Ships were lost during these dark voyages, and said to have had their flesh, with their stores, eaten by the natives, who lived there: hence, by the way, a name is given to this desert, namely _gannet_, which signifies sea-dog or sea-monster. [FN#60] i.e. "Souls which have passed away before the Judgment-Day, and therefore are secure from the Day of Resurrection and from Hell." [FN#61] Lane here remarks that in the English text the words are written "Kulth-i-Hijjah," evidently a mistake of the author. [FN#62] In this passage it may be noticed that the idea of the "souls of the righteous" being in Hell is also found in the Koran, Surah xviii. 56. [FN#63] In the translation of Ibn Khallikan we read "He (Shams al-Daula) had a daughter who was called the "Luckless" because she was unhappy." [FN#64] A celebrated Persian poet who flourished about the year 838 (A.D. 230). [FN#65] In the translation of Ibn Khallikan we read "They (the old men) gave advice to their young men to make an end of their lives by the falling sickness or by drowning themselves, or they recommended them to the practice of continence or to the recitation of Koran, or they commanded them to leave off eating flesh." [FN#66] In the translation of Ibn Khallikan we read, "It is a rule observed by the Arabs that if a man is invited to enter a caravan, he should either refuse or enter it. As, however, Shaykh Ibrahim said in the present instance, it was a rule of the Prophet himself (upon whom be the mercy of God) that when he was not mounted he should ride on a donkey between two camels (saying), 'I am on my brother, the camel' The Prophet (upon whom be the mercy of God!) said, 'The beast of God is the donkey' and 'The beast of the people is the horse' " The reason for this custom is noted by Lane (ii. 463). [FN#67] An allusion to the story of the three Calenders and the Jew, the circumstances of which are given by some Arabic writers. [FN#68] In the translation of Ibn Khallikan we read "He went and sat on the ground and, drawing out a little book written with his own hand, he remained in that attitude till evening. Some said that the Prophet had recited Sura xxviii. (which commands the Moslems to recite verses) and so he had sat on the ground." In the same tale (i. 670) we have a reference to one Yahya who said that, when the Prophet's beard was long, he used to remain a whole day motionless at prayer. It may be noticed that the author quotes, not from memory, but from a copy of the Koran. [FN#69] These Moslem women are said to carry a peculiar fan and to sing songs of the Prophet to it as they walk along. (Easterns.) [FN#70] In the translation of Ibn Khallikan we read "He (i.e. the Imam) pronounced over him an 'Apostle's curse', and the young men, by dint of beating him, extorted from him a promise to give up his evil ways, and he agreed to the fulfilment of our condition, namely, to become a companion of the house of Ja'afar. And there is on record a tradition, that Ja'afar had him fetched from the cemetery (outside the Mosque) (where he had gone to bury his head) and took him to his house, and suffered him to live with him in the place of the young man mentioned above." Lane (ii. 466) says that "Al-Muhassin became the 'Companion' of Ja'afar, and that he was afterwards called 'the Companion of God's Cousin'." He had, it seems, been an old companion of Ja'afar, and is mentioned in the tales; he was called Al-Muhassin, "the Pious" (i.e. a "fakir"), and was from Irak, near Bagdad, "a bald-headed, gray-bearded old man, who had committed thefts and was very devout" (Lane, vol. ii. 466). "He came to Ja'afar's house, was treated hospitably, and found, apparently, his friends, who urged him to remain and not leave the Moslem." It is added, "When Ja'afar's friends told him that al-Muhassin had become his companion, he exclaimed, 'And he is now the companion of my cousin (i.e. cousin-in-law)! Why did he wish to become my companion?' And it is said that he never after admitted the man to his house." [FN#71] In the translation of Ibn Khallikan we read "It is a standing rule with us that the husband may forbid his wife to visit her mother, for, were it not for this, it would be said that we do not look on mothers as lawful; but the mother-in-law (i.e. sister) is a lawful person." [FN#72] In the translation of Ibn Khallikan we read "As soon as he reached the town, he entered a mosque where Ja'afar was, and said to the bystanders, 'Take hold of this man.' He was accordingly delivered over to the officers, and Ja'afar said, 'I do not require this man,' for they would have put him to death. So he remained there that day, and on the following morning he was set at liberty and was invited to rejoin his friends, but he declined to do so and gave up all hopes of marrying his daughter. And it was said that he was a poor man and that he had no money; how then did he marry the lady?" Lane (vol. ii. 467) gives a more probable version of this adventure which, he says, the Moslem writers have changed. He adds that the bridegroom remained for three days in the Mosque, and during that time gave a thousand dirhems and then gave up all hope of marriage. Al-Mas'udi (chapt. xxiv. pt. 1) says, "Abu Ja'afar al- Muhassin ibn Abu al-Jarud, after he had been brought to his house, said, 'I have been brought here, and this is a fine place, but my heart is broken by what has happened to me.' He was, therefore, unable to sleep, but lay waking till morning, when Ja'afar said to his wife, 'Look! I had but one daughter, and this man has brought a second. Tell your father to come to me.' So she went to her father and said, 'The Commander of the Faithful, Ja'afar, sends you his salutations, and says, Come to him that your daughter may marry.' 'The girl has given me up,' said the old man, and would not go till he had eaten a morsel and taken a cup of wine. Then he went, and his daughter was brought to him, and he embraced her and bade her farewell. Then he rose and came back to Ja'afar's house, and spent several nights with him. On the third night Ja'afar said to him, 'Why do you not take the girl and give her to the matchmaker, for she is a valuable girl?' 'O my lord,' he answered, 'if she were as valuable as her price is, she would be worth twenty thousand dirhems, and I have not the wherewithal to buy such a piece of property; but I had a black ewe that was with young, and the thieves broke in and stole it from me.' Now Ja'afar had a son called Abd al-Hamid, who was a very ill-looking man, and who had lost the only remaining eye of the right eye of his youth. The old man begged to kiss this eye, which Ja'afar gave him permission to do. The young man then sent for two black slaves, and when they came, he gave them each a thousand dirhems, and made over to them the young ewe, saying, 'Take your ewe and let it graze.' So they departed and left the old man sitting by Ja'afar's side. He then asked the latter, 'O my lord, do you require anything?' 'Yes,' replied Ja'afar, 'a thousand dirhems.' So he gave it him