“All of you walk mincingly; All of you seek your gain; All except ‘Amr ibn ‘Obayd.”

The Khalif grieved much at his death, and indited some verses on the occasion, an unusual honour for a subject.

Keep to truth.—Metre , as before explained.

The rolls of folding.—Letters and writings.

What locust had gone off with him.—A proverbial expres­sion, meaning “what had become of him.” The Arabs also say of any one that is lost, “The ‘Anḳâ has flown off with him.” Arab. Prov. II. 25. The ‘Anḳâ, the Persian , is a fabulous bird, which is supposed to dwell on the Ḳâf, or moun­tain barrier, which surrounds the world.