[351]. The man was therefore in hiding for some crime. [The MS. has “lá tafzah-ní” = Do not rend my reputation, etc. I would, therefore, translate “Sáhib-há” by “her lover,” and suggest that the crime in question is simply what the French call “conversation criminelle.”—St.]
[352]. The “’Ishá”-prayer (called in Egypt “’Eshè”) consists of ten “Ruka’át” = bows or inclinations of the body (not “of the head” as Lane has it, M. E. chapt. iii.): of these four are “Sunnah” = traditional or customary (of the Prophet), four are Farz (divinely appointed i.e. by the Koran) and two again Sunnah. The hour is nightfall when the evening has closed in with some minor distinctions, e.g. the Hanafí waits till the whiteness and the red gleam in the west (“Al-Shafak al-ahmar”) have wholly disappeared, and the other three orthodox only till the ruddy light has waned. The object of avoiding sundowntide (and sunrise equally) was to distinguish these hours of orisons from those of the Guebres and other faiths which venerate, or are supposed to venerate, the sun.
[353]. Scott. “History of the Sultan of Hind,” vol. vi. 194–209.
[354]. Red robes being a sign of displeasure: see vol. iv. 72; Scott (p. 294) wrongly makes them “robes of mourning.”
[355]. A Moslem negroid from Central and Western North Africa. See vol. ii. 15. They share in popular opinion the reputation of the Maghrabi or Maroccan for magical powers.
[356]. This is introduced by the translator; as usual with such unedited tales, the name does not occur till much after the proper place for specifying it.
[357]. In text “Iz lam naakhaz-há, wa-illá,” &c. A fair specimen of Arab. ellipsis.——If I catch her not (’twill go hard hard with me), and unless (I catch her) I will, &c.
[358]. i.e. “How far is the fowl from thee!”
[359]. [In the MS. “turayyih,” a modern form for “turawwih.”—St.]
[360]. [The above translation pre-supposes the reading “Farkhah lá atammat,” and would require, I believe, the conjunction “hattà” or “ilà an” to express “till.” I read with the MS. “lá tammat,” and would translate: “a chick not yet full grown, when the crow seized it and flew away with it,” as a complaint of the father for the anticipated untimely end of his son.—St.]