I was making towards.—The texts from which derives its technical meaning of an ablution with sand are Koran iv. 46 and v. 9, which may be rendered, “Have recourse to, or make towards, good sand or earth.”

Mayyâfâriḳîn is a town of Diyâr Bekr, thirty parasangs from Naṣîbîn. On account of its length the adjective formed from it is Fâriḳî.

Who blows on knots, i.e. a magician. This phrase is derived from the Sûrat al Falaḳ, at the end of the Koran. “I seek a refuge with God from the malice of women who blow on knots.” Bayḍâwi explains it as follows:—“The malice of women who are enchantresses, and who tie knots in strings, and blow on them as an enchantment. is a blowing such that spittle comes from the mouth. It is said that a Jew enchanted the Prophet with eleven knots in a cord, and hid it in a well; the Prophet became sick, and the (the Suras and , which have eleven verses between them), descended from Heaven, and Gabriel informed the Prophet of the place where the enchantment was hidden. The Prophet thereupon sent ‘Ali, who brought the cord, and the Prophet repeated over it the two chapters; at each verse that he repeated a knot was unloosed, and when the whole were unloosed he was relieved.” Hence, the meaning of Ḥarîri may be that Abû Zayd had in his bearing the malicious cunning of a wizard. Bayḍâwi, however, gives another explanation of as meaning women who by their wiles loosen the determinations and defeat the purposes of men; and who, as it were, spit on knots to soften them, and make them easy of unloosing. If Ḥarîri took the passage in this sense, it may mean that Abû Zayd accosted with the confidence of one who can solve any riddle and circumvent any antagonist. The latter sense is perhaps the more apposite.

The sheep.— was the name of an undersized species of sheep in Baḥrayn, with an ugly face and short legs. It is used as a similitude for mean and contemptible persons. A poet satirizing a family of Temîm says:—“O Foḳaym, ye basest of Temîm: if ye were sheep ye would be naḳad; if ye were water ye would be froth; if ye were wool ye would be refuse.” See the proverb, “More vile than naḳad,” Arab. Prov. I. 513. The author means that Abû Zayd greeted like one accustomed to make his living out of noble and mean.

Habeo, amici.—The measure of these verses is the first of the first of the ; the being and the being , as in the Second Assembly. Sir William Jones has honoured this piece, which he had pro­bably met with as an extract, by comparing it with the lament of David over Saul and Jonathan. In his specimens of Oriental elegiac poetry, he says, “Bellissimum est in hoc genere poema in vicesimâ Haririi Mekamâ, quod integrum subjiciam.” He then gives the translation, and proceeds:—“Hæc elegia non admodum dissimilis esse videtur pulcherrimi illius carminis de Sauli et Jonathani obitu: atque adeo versus iste,

‘Ubi provocavit adversarios nunquam rediit a pugnæ conten-tione sine spiculo sanguine imbuto;’

Ex Hebræo reddi videtur,

‘A sanguine occisorum, a fortium virorum adipe

‘Arcus Jonathani non rediit irritus.’”

Sir William may be pardoned, since the purpose of Ḥarîri was to show his wit by imitating the sublime elegiac strains of the ancient Arabs; and the English Orientalist was no more de­ceived than the company who are represented as bestowing their charity on Abû Zayd. Following Sir William Jones’s example, I shall ask the reader to compare Ḥarîri’s verses with those which are attributed to Ta’abbaṭa Sherran in the Ḥamâseh, p. 382, but which are probably the composition of that Arabic Macpherson, Khalf al Aḥmar. The contains many passages of a like import. The poem of Imr al Ḳays, beginning “Approach, ye two, to the old dwelling in ‘As‘as,” Dîwân, p. 34, is also worthy of attention.

Victoria a cœlo, etc.—Koran lxi. 13. These words were a battle-cry of the early Moslems, being taken from the above Sura, which is called the “Line of Battle,” and exhorts believers to the jihâd, or war against infidels. They are used in the marriage ceremony with the same allusion as in the present verses.

Gratus fuit.—Was saluted with the greeting , May I be thy ransom.

Incurvus formâ.—Koran xxxvi. 68. A somewhat irreverent allusion.

If there were a thong to my staff.—This is a proverbial expression, equivalent to “If I had power or means.” A thong passing through a hole in the handle of a staff enables a man to grasp it more securely.

Mirages of the plain, white shingle of the hollow.—That is, ye who give a deceptive hope of bounty which is not fulfilled, as the mirage at a distance makes the traveller believe that water is near; or as a layer of white pebbles is taken for silver. For words signifying the mirage or kindred phenomena, see . The word means a hollow where water collects, and, with the more common and chaste form , a patch of ground or a plain, differing from what is about it. In the latter sense the plural is said to be . A piece of ground thus diversified by pebbles is called .

Fold his cloth over its rent, and keep his splayness of tooth from inspection.—Metaphorical expressions signifying the con­cealment of another’s fault or imposture, Arab. Prov. II. 38. is the irregular growth of the teeth, or their unequal length. The epithet is applied to an eagle, because the upper part of its beak is longer than the lower (De Sacy’s Ḥarîri, p. 243), also to a talon, because it protrudes, p. 240.

God fight against thee.—A term of playful imprecation, which has been already spoken of in a former note.

The scout who lies not to his people.—“The scout lies not to his people” is a proverbial expression. The was he who was sent on by a tribe on the march to search for pasturage or water, and he lies not because his interests are the same as theirs. Arab. Prov. II. 525. This proverb was used by No‘mân, son of Zowrâ, in the address by which he sought to induce the Benû Bekr to yield to Khosru Perwez. Caussin de Perceval, Essai, Vol. II. p. 177.