Advancing one foot, drawing back the other.—A proverbial expression denoting indecision, like the one following, “I blow (as a wind) and am calm.”

The Wolf’s disease is a name for hunger, because the wolf is ravenous for his prey, or because he bears hunger longer than any other beast. It is a curse on an enemy to say, “God strike him with the wolf’s disease!”

Thy disorder.— is a fit or paroxysm, either from fever or from mental excitement, or from the effects of inspiration, which last kind is known to have affected the Prophet. It is here ap­plied to the passion or anguish of the stranger.

Its blotting out.—I have translated according to Sherîshi, who renders the word by . Another interpretation is “the perishing of science and its schools.”

What question, or proposition.— is defined in the Ta‘rîfât as something said of which it can be predicated that it is true or false.

The chiefs of the schools.—Literally, the mountain peaks. is a peak or a ridge of desert mountain, such as serves as a guide to the travellers for a great distance. He means that he had consulted those who were men of great reputation, who were looked up to as guides by all who trod the paths of learning.

Worn-out way-marks.—This second signifies originally the marks in the desert by which the way was known. In early times, or in newly-explored parts, they consisted only of the hoof-prints and the dung of the camels, and men sometimes found their way by the smell of the track. Thus of Ḥonayf al Ḥanâtim, a man of Taym Allât ibn Tha‘labeh, it is related that, having been carried off by Jinn in the region called Wabâr which is inhabited by Jinn, he found his way back, though blind, by the smell of the track, so that it is said proverbially, A better path­finder than Ḥonayf al Ḥanâtim. A negro slave called Do‘aymiṣ of the Sands, is said to have had the same power. Arab. Prov. I. 492. For the fate of the latter, see Freytag’s Lexicon, sub voce. When a way was frequented they put up stones as guides for travellers, and these received different names according to their size. One of small size was called , one larger , one larger still , one larger still , or , the general name being . (Hamâseh, vol. II. pars prior, p. 279). Thus to express that a thing was obscure and unintelligible it was said that its track-marks or road signs were razed out or taken away.

The doctors of the ink-flasks.— is a learned man of the Jews, or of some religion other than Islam, but it is here used generally to signify one skilful in law.

Oft a shot is without a shooter.—Oft he who knows not how to aim strikes the mark by chance. The meaning is, “Though the doctors have been unable to explain this puzzle, yet you may succeed by chance.” The origin of this proverb is thus related: The first who used these words was Al Ḥakam ibn ‘Abd Yaghûth the Manḳarî, who was the best archer of his time; and the reason of it was that he had vowed to sacrifice an antelope on the Ghabghab, and hunted for days but could strike nothing. Having returned bootless, he went forth to his people and said, “What do ye? for I am about to kill myself, if I cannot get a beast to sacrifice.” Then said to him his brother Al Ḥosayn ibn ‘Abd Yaghûth, “Slay in the place of it ten camels, but do not kill thy­self.” He answered, “No, by Allât (or Al Lât) and Al ‘Ozza I will not harm the stumbler and leave the runaway;” meaning that he would not substitute a domestic beast of burden for a wild animal. Then said to him his son Al Moṭ‘im ibn Al Ḥakam, “Father, take me with thee, and I will help thee.” He answered, “I will not take with me a weakly trembler.” But his son constrained him, and they set out, and soon they met with an antelope, and Al Ḥakam shot and missed; then there came by another, and Al Ḥakam missed again. Then said his son to him, “Father, give me the bow.” When, then, a third came by, the boy shot and killed her. Then said his father, “Oft a shot is without a shooter,” which became proverbial. The foregoing legend is remarkable for its connection with the idol-worship of the Ignorance. The father of Al Ḥakam is ‘Abd al Yaghûth, or the servant of Yaghûth, who is one of the false gods mentioned in the Sura, called Noah, lxxi. 22: “They said Abandon not your deities; abandon not , and ; and , and , and .” Bayḍâwi says in his commentary that these were pious men living between the days of Adam and Noah, who were afterwards worshipped, and that Yaghûth was the idol of the tribe of . Its worship was first celebrated at Akameh in Yemen, and afterwards at Najrân. Allât and Al ‘Ozza, by whom the hunter swears, were goddesses. The former appears to have been one of the most ancient deities, for it is reasonable to conclude that it is to her that Herodotus refers, <Greek>; and not as Pocock (Specimen, p. 110) says, to , deities in general, since Herodotus is evidently speaking of a single definite goddess. The teshdîd in would to a Greek ear be exactly like the introduction of another syllable. In Koran liii. 19, , and are mentioned together. It is said that Allât was a goddess of Thaḳîf and Ḳoraysh. She had a temple at , where the worshippers made a circuit as round the Ka‘beh: Mohammed sent Abû Sofyân ibn Ḥarb and Al Moghayrat ibn Sho‘beh to destroy it. Al ‘Ozza was very widely worshipped. An image of her made of the tree called be­longing to Ghaṭafân was destroyed by Khâlid ibn Al Welîd, by command of the Prophet. On the subject of these and other idols consult Freytag’s Einleitung, and Pocock’s Specimen. With regard to the word , it is said in the commentary to the Ḥamâseh, p. 486, Arab. text: “They (the Arabs) made use of a stone to sacrifice upon, and called it , or , with the ‘Ain or Ghain.” Some verses are then quoted which speak of the of Al ‘Ozza. It is also explained, but I think erroneously, as the name of an idol.

A man died, etc.—Sherîshi says that the composer of the puzzle speaks of a brother because a stranger cannot inherit; and of a Moslem, because people of a different religion cannot have mutual rights of inheritance; and describes him as free, because a slave cannot inherit from the free man; and he adds, “I could not find any of our Shaykhs who was aware why the word ‘pious’ was introduced, until Abû ’l ‘Abbâs Al Layti informed me that there was a subtle meaning in it, since he who has killed anyone wilfully loses his right of inheritance.” Ḥarîri, by men­tioning these conditions as fulfilled, means to say that there was no legal obstacle to the brother’s inheriting.

Her legal share.— is applied to a law which is positively ordained in the Koran: a law that rests on the Traditions of the Prophet is called . In Koran iv. 14, the share of the widow is fixed at one-fourth of the property of her deceased husband, if he leaves no children; but if he leaves children she receives only an eighth. In the answer to the puzzle it is mentioned that the widow in this case received an eighth, because her deceased husband left a grandson.

An ordinance of law.— is a standard maxim or principle of law which is universally accepted, and which admits of no doubt. It is applied to those propositions of the Koran of the meaning of which there is no dispute. It is defined in the Ta‘rîfât as that which admits of only one meaning, or which does not admit of ; that is, which does not require expound­ing, or admit of figurative interpretation, because it is not dubious. , signifying to set up a thing as a standard is set up, or as a bride is raised on a seat of honour, is no doubt akin to the Hebrew , signifying something set up; as a banner or ensign on a high hill, Isaiah xiii. 2; xxx. 17; or as the pole on which the brazen serpent was placed, Numbers xxi. 8, 9. The metre of these verses is khafîf.

Thou hast fallen on one who is knowing in it.—This pro­verbial expression is attributed to Mâlik ibn Jobayr, who was one of the Khalif ‘Omar’s generals, or else to another Mâlik, the son of Jana, who was among the sages of the Arabs. Ac­cording to Arab. Prov. II. 109, where he is made the son of Jobayr, he made use of this phrase when some one questioned him as to who was the first man “for whom the staff was struck;” that is, whose garrulity and wandering in old age were checked by his son’s striking, at his request, a staff on the ground. Mâlik, who was learned in the traditions of the Arabs, said, “Thou hast fallen upon one who is knowing in it,” which be­came proverbial. For “striking the staff” see Forty-ninth Assembly, p. 655, De Sacy’s edition; Arab. Prov. II. 543, and I. 55. It is also said that the poet Farazdaḳ made use of this expression when he met Ḥosayn, son of ‘Ali, who was journey­ing to Irak, while the poet was journeying to Ḥijâz. Ḥosayn asked him what was the disposition of the people of Kufa, and Farazdaḳ answered, “Thou hast fallen on one who is knowing in it; the hearts of the people are with thee, but their swords are with the Benû Omayyeh.”