Of This Palm The
Moslems Relate That The Prophet Planted A Stone, Which In A Few Minutes
Grew Up And Bore Fruit.
Next comes Al-Birni, of which was said, "It
causeth sickness to depart, and there is no sickness in it." The Wahshi
on one occasion bent its head, and "salamed" to Mohammed as he ate its
fruit, for which reason even now its lofty tuft turns earthwards.
The
Sayhani (Crier) is so called, because when the founder of Al-Islam,
holding Ali's hand, happened to pass beneath, it cried, "This is
Mohammed the Prince of Prophets, and this is Ali the Prince of the
Pious, and the Progenitor of the Immaculate Imams.[FN#6]" Of course the
descendants of so intelligent a vegetable hold high rank in the kingdom
of palms, and the vulgar were in the habit of eating the Sayhani and of
throwing the stones about the Harim. The Khuzayriyah is thus named
because it preserves its green colour, even when ripe; it is dried and
preserved as a curiosity. The Jabali is the common fruit: the poorest
kinds are the Laun and
[p.402]the Hilayah, costing from four to seven piastres per mudd.[FN#7]
I cannot say that the dates of Al-Madinah are finer than those of
Meccah, although it is highly heretical to hold such tenet. The produce
of the former city was the favourite food of the Prophet, who
invariably broke his fast with it: a circumstance which invests it with
a certain degree of relic-sanctity.
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