Chapter 40

1For the incidents and dates mentioned in this preface, see the various chapters of the Anecdotes.2He must have been born in aboutA.D.1204 or 1205, to have been five years old when the family left Balkh. In 1226 he would, therefore, be twenty-one or twenty-two years of age. But see Anecdotes, Chap, i., No. 2, &c.3The “‘Ulemā of Islām” arethe LearnedDoctors of Law and Divinity; their chief is the Lord Chancellor. They are ignorantly spoken of as “priests” and “clergy” by Europeans. There are no “priests” in Islām. The ‘Ulemā may be likened to the Jewish Rabbis. They often have followed, and do follow, all kinds of trades.4There is an allusion in the word ‘Arifīn (Adepts) to the name of Eflākī’s patron, the Chelebi Emīr ‘Arif (well-knowing).5Eastern Persia.6The ancientBactra, sometimes calledZariaspa, the capital of Bactria.7Incorrectly written Mecca by Europeans.8Of Termīz (Tirmez), on the north bank of the Oxus, near to Balkh.9The two letters Yā and Sīn heading the thirty-sixth chapter of the Qur’ān are said to stand for the words, Yā insān,O man!as Muhammed is there addressed.10The truly eminent author of the Mesnevī.11From the city of Sarakhs in Khurāsān.12Had Dr. Tanner, the forty days’ faster at New York, heard of these performances?13As related of certain Sabbath-breaking Jews, in Qur’ān ii. 61.14Qur’ān xviii. 8, &c.15The mount where the victims are slaughtered by the pilgrims.16The great Persian poet Khāqānī, born at Shirwān, died and was buried at TebrīzA.H.582 (A.D.1186).17Sanā’ī, of Gazna in Afgānistān, surnamed “the Wise,” or “the Philosopher,” died and was buried at the place of his birth,A.H.576 (A.D.1180).18“Satan, the Lapidated One,” is the chief title of the accursed one. Muslims believe that the “shooting stars” are missiles cast by angels at demons who attempt to approach heaven for eavesdropping purposes.19I have not met with an explanation of this word in any Persian dictionary. Literally it signifiessugar-hanging. In the Bahāri-‘Ajem alone is it mentioned, with a distich from Hāfiz; but it is left unexplained.20Apparently a “merman” is intended.21This is a much more poetical account of the origin of the reed-flute than the pagan Greek myths of Orpheus and his lyre, Pan and his pipe, for which no reasons are assigned.22Mansūr, son of ‘Ammār, thus mentioned by D’Herbelot: “Scheikh des plus considérés parmi les Musulmans. On le cite au sujet d’un passage du chapitre Enfathar de l’Alcoran (lxxxii.), où Dieu est introduit faisant ce reproche aux hommes:Qu’est-ce qui vous rend si orgueilleux contre votre maître qui vous fait tant de biens?(v. 6). Ce Scheikh disait: Quand Dieu me fera ce reproche, je lui repondrai:Le sont ces biens et ces graces mêmes que vous me faites, qui me rendent si superbe.” As Sheykh ‘Attār lived aboutA.H.600, Mansūr must have died aboutA.H.400 (A.D.1020). He is mentioned in No. 51, p. 68, of theNafahātu-’l-Uns.23Khayru ’n nāsi, men yenfa’u ’n nāsa.—Arabic Proverb.24Khayru ’l kelāmi, qasīruhu ’l mufīdu.—Arabic Proverb.25Thevris the name of a tribe of Arabians, and of two hills, one at Mekka, the other at Medīna; but the explanation of the term “a ThevrorSevr veil” I have not met with.26Saladin of European writings. The words mean:the Fitness of the Religion(of Islām).27The Muslim world knows but oneQaysar(Cæsar), the Emperor of Rome (Old or New), which title is now borne by the Emperor of Austria.28I have not met with any notice of Akhī-Turk.29The Honoured Elder; by which Abū-Bekr is probably intended; but see a note to the Preface of the Mesnevī.30Juneyd and Bāyezīd of Bestām were two great doctors of mysticism; the latter died inA.H.234 or 261 (A.D.848 or 874), and the former inA.H.297-8 (A.D.909-10).31These are two of the four orthodox schools of Islām; they differ in certain details. There are reputed to be seventy-two schismatic or heretical sects.32This anecdote directly contradicts the foolish idea, so common in Europe, that, in the religious system of Islām, women are held to have no souls, and no hope of paradise.33The Beauty of the Truth and of the Religion (of Islām).34Europeanised Armenians have made this intoZohrab, as their own family name.35A genealogy is given in the Turkish preface to my copy of the Mesnevī, which traces the descent of Jelālu-’d-Dīn Muhammed from Abū-Bekr in ten degrees, as follows:—“Jelālu-’d-Dīn, son of Bahā’u-’d-Dīn, son of Huseyn, son of Ahmed, son of Mevdūd, son of Sābit (Thābit), son of Museyyeb, son of Mutahhar, son of Hammād, son of ‘Abdu-’r-Rahmān, son of ‘Abū-Bekr.” Now, Abdu-’r-Rahmān, the eldest of all the sons of Abū-Bekr, died and was buried at Mekka inA.H.53 (A.D.672), and Jelālu-’d-Dīn was born at Balkh inA.H.604 (A.D.1207). Between these two there are nine degrees of descent given, for a period of 535 years, or 66 years for each life after the birth of the next link. This alone suffices to show that the genealogy is not to be depended on. Supposing the names given to be true, many other links must be missing; as many, probably, as those given.36Habīb the Persian, a wealthy man, converted to Islām by one word from Hasan of Basra, whose devoted disciple he became. He diedA.H.106 (A.D.724).37Qur’ān xxiv. 35.38Qur’ān lxxvi. 18.39Qur’ān xix. 74.40Qur’ān xxv. 26.41Qur’ān ii. 24.42Qur’ān lxxx. 15.43Qur’ān lvi. 78.44Qur’ān lvi. 79.45Qur’ān xli. 42.46Qur’ān xii. 64.47Qur’ān vii. 150.48Balkh, to the south of the west part of the Upper Oxus, is in latitude 36°, 48′ N., longitude 67°, 4′ E. from Greenwich. It represents the ancientBactra, otherwise calledZariaspa.49Husāmu-’l-Haqqi-wa-’d-Dīn, his full title of honour. (See Anecdotes, chap. vi.)50Bāyezīd or Abū-Yazīd, of Bestām, in Khurāsān, Persia, latitude 36°, 25´ N., longitude 55°, 0´ E., a celebrated teacher and saint among the mystics of Islām, diedA.H.261,A.D.874 (thoughA.H.234,A.D.848, has also been mentioned by some). His name was Tayfūr, son of ‘Isà, son of Ādam, son of Surūshān, a Zoroastrian who embraced Islām.51Juneyd, surname of Abū-’l-Qāsim Sa’īd son of ‘Ubayd, entitled Sultan of the Sūfī Community, a saint who died at Bagdad inA.H.287 (A.D.900).52Urmiyya, on the lake of that name, south-west from Tebrīz, the capital city of Azerbāyjān, the north-west province of Persia.53The expression of: “The venerated Sheykh,” might, perhaps, at first, be thought to indicate the Caliph Abū-Bekr, the Sheykhpar excellence, as he and his successor ‘Umer (Omar) were designated “the two Sheykhs,” from each being a father-in-law to Muhammed, whereas the third and fourth caliphs, ‘Uthmān (Osmān) and ‘Alī, were his sons-in-law. If this supposition were correct, Jelāl and Husām would have been descended from the same remote ancestor. The commentators, however, I am informed, name a certain “Seyyid Abū-’l-Wefā, the Kurd,” as being intended. Particulars as to his individuality and history have not, unfortunately, reached me.54I have not met with an explanation of this expression, which is again introduced in Tale xiv., distich 40.55Thereed-fluteis the sacred musical instrument of the Mevlevī dervishes, commonly known as theDancing Dervishes, from their peculiar religious waltz to the sound of the reed-flute, &c., with outstretched arms and inclined head, in their special public services of commemoration. They love the reed-flute as the symbol of a sighing absent lover.56There is a poetical Eastern notion that pearls are formed in the oysters by dewdrops or raindrops falling into them at a certain season.57Qur’ān vii. 139, where the words are: “And Moses fell down, swooning.”58In Islām a free person cannot legally be bought and sold.59By way of hyperbole, a clever physician is always compared to Jesus, in his miraculous healing powers, by Muslims.60Qur’ān xviii. 23, teaches: “Say not, ‘I will do so and so,’ unless (thou add): ‘God willing.’”61Divine service in Islām is entirely worship and praise. It is erroneous to talk of Muslims saying their prayers. Praise, laud, and glory is what they are bound to offer. Prayer is voluntary; and is prohibited, unless in some duly authorised form as acollect.62Qur’ān ii. 58.63Qur’ān ii. 114.64The word “sūfī,” used in the original, is probably the Greek σοφόι, but is explained as meaning, literally, “clad in woollen,” from “sūf,”wool. Metaphorically, in common use, it means:a pious man.65The holy Sheykh Shemsu-’d-Dīn, of Tebrīz, is meant; who was a friend of the author for many years, visiting Qonya at intervals, where he was put to death (inA.D.1262?). See the “Anecdotes,” Chap. iv.; especially No. 17.66It was generally believed in bygone days that gems and metals grew and ripened in their mines.67The story is in Qur’ān xviii. 73. The angel was disguised as a servant to Moses. The passage says: “And they two proceeded until they met a boy; and he slew him.”68With Muslims, Ishmaël was to have been sacrificed; not Isaac. The Qur’ān xxxvii. 98-111, relates the story, but gives no name to the “boy.” Commentators supply it, by tradition.69A continuation of the story from Qur’ān xviii. 70. Some commentators make Elias the servant of Moses on the occasion. There is a tale in one of the essayists of last century,—the “Spectator,” if I rightly remember,—that gives these two adventures and others; the angel at last explaining to his companion the secret causes of all his actions.70In its true sense, the word “miscreant” signifiesone who holds an erroneous belief. We corruptly say now:an infidel.71“Hypocrites,” in Islām, form a faction. They profess the faith openly, but inwardly they hate or despise it.72The Muslims “worship” God in their appointed devotions. If they “pray” also, subsequently, this is a voluntary act.73“Worship, fasting, alms, and pilgrimage” are the four acts by which a Muslim outwardly attests his faith. “Worship,” five times daily; “fasting,” one month yearly; “pilgrimage,” at Mekka, once, as a duty, in a lifetime; “alms,” whenever property of a certain amount is possessed.74“Mervites and Rāzites,” citizens of Merv and Rey (Rhages), two great Persian cities in former days, now in ruins. Merv is at present a Turkman camping-ground, aimed at by Russia as a halting place on the road to Herāt and India. Rey, the Rhages of the book of Tobit, not far from Tihrān, the Shāh’s present capital of Persia. The two parties were like Ireland’s Orangemen and Ribbonmen of our time.75Heaven and Hell; the “sheep” and the “goats.”76The original has “the Darling;” the highest title given to Muhammed by Muslims isGod’s Darling; which is not found in the Qur’ān.77The original has “its dear one;” God isthe dear oneof mystics.78Awoollen lionis a toy made and sold or exhibited by mendicants.79Musaylama was a prince of Naja, who gave himself out as a prophet, and wrote to Muhammed, proposing that they should divide Arabia between them. His epistle began: “Musaylama, the Apostle of God, to Muhammed, the Apostle of God.” Muhammed’s answer commenced with: “Muhammed, the Apostle of God, to Musaylama the liar.” He was eventually defeated and slain in battle, in the eleventh year of the Hijra after Muhammed’s decease; when all Arabia submitted to Islām. He was killed by Wahshi, the Ethiopian slave who, in the battle of ‘Uhud, had formerly driven the selfsame javelin through the body of Hamza, Muhammed’s uncle. Wahshi lived long after these events, in Syria. He used to say that, as a pagan, he had slain one of the best of men, and, as a Muslim, one of the worst. When Mekka was taken, he was proscribed; but he got away safely. Not long afterwards, he made his submission, and Muhammed forgave him, as he did others in analogous circumstances.80Who are intended by this Jewish squint-eyed king, and his self-sacrificing, treacherous Vazīr?81It is a common belief in the East that squint-eyed people see double.82Needles, or pins, are hidden in bread that is given to a dog or other beast in order to destroy it.83The rope worn by monks, like the Brahmin’s sacred thread, is supposed by Muslims to be worn by all Christians.84Muhammed.85In time of immediate danger during war the “Service of Fear” is enjoined instead of the usual form of worship.86In visions.87The original word,conversant, like our “Adept” and “Illuminato,” is applied by the mystics to themselves. It is a trace of the old Gnosticism.88Being given in Persian, I cannot quote chapter and verse for the original Arabic.89Like lunatics, they are supposed to be heedless of all things around them.90Sleep is Death’s brotheris an ancient Arabian proverb.91The Seven Sleepers; mentioned in Qur’ān xviii. 8-25.92Muhammed’s “Cave-Mate” was Abū-Bekr, who was his sole companion on quitting Mekka at the Emigration or “Flight.” They concealed themselves in a cave; and Muhammed remarked: “God is the third in our little party.” Hence the title of “Cave-Mate,” applied to Abū-Bekr.93A species of nightmare in the form of a lascivious dream.94Qur’ān xxv. 47.95Qur’ān vi. 76.96See “Anecdotes,” Chap. iv.97See his name as an honorific title in a note to the author’s preface; and in the “Anecdotes,” Chap. vi.98Qur’ān ii. 119.99“The Lion of God,” so called from his courage and strength. Shīr-Ali, Hayder-Ali, are among the forms of the title.100One of the sayings attributed to him and become proverbial.101In Persian, empty promises and boastings are also called “wind.” Hence, the poet suggests ablution to cleanse from such;—mental ablution.102“Syntheism” is the correct rendering of the “shirk” of Islām. “Polytheism” is very incorrect. Dualists (Magians) and Trinitarians (Christians) areSyntheists, but they are not polytheists in a correct sense.103An allusion to the idea that a pearl is a raindrop caught and nourished by an oyster.104“The Illiterate Prophet,” or, rather, “the Gentile Prophet,” reputed barbarous and illiterate by the Jews and Christians, is one of Muhammed’s highest titles.105The original here uses the simile of a certain “cunning bird,” known also as the “Truth-calling bird,” that hangs by a claw and calls all night:haqq! haqq!(Truth! Truth!).106Such is an eastern myth. Poets call the planet Venus the “Harpist of the Spheres.”107In Qur’ān ii. 32, God commands the angels to fall down in adoration to Adam, when first created. Iblīs, Satan, alone refused, through pride and envy.108In Qur’ān iv. 124, Abraham is called theChosen Friendof God; and in xxi. 69, the story is mentioned of his being saved from the fire into which he was cast by Nimrod.109The Fountain of Life, orWater of Life, is imagined to take its rise in a land of darkness beyond the limits of the inhabited earth.110In the original I have not found it possible to feel sure where the break should be made from the remonstrance to the poet’s reflections. Much of what precedes seems addressed to God; but Eastern hyperbole is wide.111Qur’ān viii. 17. Muhammed cast sand at the foe in two battles, Badr and Hunayn.112This account of the Vazīr’s various forged books is an allusion to the various Gospels and Epistles, canonical and spurious, that sprang up in the early Christian Church.113The Roman conquest of Greece, Asia Minor, and Syria completely effaced from the Eastern mind all recollection of previous actors on those scenes. Even “Alexander the Great” is to them “Alexander the Roman,” like our Jelālu-’d-Dīn, “Er-Rūmī.“114An allusion to the contests of the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, &c., &c.115The mystics of Islām call God and the spiritthe sense, of which material existences are the outward expression; as we say: ”The letter and the spirit.“ The constant play of the original on these words is lost in the version.116An allusion to Qur’ān xviii. 12; not a verbal quotation.117A grammatical variant of Qur’ān xxi. 107. Muhammed is meant.118An allusion to Qur’ān xlix. 3; not a quotation.119In Qur’ān lxi. 6, is the assertion that Jesus, in the Gospel, foretold the advent of Muhammed by the name of Ahmed. This is generally explained as a translation of περικλιτός, misread for παράκλητος in John xiv. 26. The two words have very much the same meaning:much-praised,most laudable,laudatissimus. Muhammed is mentioned by many names, forty, fifty, sixty; some say a thousand.120Muhammed gained the name of Trusty, El-Emīn (Al-Amīn), long before he declared himself commissioned to call his countrymen to acknowledge the unity of God, the resurrection, judgment, and future life.121Qur’ān, chap. lxxxv., the name of which literally means ”the Towers,” but is also applied to theSigns of the Zodiac. These Christians were the people of Nejrān in south-western Arabia; their persecutor Dhū-Nuwās, a Jew, king of Yaman, some time before Muhammed.122“Gardens beneath which rivers flow” is a frequently recurring expression in the Qur’ān. Some have special names.123See Qur’ān xxxv. 29: “Then we caused” thee “to inherit the Scripture.“124In Qur’ān ii. 132, Islām is termed ”God’s Baptism.“In ii. 156, and again in vii. 42, and xi. 21, “God’s curse” is invoked on sinners.125This is the story alluded to in Qur’ān lxxxv., quoted above. In traditions, Dhū-Nuwās was the name of the Jewish king of Yaman, who burnt the Christians of Nejrān in a fiery trench on their refusing to forsake their faith. The idol is imaginary; from Nebuchadnezzar.126Qur’ān xvi. 41; xxxvii. 72; xl. 76; speaks of the “Gates of Hell;” and a commentary to the last says they are held to be seven.127Abū-Jahl was a surname given by Muhammed to one of his most inveterate enemies of the Quraysh, killed at Badr. The word means: “Father of Ignorance,” and here indicatesfleshly pride. He had formerly borne the surname of Abū-’l-Hakem, which means:Father of the Arbitrator.128In Qur’ān xxi. 69, is related the miracle by which Abraham was saved from the fire into which he was cast by Nimrod for his refusal to worship an image.129The word “Muslim,” whence the corruptionMoslem, means, in Arabic, “one who acquiesces in the truth and will of God.” As such, Muslims have existed under every dispensation.130The creaking, leaky water-wheel, the Persian wheel, is well known in the East.131“Eye-binding” is a name for sorcery. The spectator is supposed to have his sightspell-bound, so as not to see what is really done.132‘Ād, a pre-Semitic, perhaps Turanian, people in south-eastern Arabia, often mentioned in the Qur’ān. They refused to believe the prophet Hūd (supposed to beHeber), and were destroyed, lxix. 6-7, by an eight days’ tempest.133Qur’ān xxiii. 76, &c.134Qur’ān iii. 43.135Qur’ān vii. 139.136Kalīla and Dimna is the Arabic version of Pīlpāy’s fables.137This proverb is given in Freytag’s “Proverbia Arabica,” ii. p. 488, n. 278, as an answer from Muhammed to a foe twice made prisoner.138Equivalent to tethering a horse. Cromwell’s: “Keep your powder dry.“

1For the incidents and dates mentioned in this preface, see the various chapters of the Anecdotes.

2He must have been born in aboutA.D.1204 or 1205, to have been five years old when the family left Balkh. In 1226 he would, therefore, be twenty-one or twenty-two years of age. But see Anecdotes, Chap, i., No. 2, &c.

3The “‘Ulemā of Islām” arethe LearnedDoctors of Law and Divinity; their chief is the Lord Chancellor. They are ignorantly spoken of as “priests” and “clergy” by Europeans. There are no “priests” in Islām. The ‘Ulemā may be likened to the Jewish Rabbis. They often have followed, and do follow, all kinds of trades.

4There is an allusion in the word ‘Arifīn (Adepts) to the name of Eflākī’s patron, the Chelebi Emīr ‘Arif (well-knowing).

5Eastern Persia.

6The ancientBactra, sometimes calledZariaspa, the capital of Bactria.

7Incorrectly written Mecca by Europeans.

8Of Termīz (Tirmez), on the north bank of the Oxus, near to Balkh.

9The two letters Yā and Sīn heading the thirty-sixth chapter of the Qur’ān are said to stand for the words, Yā insān,O man!as Muhammed is there addressed.

10The truly eminent author of the Mesnevī.

11From the city of Sarakhs in Khurāsān.

12Had Dr. Tanner, the forty days’ faster at New York, heard of these performances?

13As related of certain Sabbath-breaking Jews, in Qur’ān ii. 61.

14Qur’ān xviii. 8, &c.

15The mount where the victims are slaughtered by the pilgrims.

16The great Persian poet Khāqānī, born at Shirwān, died and was buried at TebrīzA.H.582 (A.D.1186).

17Sanā’ī, of Gazna in Afgānistān, surnamed “the Wise,” or “the Philosopher,” died and was buried at the place of his birth,A.H.576 (A.D.1180).

18“Satan, the Lapidated One,” is the chief title of the accursed one. Muslims believe that the “shooting stars” are missiles cast by angels at demons who attempt to approach heaven for eavesdropping purposes.

19I have not met with an explanation of this word in any Persian dictionary. Literally it signifiessugar-hanging. In the Bahāri-‘Ajem alone is it mentioned, with a distich from Hāfiz; but it is left unexplained.

20Apparently a “merman” is intended.

21This is a much more poetical account of the origin of the reed-flute than the pagan Greek myths of Orpheus and his lyre, Pan and his pipe, for which no reasons are assigned.

22Mansūr, son of ‘Ammār, thus mentioned by D’Herbelot: “Scheikh des plus considérés parmi les Musulmans. On le cite au sujet d’un passage du chapitre Enfathar de l’Alcoran (lxxxii.), où Dieu est introduit faisant ce reproche aux hommes:Qu’est-ce qui vous rend si orgueilleux contre votre maître qui vous fait tant de biens?(v. 6). Ce Scheikh disait: Quand Dieu me fera ce reproche, je lui repondrai:Le sont ces biens et ces graces mêmes que vous me faites, qui me rendent si superbe.” As Sheykh ‘Attār lived aboutA.H.600, Mansūr must have died aboutA.H.400 (A.D.1020). He is mentioned in No. 51, p. 68, of theNafahātu-’l-Uns.

23Khayru ’n nāsi, men yenfa’u ’n nāsa.—Arabic Proverb.

24Khayru ’l kelāmi, qasīruhu ’l mufīdu.—Arabic Proverb.

25Thevris the name of a tribe of Arabians, and of two hills, one at Mekka, the other at Medīna; but the explanation of the term “a ThevrorSevr veil” I have not met with.

26Saladin of European writings. The words mean:the Fitness of the Religion(of Islām).

27The Muslim world knows but oneQaysar(Cæsar), the Emperor of Rome (Old or New), which title is now borne by the Emperor of Austria.

28I have not met with any notice of Akhī-Turk.

29The Honoured Elder; by which Abū-Bekr is probably intended; but see a note to the Preface of the Mesnevī.

30Juneyd and Bāyezīd of Bestām were two great doctors of mysticism; the latter died inA.H.234 or 261 (A.D.848 or 874), and the former inA.H.297-8 (A.D.909-10).

31These are two of the four orthodox schools of Islām; they differ in certain details. There are reputed to be seventy-two schismatic or heretical sects.

32This anecdote directly contradicts the foolish idea, so common in Europe, that, in the religious system of Islām, women are held to have no souls, and no hope of paradise.

33The Beauty of the Truth and of the Religion (of Islām).

34Europeanised Armenians have made this intoZohrab, as their own family name.

35A genealogy is given in the Turkish preface to my copy of the Mesnevī, which traces the descent of Jelālu-’d-Dīn Muhammed from Abū-Bekr in ten degrees, as follows:—“Jelālu-’d-Dīn, son of Bahā’u-’d-Dīn, son of Huseyn, son of Ahmed, son of Mevdūd, son of Sābit (Thābit), son of Museyyeb, son of Mutahhar, son of Hammād, son of ‘Abdu-’r-Rahmān, son of ‘Abū-Bekr.” Now, Abdu-’r-Rahmān, the eldest of all the sons of Abū-Bekr, died and was buried at Mekka inA.H.53 (A.D.672), and Jelālu-’d-Dīn was born at Balkh inA.H.604 (A.D.1207). Between these two there are nine degrees of descent given, for a period of 535 years, or 66 years for each life after the birth of the next link. This alone suffices to show that the genealogy is not to be depended on. Supposing the names given to be true, many other links must be missing; as many, probably, as those given.

36Habīb the Persian, a wealthy man, converted to Islām by one word from Hasan of Basra, whose devoted disciple he became. He diedA.H.106 (A.D.724).

37Qur’ān xxiv. 35.

38Qur’ān lxxvi. 18.

39Qur’ān xix. 74.

40Qur’ān xxv. 26.

41Qur’ān ii. 24.

42Qur’ān lxxx. 15.

43Qur’ān lvi. 78.

44Qur’ān lvi. 79.

45Qur’ān xli. 42.

46Qur’ān xii. 64.

47Qur’ān vii. 150.

48Balkh, to the south of the west part of the Upper Oxus, is in latitude 36°, 48′ N., longitude 67°, 4′ E. from Greenwich. It represents the ancientBactra, otherwise calledZariaspa.

49Husāmu-’l-Haqqi-wa-’d-Dīn, his full title of honour. (See Anecdotes, chap. vi.)

50Bāyezīd or Abū-Yazīd, of Bestām, in Khurāsān, Persia, latitude 36°, 25´ N., longitude 55°, 0´ E., a celebrated teacher and saint among the mystics of Islām, diedA.H.261,A.D.874 (thoughA.H.234,A.D.848, has also been mentioned by some). His name was Tayfūr, son of ‘Isà, son of Ādam, son of Surūshān, a Zoroastrian who embraced Islām.

51Juneyd, surname of Abū-’l-Qāsim Sa’īd son of ‘Ubayd, entitled Sultan of the Sūfī Community, a saint who died at Bagdad inA.H.287 (A.D.900).

52Urmiyya, on the lake of that name, south-west from Tebrīz, the capital city of Azerbāyjān, the north-west province of Persia.

53The expression of: “The venerated Sheykh,” might, perhaps, at first, be thought to indicate the Caliph Abū-Bekr, the Sheykhpar excellence, as he and his successor ‘Umer (Omar) were designated “the two Sheykhs,” from each being a father-in-law to Muhammed, whereas the third and fourth caliphs, ‘Uthmān (Osmān) and ‘Alī, were his sons-in-law. If this supposition were correct, Jelāl and Husām would have been descended from the same remote ancestor. The commentators, however, I am informed, name a certain “Seyyid Abū-’l-Wefā, the Kurd,” as being intended. Particulars as to his individuality and history have not, unfortunately, reached me.

54I have not met with an explanation of this expression, which is again introduced in Tale xiv., distich 40.

55Thereed-fluteis the sacred musical instrument of the Mevlevī dervishes, commonly known as theDancing Dervishes, from their peculiar religious waltz to the sound of the reed-flute, &c., with outstretched arms and inclined head, in their special public services of commemoration. They love the reed-flute as the symbol of a sighing absent lover.

56There is a poetical Eastern notion that pearls are formed in the oysters by dewdrops or raindrops falling into them at a certain season.

57Qur’ān vii. 139, where the words are: “And Moses fell down, swooning.”

58In Islām a free person cannot legally be bought and sold.

59By way of hyperbole, a clever physician is always compared to Jesus, in his miraculous healing powers, by Muslims.

60Qur’ān xviii. 23, teaches: “Say not, ‘I will do so and so,’ unless (thou add): ‘God willing.’”

61Divine service in Islām is entirely worship and praise. It is erroneous to talk of Muslims saying their prayers. Praise, laud, and glory is what they are bound to offer. Prayer is voluntary; and is prohibited, unless in some duly authorised form as acollect.

62Qur’ān ii. 58.

63Qur’ān ii. 114.

64The word “sūfī,” used in the original, is probably the Greek σοφόι, but is explained as meaning, literally, “clad in woollen,” from “sūf,”wool. Metaphorically, in common use, it means:a pious man.

65The holy Sheykh Shemsu-’d-Dīn, of Tebrīz, is meant; who was a friend of the author for many years, visiting Qonya at intervals, where he was put to death (inA.D.1262?). See the “Anecdotes,” Chap. iv.; especially No. 17.

66It was generally believed in bygone days that gems and metals grew and ripened in their mines.

67The story is in Qur’ān xviii. 73. The angel was disguised as a servant to Moses. The passage says: “And they two proceeded until they met a boy; and he slew him.”

68With Muslims, Ishmaël was to have been sacrificed; not Isaac. The Qur’ān xxxvii. 98-111, relates the story, but gives no name to the “boy.” Commentators supply it, by tradition.

69A continuation of the story from Qur’ān xviii. 70. Some commentators make Elias the servant of Moses on the occasion. There is a tale in one of the essayists of last century,—the “Spectator,” if I rightly remember,—that gives these two adventures and others; the angel at last explaining to his companion the secret causes of all his actions.

70In its true sense, the word “miscreant” signifiesone who holds an erroneous belief. We corruptly say now:an infidel.

71“Hypocrites,” in Islām, form a faction. They profess the faith openly, but inwardly they hate or despise it.

72The Muslims “worship” God in their appointed devotions. If they “pray” also, subsequently, this is a voluntary act.

73“Worship, fasting, alms, and pilgrimage” are the four acts by which a Muslim outwardly attests his faith. “Worship,” five times daily; “fasting,” one month yearly; “pilgrimage,” at Mekka, once, as a duty, in a lifetime; “alms,” whenever property of a certain amount is possessed.

74“Mervites and Rāzites,” citizens of Merv and Rey (Rhages), two great Persian cities in former days, now in ruins. Merv is at present a Turkman camping-ground, aimed at by Russia as a halting place on the road to Herāt and India. Rey, the Rhages of the book of Tobit, not far from Tihrān, the Shāh’s present capital of Persia. The two parties were like Ireland’s Orangemen and Ribbonmen of our time.

75Heaven and Hell; the “sheep” and the “goats.”

76The original has “the Darling;” the highest title given to Muhammed by Muslims isGod’s Darling; which is not found in the Qur’ān.

77The original has “its dear one;” God isthe dear oneof mystics.

78Awoollen lionis a toy made and sold or exhibited by mendicants.

79Musaylama was a prince of Naja, who gave himself out as a prophet, and wrote to Muhammed, proposing that they should divide Arabia between them. His epistle began: “Musaylama, the Apostle of God, to Muhammed, the Apostle of God.” Muhammed’s answer commenced with: “Muhammed, the Apostle of God, to Musaylama the liar.” He was eventually defeated and slain in battle, in the eleventh year of the Hijra after Muhammed’s decease; when all Arabia submitted to Islām. He was killed by Wahshi, the Ethiopian slave who, in the battle of ‘Uhud, had formerly driven the selfsame javelin through the body of Hamza, Muhammed’s uncle. Wahshi lived long after these events, in Syria. He used to say that, as a pagan, he had slain one of the best of men, and, as a Muslim, one of the worst. When Mekka was taken, he was proscribed; but he got away safely. Not long afterwards, he made his submission, and Muhammed forgave him, as he did others in analogous circumstances.

80Who are intended by this Jewish squint-eyed king, and his self-sacrificing, treacherous Vazīr?

81It is a common belief in the East that squint-eyed people see double.

82Needles, or pins, are hidden in bread that is given to a dog or other beast in order to destroy it.

83The rope worn by monks, like the Brahmin’s sacred thread, is supposed by Muslims to be worn by all Christians.

84Muhammed.

85In time of immediate danger during war the “Service of Fear” is enjoined instead of the usual form of worship.

86In visions.

87The original word,conversant, like our “Adept” and “Illuminato,” is applied by the mystics to themselves. It is a trace of the old Gnosticism.

88Being given in Persian, I cannot quote chapter and verse for the original Arabic.

89Like lunatics, they are supposed to be heedless of all things around them.

90Sleep is Death’s brotheris an ancient Arabian proverb.

91The Seven Sleepers; mentioned in Qur’ān xviii. 8-25.

92Muhammed’s “Cave-Mate” was Abū-Bekr, who was his sole companion on quitting Mekka at the Emigration or “Flight.” They concealed themselves in a cave; and Muhammed remarked: “God is the third in our little party.” Hence the title of “Cave-Mate,” applied to Abū-Bekr.

93A species of nightmare in the form of a lascivious dream.

94Qur’ān xxv. 47.

95Qur’ān vi. 76.

96See “Anecdotes,” Chap. iv.

97See his name as an honorific title in a note to the author’s preface; and in the “Anecdotes,” Chap. vi.

98Qur’ān ii. 119.

99“The Lion of God,” so called from his courage and strength. Shīr-Ali, Hayder-Ali, are among the forms of the title.

100One of the sayings attributed to him and become proverbial.

101In Persian, empty promises and boastings are also called “wind.” Hence, the poet suggests ablution to cleanse from such;—mental ablution.

102“Syntheism” is the correct rendering of the “shirk” of Islām. “Polytheism” is very incorrect. Dualists (Magians) and Trinitarians (Christians) areSyntheists, but they are not polytheists in a correct sense.

103An allusion to the idea that a pearl is a raindrop caught and nourished by an oyster.

104“The Illiterate Prophet,” or, rather, “the Gentile Prophet,” reputed barbarous and illiterate by the Jews and Christians, is one of Muhammed’s highest titles.

105The original here uses the simile of a certain “cunning bird,” known also as the “Truth-calling bird,” that hangs by a claw and calls all night:haqq! haqq!(Truth! Truth!).

106Such is an eastern myth. Poets call the planet Venus the “Harpist of the Spheres.”

107In Qur’ān ii. 32, God commands the angels to fall down in adoration to Adam, when first created. Iblīs, Satan, alone refused, through pride and envy.

108In Qur’ān iv. 124, Abraham is called theChosen Friendof God; and in xxi. 69, the story is mentioned of his being saved from the fire into which he was cast by Nimrod.

109The Fountain of Life, orWater of Life, is imagined to take its rise in a land of darkness beyond the limits of the inhabited earth.

110In the original I have not found it possible to feel sure where the break should be made from the remonstrance to the poet’s reflections. Much of what precedes seems addressed to God; but Eastern hyperbole is wide.

111Qur’ān viii. 17. Muhammed cast sand at the foe in two battles, Badr and Hunayn.

112This account of the Vazīr’s various forged books is an allusion to the various Gospels and Epistles, canonical and spurious, that sprang up in the early Christian Church.

113The Roman conquest of Greece, Asia Minor, and Syria completely effaced from the Eastern mind all recollection of previous actors on those scenes. Even “Alexander the Great” is to them “Alexander the Roman,” like our Jelālu-’d-Dīn, “Er-Rūmī.“

114An allusion to the contests of the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, &c., &c.

115The mystics of Islām call God and the spiritthe sense, of which material existences are the outward expression; as we say: ”The letter and the spirit.“ The constant play of the original on these words is lost in the version.

116An allusion to Qur’ān xviii. 12; not a verbal quotation.

117A grammatical variant of Qur’ān xxi. 107. Muhammed is meant.

118An allusion to Qur’ān xlix. 3; not a quotation.

119In Qur’ān lxi. 6, is the assertion that Jesus, in the Gospel, foretold the advent of Muhammed by the name of Ahmed. This is generally explained as a translation of περικλιτός, misread for παράκλητος in John xiv. 26. The two words have very much the same meaning:much-praised,most laudable,laudatissimus. Muhammed is mentioned by many names, forty, fifty, sixty; some say a thousand.

120Muhammed gained the name of Trusty, El-Emīn (Al-Amīn), long before he declared himself commissioned to call his countrymen to acknowledge the unity of God, the resurrection, judgment, and future life.

121Qur’ān, chap. lxxxv., the name of which literally means ”the Towers,” but is also applied to theSigns of the Zodiac. These Christians were the people of Nejrān in south-western Arabia; their persecutor Dhū-Nuwās, a Jew, king of Yaman, some time before Muhammed.

122“Gardens beneath which rivers flow” is a frequently recurring expression in the Qur’ān. Some have special names.

123See Qur’ān xxxv. 29: “Then we caused” thee “to inherit the Scripture.“

124In Qur’ān ii. 132, Islām is termed ”God’s Baptism.“In ii. 156, and again in vii. 42, and xi. 21, “God’s curse” is invoked on sinners.

125This is the story alluded to in Qur’ān lxxxv., quoted above. In traditions, Dhū-Nuwās was the name of the Jewish king of Yaman, who burnt the Christians of Nejrān in a fiery trench on their refusing to forsake their faith. The idol is imaginary; from Nebuchadnezzar.

126Qur’ān xvi. 41; xxxvii. 72; xl. 76; speaks of the “Gates of Hell;” and a commentary to the last says they are held to be seven.

127Abū-Jahl was a surname given by Muhammed to one of his most inveterate enemies of the Quraysh, killed at Badr. The word means: “Father of Ignorance,” and here indicatesfleshly pride. He had formerly borne the surname of Abū-’l-Hakem, which means:Father of the Arbitrator.

128In Qur’ān xxi. 69, is related the miracle by which Abraham was saved from the fire into which he was cast by Nimrod for his refusal to worship an image.

129The word “Muslim,” whence the corruptionMoslem, means, in Arabic, “one who acquiesces in the truth and will of God.” As such, Muslims have existed under every dispensation.

130The creaking, leaky water-wheel, the Persian wheel, is well known in the East.

131“Eye-binding” is a name for sorcery. The spectator is supposed to have his sightspell-bound, so as not to see what is really done.

132‘Ād, a pre-Semitic, perhaps Turanian, people in south-eastern Arabia, often mentioned in the Qur’ān. They refused to believe the prophet Hūd (supposed to beHeber), and were destroyed, lxix. 6-7, by an eight days’ tempest.

133Qur’ān xxiii. 76, &c.

134Qur’ān iii. 43.

135Qur’ān vii. 139.

136Kalīla and Dimna is the Arabic version of Pīlpāy’s fables.

137This proverb is given in Freytag’s “Proverbia Arabica,” ii. p. 488, n. 278, as an answer from Muhammed to a foe twice made prisoner.

138Equivalent to tethering a horse. Cromwell’s: “Keep your powder dry.“

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