[FN#132] The importance of the pillow (wisádah or makhaddah) to the sick man is often recognised in The Nights. "He took to his pillow" is = took to his bed.
[FN#133] i.e in order that the reverend men, who do not render such suit and service gratis, might pray for him.
[FN#134] The reader will notice in The Nights the frequent mention of these physical prognostications, with which mesmerists are familiar.
[FN#135] The Pers. name of the planet Saturn in the Seventh
Heaven. Arab. "Zuhal"; the Kiun or Chiun of Amos vi. 26.
[FN#136] i.e. "Pardon me if I injured thee"— a popular phrase.
[FN#137] A "seduction," a charmer. The double-entendre has before been noticed.
[FN#138] This knightly tale, the longest in the Nights (xliv.— cxlv.), about one-eighth of the whole, does not appear in the Bres. Edit. Lane, who finds it "objectionable," reduces it to two of its episodes, Azíz-cum-Azízah and Táj al-Mulúk. On the other hand it has been converted into a volume (8vo, pp. 240) "Scharkan, Conte Arabe," etc. Traduit par M. Asselan Riche, etc. Paris: Dondey-Dupré. 1829. It has its longueurs and at times is longsome enough; but it is interesting as a comparison between the chivalry of Al-Islam and European knight-errantry. Although all the characters are fictitious the period is evidently in the early crusading days. Cæsarea, the second capital of Palestine, taken during the Caliphate of Omar (A.H. 19) and afterwards recovered, was fortified in A.H. 353 = 963 as a base against the Arabs by the Emperor Phocas, the Arab. "Nakfúr" i.e. Nicephorus. In A.H. 498=1104, crusading craft did much injury by plundering merchantmen between Egypt and Syria, to which allusion is found in the romance. But the story-teller has not quite made up his mind about which Cæsarea he is talking, and M. Riche tells us that Césarée is a "ville de la Mauritanie, en Afrique" (p. 20).
[FN#139] The fifth Ommiade Caliph reign. A.H. 65-86 = 685-704.
[FN#140] This does not merely mean that no one was safe from his wrath: or, could approach him in the heat of fight: it is a reminiscence of the masterful "King Kulayb," who established game-laws in his dominions and would allow no man to approach his camp-fire. Moreover the Jinn lights a fire to decoy travellers; but if his victim be bold enough to brave him, he invites him to take advantage of the heat.
[FN#141] China.