applied to _Naushirwan_.--Vide note 3, page 13.

[227] _Ni'man_, also _Nu'man_, the name of an ancient king of _Hirat_,
in Arabia.

[228] The first day of the new year, which is celebrated with great
splendour and rejoicings.

[229] The _Brahmans_, erroneously called Bramins, do not eat meat.

[230] Literally, "she would have repeated the _Kalima_," or "Confession
of Faith" of the followers of _Muhammad_, which is as follows:--"There
is no God but God, and _Muhammad_ is his prophet." Some profane wags
have parodied this creed into a Jewish one, viz.--"There ish no God
but the monish, and shent per shent (cent. per cent.) ish hish prophet"
(profit.)

[231] The common mode to present large sums in specie to princely
visitors, is to form a platform with the money, spread the _masnad_
on it, and place the visitor on the rich seat. Mr. Smith states that
he had himself seen _Asafu-d-Daula_, the then _Nawwab_ of Lucknow,
receive a lack of rupees in this way from _Almas_, one of his eunuchs.

[232] _Chand-rat_, is applied to the night on which the new moon is
first visible, which night, together with the following day till
sunset, constitutes the _pahli tarikh_, or _ghurra_, that is the
first of the lunar month.

[233] _Ramazan_ is the ninth _Muhammadan_ month, during which they
keep Lent. Vide note, p. 59.

[234] The _'Id_ is the grand festival after the Lent of _Ramazan_ is
over. There is another _'Id_, called _Al-Kurban_, in commemoration of
Abraham's meditated sacrifice of his son Isaac, or as the _Muhammadans_
believe of his son Ishmael.

[235] Literally, "having washed my hands of my life."

[236] _Rustam_, a brave and famous hero of Persia, whose Herculean
achievements are celebrated in the _Shah-Nama_.

[237] Literally, "a _salam_ as low as the carpet;" or as we say,
"a bow to the ground."

[238] The various editions of the text read _tunna_, "a particular
kind of tree." In one of my MSS., however, the reading is _tane_, the
inflected form of _tana_, the "trunk of a tree," which is better sense.

[239] Literally, "the parrot of my hand flew away."

[240] The _Muhammadans_ reckon a hundred and twenty years as the
_'umri tabi'i_, or the natural period of man's life.

[241] The mountain of _Kaf_, is the celebrated abode of the _jinns_,
_paris_, and _divs_, and all the fabulous beings of oriental
romance. The _Muhammadans_, as of yore all good Christians,
believe that the earth is a flat circular plane;