[FN#539] Arab. "Akl al-hashamah" (hashamah=retinue; hishmah=reverence, bashfulness) which may also mean "decorously and respectfully," according to the vowel-points.
[FN#540] i.e. as the Vice-regent of Allah and Vicar of the
Prophet.
[FN#541] For the superiority of mankind to the Jinn see vol. viii. 5;44.
[FN#542] According to Al-Siyuti, Harun al-Rashid prayed every day a hundred bows.
[FN#543] As the sad end of his betrothed was still to be accounted for.
[FN#544] For the martyrdom of the drowned see vol. i, 171, to quote no other places.
[FN#545] i.e. if he have the power to revenge himself. The sentiment is Christian rather than Moslem.
[FN#546] i.e. the power acquired (as we afterwards learn) by the regular praying of the dawn-prayer. It is not often that The Nights condescend to point a moral or inculcate a lesson as here; and we are truly thankful for the immunity.
[FN#547] Arab. "Musбfahah" which, I have said, serves for our shaking hands: and extends over wide regions. They apply the palms of the right hands flat to each other without squeezing the fingers and then raise the latter to the forehead. Pilgrimage ii. 332, has also been quoted.
[FN#548] Equivalent to our saying about an ill wind, etc.