Note 193
Arab. "Nafs."=Hebr. Nephesh (Nafash) =soul, life as opposed to "Ruach"= spirit and breath. In these places it is equivalent to "I said to myself." Another form of the root is "Nafa…
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Notes to The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1 — Page 9
698 notes in Richard Francis Burton translation. Follow a thought back to its place in the book.
698 notes
Note 194
Arab. "Kaus al-Banduk;" the "pellet bow" of modern India; with two strings joined by a bit of cloth which supports a ball of dry clay or stone. It is chiefly used for birding.
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In the East blinding was a common practice, especially in the case of junior princes not required as heirs. A deep perpendicular incision was made down each corner of the eyes; the…
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Arab. "Khinzír" (by Europeans pronounced "Hanzír"), prop. a wild-boar, but popularly used like our "you pig!"
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Striking with the shoe, the pipe-stick and similar articles is highly insulting, because they are not made, like whips and scourges, for such purpose. Here the East and the West di…
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Incest is now abominable everywhere except amongst the overcrowded poor of great and civilised cities. Yet such unions were common and lawful amongst ancient and highly cultivated …
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Dwellers in the Northern Temperates can hardly imagine what a dust-storm is in sun parched tropical lands. In Sind we were often obliged to use candles at mid-day, while above the …
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Arab. “’Urban,” now always used of the wild people, whom the French have taught us to call les Bedouins; "Badw" being a waste or desert, and Badawi (fem. Badawíyah, plur. Badáwi an…
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Arab. "Amír al-Muuminín." The title was assumed by the Caliph Omar to obviate the inconvenience of calling himself "Khalífah" (successor) of the Khalífah of the Apostle of Allah (i…
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This may also mean "according to the seven editions of the Koran " the old revisions and so forth (Sale, Sect. iii. and D'Herbelot "Alcoran.") The schools of the "Mukri," who teach…
Read the noteNote 203
Arab. "Sadd"=wall, dyke, etc. the "bund" or "band" of Anglo-India. Hence the "Sadd" on the Nile, the banks of grass and floating islands which "wall" the stream. There are few sigh…
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Arab. Sár = the vendetta, before mentioned, as dreaded in Arabia as in Corsica.
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Arab. "Ghútah," usually a place where irrigation is abundant. It especially applies (in books) to the Damascus-plain because "it abounds with water and fruit trees." Bochart (Geog.…
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The exigencies of the "Saj'a," or rhymed prose, disjoint this and many similar passages.
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The "Ebony" Islands; Scott's "Isle of Ebene," i., 217.
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"Jarjarís" in the Bul. Edit.
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Arab. "Takbís." Many Easterns can hardly sleep without this kneading of the muscles, this "rubbing" whose hygienic properties England is now learning.
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The converse of the breast being broadened, the drooping, "draggle-tail" gait compared with the head held high and the chest inflated.
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This penalty is mentioned in the Koran (chapt. v.) as fit for those who fight against Allah and his Apostle, but commentators are not agreed if the sinners are first to be put to d…
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Arab. "'Ajami"=foreigner, esp. a Persian: the latter in The Nights is mostly a villain. I must here remark that the contemptible condition of Persians in Al-Hijáz (which I noted in…
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The Calc. Edit. turns them into Tailors (Khayyátín) and Torrens does not see the misprint.
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i.e. Axe and sandals.
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Lit. "Strike his neck."
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A phrase which will frequently recur; meaning the situation suggested such words a these.
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