[410] Arab. 'Sahakah,'lit. rubbing. The Moslem Harem is a great school for this 'Lesbian (which I would call Atossan) love ';but the motive of the practice lies deeper. As amongst men the mixture of the feminine with the masculine temperament leads to sodomy,so the reverse makes women prefer their own ***. These tribades are mostly known by peculiarities of form and features,hairy cheeks and upper lips,gruff voices,hircine odour and the large projecting clitoris with erectile powers known to the Arabs as 'bazar'hence Tabzir=circumcision or amputation of such clitoris.
Burckhardt (Prov. 436) translates 'Bazarah'by slut or wench. He adds 'it originally signifies the labia which the Cairenes also entice Zambur and which are cut off in girlhood.'See also Lane,Lex. s.v.;Tabzir. Both writers confuse excision of the nymphae with circumcision of the clitoris (Zambur) Al-Siyuti (Kitab al-Iza'fi'Ilm al-Nikah) has a very interesting chapter on Sapphic venery,which is well known to Europe as proved by such works as 'Gamiani,'and 'Anandria ou Confessions de Mademoiselle Sappho,avec la Clef,'Lesbos,1718. Onani** is fatally prevalent:in many Harems and girls'schools tallow candles and similar succedanea are vainly forbidden and bananas when detected are cut into four so as to be useless;of late years,however,China has sent some marvellous artificial phalli of stuffed bladder,horn and even caoutchouc,the latter material of course borrowed from Europe.
[411] This is considered a powerful aphrodisiac in the East.
Hence male devotees are advised to avoid tile 'two reds,'i.e. meat and wine;while the 'two reds,'which corrupt women,are gold and saffron,that is perfumery. Hence also the saying of Mohammed:--'Perfumes for men should have scent and not colour;for women should have colour and not scent.'(Mishkat al-Masabih ii. 361.)
[412] These are the 'Hibas'or thin cords of wool which the Badawi binds round his legs,I believe to keep off cramp.
(Pilgrimage iii. 78).
[413] Crying out 'La ilaha illa 'llah.'(There is no god but the God.);technically called 'Tahlil.'
[414] i.e. Men,angels and devils,the 'Triloka'(triple people)
of the Hindus. Alamin (plur.),never Alamayn (dual),is the Triregno denoted by the papal Tiara,the three Christian kingdoms being Heaven,Hell and Purgatory.
[415] Matrahinna or Mit-Rahinah is a well-known village near Memphis,the name being derived from the old Egyptian Minat-ro-hinnu,the port at the mouth of the canal. Let me remark that two of these three words,'Minat'and 'Ru,'are still common in 'Aryan'Persian.
[416] Kiramat,a sign,a prodigy,opposed to Mu'ujizah,a miracle wrought by a prophet. The Sufis explain this thaumaturgy by Allah changing something of Nature's ordinary course in favour of an especial worshipper,and,after a fashion,this is Catholic doctrine (See Dabistan,iii. 173).
[417] Koran,x. 25,'until the earth receive its vesture and be adorned with various plants.'
[418] i.e. the young hair sprouting on the boy's cheek.
[419] A fighter for the faith and now a title which follows the name,e.g. Osman Pasha Ghazi,whom the English press dubbed 'Ghazi Osman.'
[420] That is the King of Constantinople.
[421] Cassia fistularis,a kind of carob:'Shambar'is the Arab. form of the Persian 'Chambar.'
[422] Koran,ii. 149. Hence the vulgar idea that Martyrs are still alive in the flesh. See my Pilgrimage (ii. 110 and elsewhere)
for the romantic and picturesque consequences of that belief. The Commentators (Jalal al-Din,etc.) play tricks with the Koranic words,'they (martyrs) are not dead but living'(iii. 179) by placing the happy souls in the crops of green birds which eat of the fruits and drink of the waters of Paradise;whereas the reprobates and the (very) wicked are deposited in black birds which drain the sanies and the boiling waters of Hell. Amongst the Greeks a body remaining entire long after death suggests Anathema Maranatha:it is the contrary with Catholic Christians (Boccaccio iv. 5,of the Pot of Basil). Concerning this creed see Maundrell,Letter of 1698.
[423] Tor is 'Mount Sinai'in the Koran (xcv. 1). I have only to repeat my opinion concerning the present site so called:'It is evident that Jebel Serbal dates only from the early days of Coptic Christianity;that Jebel Musa,its Greek rival,rose after the visions of Helena in the fourth century;whilst the building of the Convent by Justinian belongs to A.D 527. Ras Safsafah,its rival to the north,is an affair of yesterday,and may be called the invention of Robinson;and Jebel Katerina,to the south is the property of Ruppell'(Midian Revisited i.,237). I would therefore call the 'Sinaitic'Peninsula,Peninsula of Paran in old days and Peninsula of Tor (from its chief port) in our time. It is still my conviction that the true Mount Sinai will be found in Jabal Araif,or some such unimportant height to the north of the modern Hajj-road from Suez to Akabah. Even about the name (which the Koran writes 'Saina'and 'Sinin') there is a dispute:It is usually derived from the root 'Sanah'=sentis,a bush;but this is not satisfactory. Our eminent Assyriologist,Professor Sayce,would connect it with 'Sin,'the Assyrian Moon- god as Mount Nebo with the Sun-god and he expects to find there the ruins of a Lunar temple as a Solar fane stands on Ba'al Zapuna (Baal Zephon) or the classical Mount Casius.
[424] Alluding to the miracle of Aaron's rod (the gift of Jethro) as related in the Koran (chapts. vii. 1.,xx.,etc.),where the Egyptian sorcerers threw down thick ropes which by their magic twisted and coiled like serpents.
[425] Arab. 'Ayat'lit. 'signs,'here 'miracles of the truth,'1. c. Koranic versets as opposed to chapters. The ranks of the enemy represent the latter,sword-cuts the former--a very persuasive mode of preaching.