There is a ruddy-lipped one.—Metre ṭawîl. represents the same quality as , the having a lip of a dark ruddiness, approaching to blackness. In some lines quoted at p. 425, De Sacy’s ed., Al Boḥtori couples and , “dark-lipped,” and “having eyes of strongly contrasted black and white,” as marks of beauty. Ṭarafeh (Mo‘allaḳah, v. 6) says, “In the tribe is a dark-lipped one, like a fawn that browses on the fruit of the arâk, wearing two necklaces of the pearl and the topaz.” These lines, according to the Governor’s desire, are full of plays on words and alliterations. In connection with this kind of composition the student is referred to the poem of Aṭ Ṭanṭarâni and De Sacy’s notes thereon. Chrest. Arabe, Vol. II.

Gathers the dew of her mouth.— is here a maṣdar, with the sense of sucking or draining. That the expression is not to be understood quite figuratively is shown by many passages of the Arab poets.

Like a pair of fire-staves in their case.—Ḥarîri uses this proverb merely to express resemblance between the two, but as commonly used it is not significant of praise, but of contempt. See Arab. Prov. I. 585, “A pair of fire-staves in a patched bag;” and II. 432, “There is nothing in his quiver but a pair of fire-staves;” used of weak and worthless persons. Another proverbial expres­sion for complete equality or resemblance is, “Ye are as the two knees of the male camel,” a saying uttered by Harim ibn Ḳoṭbah, the Fezâri, when he was made judge in the munâfarah between ‘Âmir ibn Ṭofayl and ‘Alḳamat ibn ‘Olâtheh. See De Sacy’s commentary to Twenty-sixth Assembly; also Arab. Prov. II. 861. The subject has been mentioned in a former note to this volume. The calling the father and son “a pair of fire-staves,” may have reference to the often repeated meta­phor of eliciting a spark, in the sense of producing an original idea.

Spends of what God has given him.—Koran lxv. 7.

Pardon thy brother.—Metre kâmil.

Threw me off.— is literally to startle a bird, so that it flies away. The was one who took omens from the flight of birds, which he frightened by making a noise or throwing a stone.

The Day of Fear.—The day of death or resurrection.

Roha.—Ar Roha was the name given by the Arab conquerors to the city of Edessa, in northern Mesopotamia; a place which, under various names, has preserved its importance from the beginning of history to the present times. It is identified by some with Ur of the Chaldees; and tradition acribes its found­ation to Nimrod. Natural advantages, and particularly the large supply of water, marked it at an early period as a fit spot for settlement, and it may contend with Damascus for the honour of being the most ancient city in Western Asia. Under the Seleucidæ it was called Callirhoe or Antiochea. Its monarch Abgarus is associated with a well-known Christian legend. The position which it holds in the history of the early Christian Church, and of the Syriac language, needs only to be alluded to. At one time it is said to have had 300 monas­teries. It was conquered by the Arabs in the first days of the Khalifate, and is said by Sherîshi to have received the name of Ar Roha from Roha ibn al Belendi ibn Mâlik, who settled there. It was captured during the first Crusade, and became a Christian principality under Baldwin, brother of Godfrey, who ruled it from 1097 to 1100, before he became king of Jerusalem. It was thus in Frankish hands at the time the Assemblies were composed, and there is a propriety in making Abû Zayd speak of it as a place of refuge. It was afterwards, under the reign of Joscelin II., captured by the Sultan ‘Imâd ad Dîn, who committed frightful massacres. This calamity was the chief cause of the next Crusade. Yet in the time of Abû’l Faraj (Barhebræus) it still contained fifteen churches. It was taken and plundered by Tamerlane in his campaign against Bajazet. In the 17th century the Turks changed its name to Orfa, and it is now one of the most flourishing cities of the empire, having a population of 40,000 souls, and being the chief entrepôt for the trade between Kurdistan and the coast. Orfa contains a fine mosque, called the jâmi‘ of Abraham, and a little lake near the city is called the Pool of Abraham. The river Scirtus, on which Edessa was situated, is now called Daysan.

Sohayl and Soha meet.—Sohayl is the star Canopus. Soha is a star among the Benât an Na‘sh. I think it is the little star which is close to the second of the three which form the tail of the Greater Bear. As Sohayl is used to figure something great and brilliant, so Soha is the example of that which is difficult to be discerned. Compare the verse in the Thirty-second Assembly: “How many riddles, which were like Soha in obscurity, have become suns by my explaining.” Also in Thirty-sixth, “We discerned both Soha and the moon;” that is, the obscure and the evident. To perceive this star was looked upon by the Arabs as the test of a good eyesight. The proverb, “I show her Soha, and she shows me the moon,” Arab. Prov. I. 527, where it is no doubt wrongly quoted, was uttered by Ibn al Ghazz, the Ayâdi. There was in the time of the Ignorance a very tall and beautiful woman, who was of such great strength that she defied any man to ravish her, for she was a virgin. Ibn al Ghazz wagered with her a hundred camels that he would be able to accomplish this. When he assailed her she found him of irresistible strength, and by the time he had won the wager she was almost senseless. He said to her, “How is thy eye-sight; dost thou see Soha?” and she answered, in her confusion, “That is it,” pointing to the moon. He said laughing, “I show her Soha, and she shows me the moon,” which became proverbial. I have endeavoured, from the two legends related by Maydâni, to make a more reasonable explanation of the proverb.

Who lent him the suit (dast).—A poor play on words occurs in this sentence through the repetition of the word dast. Com­pare the verses at the end of the Eleventh Assembly.

Abû Kayd.—The Father of Deceit.

The Imâm.—The Khalif is thus called because he is the exemplar of the people or his subjects.

Equivocate, or gloze.— is “the turning a verse of the Koran from its apparent meaning to a meaning which it bears or admits, when the latter is agreeable with the Scripture and the Sunneh” (Lane). Sherîshi defines it as the making a promise inwardly in another sense from what the words express to the hearer, that is, making a mental reservation.

As Samuel kept it.—The Jew Samuel ibn ‘Âdiyâ is an ex­emplar of good faith among the Arabs, so that it is said, “More faithful than Samuel,” Arab. Prov. II. 828. He was lord of a castle called Al Ablaḳ in Taymâ, a place on the south-western border of the sandy desert which lies between the Jowf and Jebel Shammar. The act which has made his name famous was as follows: The prince poet Imr al Ḳays was brought by his feud with the Benû Asad, on whom he desired to avenge the death of his father Ḥojr, into the condition of an outlaw, . Pursued by the agents of Munthir king of Hira, he took refuge among the Benû Ṭay; but when discord broke out among these on his account he left them and betook himself to a man of the Fazârah named ‘Amr son of Jâbir. This ‘Amr told him that the dwellers in tents could not protect him, but that if Imr al Ḳays desired he would conduct him to one who would give him a better protection than Cæsar. Imr al Ḳays accepted the offer, and his host gave him in charge to an­other Fazâri, who brought him to Samuel’s castle of Al Ablaḳ. Here he was well received, and recited a poem which he had composed in honour of his protector. He dwelt with him some time, and Samuel gave him beasts with which to travel to Cæsar (the emperor Justinian), whose favour and aid against his enemies he had resolved to implore. Imr al Ḳays left in Samuel’s keeping his daughter and all his property, of which the most valuable objects were five cuirasses, or breast-mails, having respectively the names Al Faḍfâḍah, “the large;” Aṣ Ṣâfiyeh, “the bright;” Al Muḥṣineh, “the protectress;” Al Khirrîḳ, “the goodly or excellent;” and Umm ath thuyûl, “the skirted;” that is, probably, having skirts of mail descend­ing over the hips. Imr al Ḳays repaired to Constantinople, where he was well received by the Emperor. There is reason to believe that he is the person spoken of by Procopius and Nonnosus (Caussin de Perceval, Essai, Vol. II. p. 316). The rest of his life is but a legend. It is related in the Kitâb al Aghâni (see the extract in M‘Guckin de Slane’s Dîwân of Imr al Ḳays) that a certain Arab of the Benû Asad, whose brother had been slain by Imr al Ḳays, came to Constantinople, and calumniated the fugitive, whom the Kaysar had placed at the head of an army. He said that Imr al Ḳays was a debauched man, who had not only seduced the Emperor’s daughter, but had composed verses on the subject dishonourable to the Im­perial House. On this the Emperor sent him a poisoned shirt, which, as soon as he put it on, began to consume him, so that his flesh fell from him. Hence he is called Thû ’l Ḳorûḥ, “the man with the ulcers.” The intrigue with a Greek lady of high station is probable; and to it the poet is said to allude when he describes his entry into a married woman’s chamber in the first poem of the Dîwân, p. 20, Arab. Text. According to M. de Slane, the mistress of Imr al Ḳays was probably Arabia, the daughter of Justin II. It is certain, however, that Imr al Ḳays died at Ancyra; probably of some leprous disease, which gave rise to the legend. When his death was known, the Ghassâni prince Ḥârith resolved to possess himself of the cuirasses left in the charge of Samuel. He put himself at the head of his troops and summoned Samuel to give them up. The Jewish chief shut himself up in his castle and refused. But one day an infant son of Samuel, being with his nurse outside the castle, was seized by Ḥârith, who then summoned Samuel to a parley. Samuel appeared on the wall, and Ḥârith repeated his demand, with the threat that if it were not complied with he would put the child to death. Samuel asked time for consideration, and it was granted. He then called all his people to counsel, and they advised him to give up the property and save the child. But when he came again on the wall he said, “I cannot give up the cuirasses and break faith; do what thou wilt with the boy, for perfidy is a collar that never wears out; this boy will leave brothers behind him.” Then Ḥârith killed the child before the father’s eyes; but was forced after a time to give up the siege. When the season of the pilgrimage came Samuel took the cuirasses and delivered them to the heirs of Imr al Ḳays at the fair of ‘Okâẓ. This Samuel was, like so many of the noble Arabs of that age, a poet, and to him are attributed some fine verses contained in the Ḥamâseh, p. 49. For other persons who are exemplars of faith-keeping among the Arabs, see Arab. Prov. II. 830 and following pages. One of these owes his reputation, like Samuel, to good faith towards the gifted and unhappy Imr al Ḳays. This is Abû Ḥanbal aṭ Ṭâ’î, who, when his two wives solicited him, the one to give up, and the other to protect, the Prince, milked a two-year-old ewe, and, drinking the milk, exclaimed, “By God, I shall never break faith as long as this contents me.” So that it is said, “More faith-keeping than Abû Ḥanbal.”