Welees and their Ḳuṭbs--El-Khiḍr and Elias--Miracles--Influence--Self-denial and asceticism--Two authentic saints--General habits--A historical saint--Pilgrimage to the tombs--Annual festivals--A Zikr performed by Darweeshes--A Khatmeh--Religious murder 47
Spiritual magic, divine or Satanic--Babel--Hároot and Mároot--Enchantment--Divination--Astrology--Geomancy-- Auguration--Chiromancy--Omens--Dreams--A dream of the Great Plague, 1835--Lucky and unlucky days--Natural magic--Alchymy--The magician Ṣádoomeh and his miracles 80
The seven Heavens--Paradise--Form and divisions of the earth--The Sea of Darkness--Fountain of Life--Mountains of Ḳáf--The lower earths--What the earth stands on--The stages of Hell 97
The Heroic Age--´Okáḍh--The Ḳur-án--The Middle Age--Corrupt dialects--´Abd-el-Melik--Hároon Er-Rasheed and Abu-l´Atáhiyeh--The Barmekees--Dresses of honour--Two items in Hároon's account book--Rewards to poets--Ḥammád's good fortune--Reception of Greek ambassadors by a Khaleefeh--A niggardly king outwitted--The decline of Arabian literature--Letters--The language of flowers, and emblematical conversation--Secret signs--El-Mutanebbee's warning--The language of birds and beasts 109
Muslim meals and mode of eating--Principal dishes--A typical feast--Public dinners--Clean and unclean meats--Drinks--Hospitality--Bread and salt--A thief thwarted--An Arabian room--A hall or saloon--The use of wine--Date wine, etc.--Prevalence of the habit of drinking wine in the present day and in history--A bout interrupted--Moderate drinking--Effects of wine--´Abd-el-Melik and his slave--Preparations for a banquet--Fruits--A rose-lover--Favourite flowers--Music--Ibráheem El-Móṣilee and Hároon Er-Rasheed--Isḥáḳ El-Móṣilee--Mukháriḳ--Performers--Unveiled women singers--Arab music--Lyric songs--Other amusements--The Bath--Hunting and hawking 135
Ceremonies at birth, and on the seventh day--Giving the name--Sacrifice--Shaving the head--Suckling--Care of children--Evil eye--Respect for parents--The future state of children who die young--Early education of the father--Circumcision--Schools and teaching--Private tuition--Education of girls--Arab character 186
Love among Arabs--Three tales of true love--Umm-´Amr--The ideal of beauty--Coiffure--Gait--Woman's counsel--Marriage and divorce--Laws and general habits--Choice of a wife--Prohibited degrees--Cousins preferred--Ages--A wife's qualifications--Dowry--Marriage contract--Festivities and ceremonies of marriage--Wedding horoscopes--Employment of the ḥareem--Polygamy and the Muslim social system in general--Affection between wives 207