427 ([return])
[ This passage is sadly disjointed in the text: I have followed Mr. Payne's ordering.]
428 ([return])
[ The Arab of noble tribe is always the first to mount his own mare: he also greatly fears her being put out to full speed by a stranger, holding that this should be reserved for occasions of life and death; and that it can be done to perfection only once during the animal's life.]
429 ([return])
[ The red (Ahmar) dromedary like the white-red (Sabah) were most valued because they are supposed best to bear the heats of noon; and thus "red camels" is proverbially used for wealth. When the head of Abu Jahl was brought in after the Battle of Bedr, Mahommed exclaimed, "'Tis more acceptable to me than a red camel!">[
430 ([return])
[ i.e. Couriers on dromedaries, the only animals used for sending messages over long distances.]
431 ([return])
[ These guest-fires are famous in Arab poetry. So Al-Harírí (Ass. of Banu Haram) sings:—
A beacon fire I ever kindled high;