ye servants of these names!”
“And this is the removal. ‘And we have removed from thee
thy veil; and thy sight to-day
is piercing.’ Correct: correct.”
Having written these, the magician cut off the paper containing the forms of invocation from that upon which the other charm was written; and cut the former into six strips. He then explained to me that the object of the latter charm (which contains part of the 21st verse of the Soorat Káf, or 50th chapter of the Kur-án) was to open the boy’s eyes in a supernatural manner; to make his sight pierce into what is to us the invisible world.
I had prepared by the magician’s direction, some frankincense and coriander-seed,[[47]] and a chafing-dish with some live charcoal in it. These were now brought into the room, together with the boy who was to be employed: he had been called in, by my desire, from among some boys in the street, returning from a manufactory: and was about eight or nine years of age. In reply to my inquiry respecting the description of persons who could see in the magic mirror of ink, the magician said that they were a boy not arrived at puberty, a virgin, a black female slave, and a pregnant woman. The chafing-dish was placed before him and the boy; and the latter was placed on a seat. The magician now desired my servant to put some frankincense and coriander-seed into the chafing-dish; then, taking hold of the boy’s right hand, he drew, in the palm of it, a magic square, of which a copy is here given. The figures which it contains are Arabic numerals.[[48]] In the centre, he poured a little ink, and desired the boy to look into it, and tell him if he could see his face reflected in it; the boy replied that he saw his face clearly. The magician, holding the boy’s hand all the while,[[49]] told him to continue looking intently into the ink; and not to raise his head.
[47]. He generally requires some benzoin to be added to these.
[48]. The numbers in this magic square, in our own ordinary characters, are as follows:—
| 4 | 9 | 2 |
| 3 | 5 | 7 |
| 8 | 1 | 6 |
It will be seen that the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal rows give each the same sum, namely, 15.