[27] "The giving of alms is commanded in the Koran. Hasan, the son of Ali, grandson of Mohammed, is related to have thrice in his life divided his substance equally between himself and the poor."—Sale's Preliminary Dissertation, p. 110.
[28] "At the distance of fourscore miles from the Persian Gulf, the Euphrates and Tigris unite in a broad and direct current. In the midway, between the junction and the mouth of these famous streams, the new settlement of Bussorah was planted on the western bank; the first colony was composed of eight hundred Moslems; but the influence of the situation soon reared a flourishing and populous capital. The air, though excessively hot, is pure and healthy; the meadows are filled with palm trees and cattle; and one of the adjacent valleys has been celebrated among the four paradises or gardens of Asia. Under the first caliphs, the jurisdiction of this Arab colony extended over the southern provinces of Persia; the city has been sanctified by the tombs of the companions and martyrs and the vessels of Europe still frequent the port of Bussorah, as a convenient station and passage of the Indian trade."—Gibbon's Decline and Fall, 41, C.
[29] Bussorah was built by the caliph Omar. The city has four kinds of inhabitants—Jews, Persians, Mohammedans, and Christians. It is looked upon by the Arabs as one of the most delightful spots in Asia. The commerce of Bussorah consisted in the interchange of rice, sugar, spices from Ceylon, coarse white and blue cottons from Coromandel, cardamom, pepper, sandalwood from Malabar, gold and silver stuffs, brocades, turbans, shawls, indigo from Surat, pearls from Bahara, coffee from Mocha, iron, lead, woolen cloths, etc.
[30] "There is a city in Upper Egypt (Ishmonie), called the petrified city, on account of a great number of statues of men, women, and children, and other animals, which are said to be seen thereat this day; all which, as it is believed by the inhabitants, were once animated beings, but were miraculously changed into stone in all the various positions of falling, standing, eating, sitting, which they acted at the instant of their supposed transubstantiation. We did not fail to inquire after these things, and desired to have a sight of them; but they told us they were in a certain part, pointing westward, but were too sacred to be seen by any except believers."—Perry's View of the Levant.
[31] Koran (derived from the word Karaa, to read) signifies "the Reading—that which ought to be read." It is the collection of revelations supposed to be given from heaven to Mohammed during a period of twenty-three years. Some were given at Mecca, and some at Medina. Each was regarded by some as a mystery full of divine meaning. It is divided into thirty parts; and as each mosque has thirty readers, it is read through once a day. These readers chant it in long lines with rhythmical ending, and in the absence of definite vowels they alone know the right pronunciation of the Koran.—Sale's Preliminary Dissertation, p. 56.
[32] This is the kaaba or kebla, a sacred stone in the center of the temple at Mecca, over which is a lofty building, from which the name is by some said to be derived—Caaba, high. Mr. Ferguson, in his account of "The Holy Sepulcher," thus describes it: "The precept of the Koran is, that all men, when they pray, shall turn toward the kaaba, or holy house, at Mecca; and consequently throughout the Moslem world, indicators have been put up to enable the Faithful to fulfill this condition. In India they face west, in Barbary east, in Syria south. It is true that when rich men, or kings, built mosques, they frequently covered the face of this wall with arcades, to shelter the worshiper from the sun or rain. They inclosed it in a court that his meditations might not be disturbed by the noises of the outside world. They provided it with fountains, that he might perform the required ablutions before prayer. But still the essential part of the mosques is the mihrab or niche, which points toward Mecca, and toward which, when he bows, the worshiper knows that the kaaba also is before him." The holy house erected over the kaaba was decorated annually with rich tapestries and a deep golden band, at the cost of the caliphs.
[33] Bismillah. All the chapters of the Koran, except nine, begin with this word. Its meaning is, "In the name of the merciful God." It is said to be frequently used in conversation by the Arabs.—Sale's Preliminary Dissertation, p. 153.
[34] For the choice of a wife a man generally relies on his mother, or some other near relation, or a professional female betrother (who is called, khatebeh), for there are women who perform this office for hire.—Lane's Notes to the Arabian Nights, Vol. I, iv, p. 285.
[35] Marriage among the Mohammedans is an exclusively civil ceremony; and therefore the cadi, a civil judge, and not an imaun, or minister of religion, was summoned.
[36] "No woman, of what rank soever, is permitted to go into the streets without two muslins; one that covers her face all but her eyes, and another that hides the whole dress of her head, and hangs halfway down her back. Their shapes are also wholly concealed by a thing they call a ferigee, which no woman appears without. This has straight sleeves, that reach to their finger ends, and it laps all round them, not unlike a riding-hood. In winter it is of cloth, and in summer, of plain stuff or silk."—Lady M. W. Montague's Letters, Vol. VII, p. 373.