Note 198 — TALE of ALI BIN BAKKAR and of SHAMS AL-NAHAR.

i.e. her fair face shining through the black hair. "Camphor" is a favourite with Arab poets; the Persians hate it because connected in their minds with death; being used for purifying the corpse. We read in Burckhardt (Prov. 464) "Singing without siller is like a corpse without Hanút"—this being a mixture of camphor and rose-water sprinkled over the face of the dead before shrouded. Similarly Persians avoid speaking of coffee, because they drink it at funerals and use tea at other times.