The Date-Trees Stand Either In The Enclosed Fields, Where They Are Irrigated Together With The Seeds In The Ground, Or In The Open Plain, Where They Are Watered By The Rains Only:

The fruit of the latter, though less abundant, is more esteemed.

Numbers of them grow wild on the plain, but every tree has its owner. Their size is, in general, inferior to that of the Egyptian palm-tree, fed by the rich soil of the country, and the waters of the Nile; but their fruit is much sweeter, and has a more fragrant smell.

The many different uses to which almost every part of the date-tree is applied, have already been mentioned by several travellers; they render it as dear to the settled Arab, as the camel is to the Bedouin.

[p.356] Mohammed, in one of the sayings recorded of him, compares the virtuous and generous man to this noble tree. "He stands erect before his Lord; in his every action he follows the impulse received from above, and his whole life is devoted to the welfare of his fellow- creatures." [See also the 1st Psalm, v. 3. - "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water," &c.] The people of the Hedjaz, like the Egyptians, make use of the leaves, the outer and inner bark of the trunk, and the fleshy substance at the root of the leaves where they spring from the trunk; and, besides this, they use the kernels of the fruit, as food for their cattle:

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Words from 136771 to 137029 of 182297