The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night Volume II Part 25

[FN#407] The Kantar (quintal) of 100 ratls (Ibs.) =98-99 Ibs.

avoir.

[FN#408] Arab. "Jurab (bag) mi'adat- ih (of his belly)," the "curdling of the t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es" in fear is often mentioned.

[FN#409] Clearly alluding to the magic so deeply studied by mediaeval Jews.

[FN#410] Arab. "Sahakah," lit. rubbing. The Moslem Harem is a great school for this "Lesbian (which I would call Atossan) love "; but the motive of the practice lies deeper. As amongst men the mixture of the feminine with the masculine temperament leads to sodomy, so the reverse makes women prefer their own s.e.x. These tribades are mostly known by peculiarities of form and features, hairy cheeks and upper lips, gruff voices, hircine odour and the large projecting c.l.i.toris with erectile powers known to the Arabs as "bazar" hence Tabzir=circ.u.mcision or amputation of such c.l.i.toris.

Burckhardt (Prov. 436) translates " Bazarah" by s.l.u.t or wench. He adds " it originally signifies the l.a.b.i.a which the Cairenes also entice Zambur and which are cut off in girlhood." See also Lane, Lex. s.v.; Tabzir. Both writers confuse excision of the nymphae with circ.u.mcision of the c.l.i.toris (Zambur) Al-Siyuti (Kitab al-Iza'

fi'Ilm al-Nikah) has a very interesting chapter on Sapphic venery, which is well known to Europe as proved by such works as "Gamiani,"

and "Anandria ou Confessions de Mademoiselle Sappho, avec la Clef,"

Lesbos, 1718. Onanism is fatally prevalent: in many Harems and girls' schools tallow candles and similar succedanea are vainly forbidden and bananas when detected are cut into four so as to be useless; of late years, however, China has sent some marvellous artificial phalli of stuffed bladder, horn and even caoutchouc, the latter material of course borrowed from Europe.

[FN#411] This is considered a powerful aphrodisiac in the East.

Hence male devotees are advised to avoid tile "two reds," i.e. meat and wine; while the "two reds," which corrupt women, are gold and saffron, that is perfumery. Hence also the saying of Mohammed:-- "Perfumes for men should have scent and not colour; for women should have colour and not scent." (Mishkat al-Masabih ii. 361.)

[FN#412] These are the "Hibas" or thin cords of wool which the Badawi binds round his legs, I believe to keep off cramp.

(Pilgrimage iii. 78).

[FN#413] Crying out "La ilaha illa 'llah." (There is no G.o.d but the G.o.d.); technically called "Tahlil."

[FN#414] i.e. Men, angels and devils, the "Triloka" (triple people) of the Hindus. Alamin (plur.), never Alamayn (dual), is the Triregno denoted by the papal Tiara, the three Christian kingdoms being Heaven, h.e.l.l and Purgatory.

[FN#415] Matrahinna or Mit-Rahinah is a well-known village near Memphis, the name being derived from the old Egyptian Minat-ro- hinnu, the port at the mouth of the ca.n.a.l. Let me remark that two of these three words, "Minat" and "Ru," are still common in "

Aryan" Persian.

[FN#416] Kiramat, a sign, a prodigy, opposed to Mu'ujizah, a miracle wrought by a prophet. The Sufis explain this thaumaturgy by Allah changing something of Nature's ordinary course in favour of an especial wors.h.i.+pper, and, after a fas.h.i.+on, this is Catholic doctrine (See Dabistan, iii. 173).

[FN#417] Koran, x. 25, "until the earth receive its vesture and be adorned with various plants."

[FN#418] i.e. the young hair sprouting on the boy's cheek.

[FN#419] A fighter for the faith and now a t.i.tle which follows the name, e.g. Osman Pasha Ghazi, whom the English press dubbed "Ghazi Osman."

[FN#420] That is the King of Constantinople.

[FN#421] Ca.s.sia fistularis, a kind of carob: " Shambar" is the Arab. form of the Persian " Chambar."

[FN#422] Koran, ii. 149. Hence the vulgar idea that Martyrs are still alive in the flesh. See my Pilgrimage (ii. 110 and elsewhere) for the romantic and picturesque consequences of that belief. The Commentators (Jalal al-Din, etc.) play tricks with the Koranic words, " they (martyrs) are not dead but living" (iii. 179) by placing the happy souls in the crops of green birds which eat of the fruits and drink of the waters of Paradise; whereas the reprobates and the (very) wicked are deposited in black birds which drain the sanies and the boiling waters of h.e.l.l. Amongst the Greeks a body remaining entire long after death suggests Anathema Maranatha: it is the contrary with Catholic Christians (Boccaccio iv. 5, of the Pot of Basil). Concerning this creed see Maundrell, Letter of 1698.

[FN#423] Tor is "Mount Sinai" in the Koran (xcv. 1). I have only to repeat my opinion concerning the present site so called: "It is evident that Jebel Serbal dates only from the early days of Coptic Christianity; that Jebel Musa, its Greek rival, rose after the visions of Helena in the fourth century; whilst the building of the Convent by Justinian belongs to A.D 527. Ras Safsafah, its rival to the north, is an affair of yesterday, and may be called the invention of Robinson; and Jebel Katerina, to the south is the property of Ruppell" (Midian Revisited i., 237). I would therefore call the "Sinaitic" Peninsula, Peninsula of Paran in old days and Peninsula of Tor (from its chief port) in our time. It is still my conviction that the true Mount Sinai will be found in Jabal Araif, or some such unimportant height to the north of the modern Hajj- road from Suez to Akabah. Even about the name (which the Koran writes "Saina" and "Sinin") there is a dispute: It is usually derived from the root "Sanah"=sentis, a bush; but this is not satisfactory. Our eminent a.s.syriologist, Professor Sayce, would connect it with "Sin," the a.s.syrian Moon- G.o.d as Mount Nebo with the Sun-G.o.d and he expects to find there the ruins of a Lunar temple as a Solar fane stands on Ba'al Zapuna (Baal Zephon) or the cla.s.sical Mount Casius.

[FN#424] Alluding to the miracle of Aaron's rod (the gift of Jethro) as related in the Koran (chapts. vii. 1., xx., etc.), where the Egyptian sorcerers threw down thick ropes which by their magic twisted and coiled like serpents.

[FN#425] Arab. "Ayat" lit. "signs," here "miracles of the truth,"

1. c. Koranic versets as opposed to chapters. The ranks of the enemy represent the latter, sword-cuts the former--a very persuasive mode of preaching.

[FN#426] Lane (M. E. chapt.. iii.) shows by a sketch the position of the wors.h.i.+pper during this "Salam" which is addressed, some say, to the guardian angels, others suppose to all brother-believers and angels.

[FN#427] i.e., where the Syrians found him.

[FN#428] i.e., Dedia.n.u.s Arabised; a name knightly and plebian.

[FN#429] In such tales the Wazir is usually the sharp-witted man, contrasting with the "dummy," or master.

[FN#430] Carrier-pigeons were extensively used at this time. The Caliph Al-Nasir li-Dini ?llah (regn. A.H. 575=1180) was, according to Ibn Khaldun, very fond of them. The moderns of Damascus still affect them. My successor, Mr. Consul Kirby Green, wrote an excellent report on pigeon-fancying at Damascus. The so-called Maundeville or Mandeville in A. D. 1322 speaks of carrier-pigeons in Syria as a well-known mode Of intercourse between lord and lord.

[FN#431] Mohammed who declared "There is no monkery in Al-Islam,"

and who virtually abolished the priest, had an especial aversion to the shaveling (Ruhban). But the "Gens aeterna in qua nemo nascitur"

(Pliny v. 17) managed to appear even in Al-lslam, as Fakirs,, Dervishes, Sufis, etc. Of this more hereafter.

[FN#432] i.e. her holiness would act like a fascinating talisman.

[FN#433] The "smoking out" practice is common amongst the Arabs: hence Marshal Pelissier's so- called " barbarity." The Public is apt to forget that on a campaign the general's first duty is to save his own men by any practice which the laws of fair warfare do not absolutely forbid.

[FN#434] i.e. Mohammed, who promised Heaven and threatened h.e.l.l.

[FN#435] Arab. "Ahr" or "ihr," fornication or adultery, i.e., irreligion, infidelity as amongst the Hebrews (Isaiah xxiii.17).

[FN#436] A sign of defeat.

[FN#437] In English "last night": I have already noted that the Moslem day, like the Jewish and the Scandinavian, begins at sundown; and "layl " a night, is often used to denote the twenty- four hours between sunset and sunset, whilst "yaum," a day, would by us be translated in many cases "battle-day."

[FN#438] Iterum the "Himalayan Brothers."

[FN#439] Again, Mohammed who promised Good to the Good, and vice versa.

[FN#440] They are sad doggrel like most of the pieces d'occasion inserted in The Nights.

[FN#441] Here "Kahwah" (coffee) is used in its original sense of strong old wine. The derivation is "Akha"=fastidire fecit, causing disinclination for food, the Matambre (kill- hunger) of the Iberians. In old days the scrupulous called coffee "Kihwah" in order to distinguish it from 'Kakwah," wine.

[FN#442] i.e. Mohammed, a common t.i.tle.

[FN#443] That is, fatal to the scoffer and the impious.

[FN#444] Equivalent to our "The Devil was sick," etc.

[FN#445] i.e. to the enemy: the North American Indians (so called) use similar forms of "inverted speech"; and the Australian aborigines are in no way behind them.

[FN#446] See Vol. i., p. 154 (Night xvi.).

[FN#447] Arab. "Sauf," a particle denoting a near future whereas "Sa-" points to one which may be very remote.

[FN#448] From the root "Shanh"=having a fascinating eye, terrifying. The Irish call the fascinater "eybitter" and the victim (who is also rhymed to death) "eybitten."

[FN#449] i.e., not like the n.o.ble-born, strong in enduring the stress of fight.

[FN#450] i.e., of Abraham. For the Well Zemzem and the Place of Abraham see my Pilgrimage (iii. 171-175, etc.), where I described the water as of salt-bitter taste, like that of Epsom (iii. 203).

Sir William Muir (in his excellent life of Mahomet, I. cclviii.) remarks that "the flavour of stale water bottled up for months would not be a criterion of the same water freshly drawn;" but soldered tins-full of water drawn a fortnight before are to be had in Calcutta and elsewhere after Pilgrimage time; and a.n.a.lysis would at once detect the salt.