The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume 1: by John Payne
Footnotes
1. The visible and the invisible. Some authorities make it three worlds (those of men, of the
angels and of the Jinn or genii), and ethers more.
2. The Arabic word for island (jezireh) signifies also "peninsula," and doubtless here used in
the latter sense. The double meaning of the word should be borne in mind, as it explains many
apparent discrepancies in Oriental tales.
3. A powerful species of genie. The name is generally (but not invariably) applied to an evil
spirit.
4. God on thee! abbreviated form of "I conjure thee (or call on thee) by God!"
8. The Arabic word for garden (bustan) applies to any cultivated or fertile spot, abounding in
trees. An European would call such a place as that mentioned in the tale an oasis.
13. A dirhem (Gr. drachma) is a silver coin worth about 6d.
14. Afriteh, a female Afrit. Afrit means strictly an evil spirit; but the term is not unfrequently
applied to benevolent Jinn, as will appear in the course of these stories.
16. A Marid is a genie of the most powerful class. The name generally, though not invariably,
denotes an evil spirit.
17. Of Islam, which is fabled by the Muslims to have existed before Mohammed, under the
headship, first of Abraham and afterwards of Solomon.
18. From this point I omit the invariable formula which introducer each night, as its constant
repetition is only calculated to annoy the reader and content myself with noting the various nights
in the margin. {which will not be included in this electronic version}
19. Probably the skin of some animal supposed to be a defence against poison.
20. Literally, "eyes adorned with kohl:" but this expression is evidently used tropically to
denote a natural beauty of the eye, giving it that liquid appearance which it is the object of the use
of the cosmetic in question to produce.
21. A fabulous tribe of giants mentioned in the Koran.
22. The word here translated "eye" may also be rendered "understanding." The exact
meaning of the phrase (one of frequent recurrence in these stories) is doubtful.
23. A fabulous range of mountains which, according to Muslim cosmography, encompasses
the world.
26. The appearance of which is the signal for the commencement of the fast. All eyes being on
the watch, it naturally follows that the new moon of this month is generally seen at an earlier stage
than are those of the other months of the year. and its crescent is therefore apparently more
slender. Hence the comparison.
29. One condition of which is that no violation of the ceremonial law (which prohibits the use
of intoxicating liquors) be committed by the pilgrim, from the time of his assuming the pilgrim's
habit to that of his putting it off; and this is construed by the stricter professors to take effect from
the actual formation of the intent to make the pilgrimage. Haroun er Reshid, though a voluptuary,
was (at all events, from time to time) a rigid observer of Muslim ritual.
30. It is a frequent practice, in the East, gently to rub and knead the feet, for the purpose of
inducing sleep or gradually arousing a sleeper.
31. An expression frequent in Oriental works, meaning "The situations suggested such and
such words or thoughts."
33. Referring, of course, to the wine, which it appears to have been customary to drink warm
or boiled (vinum coctum) as among several ancient nations and in Japan and China at the present
day.
38. A certain fixed succession of prayers and acts of adoration is called a rekah (or bow) from
the inclination of the body that occurs in it. The ordained prayers, occurring five times a day,
consist of a certain number of rekahs.
55. The unveiling or displaying of the bride before her husband is the culminating ceremony of
a Muslim wedding of the better class. The bride is always displayed in the richest clothes and
ornament that can be mustered or borrowed for the occasion.
57. There is a play upon words in this line, founded upon the double meaning of the word
shirk, sharing (or partnership) and polytheism or the attributing partners or equals to God (as in
the Trinity), the one unpardonable sin of the Muslim religious code.
65. Mosul is a town of Mesopotamia, some two hundred miles N.E. of Baghdad. It is
celebrated for its silk and muslin manufactories. The Mosulis doubtless set the fashion in turbans
to the inhabitants of Baghdad and Bassora, and it would appear from the Vizier's remark that this
fashion was notably different from that followed at Cairo.
66. Eye-powder. The application of kohl to an infant's eyes is supposed to be beneficial.
67. The North wind holds the same place in Oriental metaphor and poetry as does the West
wind in those of Europe.
104. lit. ladder; a sort of frame, like the triangles to which they bound criminals sentenced to be
flogged.
105. Dinars; 100,000 dirhems would be only five thousand dinars and it will be seen from the
sequel that El Feshar proposed to spend half that amount upon the dowry and presents to the
tire-women alone.