It generally consists of five lines all rhyming except the penultimate.The metre is a species of the Basit which，however；admits of considerable poetical license；this being according to Lane the usual'Weight，'
The scheme is distinctly anapaestic and Mr.Lyall （Translations of Ancient Arabic Poetry） compares with a cognate metre，the Tawil，certain lines in Abt Vogler，e.g.
'Ye know why the forms are fair，ye hear how the tale is told.'
[136]i.e.repeat the chapter of the Koran termed The Opening，and beginning with these words，'Have we not opened thy breast for thee and eased thee of thy burden which galled thy back？ *** Verily with the difficulty cometh ease！'--Koran xciv.vol.1，5.
[137]Lane renders Nur al-Hud… （Light of Salvation） by Light of Day which would be Nur al-Had….
[138]In the Bresl.Edit.'Y Sal m'=O safety！--a vulgar ejaculation.
[139]A favourite idiom meaning from the mischief which may （or will） come from the Queen.
[140]He is not strong-minded but his feminine persistency of purpose，likest to that of a sitting hen，is confirmed by the'Consolations of religion.' The character is delicately drawn.
[141]In token that she intended to act like a man.
[142]This is not rare even in real life： Moslem women often hide and change their names for superstitious reasons，from the husband and his family.
[143]Arab.'Sabab'which also means cause.Vol.ii.14.
There is the same metaphorical use of'Habl'= cord and cause.
[144]Arab.'Him…，'a word often occurring in Arab poetry；domain，a pasture or watered land forcibly kept as far as a dog's bark would sound by some masterful chief like'King Kulayb.'（See vol.ii.77.） This tenure was forbidden by Mohammed except for Allah and the Apostle （i.e.himself）.Lane translates it'asylum.'
[145]She was a maid and had long been of marriageable age.
[146]The young man had evidently'kissed the Blarney stone'；
but the flattery is the more telling as he speaks from the heart.
[147]'Inshallah'here being= D.V.
[148]i.e.The'Place of Light'（Pharos），or of Splendour.
Here we find that Hasan's wife is the youngest sister，but with an extraordinary resemblance to the eldest，a very masterful young person.The anagnorisis is admirably well managed.
[149]i.e.the sweetmeats of the feast provided for the returning traveller.The old woman （like others） cannot resist the temptation of a young man's lips.Happily for him she goes so far and no farther.
[150]The first，fourth，fifth and last names have already occurred： the others are in order，Star o' Morn，Sun of Undtirn and Honour of Maidenhood.They are not merely fanciful，but are still used in Egypt and Syria.
[151]Arab.'F jirah'and elsewhere'Ahirah，'=whore and strumpet used often in loose talk as mere abuse without special meaning.
[152]This to Westerns would seem a most improbable detail；but Easterns have their own ideas concerning'Al-Muhabbat al-ghariziyah'=natural affection，blood speaking to blood，etc.
[153]One of the Hells （see vol.iv.143）.Here it may be advisable to give the names of the Seven Heavens （which are evidently based upon Ptolemaic astronomy） and which correspond with the Seven Hells after the fashion of Arabian system-mania.
（1） Dar al-Jal l （House of Glory） made of pearls；（2） D r al-Sal m （of Rest），rubies and jacinths；（3） Jannat al-Maaw （Garden of Mansions，not'of mirrors，'as Herklots has it，p.98），made of yellow copper；（4） Jannat al-Khuld （of Eternity）；yellow coral；（5） Jannat al-Na'im （of Delights），white diamond；
（6） Jannat al-Firdaus （of Paradise），red gold；and （7） Jannat al-'Adn （of Eden，or Al-Kar r= of everlasting abode，which some make No.8），of red pearls or pure musk.The seven Hells are given in vol.v.241；they are intended for Moslems （Jahannam）；
Christians （Laz…）；Jews （Hutamah）；Sabians （Sa'ir）；Guebles （Sakar）；Pagans or idolaters （Jahim）；and Hypocrites （H wiyah）.
[154]Arab.''Atb，'more literally='blame，''reproach.'
[155]Bresl.Edit.In the Mac.'it returned to the place whence I had brought it'--an inferior reading.
[156]The dreams play an important part in the Romances of Chivalry，e.g.the dream of King Perion in Amadis de Gaul，chapt.ii.（London；Longmans，1803）.
[157]Amongst Moslems bastardy is a sore offence and a love-child is exceedingly rare.The girl is not only carefully guarded but she also guards herself knowing that otherwise she will not find a husband.Hence seduction is all but unknown.The wife is equally well guarded and lacks opportunities hence adultery is found difficult except in books.Of the Ibn （or Walad） Har m （bastard as opposed to the Ibn Hal l） the proverb says，'This child is not thine，so the madder he be the more is thy glee！'Yet strange to say public prostitution has never been wholly abolished in Al-Islam.Al-Mas'ādi tells us that in Arabia were public prostitutes'（Bagh y ），even before the days of the Apostle，who affected certain quarters as in our day the Tartāshah of Alexandria and the Hosh Bardak of Cairo.Here says Herr Carlo Landberg （p.57，Syrian Proverbs）'Elles parlent une langue toute … elle.' So pretentious and dogmatic a writer as the author of Proverbes et Dictons de la Province de Syrie，ought surely to have known that the Hosh Bardak is the head-quarters of the Cairene Gypsies.This author，who seems to write in order to learn，reminds me of an acute Oxonian undergraduate of my day who，when advised to take a'coach，'became a'coach'himself.
[158]These lines occur in vol.vii.p.340.I quote Mr.Payne.