Clinging closer to me than love to the Benû ‘Uẕrah, and bravery to the race of Abû Ṣufrah.—The tribe of the Benû ‘Uẕrah were famous for their fatal love-passion, of which an instance is related in the three hundred and eighty-fourth of the Arabian Nights. One of their poets sings:

“If an ‘Uẕrî escapes from death through love, that one, by the Lord of lovers, is an interloper,”

and the tale goes that an Arab was asked, “From what tribe art thou?” He answered, “From a people, who when they love, they die.” Whereupon a damsel, who had heard him, exclaimed: “An ‘Uẕrî, by the Lord of the Ka‘beh.” As for the race of Abû Ṣufrah, they are his son al-Muhallab, commander of Baṣra under al-Ḥajjâj, and the sons of al-Muhallab, who were all distinguished for valour and every knightly virtue, so that a poet in the Ḥamâseh says of them:

“The race of al-Muhallab are a stock endowed with glory, such as no Arab has attained, nay, nor comes near attaining.”

Abû Ṣufrah is the kinyeh of Z̤âlîm (oppressor) ibn Ṣarrâq or Ṣârîq (robber), the ominous significance of which names induced Khalif ‘Omar to refuse him a post of Governor for which he had applied. His sons and grandsons played a conspicuous part in the troubles caused by Mu‘âwiyeh’s usurpation of the Khalifate (see Weil, “Geschichte der Chalifen,” i. 365 and following).

Now when I had alighted at Najrân, in Arabic fa lammâ alqaitu ’l-jirâna, lit., when I had laid down my neck, for which idiom compare Assembly XIX., vol. i., p. 215, l. 30, and the note at the bottom of p. 446, ibid. Najrân is a town of Yemen, called after its founder, Najrân ibn Zayd, and halfway between Sanâ‘ and Hadra-mowt, in ancient times mostly inhabited by Christians, whose eloquent Bishop Koss has been mentioned repeatedly.

Forsooth the morning-brightness shows clear to those possessed of eyes, a proverb (Ar. Prov., ii. 255) which admits of two interpretations. De Sacy, in his commentary, says it is applied to anything perfectly self-evident, and the verb baiyana (shows) is here used intransitively for tabaiyana. Sherîshi, who mentions this explanation without repudiating it, remarks, however, that the night in its darkness is the same for the blind and the seeing; but that the morning, when it appears, reveals all objects to those endowed with eyesight. I have tried in my translation to preserve the ambiguity.

And beholding holds the stead of two witnesses, i.e., is equally con­vincing. The passage alludes to Koran, ii. 282: “And call to witness two witnesses from among your men; but if there not be two men, let there be a man and two women of those whom ye shall judge fit for witnesses,” namely, such as are upright, ‘adl, which term Ḥarîri uses here as synonym of shâhid, witness.

And responded to his challenge to the combat, in Arabic wa mulabbûna dâ‘iya munâbaẕati-hi, lit., they were saying labbai-ka to the caller for combat with him (comp. Ḥarîri’s Preface, vol. i., p. 105, line 10 from the bottom, where a similar expression occurs).

Their wrath was allayed, lit., their knots were loosened, a pro­verbial expression for the abatement of anger, for which see Ar. Prov., i. 251.

A driver she has, kinsman of hers, meaning the rope by which the canvas fan is led, and which is, like itself, made of hemp.

Through whom the Writ [imâm] is known, as holy recording angels take their pride in him.—This translation is based on the supposition: 1. That the word imâm is here used in the same sense as Koran, xvii. 74: “One day We will summon all men with their writ (bi-imâmi-kim) ; then they whose book shall be given into their right hand shall read their book, and not be wronged a thread.” It is true that Rodwell renders “with their leaders,” but most commen­tators interpret the term as above, and this view of the case is eminently supported by xxxvi. (the celebrated Sura Yâ Sîn) 11: “Verily it is We who will quicken the dead, and We write down the works which they send on before, and the traces which they leave behind; and everything do We set down in a clear Writ (fî imâm-in mubîn-in).” Rodwell translates, or rather paraphrases, “in the clear Book of our decrees,” and says in a note, “lit., in the clear prototype, that is, in the Preserved Table, on which all the actions of mankind are written down.” 2. The preceding inference seems to justify me in assuming that al-kirâm has in our passage the same meaning as in Koran, lxxx. 11–15: “Verily it (the Koran) is a warning (and whoso is willing beareth it in mind); Written on honoured pages, Exalted, purified, By the hands of Scribes, honoured (kirâm-in), righteous.” Also lxxxii. 10–12: “Yet truly there are guardians over you—Illustrious recorders—(kirâman kâtibîna) cogni­sant of your actions.” A more commonplace explanation is that under imâm the Khalif is meant, said to be made known by the pen, because it writes down his commands and decrees, and that kirâm signifies distinguished official scribes or secretaries, who take pride in their pen, because it frequently assures to them access to the highest dignities under Government. Still, the former interpreta­tion seems preferable, the more so as the word riddled upon, in Arabic qalam, is in itself an allusion to the Koran, whose Sura lxviii. has it for its title.

When given to drink he flies about like one athirst, and settles to rest, when thirstiness gets hold of him, meaning that the pen, when supplied with ink, hurries along the paper like one in search of drink, and when it is thirsty, i.e., dry for want of ink, it rests, contrary to man, who anxiously moves about in seeking for water, when he is thirsty, but rests when his thirst is quenched.

And no offence at his wedlock is ever found, lit., “In his marriage there is no way against him,” where the word way or road (sabîl) is to be taken as in Koran, ix. 92: “It is no crime in the weak, and in the sick, and in those who find not the means, to stay at home (in times of war), provided they are sincere with God and His Apostle. In those who act righteously, there is no cause of blame (mâ min sabîl-in): and God is Gracious, Merciful.” In this passage of the sacred text sabîl is explained with t̤arîq bi ’t-ta‘zîb, way for punishment.

As the spouses are growing grey, lit., with the grey hair (‘inda ’al- mashîbi), where the article stands for the personal pronoun “their,” and allows, therefore, the substitution of the nouns to which this pronoun refers. This use of the article is frequent enough in Arabic, but the commentators find it worth their while to mention that it is sanctioned by the Koran, xli. 31: “We are your guardians in this life and in the next; yours therein shall be what your souls desire (mâ tashtahî ’l-anfusu [the souls] for anfusakum [your souls]), and yours therein whatever ye shall ask for.”

One swerving although firmly joined, bestowing gifts not working mis­chief. —This seems to me the most simple and natural way of render­ing the play on the word jâfî, which I take first in the sense of deviating, inasmuch as one of the sides of the water-wheel con­tinually seems to turn away from the other, although they are in­separably united (mauṣûl); secondly, in that of exercising tyranny, doing injury, meaning that the water-wheel, far from causing a disastrous inundation, fertilizes the fields by irrigating them, and is therefore called waṣûl, which the commentators paraphrase by kas̤îru ’l-‘at̤â’, abounding in benefits.

Yet is his fierceness to be feared.—His fierceness signifies here ex­cessive swiftness of rotation, which may put the machinery of the wheel out of order and damage the receptacles for the water. The purity of heart refers of course to the limpidity of the water con­tained in those receptacles.

And close your five upon them, i.e., close your fingers upon them, for “preserve them well in your memory.” The expression “five” for “fingers” has occurred in the seventh Assembly, vol. i., 140.

Now the desire for more beguiled (istafazzat) the people into allowing themselves to be taxed with dulness.—The verb, here used, is another idiom borrowed from the Koran, xvii. 66, where, after the refusal of Iblîs to prostrate himself before Adam, it is said to him: “And entice (istafziz) such of them (Adam’s offspring) as thou canst by thy voice.”

One veiled as if sorrowful, yet gladsome apparently.—Here it is difficult for the translator to do justice to the original. To render the text at all intelligible, it must be stated that the cooling-flask, or refrigerator, is a green jar, covered with canvas, whence its name, al-muzallamah, the enveloped one, and lined between this cover and its own outer surface with a layer of straw, to keep the water in it cool in summer time. The middle of it is perforated, and holds a tube of silver or some other metal, by which people drink out of it. It is therefore in the riddle called masrûrah, provided with a navel (surrah), referring to the hole into which the tube is fixed, but also passive participle of the verb surûr, to rejoice, and therefore translated gladsome. It is further described as maghmûmah, which may either mean covered, as the sky is covered by clouds (ghumûm), or grieved, sorrowful, part. pass. of the verb ghamm, to grieve.

Approached for her offspring’s sake at times, i.e., in summer on account of the water which is contained in it, like the offspring, lit., the fœtus, in the mother’s womb. The second “at times” means, of course, in winter, when the cooling-flask is shelved away, which is playfully stigmatised as an act of cruelty or ingratitude for services rendered afore.

Her outward attire is showy, disdained is her undercloth.—The showy outward attire is a gaily coloured wrapper over the coarse canvas-cover, and the disdained undercloth (lit., lining) is meant for the coating of straw, which, however, ought not to be despised, since it serves the wise purpose of keeping the water cool.

Seen during Ḥajj he ceases to be seen on ‘Îd, how strange to tell.—The word translated by Ḥajj, pilgrimage, is in Arabic al-‘ashr, for ‘ashru ẕî ’l-ḥijjah, i.e., the first ten days of the month ẕû ’l-ḥijjah, in which the pilgrimage takes place, and during which period the nails are allowed to grow; and the word translated by ‘Îd is an-naḥr, the day of sacrifice, called ‘îd, or feast, which terminates the pilgrimage, when the nails are pared again. At the same time, the former word may signify the ten fingers, the natural place of the nails, and the latter the throat or chest, where none are to be found, a double meaning which it is, of course, impossible to render in English.

If both wear painted cheeks, she is put to torture, i.e., if either end of the match is coated with naphtha, it is made to burn.

What is the thing that when it corrupts, its error turns to righteousness? —Meaning that wine, which is forbidden to the believer, turns into vinegar, when it gets sour, and thereby becomes lawful.

One fickle and leaning with one half to one side, etc.—To render this plain, it will suffice to transcribe Sherîshi’s commentary on the passage: “In spite of his fickleness and leaning to one side (i.e., partiality), he is always seen in an elevated place, like a king who distributes justice (meaning either that the balance is lifted up by the hand, or raised on a stand). Common stone and gold are the same to him, and if thou look at him with the eye of the sagacious, thou wilt wonder to find that people are satisfied with his decision, although he is by nature partial to one of the litigants, showing a bias towards him.”

And reck this to be our dowry of divorce.—The dowry or provision of divorce (mu‘tatu ’t̤-t̤ilâqi) is a gift made by the husband to a wife, divorced before consummation has taken place, in obedience to Koran, ii. 237: “It shall be no crime in you, if ye divorce your wives, so long as ye have not consummated the marriage nor settled any dowry on them. And provide for them—he who is in easy circumstances according to his means, and he who is straitened, according to his means: this is a duty for those who do what is right.” Here the meaning is: Let the revelation of thy pedigree be thy parting gift before we separate.