第148章

[348] Arab. 'Khunsa'flexible or flaccid，from Khans=bending inwards，i.e. the mouth of a waterskin before drinking. Like Mukhannas，it is also used for an effeminate man，a passive sodomite and even for a eunuch. Easterns still believe in what Westerns know to be an impossibility，human beings with the parts and proportions of both sexes equally developed and capable of reproduction；and AlIslam even provides special rules for them （Pilgrimage iii. 237）. We hold them to be Buffon's fourth class of （duplicate） monsters belonging essentially to one or the other sex，and related to its opposite only by some few characteristics. The old Greeks dreamed，after their fashion，a beautiful poetic dream of a human animal uniting the contradictory beauties of man and woman. The duality of the generative organs seems an old Egyptian tradition，at least we find it in Genesis （i. 27） where the image of the Deity is created male and female，before man was formed out of the dust of the ground （ii. 7）. The old tradition found its way to India （if the Hindus did not borrow the idea from the Greeks）；and one of the forms of Mahadeva，the third person of their triad，is entitled 'Ardhanari'=the Halfwoman，which has suggested to them some charming pictures. Europeans，seeing the left breast conspicuously feminine，have indulged in silly surmises about the 'Amazons.'

[349] This is a mere phrase for our 'dying of laughter'： the queen was on her back. And as Easterns sit on carpets，their falling back is very different from the same movement off a chair.

[350] Arab. 'Ismid，'the eyepowder before noticed.

[351] When the Caliph （e.g. AlTa'i li'llah） bound a banner to a spear and handed it to an officer，he thereby appointed him Sultan or Viceregent.

[352] Arab. 'Shaib alinghaz'=lit. a gray beard who shakes head in disapproval.

[353] Arab. 'Ayat'= the Hebr. 'Ototh，'signs，wonders or Koranic verses.

[354] The Chapter 'AlIkhlas'i.e. clearing （oneself from any faith but that of Unity） is No. cxii. and runs thus：

Say，He is the One God！

The sempiternal God，He begetteth not，nor is He begot，And unto Him the like is not.

It is held to be equal in value to onethird of the Koran，and is daily used in prayer. Mr. Rodwell makes it the tenth.

[355] The Lady Budur shows her noble blood by not objecting to her friend becoming her Zarrat （sisterwife）. This word is popularly derived from 'Zarar'=injury；and is vulgarly pronounced in Egypt 'Durrah'sounding like Durrah = a parrot （see Burckhardt's mistake in Prov. 314）. The native proverb says，'Ayshat aldurrah murrah，'the sisterwife hath a bitter life. We have no English equivalent；so I translate indifferently cowife，coconsort，sisterwife or sister in wedlock.

[356] Lane preserves the article 'ElAmjad'and 'ElAs'ad；'

which is as necessary as to say 'the John'or 'the James，'

because neoLatins have 'il Giovanni'or 'il Giacomo.'In this matter of the article，however，it is impossible to lay down a universal rule： in some cases it must be preserved and only practice in the language can teach its use. For instance，it is always present in AlBahrayn and alYaman；but not necessarily so with Irak and Najd.

[357] It is hard to say why this ugly episode was introduced.It is a mere false note in a tune pretty enough.

[358] The significance of this action will presently appear.

[359] An 'Hadis.'

[360] Arab. 'Sabb'= using the lowest language of abuse.

chiefly concerning womenrelatives and their reproductive parts.

[361] The reader will note in the narration concerning the two Queens the parallelism of the Arab's style which recalls that of the Hebrew poets. Strings of black silk are plaited into the long locks （an 'idiotfringe'being worn over the brow） because a woman is cursed 'who joineth her own hair to the hair of another'（especially human hair）. Sending the bands is a sign of affectionate submission；and，in extremes'cases the hair itself is sent.

[362] i.e.，suffer similar pain at the spectacle，a phrase often occurring.

[363] i.e.，when the eye sees not，the heart grieves not.

[364] i.e.，unto Him we shall return，a sentence recurring in almost every longer chapter of the Koran.

[365] Arab. 'Kun，'the creative Word （which，by the by，proves the Koran to be an uncreated Logos）；the full sentence being 'Kun fa kana'= Be！ and it became. The origin is evidently，'And God said，Let there be light： and there was light'（Gen. i. 3）；a line grand in its simplicity and evidently borrowed from the Egyptians，even as Yahveh （Jehovah） from 'Ankh'=He who lives （Brugsch Hist. ii. 34）.

[366] i.e. but also for the life and the socalled 'soul.'

[367] Arab. 'Layali'=lit. nights which，I have said，is often applied to the whole twentyfour hours. Here it is used in the sense of 'fortune'or 'fate ；'like 'days'and 'days and nights.'

[368] Abdullah ibn alZubayr a nephew of Ayishah，who had rebuilt the Ka'abah in A.H. 64 （A.D. 683），revolted （A.D. 680）

against Yezid and was proclaimed Caliph at Meccah. He was afterwards killed （A.D. 692） by the famous or infamous Hajjaj general of Abd alMalik bin Marwan，the fifth Ommiade，surnamed 'Sweat of a stone'（skinflint） and 'Father of Flies，'from his foul breath. See my Pilgrimage，etc. （iii. 192194），where are explained the allusions to the Ka'abah and the holy Black Stone.

[369] These lines are part of an elegy on the downfall of one of the Moslem dynasties in Spain，composed in the twelfth century by Ibn Abdun alAndalusi. The allusion is to the famous conspiracy of the Kharijites （the first sectarians in Mohammedanism） to kill Ah，Mu'awiyah and Amru （so written but pronounced 'Amr'） alAs，in order to abate intestine feuds m AlIslam. Ali was slain with a swordcut by Ibn Muljam a name ever damnable amongst the Persians；Mu'awiyah escaped with a wound and Kharijah，the Chief of Police at Fustat or old Cairo was murdered by mistake for Amru. After this the sectarian wars began.