7: The ass stands for Ra, the sun-god, and the eater of the ass
is darkness or some eclipse, represented as one of the foes of Ra, in
the vignette figured as a serpent on the back of an ass. Compare the
Babylonian myth of Marduk and Tiamat.

Footnote 8: The married name of Confucius.

Footnote 9: Compare the method of Socrates in the investigation of
truth.

Footnote 10: In the above four "difficulties," note the reappearance of
the law of reciprocity, the negative form of the Golden Rule.

Footnote 11: A technical name for China, which was supposed to be
enclosed by the four great oceans of the world. China is also called
"The Middle Kingdom."

Footnote 12: That is, those who have been invested with the sacred
thread, which is a sign of having been initiated into the paternal
caste. This ceremony takes place at the age of seven or nine years, but
is only observed by the three higher castes. It is to be compared with
the Christian rites of baptism and confirmation. Hindu boys, when
invested with the sacred thread or cord, are said to be born again.

Footnote 13: This spelling of the word ("Quran") represents the native
Arabic pronunciation if it be remembered that "q" stands for a "k" sound
proceeding from the lower part of the throat. The initial sound is
therefore to be distinguished from that of the Arabic and Hebrew letters
properly transliterated "k."

Footnote 14: The pronunciation heard by the present writer among the
Muslim Arabs of Egypt, Syria, etc. The word means literally "The Praised
One" or "The One to be Praised." The "h," however, in the word is not
the ordinary one, but that pronounced at the lower part of the throat,
as the Arabic equivalent of "q" is. Hence this "h" is transliterated as
"h" with a dot underneath it.

Footnote 15: All the suras, except the ninth, begin with this formula,
as, indeed, do most Arabic books, often even books of an immoral nature.

Footnote 16: Muhammad's uncle, who, with his wife, rejected the
prophet'" claims.

Footnote 17: A word-play, Lahab meaning "flame."

Footnote 18: Said by Muslim commentators to be one of the last ten
nights of Ramadhan, the seventh of those nights reckoning backwards.

Footnote 19: The earliest mention of the doctrine of abrogation of
previous revelations. When Muhammad was convinced that what he had
previously taught was erroneous he always professed to have received a
new revelation annulling the earlier one bearing on the matter.