[449] Sīr; one Tabriz man equals forty sīr; one sīr equals twenty mis̤qāl; and two and a half mis̤qāl are about equal to an Indian tolā. A Tabriz man is about 7½ lbs. The Indian ser is about 2 lbs., and there are forty ser in the man. The term sīr is used only locally in Persia.
[450] Vide note [445], page 106.
[451] Bi-qadr-i girdū,ī gūsht dar sīna-ash bāshad.
[452] By that time she would have “put over” the whole of her food: nothing would remain in the crop. A hawk, if carried, puts over more quickly than if resting on the perch. It is an Indian saying that “When carried instead of two mutings it makes three.” “Carrying” of course includes frequent unhooding and rehooding and occasional turnings of the hand to induce the hawk to shift her position.
[453] Ishtihā dādan.
[454] i.e., chapters 109, 112, 113 and 114 of the Qurān. They are very brief, not containing more than four or five lines, and all commence with the word Qul “Say.” These chapters are repeated at weddings by the bridegroom, after the Qāẓī. Their efficacy is nearly equal to that of the whole Qurān. The “Verse of the Throne” is the 256th verse of the 2nd chapter: it commences “God, there is no God but He; the Living, the Abiding; slumber taketh him not nor sleep. His throne reacheth over the heavens and the earth.”—Vide also page 74.
Āya rā damīdan (dam karnā in Urdu): the sacred texts are repeated and the breath is then exhaled on the breast and hands, etc., or over a sick person.
[455] Yak dānā āhū-yi ārām-i tāk-ī. Probably tākī is a slip for tak-ī, “a single one.”
[456] Qashm, Ar., colloquially g͟hashīm, “inexperienced, helpless”: though in common use in Baghdad, this word is not used in Persian.
[457] Na-dānam-kār.