[74]. A saying common throughout the world, especially when the afflicted widow intends to marry again at the first opportunity.
[75]. Arab. “Yá Khálati” = O my mother’s sister; addressed by a woman to an elderly dame.
[76]. i.e. That I may put her to shame.
[77]. Arab. “Zalábiyah.”
[78]. Arab. “’Alà al-Kaylah,” which Mr. Payne renders by “Siesta-carpet.” Lane reads “Kiblah” (“in the direction of the Kiblah”) and notes that some Moslems turn the corpse’s head towards Meccah and others the right side, including the face. So the old version reads “feet towards Mecca.” But the preposition “Alà” requires the former sig.
[79]. Many places in this text are so faulty that translation is mere guess-work; e.g. “Bashárah” can hardly be applied to ill-news.
[80]. i.e. of grief for his loss.
[81]. Arab. “Tobáni” which Lane renders “two clods.” I have noted that the Tob (Span. Adobe = At· Tob) is a sunbaked brick. Beating the bosom with such material is still common amongst Moslem mourners of the lower class and the hardness of the blow gives the measure of the grief.
[82]. i.e. of grief for her loss.
[83]. Arab. “Ihtirák” often used in the metaphorical sense of consuming; torturing.