Replacing, consuming.—This is said of a powerful and generous person, with the meaning that he replaces by forays on his enemies the wealth which he lavishes in largesses to his friends. A poet says “Replace and consume; wealth is but a loan.” The Arabs say to him who has put on a new garment, “Wear out, and replace, and praise the Clother,” meaning God (Lane’s Lexicon, at ). The metre of the verses is khafîf. See Tenth Assembly.

The chaplets of his honour are self-strung; that is, his achieve­ments inspire the poet’s verses, and, as it were, string them into a composition without labour on the poet’s part.

Makes gain by beguiling him; that is, gains so much that he may be said to cheat his patron. In the next set of verses is used in a good sense.

And therefore is he loved.—Metre kâmil.

The hero of the time.—For an explanation of the word see commentary on a verse of Ta’abbaṭa Sherran, in Ḥamâseh, p. 33. It may be rendered temporis admissarius, having a signification like . Compare at beginning of 49th.

Contends in honour.—The munâfarah or trial of superiority in birth or rank has been described in a former note.

Prepares fatigue for him who shall rule after him.—His merits are such that his successor must exert himself greatly to escape disparagement in comparison with him. In the Thirty-seventh Assembly the author says, “His clemency brings contempt on those who have gone before, and his justice fatigues those who come after.” The editors of the second edition of De Sacy’s Ḥarîri have printed this line in the commentary to the 26th with great inaccuracy; thus , which is not Arabic. Such carelessness is the more inexcusable as the line is given correctly by De Sacy in the text of the 37th. They commit a similar error at Vol. I. pp. 279 and 348, and in other places.

May he never become void.—The verses are of the second ‘arûḍ of the rejez, each hemistich containing twice.

Ḳoss.—The orator whose name is generally opposed to Bâḳil is Saḥbân; it is noticed by Sherîshi that the rule of the present composition forbids the mention of him, since it requires that the alternate letters should be pointed. Ḳoss, bishop of Najrân in Yemen, is one of the examples of eloquence among the Arabs. Christianity was professed in that city by the Benû ’l Ḥârith ibn Ka‘b, and Ḳoss ibn Sâ‘idet al Îyâdî flourished as a preacher in the early days of Moḥammed. Various innovations are attributed to him, as that he was the first who preached from an eminence, as a pulpit; and the first who in preaching leaned on a sword or staff; he was also the first who used the phrase ; the first who inscribed letters with the formula, “From Such-a-one to Such-a-one;” the first who asserted the Resurrection, though without having a certain knowledge of it (inasmuch as Islam had not been preached); and the first who established the legal principle that it is incumbent on the plaintiff who demands a debt to produce proofs, and on the defendant to deny by oath. From these traditions it would seem that he was a man of ability and education, and exercised much influence on his contemporaries. The Prophet, before he received his mission, met Ḳoss at the fair of ‘Okâẓ, and heard him preach. In the year before Moḥammed’s death deputies of the Benû Îyâd came to Medina, and the Prophet asked them concerning Ḳoss. They replied that he was dead. Moḥammed then said that he had heard him preach at ‘Okâẓ, and one of the deputies repeated a khoṭbah of the bishop in rhymed prose and verse. It is said proverbially, “More eloquent than Ḳoss” (Arab. Prov. I. 189).

Come off with the reward.—Perhaps it would be better to read “rise,” as in the 12th, “He rose up with that by which to mend his poverty,” since is always used in the Koran in a bad sense, as “They returned with anger from God,” ii. 58; “I would rather that thou return laden with my guilt (or the guilt of killing me) and thy guilt,” Abel to Cain, v. 32.

A few years.—This expression is used at Koran xii. 42, “He (Joseph) remained in the prison some (or a few) years.” The word is generally interpreted to mean a number more than two and less than ten. Compare Bayḍâwi on and at Koran xxvii. 49; also Ḥarîri in the Durrah, Anthol. Gramm. Arabe, p. 41, Arab. Text.

Praise to God.—The naṣb of as a maṣdar after an elided verb is the fundamental phrase. For the reason of the raf‘ see Bayḍâwi, Koran i. 1.

Cool of eye; a common expression for content and tranquillity. According to Al Aṣma‘î the expression “God cool thine eye” signifies “God make thy tears cool;” since, as he asserts, the tears of joy are cool, while those of grief are hot. Abû ‘Amr ash Shaybâni says that its meaning is “God give thee sleep that thou may not heat thine eye in watching;” commentary to Mo‘allaḳah of ‘Amr ibn Kulthûm, v. 11. In the Twenty-seventh Assembly it is said of a scorching noon that it was “hotter than a childless mother’s tear.”