Ḳaylah.—This Assembly is called “of Ḳaylah” because, in the course of it, Abû Zayd exclaims, “By Him who made me descend from Ḳaylah.” Ḳaylah is said to have been the ancestress of Ows and Khazraj, who inhabited Yathrib or Medîneh in the time of the Prophet. She was the daughter of Al Arḳam, the Ghassâni, so that when Abû Zayd claims descent from her, he refers himself to the race of Ghassân. Ows and Khazraj, under the leadership of Jith‘, who was disappointed at not succeeding to the princedom of Ghassân, left the main settlement soon after the foundation of the sovereignty, and settled in Hijâz, where they became the Anṣâr of the Prophet.

The rubbing of the fire-shafts, etc.—These metaphors signify that, though there never was wanting intelligence to keep up the conversation, or scholarship to give the answer to any question that might be propounded, yet discussion never pro­duced anger and rude contradiction. “The rubbing of the fire-shafts” is an expression often used to signify the eliciting the spark of genius or learning that may be in a man. The two sticks by which the Arabs produced fire were called—the one , and the other ; the former was made of the wood called , the latter of , these being found the most fitted to pro­duce a spark. The wood called was also used. Compare Prov. Arab. II. 208 and 256. The two are called , but the plural form is used as a singular (Prov. Arab. II. 143).

Best of treasures.—For a full discussion of the form and the use of as a comparative, see Lane’s Lexicon.

Health to you this morning.—An ancient form of salutation, said to have been first addressed to kings. It is often used in the early poets. Imr al Ḳays thus addresses the deserted habi­tation of his mistress (Dîwân, p. 20, l. 1). Compare also Mo‘allaḳah of ‘Antarah, l. 2.

Morning draught.—The copiousness of the Arabic language is exemplified in the terms applied to draughts at the various times of the day. Ḥarîri says in the Durrah (Anthol. Gram. Arabe, p. 27, Arabic Text) that the drink of the morning is called , that of the evening , that of mid-day , that of the night , that at day-break .

The rival had compassion—The envious pitied.— is he who wishes to be in your condition without depriving you of it; is he who wishes to pull you down from it. The former, ambitious emulation, is a venial sin. A Tradition cited by Lane (Book I. p. 698) says that Mohammed was asked, “Does , i.e. the wishing for a blessing, on condition that it shall not become transferred from its possessor, injure him who entertains it?” He replied, “No; save only as the beating off of the leaves injures the tree called ‘iḍâh,” that is, it only diminishes without annul-ing its author’s recompense, like the beating off the leaves without cutting the tree down, for the leaves will grow again. On the other hand, is a great sin, being the first committed against God in heaven, for Iblîs envied Adam; and the first com­mitted on earth, for Ḳâbîl (Cain) envied Hâbîl (Abel) and killed him. The Prophet said, “Have compassion on three—the rich who has become poor; the powerful, who has been abased; and the wise, who is mocked by fools.”

Anointed our eyes.—We were koheled. The or ointment of antimony was applied by women to the lids of their eyes from a very early time; a legend makes Zarḳâ ’l Yemâmeh the first woman who used it. For an account of her and her marvel­lous powers of eyesight, which, according to the story, were attributed by her to the use of koḥl, see Caussin de Perceval, I. 101, and commentary to Fiftieth Assembly; also Prov. Arab. I. 192, “More keen-sighted than Zarḳâ ’l Yemâmeh.” The term is here used to express the dull look which sleeplessness would give to the eyes.

Came to forget our saddles: being reduced to go on foot. Thus Abû Zayd, in the character of an old woman, in the Thir­teenth Assembly, says, “That on which I carry is now my back after being my beast.”

How noble.—The metre of these verses is , which is often used in improvised compositions, being the most simple and unconstrained form of metrical rhythm. Yet there is none which has so much engaged the attention of prosodists, and given rise to so many discussions. In early times there was no such thing as a regular poem, but verses were uttered by each according to his need, to express his feelings of anger, resent­ment, joy, or surprise. A great number of these versicles have been handed down, and whether we look upon them as having been spoken by those to whom they are attributed, or composed by early reciters and story-tellers, they undoubtedly represent the oldest form of Arab metrical composition. The chief feature of these was a continuous rhyme; for though the verse was commonly made up of a simple metrical foot of the normal form , this does not seem to have been originally essential to the style. The records of the Ignorance have preserved a number of metrical rhymed verses of a simpler structure than those of the poets who, in the age preceding Moḥammed, brought Arabic poetry to its perfection. The peculiarity which distinguishes this rejez from other metres is that in its original form it was apparently not divided into two hemistiches. For this reason Al Khalîl ibn Aḥmed would not allow it to be verse, and the Arabic writers always make a distinction between and . But although they insist on this difference, they have endeavoured to bring the under the same metrical laws as other kinds of verse, and various ingenious theories have been propounded to account for its peculiar structure. According to the accepted system, is the second metre of the third circle, or , which is formed by the primitive foot , thrice repeated, and the normal measure of the is , twice. This measure has been used by the poets, but is probably only a development of the simpler form. The measure of the lines in this Assembly is , that is, one half of the verse is thrown away, so that though the verses are rhymed there is properly no and no . For the diversities of opinion on the subject see Freytag’s Darstellung der Arabischen Verskunst p. 234. The last foot of the verse is declared by one writer to be an , and by another a ; but the most reasonable explanation is that the original form of the is simply an indivisible verse, consisting of twice or thrice repeated.

Of the , there enter into this metre and , which have been already explained, so that may drop either the , or the , or both together. Hence the extreme simplicity of the verse, and its fitness for improvised and inarti­ficial addresses. The name signifies a weak, trembling metre, and is derived from the effect produced on the hearer by a series of short lines with a number of short syllables and a con­tinuous rhyme. is the she-camel afflicted with a disease which makes her haunches tremble.

Perfected by it.—The meaning of is it suffered loss or diminution, and is, it became complete, and in a right state, lit. “it demanded loss or diminution,” because these some­times follow completeness. Or it may be that is a substi­tute for , the meaning being . Lane.

How many a full moon.—A person in authority, called so from his loftiness and splendour. is applied to various sums of money; some say ten thousand dirhems, some seven thousand denars. It is here used to signify a large sum of money, such as would bribe a man in power, and make him des­cend from his high state to fulfil the seeker’s desire.

By the truth of the Lord: the necessary existence by His own essence.

His fear.— signifies fear of God, by which one guards one’s self from sin, and from punishment in the world to come. Compare Ta‘rîfât, p. 68; also Bayḍâwi, on word , at begin­ning of the Second Sura.