In the beginning of the year of the Flight 305 (June, A.D. 917), two ambassadors from the Greek Emperor (Constantine IX., Porphyrogenitus) arrived in Baghdád on a mission to the Khaleefeh El-Muḳtedir, bringing an abundance of costly presents; and the scenes which they witnessed are thus described; apparently, however, not without some exaggeration. They were first received by the Wezeer, who, at the audience which he granted to them in his garden-palace, displayed on this occasion a degree of magnificence that had never before been manifested by any of his rank; pages, memlooks, and soldiers, crowded the avenues and courts of his mansion, the apartments of which were hung with tapestry of the value of thirty thousand deenárs; and the Wezeer himself was surrounded by generals and other officers on his right and left and behind his seat, when the two ambassadors approached him, dazzled by the splendour that surrounded them, to beg for an interview with the Khaleefeh. El-Muḳtedir, having appointed a day on which he would receive them, ordered that the courts and passages and avenues of his palace should be filled with armed men, and that all the apartments should be furnished with the utmost magnificence. A hundred and sixty thousand armed soldiers were arranged in ranks in the approach to the palace; next to these were the pages of the closets, and chief eunuchs, clad in silk and with belts set with jewels, in number seven thousand; four thousand white, and three thousand black: there were also seven hundred chamberlains; and beautifully ornamented boats of various kinds were seen floating upon the Tigris, hard by. The two ambassadors passed first by the palace of the chief chamberlain, and, astonished at the splendid ornaments and pages and arms which they there beheld, imagined that this was the palace of the Khaleefeh; but what they had seen here was eclipsed by what they beheld in the latter, where they were amazed by the sight of thirty-eight thousand pieces of tapestry of gold-embroidered silk brocade, and twenty-two thousand magnificent carpets. Here also were two menageries of beasts by nature wild, but tamed by art, and eating from the hands of men: among them were a hundred lions; each lion with its keeper. They then entered the Palace of the Tree, enclosing a pond from which rose the Tree: this had eighteen branches, with leaves of various colours (being artificial), and with birds of gold and silver (or gilt and silvered) of every variety of kind and size, perched upon its branches, so constructed that each of them sang. Thence they passed into the garden, in which were furniture and utensils not to be enumerated: in the passages leading to it were suspended ten thousand gilt coats of mail. Being at length conducted before El-Muḳtedir, they found him seated on a couch of ebony inlaid with gold and silver, to the right of which were hung nine necklaces of jewels, and the like to the left, the jewels of which outshone the light of day. The two ambassadors paused at the distance of about a hundred cubits from the Khaleefeh, with the interpreter. Having left the presence, they were conducted through the palace, and were shewn splendidly-caparisoned elephants, a giraffe, lynxes, and other beasts. They were then clad with robes of honour, and to each of them was brought fifty thousand dirhems, together with dresses and other presents. It is added, that the ambassadors approached the palace through a street called "the Street of the Menárehs," in which were a thousand menárehs, or menarets. It was at the hour of noon; and as they passed, the muëddins from all these menárehs chanted the call to prayer at the same time, so that the earth almost quaked at the sound, and the ambassadors were struck with fear.[274]

The Orientals well understand how to give the most striking effect to the jewels which they display on their dress, &c., on occasions of state. Sir John Malcolm, describing his reception by the late King of Persia, says, "His dress baffled all description. The ground of his robes was white; but he was so covered with jewels of an extraordinary size, and their splendour, from his being seated where the rays of the sun played upon them, was so dazzling, that it was impossible to distinguish the minute parts which combined to give such amazing brilliancy to his whole figure."[275]

Note [92.] As this marriage is described as conducted in an irregular manner, I need say nothing at present of the ceremonies usually practised on such an occasion.

Note [93.] Every person who has visited Eastern cities will bear testimony to the plausibility of this excuse. I have several times been thrown down by the wide load of a camel in the streets of Cairo, and seen loads of firewood scraping the houses on both sides of a street at the same time.

Note [94.] Women suspected of infidelity to their husbands have not unfrequently been thus punished in Egypt in modern times, in violation of the law.

Note [95.] "Saạd" signifies "happiness," or "prosperity," and also "happy," or "prosperous."

Note [96.] Pity is of more important service to the Muslim after death than during life; for the prayers which it inspires increase his happiness in futurity, or diminish his misery.

Note [97.] This allusion to religious faith is peculiarly apt in the mouth of a Muslim; for the chief dogma of his creed is the denial of any partnership in the Divine essence. He calls persons of all other religions "mushriks," or those who attribute partners to God.

Note [98.] In the original, she is here called an 'Efreeteh, which is an improper term.