Vathek; An Arabian Tale
Page 26
Its waters are uncommonly pure and limpid, and their banksswarded with the finest verdure.
{53} _Moullahs_. Those among the Mahometans who were bred to the lawhad this title; and from their order the judges of cities and provinceswere taken.
{55} _Bababalouk almost sunk with confusion_, _whilst_, _etc._ Theheinousness of Vathek’s profanation can only be judged of by an orthodoxMussulman; or one who recollects the ablution and prayer indispensablyrequired on the exoneration of nature. Sale’s Prelim. Disc. p. 139. AlKoran, ch. 4. Habesci’s State of the Ottoman Empire, p. 93.
{67a} _Horrible Kaf_. This mountain, which in reality is no other thanCaucasus, was supposed to surround the earth, like a ring encompassing afinger. The sun was believed to rise from one of its eminences (as overOcta, by the Latin poets) and to set on the opposite; whence “from Kaf toKaf,” signified from one extremity of the earth to the other.
{67b} _The Simurgh_. This is that wonderful bird of the East concerningwhich so many marvels are told. It was not only endowed with reason, butpossessed also the knowledge of every language. This creature relates ofitself, that it had seen the great revolution of seven thousand years,twelve times, commence and close; and, that in its duration, the worldhad been seven times void of inhabitants, and as often replenished. TheSimurgh is represented as a great friend to the race of Adam, and notless inimical to the Dives.
{67c} _Afrits_. These were a kind of Medusa, or Lamia, supposed to bethe most terrible and cruel of all the orders of the Dives. Herbelot, p.66.
{68} _Deggial_. This word signifies properly a liar and imposter, butis applied by Mahometan writers to their Antichrist. He is described ashaving but one eye and eyebrow, and on his forehead the radicals of_cafer_, or infidel, are said to be impressed.
{79a} _Calenders_. These were a sort of men amongst the Mahometans whoabandoned father and mother, wife and children, relations andpossessions, to wander through the world, under a pretence of religion,entirely subsisting on the fortuitous bounty of those they had theaddress to dupe. Herbelot, Suppl. p. 204.
{79b} _Santons_. A body of religionists who were also called _Abdals_,and pretended to be inspired with the most enthusiastic raptures ofdivine love. They were regarded by the vulgar as saints. Olearius, Tom.I. p. 971. Herbelot, p. 5.
{79c} _Dervises_. The term _dervise_ signifies a poor man, and is thegeneral appellation by which a religious sect amongst the Mahometans isnamed.
{79d} _Brahmins_. These constituted the principal caste of the Indians,according to whose doctrines Brahma, from whom they are called, is thefirst of the three created beings by whom the world was made. ThisBrahma is said to have communicated to the Indians four books, in whichall the sciences and ceremonies of their religion are comprised.
{79e} _Faquirs_. This sect were a kind of religious anchorites, whospent their whole lives in the severest austerities and mortification.
{82} _Peries_. The word Peri, in the Persian language, signifies thatbeautiful race of creatures which constitutes the link between angels andmen.
{134} _Balkis_. This was the Arabian name of the Queen of Sheba, whowent from the South to hear the wisdom and admire the glory of Solomon.The Koran represents her as a worshipper of fire. Solomon is said notonly to have entertained her with the greatest magnificence, but also tohave raised her to his bed and his throne. Al Koran, ch. 27, and Sale’snotes. Herbelot, p. 182.
{140} _Ouranabad_. This monster is represented as a fierce flyinghydra, and belongs to the same class with the _Rakshe_, whose ordinaryfood was serpents and dragons; the _Soham_, which had the head of ahorse, with four eyes, and the body of a flame-coloured dragon; the_Syl_, a basilisk with a face resembling the human, but so tremendousthat no mortal could bear to behold it; the _Ejder_, and others. Seethese respective titles in Richardson’s Dictionary, Persian, Arabic andEnglish.