Mohammed Expressly Forbad His
Followers To Mark The Skin With Scars.
These “beauty marks” are common to
the nations in the regions to the West of the Red Sea.
The Barabarah of
Upper Egypt adorn their faces with scars exactly like the Meccans. The
Abyssinians moxa themselves in hetacombs for fashion’s sake. I have seen
cheeks gashed, as in the Holy City, among the Gallas. Certain races of
the Sawahil trace around the head a corona of little cuts, like those
of a cupping instrument. And, to quote no other instances, some Somalis
raise ghastly seams upon their chocolate-coloured skins.
[FN#11] Sayrafi, money-changer; Sarraf, banker; the Indian “Shroff,”
banker, money-changer, and usurer.
[FN#12] When speaking of the Meccans I allude only to the section of
society which fell under my observation, and that more extensive
division concerning which I obtained notices that could be depended
upon.
[FN#13] The editor of Burckhardt’s “Travels in Arabia” supposes that his
author’s “sect of light extinguishers” were probably Parsees from Surat or
Bombay. The mistake is truly ludicrous, for no pious Parsee will
extinguish a light. Moreover, infidels are not allowed by law to pass
the frontiers of the Sanctuary. The sect alluded to is an obscure
heresy in Central Asia; and concerning it the most improbable scandals
have been propagated by the orthodox.
[FN#14] It is strange how travellers and linguists differ upon the
subject of Arabic and its dialects. Niebuhr compares their relation to
that of Provençal, Spanish, and Italian, whereas Lane declares the
dialects to resemble each other more than those of some different
counties in England. Herbin (Grammar) draws a broad line between
ancient and modern Arabic; but Hochst (Nachrichten von Marokos und Fez)
asserts that the difference is not so great as is imagined. Perhaps the
soundest opinion is that proposed by Clodius, in his “Arabic Grammar”:
“dialectus Arabum vulgaris tantum differt ab erudita, quantum Isocrates
dictio ab hodierna lingua Græca.” But it must be remembered that the Arabs
divide their spoken and even written language into two orders, the “Kalam
Wati,” or vulgar tongue, sometimes employed in epistolary correspondence,
and the “Nahwi,” or grammatical and classical language. Every man of
education uses the former, and can use the latter. And the Koran is no
more a model of Arabic (as it is often assumed to be) than “Paradise Lost”
is of English. Inimitable, no man imitates them.
[FN#15] Safi Ullah—Adam.
[FN#16] The legend that Abraham was the “Son of Fire” might have arisen
from his birthplace, Ur of the Chaldees. This Ur (whence the Latin uro)
becomes in Persian Hir; in Arabic Irr or Arr. It explains the origin of
“Orotalt” better than by means of “Allahu Ta’ala.” This word, variously spelt
Ourotalt, Orotalt, and Orotal (the latter would be the masculine form
in Arabic), is Urrat-ilat, or the goddess of fire, most probably the
Sun (Al-Shams) which the Semites make a feminine.
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