[FN#112] i.e. hath been unduly prolonged.

[FN#113] i.e.  Let thy secret thoughts and purposes be righteous, even as thine outward profession.

[FN#114] See my “Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night,” Vol.  V. p. 264.

[FN#115] Afterwards called his “chamberlain,” i.e. the keeper of the door of the harem or chief eunuch.  See post, p.  III.

[FN#116] i.e. the eunuch who had dissuaded Dadbin from putting her to death.

[FN#117] Apparently referring to Aboulkhair (see ante p. 107), whom Dabdin would seem to have put to death upon the vizier’s false accusation, although no previous mention of this occurs.

[FN#118] The Arabs believe that each man’s destiny is charactered, could we decipher it, in the sutures of his skull.

[FN#119] ie. the lex talionis, which is the essence of Muslim jurisprudence.

[FN#120] i.e. a soldier of fortune, going about from court to court, in quest of service.

[FN#121] This phrase refers to the Arab idiom, “His hand (or arm) is long or short,” i.e. he is a man of great or little puissance.

[FN#122] The Arabs consider it a want of respect to allow the hands or feet to remain exposed in the presence of a superior.

[FN#123] Adeb.  See ante, p. 54, note 9.

[FN#124] i.e. that he become my son-in-law.

[FN#125] It is a common Eastern practice to have the feet kneaded and pressed (shampooed) for the purpose of inducing sleep, and thus the king would habitually fall asleep with his feet on the knees of his pages.

[FN#126] Syn. whoso respecteth not his lord’s women.

[FN#127] i.e. a domed tomb.

[FN#128] Of a man’s life.  The Muslims believe each man’s last hour to be written in a book called “The Preserved Tablet.”

[FN#129] i.e, the Autumnal Equinox, one of the two great festival days (the other being the New Year) of the Persians.  See my “Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night,” Vol.  IV. p. 144.

[FN#130] i.e. heritage.

[FN#131] i.e.  The Emperor of the Romans of the Lower Empire, so called by the Arabs.  “Caesar” is their generic term for the Emperors of Constantinople, as is Kisra (Chosroës) for the ancient Kings of Persia.

[FN#132] i.e.  Shah Khatoun.

[FN#133] i.e. our power increased by his alliance, a. familiar Arab idiom.

[FN#134] In token of deputation of authority, a ceremony usual on the appointment of a governor of a province.

[FN#135] Or enigma.

[FN#136] i.e. if my death be ordained of destiny to befall on an early day none may avail to postpone it to a later day.

[FN#137] Of life.  See supra, note, p. 147.

[FN#138] The hoopoe is fabled by the Muslim chroniclers to have been to Solomon what Odin’s ravens were to the Norse god.  It is said to have known all the secrets of the earth and to have revealed them to him; hence the magical virtues attributed by the Mohammedans to its heart.