Chapter VI: Introduction: In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.i1 (3)

NOTE 30.--_On the Language of Birds, &c._ It is commonly believed by the Muslims (learned and unlearned), that all kinds of birds, and many (if not all) beasts, have a language by which they communicate their thoughts to each other; and we are told in the Ḳur-án,[107] that Suleymán (or Solomon) was taught the language of birds.[108] I thought that I could boast of an accomplishment very rare in Christian countries, in having learned, in Egypt, somewhat of this language; for instance, that the common cry of the pigeon is "Alláh! Alláh!" ("God! God!"); that of the ringdove, "Keerem! Towwáb!" ("Bountiful! Propitious!"--an ejaculation addressed to God); that of the common dove, "Waḥḥidoo rabbakumu-llezee khalaḳakum, yeghfir-lakum zembakum!" ("Assert the unity of your Lord who created you, so will He forgive you your sin!") but I afterwards found that several specimens of this language were given by Ez-Zamakhsheree, and had been published in Europe: see "Alcoranus Marraccii," p. 511. The cock cries, "Uzkuru-lláha, yá gháfiloon!" ("Commemorate God, O ye negligent!"): the ḳaṭà (a kind of grouse),[109] "Men seket selim!" ("He who is silent is safe!"). The latter, however, would do better if it did itself attend to the maxim it utters; for its cry, which, to the uninstructed in the language of birds, sounds merely, "ḳaṭà! ḳaṭà!" as its own name, tells where it is to be found by the sportsman, and thus causes its own destruction. Hence the proverb--"More veracious than the ḳaṭà."

NOTE 31. In the houses of persons of the middle classes in Arabian countries, there is generally an apartment on the ground-floor fitted up as a stable for a horse, mule, or ass, or for two or more such animals; and the cattle of the farmer, if not very numerous, are usually lodged during the night in similar quarters, or in an open court enclosed within, or immediately adjacent to, his house.

NOTE 32. It is a common custom in the East to sprinkle the ground, during the summer, in order to cool the air.

NOTE 33. Cut straw is the usual fodder of asses and other beasts of burden in Egypt and other countries of the East.

NOTE 34. The phrase with which the bull commences his address to the ass, is one dictated by an indispensable rule of Muslim politeness, which requires that these or some similar words should be uttered by a person whenever he sees another with food before him, and does not partake of it. If this were not done, it would be feared that the food had been poisoned, or rendered of no avail, by an envious eye.

NOTE 35. The peasants in the East use a hand-mill for grinding their corn. The larger mills used for this and other purposes are turned by cattle.

NOTE 36. In the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights, the ass is made to quote verses to the bull. Hast thou not, he asks him, heard the poet say:--

I occupy myself every day and night in anxious service of him in
whose prosperity I have no enjoyment;
Like the bleacher who blackens his face in the sun, while he watches
the whitening of the clothes of others.

NOTE 37. I read "naṭ'an," as in the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights, instead of "kiṭa'an" in the Cairo edition. The naṭạ is a large round piece of leather, which, spread upon the ground, serves as a table for dinner, &c. It is particularly convenient, and therefore much used, in travelling. Around the edge is a running string, which, being drawn, converts it into a bag to hold what is left of the food.

NOTE 38.--_On the office of_ Ḳáḍee. The Ḳáḍee is a judge, or minister of justice, who passes sentence in all cases of law, religious, moral, civil, and criminal. This he generally does, in the present day, in accordance with the decision of a Muftee, or doctor of the law. In small towns and villages, he is often employed to draw up written contracts of various kinds.

NOTE 39. The famous Saạdee attained the age here mentioned; but instances of equal longevity, among the Orientals, are rare.[110]

NOTE 40. To perform the ablution preparatory to prayer in the expectation of almost immediate death, is a supererogatory act which, I believe, is seldom observed.

NOTE 41. Both religion and climate make the Muslim an early riser. It is his duty to perform the first of the five daily prayers at, or soon after, daybreak; and he generally awakes before this period. While Shahriyár, therefore, was waiting for the dawn of day to acquit himself of this duty, in accordance with the common custom of Mohammadan kings, Shahrazád amused him by the recitation of her tales. That he should be described as thus strict with regard to religious exercises, when about to give orders for the murder of his innocent wife, needs not excite our surprise: such conduct is consistent with the character of many Muslims. In the year 1834, when I was residing in Cairo, a General in the service of Moḥammad 'Alee hired a large party of men to perform a recital of the Ḳur-án, in his house in that city, and then went up into his ḥareem, and strangled his wife, in consequence of a report which accused her of incontinence. The religious ceremony was designed as preparatory to this act, though the punishment of the woman was contrary to the law, since her husband neither produced four witnesses of the imputed crime, nor allowed her to clear herself of the charge by her own oath. Another case of diligence in the performance of a religious duty, accompanied by the contemplation of murder, but murder on a larger scale, occurred in the same city shortly after. Suleymán Ághà, the Siláḥdár, being occupied in directing the building of a public fountain, as a work of charity to place to the account of a deceased brother, desired to extend the original plan of the structure; and to do this, it was necessary that he should purchase two houses adjoining the plot in which the foundations had been laid: but the owners of these houses refused to sell them, and he therefore employed a number of workmen to undermine them by night, and cause them to fall upon their inhabitants. His scheme, however, but partially succeeded, and no lives were sacrificed. This man was notorious for cruelty, but he was a person of pleasing and venerable countenance, and engaging manners: whenever I chanced to meet him, I received from him a most gracious salutation. He died before I quitted Egypt.

[12] An Apostle is distinguished from a mere Prophet by his
having a _book_ revealed to him.

[13] In quoting the Ḳur-án, I distinguish the verses in
accordance with the numbers in Fluegel's excellent edition of
the original text: 4to Lipsiæ 1834. These numbers agree
(excepting in a few cases, where a disagreement was found
absolutely necessary) with those in Hinckelmann's edition,
which is that most commonly quoted by the learned. I am sorry
to see that Marracci's numbers have been adopted in a late
edition of Sale's translation, and that the distinction between
the words of the text and the explanatory interpolations has
there been neglected. Its utility to Arabic scholars, and its
general fidelity, have been thus greatly lessened; and it
appears to me very desirable that it should be superseded as
soon as possible by another edition.

[14] Moḥammad's answers to 'Abd-Allah Ibn-Selám, quoted by
Ibn-El-Wardee (MS. in my possession); and Mek-ḥool, quoted by
the same author, and Mishkát el-Maṣabeeḥ, vol. ii. pp. 652 and
653.

[15] Ibn-Esh-Sheḥneh (MS. in my possession).

[16] In another MS. of the same author in my possession,
"yellow."

[17] In his "Khiṭaṭ" (MS. in my possession).

[18] Ḳur-án, ch. xiii. v. 3, and several other places.

[19] Idem, ch. ii. v. 20, and ch. lxxviii. v. 6.

[20] Idem, ch. lxxi. v. 18.

[21] Mek-ḥool, quoted by Ibn-El-Wardee.

[22] Wahb Ibn-Munebbih, quoted by El-Maḳreezee, is his
"Khiṭaṭ."

[23] Ibn-El-Wardee, however, says that its name is derived from
its terrors and difficulties.

[24] These are monsters who will be described in a subsequent
note.

[25] History of El-Khiḍr in the "Mir-át ez-Zemán" (MS. in my
possession), a great history, whose author died in the year of
the Flight 656.

[26] El-Ḳazweenee (MS. in my possession).

[27] Moḥammad's answers to 'Abd-Allah Ibn-Selám, quoted by
Ibn-El-Wardee.

[28] Ibid.

[29] El-Ḳazweenee.

[30] Ḳur-án, ch. ii. v. 22, and ch. lxvi. v. 6.

[31] Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[32] Tradition from the Prophet, recorded by Ibn-'Abbás, and
quoted by Ibn-El-Wardee; and by El-Is-ḥáḳee, in describing an
earthquake that happened in his life-time.--On the subject of
earthquakes, see also the next foot-note.

[33] In Ibn-Esh-Sheḥneh, "Kuyoothán:" the orthography of this
word is doubtful, as the vowel-points are not written. As the
tradition is related in Ibn-El-Wardee, this bull takes a breath
twice in the course of every day (or twenty-four hours); when
he exhales, the sea flows; and when he inhales, it ebbs. But it
must not be imagined that none of the Arabs have any notion of
the true theory of the tides: the more learned among them
explain this phenomenon by the influence of the moon.--Many of
the Arabs attribute earthquakes to the shaking of this bull.

[34] In Ibn-El-Wardee, a quantity of sand is introduced between
the bull and the fish.

[35] Ed-Demeeree, on the authority of Walib Ibn-Munebbih,
quoted by El-Is-ḥáḳce, _loco laudato_.

[36] Ibn-El-Wardee.

[37] Ḳur-án, ch. xxxix. v. 67.

[38] Idem, ch. xiv. v. 49.

[39] Idem, ch. lxxxix. v. 24.

[40] Khaleel Eẓ-Ẓáhiree, in De Sacy's Chrestomathie Arabe, 2nde
ed. tome ii. pp. 10 and 11 of Ar. text.

[41] Ibid.

[42] El-Maḳreezee, quoted by De Sacy, _ubi supra_, pp. 58-62.

[43] Ibn-Khaldoon, in the same, pp. 168 and 169.

[44] Ch. xxxii. v. 13.

[45] Mishḳát el-Maṣábeeḥ, vol. ii. p. 329.

[46] Burckhardt's "Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys," 8vo ed.
vol. i. pp. 178 and 179.

[47] This tree is called, in Arabic, "bán" and "khiláf" or
"khaláf."

[48] The Anacreon of Persia affected to prize the mole upon the
cheek of his beloved above the cities of Samarḳand and Bukhára.

[49] Lawsonia inermis.

[50] In another analysis of the same kind, it is said that four
should be _short_; the hands, the feet, the tongue, and the
teeth; but this is metaphorically speaking; the meaning is,
that these members should be kept within their proper bounds.
(Kitáb el-'Onwán fee Mekáid en-Niswán. MS. in my possession.)

[51] An unnamed author quoted by El-Is-ḥáḳee, in his account of
the 'Abbásee Khaleefeh El-Mutawekkil.

[52] Mir-át ez-Zemán. See also, Ḳur-án, ch. v. v. 65.

[53] The term "'Efreet" is sometimes improperly applied to a
_good_ Jinnee [and also, in Egypt, to the ghost of a dead
person. See "Modern Egyptians," vol. 1. ch. x. Ed.].

[54] Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[55] Ch. xv. v. 27; and Commentary of the Jeláleyn. Also,
Ḳur-án, ch. lv. v. 14.

[56] Ch. xxvii. v. 10 and ch. xxviii. v. 31; and Commentary of
the Jeláleyn.

[57] Ch. lv. vv. 39 and 74; and same Commentary.

[58] 'Ekrimeh, from Ibn-'Abbás, in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[59] Mujáhid, from the same, ibid.

[60] Hence the appellations of "Jinn" and "Jánn."

[61] Tradition from the Prophet, in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[62] Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[63] The worship here spoken of is prostration, as an act of
obeisance to a superior being.

[64] Ḳur-án, ch. xviii. v. 48.

[65] Eṭ-Ṭabaree, quoted in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[66] Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[67] Ch. vii. v. 11; and chap. xxxviii. v. 77.

[68] Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[69] El-Ḥasan El-Baṣree, in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.--My
interpolation of the word "other" is required by his opinion
before stated.

[70] Mujáhid, quoted by El-Ḳazweenee.

[71] The same, from Ibn-'Abbás, in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[72] El-Ḥasan El-Baṣree, ibid.

[73] 'Ekrimeh, from Ibn-'Abbás, ibid.

[74] Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, vol. ii. p. 314.

[75] Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 311 and 312.

[76] Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[77] "Modern Egyptians," vol. i. ch. x.

[78] Ibid.

[79] Sale, in a note on chap. xv. of the Ḳur-án.

[80] So I translate the word "khaṭṭ;" but in a work by
Es-Suyootee, (a MS. in my possession, entitled "Nuzhet
el-Mutaämmil wa-Murshid el-Mutaähhil," section 7,) I find, in
its place, the word "weshm," or "tattooing;" and there are some
other slight variations and omissions in this tradition as
there quoted.

[81] El-Ḳazweenee.

[82] Ch. lxxii. v 6.

[83] "Modern Egyptians," vol. i. ch. x.

[84] Idem, vol. ii. ch. xi.

[85] Ḳur-án, ch. xxvii. v. 17; and ch. xxxviii. v. 35.

[86] "Modern Egyptians," vol. i. ch. x.

[87] Ibid.

[88] Ibid.

[89] El-Ḳazweenee.

[90] El-Jáḥeẓ ('Amr Ibn-Baḥr).

[91] Ṣeḥáḥ and Ḳámoos.

[92] Tradition for the Whab Ibn-Munebbih, quoted in the account
of the early Arabs in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[93] Ibid.

[94] El-Ḳazweenee.

[95] Ibn-El-Wardee.

[96] El-Ḳazweenee, and Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[97] El-Ḳazweenee.

[98] El-Ḳazweenee, in the khátimeh of his work.

[99] Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[100] Ibn-El-Wardee.

[101] Idem.

[102] In a great collection of Indian tales, the "Kathá Sarit
Ságara," is a story which may have been the original of that to
which this note refers. "Two young Brahmans travelling are
benighted in a forest, and take up their lodging in a tree near
a lake. Early in the night a number of people come from the
water, and having made preparation for an entertainment,
retire; a Yaksha, a genie, then comes out of the lake with his
two wives, and spends the night there: when he and one of his
wives are asleep, the other, seeing the youths, invites them to
approach her, and to encourage them, shews them a hundred rings
received from former gallants, notwithstanding her husband's
precautions, who keeps her locked up in a chest at the bottom
of the lake. The Hindu story-teller is more moral than the
Arab. The youths reject her advances; she wakes the genie, who
is going to put them to death, but the rings are produced in
evidence against the unfaithful wife, and she is turned away
with the loss of her nose. The story is repeated in the next
section with some variation; the lady has ninety and nine
rings, and is about to complete the hundredth, when her
husband, who is here a Naga, a snake-god, wakes, and consumes
the guilty pair with fire from his mouth."--British and Foreign
Review, No. xxi. page 266.

[103] Kitáb el-'Onwán fee Mekáid en-Niswán: a work on the
strategems of women (MS. in my possession).

[104] El-Imám El-Jara'ee, in his book entitled "Shir'at
el-Islám," ibid.

[105] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil wa-Murshid el-Mutaähhil, section 2.

[106] Es-Suyooṭee, History of Egypt, account of the strange
events that have happened in Egypt during the time of El-Islám.

[107] Ch. xxvii. v. 16.

[108] Manṭiḳ eṭ-ṭeyr.

[109] Of the family _Pteroclidæ_. (Pr. Bon.) ED.

[110] Ibn-'Arab-Sháh, however, has given an account of a man
called the sheykh El-'Oryán, an inhabitant of Samarḳand, and a
devotee, who was said to have attained the age of 350 [lunar]
years [or nearly 340 solar years], and yet preserved an erect
stature, a comely appearance, and such strength that it seemed
as if he had not attained to mature years. The old men of the
place asserted that they remembered him to have had the same
appearance when they were children, and that their fathers and
grandfathers had said the same.--History of Teemoor, p. 470,
Calcutta edition.