_i.e._ Ishak of Mosul, for whom see vol. iv. 119. The Bresl. Edit. has Fazíl for Fazl.
Abu Dalaf al-Ijili, a well-known soldier equally famed for liberality and culture.
Arab. “Takhmísh,” alluding to the familiar practice of tearing face and hair in grief for a loss, a death, etc.
_i.e._ When he is in the very prime of life and able to administer _fiers coups de canif_.
For ladies e’en of most uneasy virtue Prefer a spouse whose age is short of thirty.
Arab. “Sidillah.” The Bresl. Edit. (v. 99), has, “a couch of ivory and ebony, whereon was that which befitted it of mattresses and cushions * * * * and on it five damsels.”
_i.e._ As she untunes the lute by “pinching” the strings over-excitedly with her right, her other hand retunes it by turning the pegs.
_i.e._ The slim cupbearer (Zephyr) and fair-faced girl (Moon) handed round the bubbling bowl (star).
Arab. “Al-Sath” whence the Span. Azotea. The lines that follow are from the Bresl. Edit. v. 110.
This “’Ar’ar” is probably the Callitris quadrivalvis whose resin (“Sandarac”) is imported as varnish from African Mogador to England. Also called the Thuja, it is of cypress shape, slow growing and finely veined in the lower part of the base. Most travellers are agreed that it is the Citrus-tree of Roman Mauritania, concerning which Pliny (xiii. 29) gives curious details, a single table costing from a million sesterces (£900) to 1,400,000. For other details see p. 95. “Morocco and the Moors,” by my late friend Dr. Leared (London: Sampson Low, 1876).
These lines are in vol. viii. 279. I quote Mr. Payne.
A most unsavoury comparison to a Persian who always connects camphor with the idea of a corpse.
Arab. “Ilà má sháa’ lláh” _i.e._ as long as you like.
Arab. “Ta’wíz” = the Arab Tilasm, our Talisman, a charm, an amulet; and in India mostly a magic square. The subject is complicated and occupies in Herklots some sixty pages, 222–284.
The Bul. and Mac. Edits. give the Princess’s malady, in error, as Dáa al-Sudá’ (megrims), instead of Dáa al-Sar’ (epilepsy), as in the Bresl. Edit. The latter would mean that she is possessed by a demon, again the old Scriptural fancy (see vol. v. 28). The subject is highly fitted for romance but not for a “serious” book which ought to know better.