Harût and Marût, two angels sent by Allah to administer justice upon earth, because there was no righteous judgment among men. They acted well till Zoha´ra, a beautiful woman, applied to them, and then they both fell in love with her. She asked them to tell her the secret name of God, and immediately she uttered it, she was borne upwards into heaven, where she became the planet Venus. As for the two angels, they were imprisoned in a cave near Babylon.—Sale’s Korân, ii.
Allah bade
That two untempted spirits should descend,
Judges on earth. Haruth and Maruth went,
The chosen sentencers. They fairly heard
The appeals of men ... At length,
A woman came before them; beautiful
Zohara was, etc.
Southey, Talaba the Destroyer, iv. (1797).
Hassan, caliph of the Ottoman empire, noted for his splendor and hospitality. In his seraglio was a beautiful young slave named Leila (2 syl.), who had formed an attachment to “the Giaour” (2 syl.). Leila is put to death by the emir, and Hassan is slain near Monut Parnassus by the giaour [djow´.er].—Byron, The Giaour (1813).