CHAPTER III
18. 15. toute la noblesse de sa race. See note to page 7, line 14, on the Bédouins.
19. 13. le meilleur usage d'un chapelet. See note to page 4, line 28.
20. 12. fait dix caravanes, as one says faire une campagne, in the sensé of prendre part à.
20-21. les cinq prières. Prayer is the second of the nve foundations or " pillars " of practical religion in Islam or Mohammedanism and is a devotional exercise which every Muslim or Mohammedan is required to render to God at least nve times a day, namely, at the early morning, midday, afternoon, evening, and night. The tradition regarding the institution of prayers is interesting. It runs thus: "The divine injunctions for prayers were originally fifty times a day, and as I [Mohammed] passed Moses [in heaven, during my ascent], Moses said to me: ' What hâve you been ordered? " I replied ' Fifty times.' Then Moses said ' Verily your people will never be able to bear it, for I tried the children of Israël with fifty times a day but they could not manage it.' Then I returned to the Lord and I asked for some remission, and ten prayers were taken off. Then I pleaded again and ten more were remitted. And so on until at last they were reduced to five times."
les ablutions. Ablution is described by Mohammed as " the half of faith and the key of prayer." (Mishkat III, 3.) They are ordered in the Koran, Y, 8. They are absolutely necessary as a préparation for the recita] of the liturgical form of prayer and are performed as follows: The worshiper, having tucked up his sleeves a lit tic higher than his elbows, washeg his hands three times; then lie rinses his mouth three times, throwing the watei into it with his right hand. After this, he, with his right hand, throws water up his nostrils, snuffing it up al the same time, and then blows it out, compressing his nostrils with the thumb and linger of the left
2l8 NOTES
hand — this bcing also pcrformcd three times. He thcn washes his face three times, throwing up thc watei with both hands. He next washes bis right hand and arm as high as thc elbow, aa many times causing thc water to run along his arm from the palm of thc hand to the elbow, and in thc samc manner hc washes thc Icft. Thcn hc draws liis wetted right hand over the uppex ]>art of his bead raising his turban and cap with his lcft. If he has a bcard, he then combs it with thc wetted fingers of his right hand, holding his hand with thc palm forwards, and passing thc fingers through his bcard from thc throat upwards. Ile thcn puts thc tip of his forefingers into his cars and twists them round, passing his thumbs at thc samc Unie round the back of thc cars from the boltom upwards. Next hc wipes his neck with thc back of the fingers of both hands, making thc ends of his fingers mect behind his neck, and then drawing them forward. Lastly, he washes his feet as high as the ankles and passes his fingers between thc toes. During this ceremony, which is gcnerally performed in less than three minutes, the intending worshiper usually récites some pious ejaculations or prayers.
21. 23. cheyk, or sheyk, or sheik, <>r sheihk, désignâtes in Arabia and other Mohammcdan countrics an old man or a chief, thc bead of a tribe or village, or again a very lcarned or devout man.
29. les quatre-vingt-dix-neuf noms de Dieu, thc ninety-ninc names of God expressing Ilis attributes. Mohammed is quoted as having said: " Verily there arc nincly-nine names of God and whoever récites them shall enter into l'aradisc." Such names are, c.g.: The Meru'ful, thc Compassionate, thc King, thc Holy, the . thc Faithful, and SO fort h. Sec note to page 4, linc 28.
22. 7 S. Après lui avoir montré comment on balance la tête et le corps pour aider la mémoire. It is a univcrsal custom among Arabian students, in memorizing the Koran or some other tcxl, to sit down on the floor and to sway back and forth the upper part of the body. This motion is supposed by them to hclp memory.
n. la valeur numérique de toutes les lettres. Sec note to page 10, line 21.
23. 3. opposé à ce qu'on fit d'Abdallah un savant. The full argumentation is giveu below, on page 81-2.
24. 2. Fattah. See note of the text, page 22. Al-fattah or more usually Al-falihah, "the opening one." A part of this chapter is quoted on page 174 of the text.
2-3. les courts chapitres des Hommes, de l'Aube du jour et de l'Unité de Dieu. They are the three last chapters of the Koran, each one of them having only about five or six verses. The chapters draw their titles either from their gênerai content, as Unité de Dieu, or often simply from a word that occurs in some of its verses, as Aube du jour and les Hommes. On page 170 of the text, parts of two of the chapters hère mentioned are quoted.
5-6. les chapitres des Femmes, de la Famille d'Amram et de la Vache. They are rcspectively the fourth (175 verses), the third (200 verses), and the second (286 verses) chapters. Concerning thèse titles see note above. The cow ( Vache) referred to, is one which Moses, according to an Arabian legend, had asked the Israélites to sacrifice. Amram (or Imram) is the name of two différent persons in Mohammedan writers, that of the father of Moses and that of the father of Mary, mother of Jésus.
20. Gabriel is the name of the heavenly messenger frequently named in the Old Testament. As Mohammed has borrowed a good deal of his matcrial from the Jews, \ve find that in the Koran also great prominence is given to God's function as the médium of divine révélation. According to the interpreters of Mohammed, it is Gabriel who is referred to by the appellations " Holy Spiril" and " Spirit of Truth" in the Koran.
26. les quatre grand devoirs. Thcre are really five. To the four which are mentioned further on in the text — praying, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage — ought to be added the récital of the Kalima, or short confession of failli.
27-28. les cinq prières de chaque jour. See note to page 20, Une 20-21.
28. l'aumône du quarantième. When the Ramadan (mont h of fasting; see next note) is over, on the thirtieth day (and not the fortieth day as Laboulaye bas in, the ceremony of the breakjng of the fast is celebrated (Id'ul l'itz). On thaï day the alms, or Sadga, are given before the prayer (Namaz) is said in the mosque. The Sadga is confined to Mussulmans: no Other persons re< vive it. If any one neglects to give their alms before the Namaz is said, he
will not merit so grcat a reward as he otherwise would. The reason assigned !<>r this îs that unless thcy are givcn carly in the day, the poor cannot refresh themselves before coming to the mosque for
UIKIZ.
28-29. le jeûne du Ramadan. Ramadan, or Ramazan, is the name of the ninth month of the Mohammedan year and is observed as a strict fast from dawn to sunset of each day. The observance of this month is one of the " pillars of practice" in the Aluslim religion and ils excellence is much extolled by Mohammed who said that during Ramazan " the gâtes of Paradise are open and the gâtes of hell are shut, and the devils are chained by the lcg; and only those who observe it will be permitted to enter al the gale of hcaven." The rules concerning the Ramazan arc found in the Koran II, 179-184.
29. le pèlerinage de la Mecque. Sic note to page 8, line 23-24.
25. 1. les sept grands péchés, . . . The names of the seven gréai sin> differ somewhat in the différent Mohammedan traditions. Hère is a passage from the Mishkat (Book I, chap. II), the besl known of those Books of Traditions: " Abstain ye from seven ruinous destructive things, namely: (1) associating anything with God, (2) magie, (3) killing any one without reason, (4) taking interest on money, (5) taking the property of the orphan, (6) running away on the day of battle [concerning this, sec text page 40-41, the full quotation from the Koran IV, 76-79], and (7) taxing an innocent woman with adultcry."
25. 20. quelques-uns de ces innombrables prophètes. It is related thaï Mohammed said (Mishkat XXIV, I, 3) that there were 124,000 prophets (i.e., any one directly inspired by God) and 315 apostles or messengers (i.e., one to whom a spécial mission has been entrusted in the world). Finally there were a few spécial messengers, such as: Noah, Abraham, David, Joseph, Moses, Jésus, and Mohammed.
We may note hère thaï the A.rabi< legends about the biblical characters axe mostly taken from the Jewish sources — Old Testament and later Jewish Legends — very few being independent and pr< [slamite. Mohammed collecled ail that was current and presented them in forma beat suited to bis purposc.
