[5] Menhdi.
[6] Barat, barat: meaning ‘bridegroom’s procession’.
[7] Among the Khojas of West India a person from the
lodge to which the
parties belong recites the
names of the Panjtan-i-pak, the five
holy ones—Muhammad,
’Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, Husain—with
the
invocation: ’I
begin the wedding of —— with ——,
to wed as did
Fatimah, the bright-faced
Lady (on whom be peace!) with the Lord and
Leader, the Receiver of the
Testament of the Chosen and Pure, the Lord
’Ali, the son of Abu-Talib.’—Bombay
Gazetteer, ix, part ii,
45.
[8] Pandan.
[9] Chilamchi.
[10] Lagan.
[11] Surahi.
[12] Rikab, ‘a cup’; patthari,
‘made of stone’. China dishes are
also supposed to betray poison:
see J. Fryer, A New Account of East
India and Persia (Hakluyt
Society’s edition), i. 87.
[13] Dulhin.
[14] Dulha.
[15] Menhdi: the henna plant, Lawsonia alba.
[16] Atishbazi, fire-play.
[17] Abrak, talc.
[18] Chaman, a flower-bed.
[19] Anna.
[20] Otto, ’itr of roses.
[21] ’The dress of the bridegroom consisted
entirely of cloth of gold;
and across his forehead was
bound a sort of fillet made of an
embroidery of pearls, from
which, long strings of gold hung down all
over his face to his saddle-bow;
and to his mouth he kept a red silk
handkerchief closely pressed
to prevent devils entering his
mouth.’—Mrs.
F. Parks, Wanderings of a Pilgrim, i. 438 f.
This
fillet is called sihra,
and it is intended to avert the influence
of the Evil Eye and of demons.
[22] The officiating Mulla or Qazi lifts the bridegroom’s
veil,
makes him gargle his throat
three times with water, and seating him
facing Mecca, requires him
to repeat a prayer to Allah for forgiveness
(istighfarullah); the
four Qul, or chapters of the Koran
commencing with the word qul,
‘say’ (cix, cxii, cxiii, cxiv); the
Kalima or Creed: ’There
is no deity but Allah: Muhammad is the
Apostle of Allah’; the
Articles of Belief (Sifat-i-iman) in
Allah, his Angels, the Scriptures,
the Prophets, the Resurrection,
and Day of Judgement.
His absolute decree and predestination of Good
and Evil; the Prayer of Obedience,
said standing
(du’a’l-qunut).
If he be illiterate, the meaning of all these
should be explained to him.—Jafnir
Shurreef, Qanoon-e-Islam, 86.
[23] Mulla.