[70] i.e., Wine.
[71] The Lauh u Kalam are the Tablet and Pen whereon and wherewith the Divine decrees of what should be from all time were written. Compare Koran, ch. lxviii, 1. «By the Pen and what they write, O Muhammad! thou art not distracted.»
[72] The river Oxus.
[73] The editor of the «Calcutta Review» appends the following note at the foot of Prof. Cowell's article (E.C.), «These lanthorns are very common in Calcutta. They are made of a tall cylinder with figures of men and animals cut out of paper and pasted on it. The cylinder, which is very light, is suspended on an axis, round which it easily turns. A hole is cut near the bottom, and the part cut out is fixed at an angle to the cylinder so as to form a vane. When a small lamp or candle is placed inside, a current of air is produced which keeps the cylinder slowly revolving.»
[74] This refers to the game of Polo. In the First and Second Editions for «Here or There» we read «Right or Left» as in the original.
[75] C. reads «Upon the Tablet.»
[76] Literally, «For the Pen once gone comes not back.»
[77] See FitzGerald's note on this quatrain.
[78] i.e., Of reality as opposed to the dream existence of the present. (E.B.C.)
[79] The Mihrab is the spot in a Mosque indicating the precise direction of Mecca towards which all Muhammadans turn in prayer.