The Mesnevi

276 Qur’ān xlvii. 17.

277 Qur’ān vii. 171.

278 Tradition relates that at first, Muhammed used to pronounce his sermon seated on the floor in the midst of his congregation, with his back against a certain wooden pillar. The congregation increasing, he was obliged to adopt the use of a raised platform, a kind of pulpit, so as to be seen and heard of all. The deserted pillar is the one spoken of.

279 This is a traditionary legend.

280 The circumambulation of the “House of God” at Mekka, is one of the ceremonies of a pilgrimage, &c.

281 Qur’ān i. 5.

282 Hātim Tāyī is the proverbial prince of Arabian generosity. Many anecdotes are current respecting him. His full name was Hātim, son of ‘Abdu-’llāh, son of Sa’d, of the tribe of Tayyi’. For instances of his generosity, as handed down by tradition from a time shortly prior to the promulgation of Islām, see Mr. Clouston’s “Arabian Poetry for English Readers,” p. 406; London, 1881; Trübner & Co., Ludgate Hill. But Hātim lived and died before the Caliphs ruled. He, too, was a poet.

283 Qur’ān xx. 97, makes the wandering Jew, Sāmirī, who produced the golden calf, to shun every one, saying, “Touch me not!”

284 Vicar of God is one of the Caliph’s titles. This “pretender” must have been some particular adversary of the poet’s. The satire is bitter.

285 Bāyezīd of Bestām, in Persia, an early Gnostic saint; died A.D. 874 (A.H. 261).

286 Yezīd, second Caliph of Damascus, persecutor of Husayn, son of the fourth Caliph ‘Ali.

287 The original naturally mentions the “qibla” of Islām; not the “east,” as used in Christian churches.

288 “My poverty’s my pride” is a saying traditionally attributed to Muhammed.

289 Qur’ān iii. 12, mentions several things “made goodly to man.“

290 Qur’ān vii. 189, relates the creation of a helpmate for Adam.

291 Muhammed.

292 For Humayrā, see a note in No. 8, dist. 69.

293 Yet Europe still pretends to believe that Islām has denied the possession of a soul by woman!

294 Qur’ān lxxix. 24. So Pharaoh is there said to have styled himself.

295 Qur’ān ii. 3, &c.

296 Not Easterns only have a superstition about treasures hid in ruins.

297 Qur’ān xxii. 11.

298 Man has a triple nature, vegetative, bestial, and human.

299 Qur’ān xxxix. 54.

300 Qur’ān vii. 142, &c.

301 Qur’ān xxxiv. 42.

302 Qur’ān vii. 75; xi. 65-70; xxvi. 142-158. Sālih was sent to the tribe of Thamūd, troglodytes who dwelt in the valleys about half-way between Medīna and the Gulf of Akaba.

303 Qur’ān xci. 13.

304 Qur’ān vii. 76, 89; xi. 70, 97; xxix. 36.

305 Qur’ān vii. 91.

306 Qur’ān lv. 20.

307 Qur’ān vi. 2, 60.

308 Qur’ān xxxviii. 34.

309 Not textually from the Qur’ān.

310 Not textually from the Qur’ān.

311 Qur’ān xxiv. 30.

312 Qur’ān ii. 23, &c.

313 Rich Muslims everywhere break their fast in Ramazān with water from the well of Zemzem, in Mekka, if possible.

314 A pearl is believed to be a special dewdrop, caught by a special oyster, and thence brought to perfection by a special providence. (See Sa’dī’s ode at the end of translator’s preface.)

315 Qur’ān xciii. 1.