[547]. I omit here and elsewhere the parenthetical formula “Kála al-Ráwi,” etc. = The Story-teller sayeth, reminding the reader of its significance in a work collected from the mouths of professional Tale-tellers and intended mainly for their use.
[548]. The usual sign of emotion, already often mentioned.
[549]. It being no shame to Moslems if a slave become King.
[550]. Arab. “Tarbiyatí,” i.e. he was brought up in my house.
[551]. There is no Salic law amongst Moslems; but the Rasm or custom of Al-Islam, established by the succession of the four first Caliphs, to the prejudice of Ayishah and other masterful women would be a strong precedent against queenly rule. It is the reverse with the Hindus who accept a Rani as willingly as a Rajah and who believe with Europeans that when kings reign women rule, and vice versa. To the vulgar Moslem feminine government appears impossible, and I was once asked by an Afghan, “What would happen if the queen were in childbed?”
[552]. Arab. “Khutbah,” the sermon preached from the pulpit (Mimbar) after the congregational prayers on Friday noon. It is of two kinds, for which see Lane, M.E., chap. iii. This public mention of his name and inscribing it upon the newly-minted money are the special prerogatives of the Moslem king: hence it often happens that usurpers cause a confusion of Khutbah and coinage.
[553]. For a specimen of which, blowing a man up with bellows, see Al-Mas’udi, chap. cxxiii.
[554]. i.e. A long time: the idiom has been noted before more than once.
[555]. i.e. With what he had heard and what he was promised.
[556]. Arab. “Shakhs mafsúd,” i.e. an infidel.