[193]. Another plural for a singular, “O my beloved!”
[194]. Arab. “Khayr” = good news, a euphemistic reply even if the tidings be of the worst.
[195]. Abbás (from ‘Abs, being austere; and meaning the “grim-faced”) son of Abd al-Muttalib; uncle to Mohammed and eponym of the Abbaside Khalifahs. A.D. 749 = 1258.
[196]. Katíl = the Irish “kilt.”
[197]. This has been explained as a wazirial title of the time.
[198]. The phrase is intelligible in all tongues: in Arabic it is opposed to “dark as night,” “black as mud” and a host of unsavoury antitheses.
[199]. Arab. “Awwádah,” the popular word; not Udíyyah as in Night cclvi. “Ud” liter. = wood and “Al-Ud” = the wood is, I have noted, the origin of our “lute.” The Span. “laud” is larger and deeper than the guitar, and its seven strings are played upon with a plectrum of buffalo-horn.
[200]. Arab. “Tabban lahu!” = loss (or ruin) to him. So “bu’dan lahu” = away with him, abeat in malam rem; and “Suhkan lahu” = Allah and mercy be far from him, no hope for him!
[201]. Arab. “Áyah” = Koranic verset, sign, miracle.
[202]. The mole on cheek calls to prayers for his preservation; and it is black as Bilal the Abyssinian. Fajran may here mean either “A-morning” or “departing from grace.”