“The ārNāsplendour of a Sultan’s diadem, within which, like a casket enclosed, are fears for one’s life, May be heart-attracting as a cap, but is not worth the loss of the head it covers.
The sufferings of the sea may appear easy to bear in the prospect of its pearls; But I have erred, for its waves are not worth one hundred munns of gold.”[44]
_Page 24._ “Most of the houses were washed away.”—Probably owing to the non-adhesive qualities of the mortar generally employed in the construction of Persian houses: a mixture, half of mud, one fourth of lime, and the rest ashes of burnt straw and rubbish.
_Page 25._ “Trees and running streams.”—The dryness of the Persian climate and the deficiency of rivers have exercised in ancient (_Polybius_, lib. 10, 25) as in modern times the ingenuity of the natives in the discovery of springs.—In the Story of Abū Temām (page 98) a city is also described as “adorned with gardens and running streams.” It was a saying of Muhammad that “three things fortify the sight: looking at verdure, at running water, and at a handsome face.”
_Page 25._ Dihkān is a compound word, from _dih_, a village, and _khān_, lord, or chief.
_Page 25._ “Erected a summer-house”—the text adds, “and on it a lofty watch-tower.”
_Page 25._ “The stranger was entertained with politeness and hospitality.”—The Kur’ān (iv, 40) enjoins the believer to “serve God ... and show kindness unto ... your neighbour who is a _stranger_ ... and the traveller” (_ibnu-’s sabīl_: son of the road). The practice of hospitality among the pre-Islamite Arabs is too well known to require more than passing mention, and reference to Professor Lee’s note on Job xxi, 16.
_Page 25._ “A suit of his clothes”; his own _jubba_ and _dastār_. The _jubba_ is a vest with cotton quilted between the outside and the lining; the _dastār_ is the sash, or fine muslin cloth, wrapped round the turban.
_Page 25._ “Account of his property” &c.—signet, chattels, and ledger—“and said, ‘you must manifest your zeal in the seasons of sowing and of harvest, and become the _mushrif_ of my property.’” A _mushrif_ is an officer of the treasury, who authenticates accounts and writings. The _dihkān_ gave him his signet, in order that he might transact his business with full authority. “Seals, or signets,” says Dr H. H. Wilson, “were from the earliest periods commonly used in the East. Ahasuerus takes his signet off his hand and gives it, first to Haman, and again to Mordecai; and Herodotus notices that each of the Babylonians wore a seal-ring. The Greeks and Romans had their rings curiously engraved with devices, and that cast by Polycrates into the sea was the work of an engraver whose name the historian has thought not unworthy of commemoration. The use of the seal amongst the Orientals at the present day is not, as with us, to secure an envelope, but to verify letters and documents in place of a written signature. Amongst the natives of Hindūstān, both Muhammadan and Hindū, the seal is engraved with the name of the wearer, and the surface being smeared superficially only with ink, the application of the seal to the paper leaves the letters which are cut in the stone white on a black ground. Such also was the manner in which the seals of the Greeks and Romans were applied.” Lane, in his _Modern Egyptians_, says: “On the little finger of the right hand is worn a seal-ring (_Khātim_), which is generally of silver, with a cornelian, or other stone, upon which is engraved the wearer’s name; the name is accompanied by the words ‘his servant’—signifying the servant, or worshipper, of God—and often by other words expressive of the person’s trust in God, &c. (see St. John’s Gospel iii, 33, and Exodus xxxix, 30). The Prophet disapproved of gold; therefore few Muslims wear gold rings; but the women have various ornaments (rings, bracelets &c.) of that precious metal. The impression of the seal-ring is considered as more valid than the sign-manual. Therefore giving the ring to another person is the utmost mark of confidence.—See Genesis xli, 42.”