Chapter ii

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NOTE 13. By this word are meant "oblong, cylindrical, hollow beads:" "ḳaṣabeh" signifying originally "a reed," "cane," &c.

NOTE 14. The words "who hath taught men," &c., are from the Ḳur-án, ch. xcvi. v. 5.

NOTE 15. "'Azeez" and "'Azeezeh" (masculine and feminine) signify "Dear," "Excellent," &c.

NOTE 16. The handkerchief is generally oblong, and each of its two ends is embroidered with a border of coloured silks and gold; the other two edges being plain.

NOTE 17. My sheykh has remarked in a marginal note, that this sign may allude to her heart, or to her sighing because she enjoys not the union she desires (as expressed immediately after); and that the latter is more probable, as the action is one common with persons in grief.

NOTE 18.--_On Conversing and Corresponding by means of Signs, Emblems, Metaphors, &c._ Many persons of the instructed classes, and some others, among the Arabs, often take delight, and shew much ingenuity and quickness of apprehension, in conversing and corresponding by means of signs, emblems, &c., or in a conventional, metaphorical, language, not understood by the vulgar in general, and sometimes not by any except the

## parties engaged in the intercourse. In some cases, when the main

metaphor employed is understood, the rest of the conversation becomes easily intelligible without any previous explanation; and I have occasionally succeeded in carrying on a conversation of this kind (though not in cases such as that described in the tale referred to by this note); but I have more frequently been unsuccessful in attempting to divine the nature of a topic in which other persons were engaged. One simple mode of secret conversation or correspondence is by substituting certain letters for other letters.

Many of the women are said to be adepts in this art, or science, and to convey messages, declarations of love, &c., by means of fruits, flowers, and other emblems. The inability of numbers of females in families of the middle classes to write or read, as well as the difficulty or impossibility frequently existing of conveying written letters, may have given rise to such modes of communication. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, in one of her charming letters from the East, has gratified our curiosity by a Turkish love-letter of this kind.[369] A specimen of one from an Arab, with its answer, may be here added.--An Arab lover sent to his mistress a fan, a bunch of flowers, a silk tassel, some sugar-candy, and a piece of a chord of a musical instrument; and she returned for answer a piece of an aloe-plant, three black cumin-seeds, and a piece of a plant used in washing.[370] His communication is thus interpreted:--The fan, being called "mirwaḥah," a word derived from a root which has among its meanings that of "going to any place in the evening," signified his wish to pay her an evening visit: the flowers, that the interview should be in her garden: the tassel, being called "shurrábeh," that they should have sharáb[371] (or wine): the sugar-candy, being termed "sukkar nebát," and "nebát" also signifying "we will pass the night," denoted his desire to remain in her company until the morning: and the piece of a chord, that they should be entertained by music. The interpretation of her answer is as follows:--The piece of an aloe-plant, which is called "ṣabbárah" (from "ṣabr," which signifies "patience"--because it will live for many months together without water), implied that he must wait: the three black cumin-seeds explained to him that the period of delay should be three nights: and the plant used in washing informed him that she should then have gone to the bath, and would meet him.[372]--I have omitted one symbol in the lady's answer, as it conveys an allusion not so consistent with European as with Arab notions of female delicacy.

The language of flowers employed by the Turks does not exactly agree with the system illustrated in the story of 'Azeez and 'Azeezeh; for the former consists of a collection of words and phrases or sentences which rhyme with the names of the objects used as the signs.[373] This system is also employed by the Arabs; but I believe not so commonly as the other.

A remarkable faculty is displayed by some Arabs in catching the meaning of secret signs employed in written communications to them; such signs being often used in political and other intrigues. The following is a curious instance.--The celebrated poet El-Mutanebbee, having written some verses in dispraise of Káfoor El-Ikhsheedee the independent Governor of Egypt, was obliged to flee, and hide himself in a distant town. Káfoor was informed of his retreat, and desired his secretary to write to him a letter promising him pardon, and commanding him to return; but told the writer at the same time, that when the poet came he would punish him. The secretary was a friend of the poet, and, being obliged to read the letter to the Prince when he had written it, was perplexed how to convey to El-Mutanebbee some indication of the danger that awaited him: he could only venture to do so in the exterior address; and having written this in the usual form, commencing "In sháa-lláh" (If it be the will of God) "this shall arrive," &c., he put a small mark of reduplication over the "n" in the first word, which he thus converted into "Inna;" the filial vowel being understood. The poet read the letter, and was rejoiced to see a promise of pardon; but on looking a second time at the address, was surprised to observe the mark of reduplication over the "n." Knowing the writer to be his friend, he immediately suspected a secret meaning, and rightly conceived that the sign conveyed an allusion to a passage in the Ḳur-án commencing with the word "Inna," and this he divined to be the following:--"Verily the magistrates are deliberating concerning thee, to put thee to death."[374] Accordingly, he fled to another town.--Some authors add, that he wrote a reply, conveying, by a similar sign, to his friend, an allusion to another passage in the Ḳur-án:--"We will never enter the country while they remain therein."[375]--It is probable that signs thus employed were used by many persons to convey allusions to certain words; and such may have been the case in the above-mentioned instance: if not, the poet was indeed a wonderful guesser.

NOTE 19. Perhaps it is unnecessary to explain that the actions here described are those of a dyer, dipping a piece of linen into a red dye, and then wringing it. The shop of the dyer is generally, like most other shops, a small chamber or recess open towards the street. Pans containing the different dyes are imbedded in its floor.

NOTE 20. "Maḳ'ad" is a name generally given to a chamber in which male guests or visiters are received, having an open front with two or more arches, and looking into the court or garden of the house. Its floor is elevated about ten or more feet above the ground, and the front is usually towards the north, or nearly so.

NOTE 21. I suppose it to be meant, that these designs were executed in a kind of mosaic work; for the pool of the fountain is generally ornamented with black and white marble, and pieces of fine red tile, inlaid in complicated and tasteful patterns. A view and plan of a fountain of this kind are inserted in the Introduction to my work on the Modern Egyptians.

NOTE 22. "Baḳláweh," from the Turkish "baḳláva," is a name given to a kind of pastry, which is generally thus prepared:--A paste made of fine flour with clarified butter is rolled thin, and laid upon a tray: upon this paste is then spread a composition of clarified butter and blanched almonds (and sometimes walnuts and currants) beaten small; and over this is put another layer of paste. Eight of these double layers of paste with the composition above mentioned between them are placed one upon another, making the whole about an inch thick. It is baked in an oven; cut into lozenge-shaped pieces, about three inches long, and two inches wide; and after it is thus cut, some honey or treacle is poured over.

NOTE 23. See Note 99 to