[260]. Pichula, used anciently for Persian arrows. During the rainy season it blooms profusely on the banks of the rivers, where it is interwoven with twining Asclepias.—Sir W. Jones in “Botanical Observations.”
[261]. About A.D. 1200.
[262]. Born A.D. 1141, and died A.D. 1203.
[263]. Kais was the proper name of the lover, but he received the cognomen of Majnun on account of his madness.
[264]. Except the desert scene, the poetical extracts in this chapter are from Atkinson’s translation.
[265]. Zemzem is the sacred well enclosed by the temple at Mecca, and even a stone dipped in its waters is thought to possess marvelous virtues.
[266]. Born at Balkha, A.D. 1297.
[267]. A.D. 1176.
[268]. Some authorities say that he died at the age of one hundred years, while others claim that he lived to be one hundred and sixteen.
[269]. Journal Asiatique, Jan., 1843.