"For rather would I die my death than shame,—
On bier be borne than bear a caitiff's name."
[FN#198] A grammarian and rhetorician of ninth century.
[FN#199] Once existing in Syrian Hamαh (the Biblical Hamath); and so called because here died the Emperor Heraclius called by the Arabs "Hirakl."
[FN#200] Till lately it was the custom to confine madmen in Syrian monasteries, hoping a cure from the patron Saint, and a terrible time they had of it. Every guide book relates the healing process as formerly pursued at the Maronite Convent Koshaya not far from Bayrut. The idiot or maniac was thrust headlong by the monks into a dismal cavern with a heavy chain round his neck, and was tied up within a span of the wall to await the arrival of Saint Anthony who especially affects this holy place. In very few weeks the patient was effectually cured or killed by cold, solitude and starvation.
[FN#201] The Moslem Eve, much nearer the Hebrew "Hawah" = the "manifester," because (Gen. iii. 20) she was (to be) the mother of all that live ("Kull hayy").
[FN#202] The mad lover says "they" for "she," which would be too familiar in speaking to strangers.
[FN#203] i.e. falsely to report the death.
[FN#204] A famous grammarian, etc., of the tenth century.
[FN#205] The classical Amorium in Phrygia now Anatolia: Anbαr is
a town (before mentioned) on the Euphrates; by the rules of
Arabic grammar the word is pronounced (though never written)
Ambαr.
[FN#206] "Art thou not the slave of the Messiah, the Rαhib (monk)?" "No! I am the slave of Allah, the Rαghib (desirous of mercy from the Almighty). " A fair specimen of the Saj'a or rhymed prose. Abdallah (properly "Abdu'llah:") is a kind of neutral name, neither Jewish, Moslem nor Christian; hence I adopted it, (Pilgrimage i. 20.)