登陆注册
22900000000140

第140章

[278] Omar is described as a man of fair complexion,and very ruddy,but he waxed tawny with age,when he also became bald and grey. He had little hair on the cheeks but a long mustachio with reddish ends. In stature he overtopped the people and was stout as he was tall. A popular saying of Mohammed's is,'All (very) long men are fools save Omar,and all (very) short men are knaves save Ali.'The Persians,who abhor Omar,compare every lengthy,ungainly,longsome thing with him;they will say,'This road never ends,like the entrails of Omar.'We know little about Ali's appearance except that he was very short and stout,broad and full-bellied with a tawny complexion and exceedingly hairy,his long beard,white as cotton,filling all the space between his shoulders. He was a'pocket. Hercules,'and incredible tales,like that about the gates of Khaybar,are told of his strength. Lastly,he was the only Caliph who bequeathed anything to literature: his'Cantiloquium'is famous and he has left more than one mystical and prophetic work. See Ockley for his'Sentences'and D'Herbelot s. D.

'Ali'and'Gebr.'Ali is a noble figure in Moslem history.

[279] The emancipation from the consequences of his sins;or it may mean a holy death.

[280] Battle fought near Al-Medinah A.D. 625. The word is derived from'shad'(one). I have described the site in my Pilgrimage,(vol. ii. 227).

[281]'Haphsa'in older writers;Omar's daughter and one of Mohammed's wives,famous for her connection with the manus of the Koran. From her were (or claimed to be) descended the Hafsites who reigned in Tunis and extended their power far and wide over the Maghrib (Mauritania),till dispossessed by the Turks.

[282] i.e. humbly without the usual strut or swim: it corresponds with the biblical walking or going softly. (I Kings xxi. 27;Isaiah xxxviii. 15,etc.)

[283] A theologian of the seventh and eighth centuries.

[284] i.e. to prepare himself by good works,especially alms-giving,for the next world.

[285] A theologian of the eighth century.

[286] Abd al-Aziz was eighth Ommiade (regn. A.H. 99=717) and the fifth of the orthodox,famed for a piety little known to his house.

His most celebrated saying was,'Be constant in meditation on death: if thou bein straitened case'twill enlarge it,and if in affluence'twill straiten it upon thee.'He died. poisoned,it is said,in A.H 101.

[287] Abu Bakr originally called Abd al-Ka'abah (slave of the Ka'abah) took the name of Abdullah and was surnamed Abu Bakr (father of the virgin) when Mohammed,who before had married only widows,took to wife his daughter,the famous or infamous Ayishah.

'Bikr'is the usual form,but'Bakr,'primarily meaning a young camel,is metaphorically applied to human youth (Lane's Lex. s.c.). The first Caliph was a cloth-merchant,like many of the Meccan chiefs. He is described as very fair with bulging brow,deep set eyes and thin-checked,of slender build and lean loined,stooping and with the backs of his hands fleshless. He used tinctures of Henna and Katam for his beard. The Persians who hate him,call him'Pir-i-Kaftar,'the old she-hyaena,and believe that he wanders about the deserts of Arabia in perpetual rut which the males must satisfy.

[288] The second,fifth,sixth and seventh Ommiades.

[289] The mother of Omar bin Abd al-Aziz was a granddaughter of Omar bin al-Khattab.

[290] Brother of this Omar's successor,Yezid II.

[291] So the Turkish proverb'The fish begins to stink at the head.'

[292] Calling to the slaves.

[293] When the'Day of Arafat'(9th of Zu'l-Hijjah) falls upon a Friday. For this Hajj al- Akbar see my Pilgrimage iii. 226. It is often confounded by writers (even by the learned M. Caussin de Perceval) with the common Pilgrimage as opposed to the Umrah,or'Lesser Pilgrimage'(ibid. iii. 342,etc.). The latter means etymologically cohabiting with a woman in her father's house as opposed to'Ars or leading her to the husband's home: it is applied to visiting Meccah and going through all the pilgrim-rites but not at the Pilgrimage-season. Hence its title'Hajj al-Asghar'the'Lesser Hajj.'But'Umrah'is also applied to a certain ceremony between the hills Safa (a large hard rock) and Marwah (stone full of flints),which accompanies the Hajj and which I have described (ibid. iii. 344). At Meccah I also heard of two places called Al-Umrah,the Greater in the Wady Fatimah and the Lesser half way nearer the city (ibid. iii. 344).

[294] A fair specimen of the unworthy egoism which all religious systems virtually inculcate Here a pious father leaves his children miserable to save his own dirty soul.

[295] Chief of the Banu Tamin,one of the noblest of tribes,derived from Tamim,the uncle of Kuraysh (Koreish);hence the poets sang:--There cannot be a son nobler than Kuraysh,Nor an uncle nobler than Tamim.

The high minded Tamin is contrasted with the mean-spirited Kays,who also gave rise to a tribe;and hence the saying concerning one absolutely inconsistent,'Art thou now Tamin and then Kays?'

[296] Surnamed Al-Sakafi,Governor of Al-Yaman and Irak.

[297] Tenth Ommiade (regn. A H. 105-125 = 724-743).

[298] Or'clothe thee in worn-out clothes'i.e.'Become a Fakir'or religious mendicant.

[299] This gratuitous ****** in ignorance injures the tale and is as repugnant to Moslem as to Christian taste.

[300] The child is named either on the day of its birth or on that day week. The father whispers it in the right ear,often adding the Azan or prayer-call,and repeating in the left ear the'Ikamah'or Friday sentence. There are many rules for choosing names according to the week-day,the ascendant planet,the'Sortes Coranicae,'etc.

同类推荐
  • 养生导引法

    养生导引法

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 瑜伽师地论略纂

    瑜伽师地论略纂

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 游黄山日记(后)

    游黄山日记(后)

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 广志

    广志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • Letters

    Letters

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 天才神医五小姐

    天才神医五小姐

    她,21世纪,令人闻风丧胆的女杀手,犹如一朵妖娆的红玫瑰一样,一触必死。然而意外的穿越到另一个大陆。穿越就算了还穿越到了一个人人唾弃的废材身上,我呸!然而废材就算了怎么还有人对废材感兴趣的?瞅瞅人模人样的怎么骨子里尽是无赖?说好的冷酷无情去哪了?说好的不近女色去哪了?说好的是个杀人狂魔去哪了?
  • 修真十书杂着捷径

    修真十书杂着捷径

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 快穿之女配翻身大计

    快穿之女配翻身大计

    从第一世开始,你的眼里没有我,但我的眼里都是你“如初,希望我们世世如初。”
  • 大王莫怕

    大王莫怕

    土里土气的山村野丫头木小多无意中结识了要去中南山修炼的高傲贵公子夜泽天,一路发生了很多搞笑无厘头的事情,到了中南山之后又经过多层选拔终于留下成为南派入室弟子……与尘冠希,许仙,沉鱼落雁等人成为师兄妹,其中爆笑不断,欢喜多多……(有心脏病的亲们慎入哦!笑残概不负责。)另外随着时间的累积,小丫头有和小王爷产生了怎样的情愫呢,大家拭目以待吧
  • 天行

    天行

    号称“北辰骑神”的天才玩家以自创的“牧马冲锋流”战术击败了国服第一弓手北冥雪,被誉为天纵战榜第一骑士的他,却受到小人排挤,最终离开了效力已久的银狐俱乐部。是沉沦,还是再次崛起?恰逢其时,月恒集团第四款游戏“天行”正式上线,虚拟世界再起风云!
  • 魔能国度

    魔能国度

    一个小人物的异世旅途,如果世界没有碾碎我们的坚持,就让我们用这世界的一切,打碎一切枷锁,走向生命的自由!生命洪流滚滚,或上或下,不管在哪个世界,送给最有坚持的人,都将是一份成功的希望。
  • 立足商界

    立足商界

    对安于现状、胸无大志的人来说,什么事都容易;然而对雄心壮志、想成就一番事业的人来说,什么事都不易。本书正是为这些奋斗在各个行业、时刻怀揣梦想、准备奋勇向前的年轻人准备的最佳创业宝典。世界首富比尔,盖茨青年时代的手边励志书,成功之后力荐美国青年的必读经典之一,印度出身寒微的80后赤手空拳,25岁赚了3亿的古尔巴克斯?查哈尔的创业精神指引,影响欧美两代年轻人的唯一创业忠告书。
  • 战神殿

    战神殿

    他坐拥世界经济命脉!他之言浩荡八方十万里,莫敢不从!他一代罗刹殿主,屹立世界之巅!可却沦为赘婿,只为守护她!
  • 自从在那里相逢

    自从在那里相逢

    “夏沐宜,你真当本王不敢杀你!”“王爷若能杀便杀了吧。”林园中,她与他相逢“齐恒,你等着,我总有一天会回来,回来为烟竹报仇!”“沐宜,我...”“你住口,哈哈,我瞎了眼才会把你当朋友,才回去救你!火光中,她与他朋友变仇人
  • 最强变异

    最强变异

    因为先天的兔唇和矮小,我被母亲抛弃,被同学欺负,连亲生父亲都抛下我远走海外。自暴自弃的自杀未遂使我拥有了如同吸血鬼一般的体质。依靠这特殊的体质,我从一个人见人欺的丑鬼变成了人见人怕的高帅富掌权人!虽然曾经的阴影已经过去,但心中的伤痕时时刻刻提醒着我曾经的怨与恨……这天,一个呆萌小美女到我部门报道,长久的阴影让我一下认出了她!这个外表清纯天真的女人就是当年我被抛弃的导火索!我的复仇之路,从此揭开序幕……