The opening prayer or invocation which, according to the custom of Moslem authors, is prefixed to the book, begins with an elaborate series of antitheses, the purport of which is to ask deliverance from the opposite faults of redundancy and poverty of style, and the opposite dangers which arise from the indulgence or hostility of critics. This kind of exordium is always composed with especial pains by a writer who aspires to produce a work of merit; and it has, generally, more than the usual share of the rhe­torical artifices, which are to be met with in Arabic writings. The prayer and preface of Ḥarîri are, perhaps, the most highly elabor­ated part of his work, and have always been esteemed as a model of composition. Having supplicated deliverance both from excess and defect of diction, and from undue favour and undue blame, the author asks to be guarded from ambiguity of expression as much as from actual error; a request not unnecessary in a work which deals so much with the niceties of language, and seeks to exhibit them by plays on words (), by contrasting words that differ only in the diacritical points (), or in the inversion of the order of the letters (), or else by bringing together the widely different meanings that can be borne by various forms of the same root. After this the author prays for the moral qualities which shall assist him in producing an excel­lent work, and one which shall not endanger his position by giving offence to the powerful. The prayer concludes by the due invocation of a blessing upon the Prophet and his House. The Commentator whom I shall continually cite in these notes is Abû ’l ‘Abbâs Aḥmed ibn ‘Abd al Mu’min al Ḳaysî ash Sherîshi, so called from having been born at Xeres in Andalusia. This Commentator observes that the particular form of exordium used by Ḥarîri, with its antithetical clauses, was originated by ‘Amr al Jâhiẓ, in his book called . Sherîshi gives an extract from the preface to this work, to show the closeness of Ḥarîri’s imitation.

Perspicuity—enunciation.—The distinction between bayân and tibyân is that the former is applied to perspicuity of lan­guage, by which the meaning, when conceived by the speaker, is rendered clear to the person addressed; while the latter, as indicated by its form, is applied to the mental process by which ideas are separated and made distinct in the intellect of the speaker, so as to be capable of communication. The one, says the Commentator, is the work of the tongue, the other of the mind. Sherîshi says, “ proceeds from you to another; proceeds from you to yourself.” Thus the Creator may with propriety be supplicated to “teach” the one, which is the mere art of eloquence or perspicuous expression, while he “inspires” the other. The obstacle to is or ob­scurity of expression, which arises, according to Jorjâni (Ta‘rîfât, p. 64, edition of Flügel, Leipsic, 1845), from a fault in the disposition of words, through inversion or elision, or else from the use of words in unusual significations, without due care to prepare the mind of the hearer.

We take refuge with thee.—A common form of deprecation among Moslems derived from the versicles which form the last two chapters of the Koran. “I take refuge with the Lord of Mankind,” and “I take refuge with the Lord of the Dawn.”

Region—domain.— is literally the market street of a town, and , plural of , places marked out for building, as the of Kufa and Basra.

Succour or Divine Guidance.— is defined in the Ta’rîfât of Jorjâni as the power by which God makes the actions of his servants agreeable to his will.

Mistake.— is the turning away or deviation from the right path. Compare Koran iii. 5.

That we may be secure from slanders of the tongue.— Literally, “that we may be free from the cuttings of tongues.” i.e. from what tongues may utter, and, as it were, cut off and heap up against us like reaped corn. In this the author alludes to a traditional expression of Moḥammed. Says Sherîshi, “He refers to the Tradition of Mu‘âth, son of Jebel, who relates, “I said, O Apostle of God, are we punished for what we speak? And he answered, Thy mother be bereft of thee, Mu‘âth; is there anything that will prostrate men on their faces in the fire of hell more than the cuttings of their tongues?” The expression , it may be observed, is a playful one, indicating good will and fondness, rather than enmity, thus resembling or .

Make us not a morsel to the devourer.—One who devours the honour or character of another. Said the Prophet: “When I was lifted up (to heaven in the night-journey) I passed by peo­ple who had nails of brass, with which they tore their faces and breasts. And I said, ‘Who are these, Gabriel?’ He said, ‘These are they who devoured mankind, and assailed their honour.’”

The venture of Hope.—Hope is here compared to the venture or merchandise with which the favour of God is sought.

Approaching thee through the merits.—For the signification of , see Bayḍâwi at Koran v. 39. The epithet of In­tercessor, applied to Moḥammed, seems in opposition to Koran vi. 51 and 69; where it is said that on the Day of Judg­ment, man shall have no Intercessor but God. From the influ­ence of Christian doctrine a character somewhat resembling that of the Messiah came to be attributed by the Moslems to the founder of their religion.

Set the seal to the Prophets, or closed the series of them. The twenty-five principal prophets, of whom Moḥammed is the last and greatest, are Adam, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Ish­mael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Lot, Hûd, Ṣâliḥ, Sho‘ayb, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Job, Thû ’l Kefl, Jonah, Elijah, Joshua, Zacharias, John, Jesus, Moḥammed.

For Hûd, see Koran vii. 63; xi. 52; xxvi. 139: for Ṣâliḥ, vii. 71; xi. 64; xxvi. 142: for Sho‘ayb, who is made the father-in-law of Moses, vii. 83; xi. 85–98, etc.; for Thû ’l Kefl, xxi. 85; xxxviii. 48. These twenty-five are mentioned in the Koran, but many others are acknowledged to have had the gift of prophecy, including the whole line of the Hebrew prophets. On the subject of the Prophets, consult the Traditions of Al Bokhâri, section of “The prophets,” Vol. 2, p. 330, Krehl’s edition. For the prophets who were “endowed with resolution,” see Bayḍâwi on Koran xlvi. 34.

To the highest heaven. — On the word , there is a diversity of opinion. It is variously said to be the place where the works of the good are gathered together; a name of the angels; the seventh Heaven; the right column of the throne of God, and the Lotus-tree of Heaven. The disputa­tions on this subject have arisen from the use of the word, Koran lxxxiii. 18, 19. The book of the just is in ‘Illîyûn. What shall teach thee what is ‘Illîyûn? It is a book marked with letters. Those who approach to God behold it.”

It is the word of a noble envoy.—In this passage Ḥarîri, quoting the Koran, erroneously applies to the Prophet a title which is really given to the Angel Gabriel. The Koran being the word of God revealed to the Prophet by Gabriel, could not be said to be the word of the Prophet: indeed whenever it is quoted, the phrase used is, “The Most High has said.” Thus, though Moḥammed’s chief title is the Envoy or Apostle of God, it must here be taken to apply to Gabriel, as, indeed, is most in accordance with the sense of the passage in the Koran, where the Prophet swears to his fellow-citizens of Mecca that his revela­tions proceed from on high. The passage is in Sura lxxxi. verse 17. Ḥarîri, it is said, being convinced of his mistake, afterwards substituted a verse from the 21st Sura: “We have sent thee only out of mercy to the world,” words which indubitably refer to Moḥammed. As for the phrase in the 81st Sura, Bayḍâwi distinctly declares that it applies to Gabriel, who spoke what he received from God. He also reads rather than .

On his House.—The term is applied, according to some, to his followers, whether relations or not, or to his rela­tions, whether followers or not; according to others, to the people of his religion. Ash Shâfi‘î being asked who were the of the Prophet, answered “all pious persons.” But in a Tradition, in which it is said that the poor-rates are prohibited to him and to his , by this is meant those to whom was appropriated the fifth () of the spoils instead of the poor-rates, and these were the genuine descendants of Hâshim, and Al Muṭṭalib. (Lane): whom also consult respecting the meaning and gram­matical construction of the word. According to Sherîshi there are instances of its prefixion to the pronoun in poetry and eloquent discourse.