Sâweh is a town between Rayy and Hamadân, at a distance of twenty-two parasangs from the former.

By visiting the tombs.—Said the Prophet, “Visiting the tombs makes men self-denying in this world and mindful of the next.” An authoritative Tradition of Anas says, “Said the Prophet of God, ‘I forbade you once to visit the tombs; but visit them, for they soften the heart, and fill the eye with tears, and bring to mind the next world.’” This is the Tradition referred to in the text. A man said to ‘Âyisheh, “Mother of the Faithful, I have a disease; hast thou a remedy for it?” She said, “What is thy disease?” He said, “Hardness of heart.” She said, “A bad disease is thine; but visit the sick, and attend funerals, and keep in mind death.” It was said to ‘Ali, “Why dost thou dwell near the burying-ground?” He said, “I find them good neighbours, and truthful; they restrain their tongues, and yet they speak of the next world.” ‘Omar ibn ‘Abd al ‘Azîz is related to have visited the tombs of his predecessors of the House of Omayyeh and moralized on their being brought thus low. ‘Omar ibn al Khaṭṭâb (the Khalif) related, “We went forth with the Prophet and he took seat at a grave, and I was the nearest of the people to him; and he wept, upon which we wept also. He said, ‘What makes you weep?’ We said, ‘Because thou weepest.’ He said, ‘This is the grave of my mother Âmineh; I asked leave of my Lord to visit her and he permitted me: then I asked leave that I might pray forgiveness for her and he refused me: and I feel the pity of a son.’” ‘Othmân wept when he stood by a tomb.

A corpse; literally, one enshrouded or gathered up in his grave clothes. is a bier when the corpse is on it; other­wise it is or .

Sepulchred the dead.—It would be more accurate to say niched, for is the niche or compartment in the side of the grave where the corpse is placed in a sitting posture. On the subject of funerals there is much interesting information in the Kitâb al janâ’iz in the first volume of Al Bokhâri.

Leaning on a staff.—Holding it in his hand as a , and leaning on it. For this word, see Lane. A staff was the com­mon symbol of dignity carried by a preacher, and was intro­duced early in Islam when it was defended by the precedent of Moses, who carried a staff.

Let those who work, etc.—Koran xxxvii. 59. “Truly this is a mighty gain: let each that works work for the like of this.” These words, which refer to the happiness of the next world, are taken by Abû Zayd as a sort of text.

As ye laughed not…as ye walked not.—These are manṣûb on the maṣdar. See note to Fourth Assembly on words an earliness beyond the earliness of the crow.

Gifts, usually applied to the present which a poet receives from a prince. (De Sacy’s Ḥarîri, p. 79). For the occurrence to which the origin of the word is attributed, see Lane, Book I. p. 485. The more probable explanation is that it was originally the supply of water or provision with which a man passed from one place to another in the desert; it then came to mean a supply of provision, such as a host gave to a traveller for his journey after having entertained him. Lastly, it was applied generally to a voluntary present or largess.

The preparing of banquets.—Naṣîf al Yazaji, in his Critical Epistle, finds fault with De Sacy for explaining by . He proceeds to mention the various names of entertainments among the Arabs, as follows:—If it be a feast at child-birth, it is called ; if it be for (the first shaving of) the child, it is called ; if at circumcision, ; if on the day that the child finishes the learning of the Koran, it is called ; if on occasion of an offer of marriage, it is ; if at a wedding, ; if on the finishing of a house, ; if on return from a journey, ; if at beginning the month of Rejeb, ; if for a guest, ; if for any other cause, . It is im­possible to deny the critic’s learning, and that De Sacy uses a word that is not synonymous.

Again no: surely ye shall learn.—Koran cii. 4.

O thou who claimest understanding.—These verses are of the metre , which belongs, like rejez and reml, to the third circle; the normal measure is three times in each hemistich; but this is seldom used, the ordinary measure being the repetition of the foot twice in each hemistich, as here. Of the , there enter into this measure and . The peculiarity of the poem in the text is that the metre is what is called . The meaning of this word is strung as beads, and it is used to denote that a certain constant rhyme recurs throughout, as an emerald or a piece of gold recurs at regular intervals among the beads of a chaplet. There are various kinds of the verses called musammaṭât, and they may be composed of lines of any metre, but they present always the same feature of a continuous rhyme running through the poem. It is, in fact, the variation and lightening of the ancient monotonous, one-rhymed ḳaṣîdeh of the Arabs by the introduction of the stanza, a change to which parallels may be found in other litera­tures. The stanzas in the text are made up of two verses of hezej, of which the three first hemistiches rhyme together, and the fourth has the recurring rhyme. In analogy with ordinary versification the rhyme of the first triplet is iden­tical with the recurring rhyme; the other triplets have each its independent rhyme. Many varieties of musammaṭât are to be found, sometimes the hemistiches having the varying rhyme are in fours or fives; sometimes, it is said, the number changes in the same poem. The recurring rhyme is called , the prop of the poem. In Freytag’s Darstel-lung der Arabischen Verskunst, page 406, a specimen is given of one of these compositions, into which verses of an ancient poem of the Ḥamâseh have been introduced. At a later period the fancy of the Arabs for variations of metre produced the elaborate poems called , in which the poets of Andalusia excelled. In these compositions the strangest liberties are taken with the old versification; as, for instance, the giving one rhyme to the first hemistiches of a series of verses, while the second hemistiches have a different rhyme; the mingling of various metres, or various forms of the same metre, in the poem; the rhyme of the opening verses recurring, like a refrain, at intervals throughout the poem. Abû Bekr Yaḥya ibn ‘Abd ar Raḥmân, who lived in the sixth century of the Hijra, was highly esteemed for these compositions. Seven of the most celebrated of them, , have been published, together with some modern imitations, by the American missionaries at Beyrout. For a survey of these and other metrical eccentri­cities, the student is referred to Freytag’s Darstellung. A specimen of Musammaṭât is to be found in the Huthalî Dîwân. They are by Jenûb, the sister of ‘Amr thû ’l kelb. Fâris Shid-yaḳ says that they should be read with the ḳâfiyeh muḳîdeh. Aventures de Fariac, p. 13 of Theneb al kitâb.

Ṣirâṭ.—This word signifies originally a way or path, and is used in this sense in Koran i. 5. Its special signification as the path over which men must pass after death,—a path like a bridge, as narrow as a hair and as sharp as a sword—is derived from a Tradition of Moḥammed, “On the day of resurrec­tion the people shall be sent over the Path, and they shall be scattered off it like moths into the fire, but God shall save whom he will.” Compare Koran ci. 3. Khadîjeh, and one or two others will be excused this perilous trial. On the form of the word there is a difference of opinion. Accord­ing to Bayḍâwi, on Koran i., the primitive form is , from , he swallowed, since the road or way may be said to swallow, or devour, those who walk in it; analogous to which is . But the is changed into , that it may correspond with the which is of the letters called ; that is of the letters formed by bringing the tongue in contact with the roof of the mouth. These letters are four in number—, and . (See his commentary on , at the beginning of the second Sura). By this the pronunciation was rendered more easy. But in order that the original may not be too far departed from, the sound of the is sometimes turned slightly () to the sound of , which is between those of and . But is according to the dialect of Ḳoraysh, and is the authoritative reading. On the interchangeability of and , see De Sacy’s Chrest. Arabe. vol. II., p. 230; Bayḍâwi on word , at xxxi. 19; also Forty-sixth Assembly.

Plume him whose plumage hath fallen.—Compare Forty-first Assembly: “Plume the wing of the noble if his fortune have stripped it.”

The garb of impudence.—The word in the text is specially applied to the dress in which a slave is exposed for sale. For “strong of sinew,” or “strongly braced,” see Koran lxxvi. 28.

How many, Abû Zayd?—A pretty effect is produced by making Ḥârith address the impostor in verses like his own, and Abû Zayd reply in the same manner.