Ma‘arrat an No‘mân, or No‘mân’s Bane, is the name of a town in the north of Syria, formerly called Thât al Ḳoṣûr. It received its new name from No‘mân ibn Beshîr, one of the Companions (of the Prophet) and governor of Ḥimṣ (Emesa), after he had lost a son there. In its neighbourhood were the tombs of ‘Omar, son of ‘Abd al ‘Azîz, and of Seth, son of Adam. It is celebrated as the dwelling-place of the poet Abû ’l ‘Ala.

The two excellencies.—Various interpretations of this phrase are given, but it is generally taken to mean appetite or relish for food, and sexual desire.

The ben tree.—This tree, which produces the ben nut and oil, is of erect and shapely growth, with long, delicate branches, and is used by the poets as a similitude for the stature of youths and maidens. Imr al Ḳays describes his mistress Hirr, “White, beautiful, tender, like a shoot of the ben tree breaking into leaf.” Dîwân, p. 43.

Smooth of cheek.— is the cheek or part extending from the circuit of the eye to the part where the beard grows; it is used also to signify the side planks of the litter, and the side of a tract of high and rugged ground. (Lane). Hence, it may possibly be applied here to the side or length of the needle. But it is perhaps better to suppose that is a maṣdar with the meaning to mark or furrow, and the sense as regards the needle will then be smooth and even as to the furrows which it makes. Or may be a noun signifying, like , the furrow itself. Bayḍâwi, Koran lxxxv. 4.

Patient to labour.— has not the feminine form, because it is fa‘ûl with the meaning fâ‘il; for fa‘ûl only takes the hâ when it has the meaning of mef‘ûl, like applied to a she-camel, or to a ewe. “Abû Moḥammed accuses the higher classes in Irak of speaking incorrectly when they say or , for the epithets of intensity are changed from their natural form to indicate the peculiar sense in which they are used; and applied to a female has a masculine form, as and applied to a man have a female form.” Sherîshi. This is, I con­ceive, a better explanation than that of De Sacy, who says, “Il semble que dans ce cas le ajoutè à la fin de ces adjectifs verbaux soit destinè à les transformer en des noms d’ individualité; en sorte que signifieroit proprement un savant unique en son genre.”

July.—. The use of the Syrian months appears to have been common among the Moslems of Irak, no doubt be­cause they were more in accordance with the seasons. Moḥam-med having abolished the or ancient Arab intercalation shortly before his death, the Moslem year is hopelessly unfitted for practical life. For an account of this intercalation see Mémoire sur l’ Histoire des Arabes avant Mahomet, par M. Sylvestre de Sacy, extracted from the Mémoires de l’ Académie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, vols. 47 and 48.

Understanding and discretion.— as applied to the girl is a noun with the meaning understanding; applied to the needle it is a maṣdar meaning to hold fast. “rein” applies to the discretion with which she could “rein” her caprices, and to the long “rein” or string which the needle draws through the cloth.

A hand with fingers.—The meaning of , as applied to the needle, is to hem the border of anything after it has been basted, or . Sherîshi says and are two well-known processes in tailoring; the latter appears to mean the quilting of a garment by sewing between it and the lining a layer of cotton.

Pique as with tongue of snake.—As applied to the girl this probably means that she was witty or satirical; as applied to the needle it simply relates to the pricking of the sewer’s fingers by its point.

She was displayed in blackness and whiteness.—This refers to the contrast of her black hair and eyebrows with the white of her skin. In the Second Assembly it is said of a maiden, “Night lowered on the morn,” meaning that her black hair drooped over her shoulders. Or it may refer to the contrast between the black and white of the eye, which when very marked was esteemed a great beauty by the Arabs. Such a contrast is expressed by the word , which means “intense whiteness of the white of the eye, and intense blackness of the black thereof, with intense whiteness or fairness of the rest of the person.” Lane. houri is a maiden possessing this quality. In the Tenth Assembly it is said, “Swear by Him who has adorned eyes with ,” i.e. contrasted blackness and whiteness.

She drank (or was watered) but not from cisterns.—It is difficult to discover any meaning in these words as applied to the slave girl. As applied to the needle, the words mean either that it is bedewed with the perspiration of the sewer’s brow or hand, or that when the cutler fashioned it he threw it red-hot into water to temper it.

Now truth-telling, now beguiling; now hiding, now peeping forth.—By the description that follows the author desires to express the archness and coquetry of the girl, as well as her habitual goodness and obedience to her master. As referring to the needle is a synonym of , he sewed; means “to double or fold one part of a garment or piece of cloth on another.” The other plays on words will be sufficiently intelli­gible from the double translation given in the text.

Forced on her too hard a work—returned her to me broken in health.—. SeeLane sub voce .

A compensation.—For the special names applicable to various forms of payment, see the commentary on the Seventh As­sembly, p. 79 of De Sacy’s Ḥarîri.

More truthful than the Ḳaṭa.—The Ḳaṭa is a bird about the size of a pigeon, which flies in flocks, and utters but one sound, Ḳaṭa, Ḳaṭa, whence its name. The proverb, More truthful than the Ḳaṭa, is derived, according to Maydâni (Arab. Prov. I. 741), from its constant repetition of one and the same cry, which tells its name. He cites a verse of the poet Nâbighah to the effect that if one asks the Ḳaṭa its name, it replies Ḳaṭa! and is there­fore a truthful bird. Another explanation is that the Ḳaṭa is never found save where there is good pasturage and water, so that the sight of the bird is an unerring indication to the travel­ler in the desert that he is near what he seeks. The former opinion is supported by several verses from the poets. Komayt says, “Speak not falsely, for the Ḳaṭa speaks truly; though each man, in pedigree, arrogates what does not belong to him.” For the latter opinion the authority of Al Asma‘î is given. The sureness of the Ḳaṭa in finding its way back to its nest after long flights is alluded to in the beginning of the Twenty-third As­sembly: “I crossed rocky places, to which the Ḳaṭa would not find its way.” The poet Ash Shanfara, in the celebrated ḳaṣîdeh, called Lâmîyet al ‘Arab, boasting of his speed of foot, says, “The ash-coloured Ḳaṭa, though it fly to the water all the night, while its (wing-beaten) sides resound, does but get my leavings.” In the notes to this passage, given in De Sacy’s Chrestomathie, a long account of the Ḳaṭa may be found. See also “Chalef elahmar’s Qasside,” by W. Ahlwardt, Greifswald, 1859, p. 183, where the subject would seem to be exhausted.

Of equal birth as regards either kin.—That is, whose father and mother were both of pure Arab blood, and whose birth was consequently most honourable. One who was the son of a free­born Arab and a slave mother was called . As applied to the pencil, the meaning is that the pencil could be used at either end to place the koḥl on the eye.

Tracing his lineage to Al Ḳayn.—Ḳayn was a branch of the Benû Asad. The Commentator tells us that Belḳayn is a con­traction of Benû ’l Ḳayn, like Belḥârith and Belhojaym. As applied to the pencil Ḳayn signifies a blacksmith or cutler. The word , “a smith,” Syriac , is related to the Hebrew or , “to beat,” hence to hammer iron. The word , in Arabic, signifies a singing or playing female slave; the deriva­tion of which, according to Abû ’l Faraj, is that “the daughters of Cain first made musical instruments and sang to them; whence, in the Syriac tongue, a song is called , with kesreh, while the Arabs called the singing girl , with fetḥah (Gese-nius). The plays on words which follow are sufficiently ex­plained by the two translations in the text.