and manners are the same amongst the Hindus (see the hypocritical female ascetic in the Katha p. 287) as a1
The name is indifferently derived from the red sand about the town or the reeds and mud with which it was originally built. It was founded by the Caliph Omar, when the old Capital Madáin (Ctesiphon) opposite was held unwholesome, on the West bank of the Euphrates, four days’ march from Baghdad and has now disappeared. Al-Saffáh, the first Abbaside, made it his Capital and it became a famous seat of Moslem learning; the Kufi school of Arab Grammarians being as renowned as their opponents, the Basri (of Bassorah). It gave a name to the “Cufic” characters which are, however, of much older date.
2
“Ni’amat” = a blessing; and the word is perpetually occurring in Moslem conversation, “Ni’amatu ‘lláh” (as pronounced) is also a favourite P. N. and few Anglo-Indians of the Mutiny date will forget the scandalous disclosures of Munshi Ni’amatu ‘llah, who had been sent to England by Nana Sahib. Nu’m = prosperity, good fortune, and a P. N. like the Heb. “Naomi.”
3
4
Lane (ii. 187) alters the two to four years.
5
6
Bin Yúsuf al-Sakafi, a statesman and soldier of the seventh and eighth centuries (A.D.). He was Governor of Al-Hijaz and Al-Irak under the fifth and sixth Ommiades, and I have noticed his vigorous rule of the Moslems’ Holy Land in my Pilgrimage (iii. 194, etc.). He pulled down the Ka’abah and restored it to the condition in which it now is. Al-Siyuti (p. 219) accuses him of having suborned a man to murder Ibn Omar with a poisoned javelin, and of humiliating the Prophet’s companions by “sealing them in the necks and hands,” that is he tied a thong upon the neck of each and sealed the knot with lead. In Irak he showed himself equally masterful; but an iron hand was required by the revolutionists of Kufah and Basrah. He behaved like a good Knight in rescuing the Moslem women who called upon his name when taken prisoners by Dahir of Debal (Tathá in Sind). Al-Hajjaj was not the kind of man the Caliph would have chosen for a pander; but the Shi’ahs hated him and have given him a lasting bad name. In the East men respect manly measures, not the hysterical, philanthropic pseudo-humanitarianism of our modern government which is really the cruellest of all. When Ziyád bin Abihi was sent by Caliph Mu’awiyah to reform Bassorah, a den of thieves, he informed the lieges that he intended to rule by the sword and advised all evil-doers to quit the city. The people were forbidden, under pain of death, to walk the streets after prayers; on the first night two hundred suffered; on the second five and none afterwards. Compare this with our civilised rule in Egypt where even bands of brigands, a phenomenon perfectly new and unknown to this century, have started up, where crime has doubled in quantity and quality, and where “Christian rule” has thoroughly scandalised a Moslem land.
7
The old bawd’s portrait is admirably drawn: all we dwellers in the East have known her well: she is so and so. Her dress and manners are the same amongst the Hindus (see the hypocritical female ascetic in the Katha p. 287) as amongst the Moslems; men of the world at once recognise her and the prudent keep out of her way. She is found in the cities of Southern Europe, ever pious, ever prayerful; and she seems to do her work not so much for profit as for pure or impure enjoyment. In the text her task was easy, as she had to do with a pair of innocents.
8
Koran, xxv. 70. I give Sale’s version.
9
Easterns, I have observed, have no way of saying “Thank you;” they express it by a blessing or a short prayer. They have a right to your surplus: daily bread is divided, they say and, eating yours, they consider it their own. I have discussed this matter in Pilgrimage i. 75-77, in opposition to those who declare that “gratitude” is unknown to Moslems.
10
Cufa (Kufah) being a modern place never had a “King,” but as the Hindu says, “Delhi is far” – it is a far cry to Loch Awe. Here we can hardly understand “Malik” as Governor or Viceroy: can it be syn. with Zú-mál (moneyed)?
11
Abd al-Malik has been before mentioned as the “Sweat of a Stone,” etc. He died recommending Al-Hajjaj to his son, Al-Walid, and one of his sayings is still remembered. “He who desireth to take a female slave for carnal enjoyment, let him take a native of Barbary; if he need one for the sake of children, let him have a Persian; and whoso desireth one for service, let him take a Greek.” Moderns say, “If you want a brother (in arms) try a Nubian; one to get you wealth an Abyssinian and if you want an ass (for labour) a Sáwahíli, or Zanzibar negroid.”
12
Probably suggested by the history of Antiochus and Stratonice, with an addition of Eastern mystery such as geomancy.
13
Arab. “Kárúrah”: the “water-doctor” has always been an institution in the East and he has lately revived in Europe – especially at the German baths and in London.
14
Lane makes this phrase “O brother of the Persians!” synonymous with “O Persian!” I think it means more, a Persian being generally considered “too clever by half.”
15
The verses deal in untranslatable word-plays upon women’s names, Naomi (the blessing) Su’adá or Su’ád (the happy, which Mr. Redhouse, in Ka’ab’s Mantle-poem, happily renders Beatrice); and Juml (a sum or total) the two latter, moreover, being here fictitious.
16
“And he (Jacob) turned from them, and said, ‘O how I am grieved for Joseph!’ And his eyes became white with mourning… (Quoth Joseph to his brethren), ‘Take this my inner garment and throw it on my father’s face and he shall recover his sight…’ So, when the messenger of good tidings came (to Jacob) he threw it (the shirt) over his face and he recovered his eye-sight.” – Koran, xii. 84, 93, 96. The commentators, by way of improvement, assure us that the shirt was that worn by Abraham when thrown into the fire (Koran, chapt. xvi.) by Nimrod (!). We know little concerning “Jacob’s daughters” who named the only bridge spanning the upper Jordan, and who have a curious shrine-tomb near Jewish “Safed” (North of Tiberias), one of the four “Holy Cities.” The Jews ignore these “daughters of Jacob” and travellers neglect them.
17
Easterns, I have remarked, mostly recognise the artistic truth that the animal man is handsomer than woman; and that “fair sex” is truly only of skin-colour. The same is the general rule throughout creation, for instance the stallion compared with the mare, the cock with the hen; while there are sundry exceptions such as the Falconidæ.
18
The Badawi (who is nothing if not horsey) compares the gait of a woman who walks well (in Europe rarely seen out of Spain) with the slightly swinging walk of a thoroughbred mare, bending her graceful neck and looking from side to side at objects as she passes.
19
Li ‘lláhi (darr’) al-káil, a characteristic idiom. “Darr” = giving (rich) milk copiously; and the phrase expresses admiration, “To Allah be ascribed (or Allah be praised for) his rich eloquence who said,” etc. Some Hebraists would render it, “Divinely (well) did he speak who said,” etc., holding “Allah” to express a superlative like “Yah” (Jah) in Gen. iv. 1; x. 9. Nimrod was a hunter to the person (or presence) of Yah,
20
Hamzah and Abbás were the famous uncles of Mohammed often noticed; Ukayl is not
