[551]. The Preserved Tablet, on which are said to be written the original of the Kur-án, and all God’s decrees, is here commonly understood; but I am informed that the “Original” (or, literally, the “Mother”) “of the Book” is God’s knowledge or prescience.
[552]. Kur-án, chap. xiii., verse 39.
[553]. Kur-án, chap. xliv., verse 3.—By some persons these words are supposed to apply to the Night of el-Kadr, which will hereafter be mentioned.
[554]. Mohammad gloried in his illiteracy, as a proof of his being inspired: it had the same effect upon his followers as the words of our Saviour had upon the Jews, who remarked, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?”—John vii. 15.
[555]. “The best of the Creation” is an appellation of the Prophet.
[556]. It is from this latter office that the crier is called “Musahhir.”
[557]. Described in the chapter on music.
[558]. Young ladies in Egypt are often called “brides.”
[559]. The fifth and four following verses of the Soorat el-Insán, or 76th chapter.
[560]. Not the night supposed by Sale, which is that between the 23rd and 24th days. See one of his notes on the 97th chapter of the Kur-án.