[FN#344] Arab. "Shirk," giving a partner to Allah, attending chiefly to Christians and idolaters and in a minor degree to Jews and Guebres. We usually English it by "polytheism," which is clumsy and conveys a wrong idea
[FN#345] Grandson of the Caliph Ali. He is one of the Imams
(High-priests) of the Shi'ah school.
[FN#346] An eminent traditionist of the eighth century (A.D.).
[FN#347] The prayers of the Fast-month and Pilgrimage-month are often said in especial places outside the towns and cities; these are the Indian Id(Eed-)gáh. They have a screen of wall about a hundred yards long with a central prayer-niche and the normal three steps for the preacher; and each extremity is garnished with an imitation minaret. They are also called Namáz-gah and one is sketched by Herklots (Plate iii. fig. 2). The object of the trips thither in Zu'l-Ka'adah and Zu'l-Hijjah is to remind Moslems of the "Ta'aríf," or going forth from Meccah to Mount Arafat.
[FN#348] Arab. "Al-Háfi," which in Egyptian means sore-footed as well. He was an ascetic of the eighth and ninth centuries (A.D.). He relates a tradition of the famous soldier saint Khálid bin Walíd who lies buried like the poet Ka'ab al-Ahbár near Hums (Emessa) once the Bœotia, Phrygia, Abdera, Suabia of Syria now Halbun (pronounced Halbáun) near Damascus. I cannot explain how this Kuraysh noble (a glorious figure in Moslem history) is claimed by the Afghans as one of their countrymen and made to speak Pukhtu or Pushtu, their rough old dialect of Persian. The curious reader will consult my Pilgrimage iii. 322 for the dialogue between Mohammed and Khalid. Again there is general belief in Arabia that the English sent a mission to the Prophet, praying that Khalid might be despatched to proselytise them: unfortunately Mohammed was dead and the "Ingríz" ratted. It is popularly held that no armed man can approach Khalid's grave; but I suppose my revolver did not count.
[FN#349] When he must again wash before continuing prayer.
[FN#350] Bin Adham; another noted ascetic of the eighth century.
Those curious about these unimportant names will consult the great
Biographical Dictionary of Ibn Khallikan, translated by Baron
MacGuckin de Slane (1842-45).
[FN#351] Thus making Bishr the "Imám" (artistes) lit. one who stands in front. In Koran xvii. 74 it means "leader": in ii. 118 Allah makes Abraham an "Imam to mankind."
[FN#352] A favourite sentiment in the East: we find it at the very beginning of Sa'di's Gulistan: better a weal-bringing lie than a harm-dealing truth.
[FN#353] A penny, one sixth of the drachma.