The Mesnevi

41 Qur’ān ii. 24.

42 Qur’ān lxxx. 15.

43 Qur’ān lvi. 78.

44 Qur’ān lvi. 79.

45 Qur’ān xli. 42.

46 Qur’ān xii. 64.

47 Qur’ān vii. 150.

48 Balkh, to the south of the west part of the Upper Oxus, is in latitude 36°, 48′ N., longitude 67°, 4′ E. from Greenwich. It represents the ancient Bactra, otherwise called Zariaspa.

49 Husāmu-’l-Haqqi-wa-’d-Dīn, his full title of honour. (See Anecdotes, chap. vi.)

50 Bāyezīd or Abū-Yazīd, of Bestām, in Khurāsān, Persia, latitude 36°, 25´ N., longitude 55°, 0´ E., a celebrated teacher and saint among the mystics of Islām, died A.H. 261, A.D. 874 (though A.H. 234, A.D. 848, has also been mentioned by some). His name was Tayfūr, son of ‘Isà, son of Ādam, son of Surūshān, a Zoroastrian who embraced Islām.

51 Juneyd, surname of Abū-’l-Qāsim Sa’īd son of ‘Ubayd, entitled Sultan of the Sūfī Community, a saint who died at Bagdad in A.H. 287 (A.D. 900).

52 Urmiyya, on the lake of that name, south-west from Tebrīz, the capital city of Azerbāyjān, the north-west province of Persia.

53 The expression of: “The venerated Sheykh,” might, perhaps, at first, be thought to indicate the Caliph Abū-Bekr, the Sheykh par excellence, as he and his successor ‘Umer (Omar) were designated “the two Sheykhs,” from each being a father-in-law to Muhammed, whereas the third and fourth caliphs, ‘Uthmān (Osmān) and ‘Alī, were his sons-in-law. If this supposition were correct, Jelāl and Husām would have been descended from the same remote ancestor. The commentators, however, I am informed, name a certain “Seyyid Abū-’l-Wefā, the Kurd,” as being intended. Particulars as to his individuality and history have not, unfortunately, reached me.

54 I have not met with an explanation of this expression, which is again introduced in Tale xiv., distich 40.

55 The reed-flute is the sacred musical instrument of the Mevlevī dervishes, commonly known as the Dancing Dervishes, from their peculiar religious waltz to the sound of the reed-flute, &c., with outstretched arms and inclined head, in their special public services of commemoration. They love the reed-flute as the symbol of a sighing absent lover.

56 There is a poetical Eastern notion that pearls are formed in the oysters by dewdrops or raindrops falling into them at a certain season.

57 Qur’ān vii. 139, where the words are: “And Moses fell down, swooning.”

58 In Islām a free person cannot legally be bought and sold.

59 By way of hyperbole, a clever physician is always compared to Jesus, in his miraculous healing powers, by Muslims.

60 Qur’ān xviii. 23, teaches: “Say not, ‘I will do so and so,’ unless (thou add): ‘God willing.’”

61 Divine service in Islām is entirely worship and praise. It is erroneous to talk of Muslims saying their prayers. Praise, laud, and glory is what they are bound to offer. Prayer is voluntary; and is prohibited, unless in some duly authorised form as a collect.

62 Qur’ān ii. 58.

63 Qur’ān ii. 114.

64 The word “sūfī,” used in the original, is probably the Greek σοφόι, but is explained as meaning, literally, “clad in woollen,” from “sūf,” wool. Metaphorically, in common use, it means: a pious man.

65 The holy Sheykh Shemsu-’d-Dīn, of Tebrīz, is meant; who was a friend of the author for many years, visiting Qonya at intervals, where he was put to death (in A.D. 1262?). See the “Anecdotes,” Chap. iv.; especially No. 17.

66 It was generally believed in bygone days that gems and metals grew and ripened in their mines.

67 The story is in Qur’ān xviii. 73. The angel was disguised as a servant to Moses. The passage says: “And they two proceeded until they met a boy; and he slew him.”

68 With Muslims, Ishmaël was to have been sacrificed; not Isaac. The Qur’ān xxxvii. 98-111, relates the story, but gives no name to the “boy.” Commentators supply it, by tradition.

69 A continuation of the story from Qur’ān xviii. 70. Some commentators make Elias the servant of Moses on the occasion. There is a tale in one of the essayists of last century,—the “Spectator,” if I rightly remember,—that gives these two adventures and others; the angel at last explaining to his companion the secret causes of all his actions.

70 In its true sense, the word “miscreant” signifies one who holds an erroneous belief. We corruptly say now: an infidel.

71 “Hypocrites,” in Islām, form a faction. They profess the faith openly, but inwardly they hate or despise it.

72 The Muslims “worship” God in their appointed devotions. If they “pray” also, subsequently, this is a voluntary act.

73 “Worship, fasting, alms, and pilgrimage” are the four acts by which a Muslim outwardly attests his faith. “Worship,” five times daily; “fasting,” one month yearly; “pilgrimage,” at Mekka, once, as a duty, in a lifetime; “alms,” whenever property of a certain amount is possessed.

74 “Mervites and Rāzites,” citizens of Merv and Rey (Rhages), two great Persian cities in former days, now in ruins. Merv is at present a Turkman camping-ground, aimed at by Russia as a halting place on the road to Herāt and India. Rey, the Rhages of the book of Tobit, not far from Tihrān, the Shāh’s present capital of Persia. The two parties were like Ireland’s Orangemen and Ribbonmen of our time.

75 Heaven and Hell; the “sheep” and the “goats.”

76 The original has “the Darling;” the highest title given to Muhammed by Muslims is God’s Darling; which is not found in the Qur’ān.

77 The original has “its dear one;” God is the dear one of mystics.

78 A woollen lion is a toy made and sold or exhibited by mendicants.

79 Musaylama was a prince of Naja, who gave himself out as a prophet, and wrote to Muhammed, proposing that they should divide Arabia between them. His epistle began: “Musaylama, the Apostle of God, to Muhammed, the Apostle of God.” Muhammed’s answer commenced with: “Muhammed, the Apostle of God, to Musaylama the liar.” He was eventually defeated and slain in battle, in the eleventh year of the Hijra after Muhammed’s decease; when all Arabia submitted to Islām. He was killed by Wahshi, the Ethiopian slave who, in the battle of ‘Uhud, had formerly driven the selfsame javelin through the body of Hamza, Muhammed’s uncle. Wahshi lived long after these events, in Syria. He used to say that, as a pagan, he had slain one of the best of men, and, as a Muslim, one of the worst. When Mekka was taken, he was proscribed; but he got away safely. Not long afterwards, he made his submission, and Muhammed forgave him, as he did others in analogous circumstances.

80 Who are intended by this Jewish squint-eyed king, and his self-sacrificing, treacherous Vazīr?