One who is at home in it.—Literally, “the son of its root, or foundation,” that is, one well acquainted with its essence and reality: a common expression equivalent to the foregoing.

As God hath commanded.—It is said in the Koran, xxxiii. 53, “When ye are invited, enter.”

The ark of Moses, mentioned at Koran xx. 39. The ark of the covenant is also called , Koran ii. 249, and is said by Bayḍâwi to have been in size three cubits by two. The word may thus be a figure for any very small dwelling. is used in Arabic for a coffin, or the wooden case placed over a grave; as was applied to the large coffin or hearse in which chiefs were taken for burial: see Commentary on Mo‘allaḳah of Ṭarafeh, line 12. The identity of these words with the words used in the Bible, the one to designate the ark of Noah and the ark in which Moses was exposed, and the other the ark of the covenant, need only be pointed out.

Weaker than a spider’s web; or house.—This is also an allusion to the Koran. In the Sura called the Spider it is said that those who choose any protector but God are like the spider when she makes her house; for “the weakest of houses is the house of the spider.” It has been objected to Ḥarîri, that whereas God has said, “the weakest of houses is the house of the spider;” he speaks in this Assembly of a house weaker than that of a spider, thus contradicting the sacred text. But it is observed in his justification that an exaggeration in similitudes is not to be taken literally, and that the sin would consist in believing and asserting as a positive truth that a house could really be weaker than the house of a spider.

The proud rider on the desired steed, etc.—These are enigmatic phrases signifying dates and cream. The rich-coloured dates were laid upon the cream and the two were sold in the markets; thus the dates might be called the rider and the cream the steed. Similarly, the cream by itself would be hurtful to the stomach, but the dates corrected this fault, so one is called the wholesome and the other the hurtful companion. This kind of language, as applied to various kinds of food, was called Ṭofaylî, a word derived from a celebrated dinner hunter named Ṭofayl, of whom an account will be given in the notes to the next Assembly. In the Nineteenth Assembly a number of Ṭofayli bye-names, , are introduced.

The free-born woman hungers, but will not eat by her breasts. —This is a proverb directed against the practising of any ignoble art for gain. The free-born woman will rather starve than accept the occupation of a nurse, which belongs to slave women. This appears to have been a very ancient saying, for it is said to have been addressed proverbially by Al Ḥârith ibn Sulayk the Asadi to his wife Zebbâ. Ḥârith was advanced in years when he sought her in marriage of her father, ‘Alḳamat ibn Kha-ṭafah. The maiden disliked the marriage, but was persuaded by her mother; Ḥârith giving 150 camels, a slave, and a thousand dirhems. Some time after, as a young man of the Benû Asad passed by, Zebbâ sighed deeply, and her husband asked the reason. “What have I to do with old men?” she replied. Ḥârith then in his anger addressed her with this proverb, by which he meant seemingly that she would better have consulted her honour by bearing her lot uncomplainingly. He, however, repudiated her, and sent her back to her family. Arab. Prov. I. 211. Sherîshi gives the dialogue between mother and daughter, and make Zebbâ’s reply to her husband to be ; he also says that the occasion of her sighing was her beholding a num­ber of the youths of Asad wrestling.

Forbidden the eating of usury.—It is said (Koran ii. 276,) “They who eat (devour the produce of) usury shall not rise save as he rises whom the devil prostrates by touching (or possessing him.”) Compare iii. 125: “Eat not usury, doubling and doubling the sum.” Compare also xxx. 38.

Press host on host.—A hyperbolical phrase quoted from a poet, and signifying here, “Mix them together.”

The voracious elephant.—“More voracious than the elephant” is a proverbial phrase. Arab. Prov. I. 133.

Say to him.—The metre of the answer to the puzzle, as well as of the puzzle itself, is khafîf, already described in the notes to the Tenth Assembly. In the second line Sherîshi reads . His observations are reproduced in the notes to De Sacy’s edition.

The van of the darkness.— is a part, or the first part of the night; or the darkness of the night. In Ḥamâseh, p. 595, Ar. Text, it may have the last meaning. “She is like the full moon that is in the midst of the darkness of a cold night.”

The thunder is lauding God in the cloud.—Koran xiii. 14. This passage gives the name of “Thunder” to the Sura.

The dogs barked after me.—Ḥarîri, in the Durrah, (Anthologie Gram. Arabe, p. 39, Texte Arabe), observes that governs an accusative immediately, and that it is a vulgarism to follow it by .

Its white hand.—“White hand” is used idiomatically to express an unasked or ungrudged favour, as “a black hand” expresses niggardliness; it also means some great action which cannot be rivalled, so that it is said, “He has a white hand in this matter;” that is, “he is most able in it.” A third signifi­cation is an argument, or a clearly demonstrated proof. These various meanings seem to have arisen from the passage in the Koran, vii. 105, where it is said that Moses, before Pharaoh, drew forth his hand from his bosom, and it was white to the eyes of those who looked on it. The Moslems do not, like the Jews, interpret this as smitten with leprosy, Exodus iv. 6; but as a gift of supernatural beauty, the former colour of it having been brown or red. The “hand of Moses” became symbolical of power and ability.

The first of the morning dawned.—Literally the nose of the morning sneezed.

The caller of Blessing is the muezzin who cries . There is here an allusion to the practice of wishing people the mercy of God when they sneeze, . For a mention of this usage see Twenty-second Assembly.

Hospitality is three days.—This is a very celebrated Tradition, although by it the hospitable practices of the Ignorance were only confirmed. “The entertainment of a guest is three days, and the viaticum, , is a day and a night, and what exceeds this is alms.” The Tradition is thus explained in Lane, Book I. p. 486. “The period of the entertainment of a guest is three days, during the first of which the host shall take trouble to show him large kindness and courtesy, and on the second and third of which he shall offer him what he has at hand, not exceeding his usual custom; then he shall give him that wherewith to journey for the space of a day and a night, and what is after that shall be as an alms, and an act of favour, which he may do if he please, or neglect if he please.”

Visit him thou lovest.—Similar counsels are to be met with continually in the poets. For the proverb, “Visit (only) at intervals; thou shalt increase friendship,” see Ar. Prov. I. 587.