[112]. Arab. “Al-Áfák” plur. of Ufk, “elegant” (as the grammarians say) for the world, the universe.
[113]. [In MS. “Rankah” or “Ranakah,” probably for “Raunakah,” which usually means “troubled,” speaking of water, but which, according to Schiaparelli’s Vocabulista, has also the meaning of “Raunak” = amenitas. As however “Ranakah” taken as fem. of “Ranak,” shares with Raunakah the signification of “troubled,” it may perhaps also be a parallel form to the latter in the second sense.—St.]
[114]. The text has “Martabat Saltanah” (for Sultániyah) which may mean a royal Divan. The “Martabah” is a mattress varying in size and thickness, stuffed with cotton and covered with cloths of various colours and the latter mostly original and admirable of figuration but now supplanted by the wretched printed calicoes of civilisation. It is placed upon the ground and garnished with cushions which are usually of length equalling the width of the mattress and of a height measuring about half of that breadth. When the “Martabah” is placed upon its “Mastabah” (bench of masonry or timber) or upon its “Sarír” (a framework of “jaríd” or midribs of the palm), it becomes the Díwan = divan.
[115]. In text “Bi-izá-humá;” lit. vis-à-vis to the twain.
[116]. These have occurred vol. i. 176: I quote Mr. Payne (i. 156).
[117]. In text “Hanná-kumú ’llah:” see “Hanian,” vol. ii. 5.
[118]. This is usually a sign of grief, a symbolic act which dates from the days of the Heb. patriarchs (Gen. xxxvii. 29–34); but here it is the mark of strong excitement. The hand is placed within the collar and a strong pull tears the light stuff all down the breast. Economical men do this in a way which makes darning easy.
[119]. [The MS. is very indistinct in this place, but by supplying “’an” after “ghibta” and reading “’ayní” for “’anní.” I have no doubt the words are: Wa in ghibta ’an ’ayní fa-má ghibta ’an kalbi = and if thou art absent from my eyes, yet thou art not absent from my heart. The metre is Tawíl and the line has occurred elsewhere in the Nights.—St.]
[120]. I have already noted that “Hilál” is the crescent (waxing or waning) for the first and last two or three nights: during the rest of the lunar month the lesser light is called “Kamar.”
[121]. The sense is that of Coleridge:—