ne then
began to beat his breast vigorously. The excitement at last became intense
and the men in the rows looked like so many wild creatures."

In some cases blood has been known to flow from the breast, so severe is
the self-inflicted beating. This continues till they are well-nigh
exhausted, when the whole company goes away to repeat the performance over
again in some other 'Ashur Khana. A devout person will visit several each
evening. During the day some pious Shia'hs recite the Quran.

During this season women who can read, visit the Zananas and chant Marsiyas
to the ladies of the Harem, by whom this season of Muharram is celebrated
with great earnestness.

For the first six days, nothing else takes place, but on the {240} seventh
day the 'Alam-i-Qasim is taken out in public procession. This is to
represent the marriage of Qasim, the son of Hasan, to the favourite
daughter of Husain, just before the death of the latter. The event is now
commemorated by the bearing of Qasim's standard in procession. It is
usually borne by a man on horseback. If it is carried by a man on foot, he
reels about like a drunken man to show his grief. The crowd shout out:
Bridegroom! Bridegroom! After perambulating the principal thoroughfares,
the people bring the standard back to its own 'Ashur Khana. As the standard
which represents Qasim is supposed to be a martyr, it is then laid down,
covered over, and treated as a corpse. Lamentation is made over it as for
one dead. Sherbet is then produced, and a Fatiha is said, after which the
standard is again set up in its own place.

The Neza, a lance or spear, with a lime on the top, to recall to
remembrance the fact that Yezid caused Husain's head to be thus carried
about, is taken in procession from one place to another. The Na'l Sahib
(literally, Mr. Horse-shoe) is the representation of a horse shoe, and is
meant to remind the people of the swift horse of Husain. Vows are
frequently made to this standard. Thus a woman may say to it: "Should I
through your favour be blessed with offspring, I shall make it run in your
procession." If she attains her wish, the child when seven or eight years
old has a small parasol placed in its hand and is made to run after the
Na'l Sahib.

If two 'Alams, or standards, meet, they embrace each other, that is they
are made to touch. Fatiha is then said and the respective processions pass
on their way. The Buraq, supposed to be a fac-simile of the horse sent