Note 4 — INTRODUCTION.

This and the other verses quoted in this chapter are taken from the translations of old Arab poetry contributed by Mr. C. J. Lyall to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal (Translations from the Hamâseh and the Aghânî; The Mo`allaqah of Zuheyr). They imitate the metres of the original Arabic verse, but are nevertheless as literal as need be. The transliteration of proper names in the verses (and in other quotations) has been assimilated to the system adopted by Mr. Lane, from which in this work I only depart in the case of names which by frequent use have become almost the property of the English language.