occupied only by the pauper village of Rhacotis，is one proof of many that the Macedonian conqueror had the inspiration of genius.

[446]i.e.paid them down.See vol.i.281；vol.ii.145.

[447]Arab.'Baltiyah，'Sonnini's'Bolti'and Nebuleux （because it is dozid-coloured when fried），the Labrus Niloticus from its labra or large fleshy lips.It lives on the'leaves of Paradise'hence the flesh is delicate and savoury and it is caught with the epervier or sweep-net in the Nile，canals and pools.

[448]Arab.'Liyyah，'not a delicate comparison，but exceedingly apt besides rhyming to'Baltiyah.'The cauda of the'five-quarter sheep，whose tails are so broad and thick that there is as much flesh upon them as upon a quarter of their body，'must not be confounded with the lank appendage of our English muttons.See i.25，Dr.Burnell's Linschoten （Hakluyt Soc.1885）.

[449]A variant occurs in vol.ix.191.