248 HIKAYAT SAIF-AL-YEZAN. 



was written by Ham, the son of Noah. ' Tarikh' in this 

 place cannot have its usual signification of Era. D'Herbelot 

 says that the word is derived from the Persian ' Mahrouz ;' 

 and that it was a new importation into the Arabic language in 

 the early days of Islam, and not well understood; hence the 

 manifold significations which it acquired when used by Arabs. 

 It was Omar, the second Khalifeh, who first adopted the 

 Tarikh al Hejrah for the dating of documents. 



17. Kabeh. Lane generally spells this word 'Kubbeh,' 

 but sometimes 'kebeeh,' and even 'keebeh.' He says of it, 

 "Kubbeh generally signifies either a dome or a cupola* or a 

 building or apartment surmounted by a dome. It is also 

 applied to a closet, and to a tent." See Lane's '1001 Nights,' 

 Ch. ii, note 48 ; and his 'Modern Egyptians' p. 146 and 250. 



18. Saif-al-Yezan. Here, for the first time, the hero 

 receives the name which the Wezir Yasrib had foretold. 



19. Sahif Nabi Allah Ibrahim. One hundred portions 

 of Holy Scripture are said to have been revealed of old to 

 Adam, Seth, Enoch (Idris) and Abraham. To these the name 

 ' Sahif ' (pi. ' suhuf ') has been given. See Hughes 'Dictionary 

 of Islam' s.v. Sahifah. 



20. Drompet, i.e. trumpet. 



21. It is not easy to say what the author meant by 

 making Akileh avow the presence of the enemy in the country 

 when she had so recently denied it. 



22. la itu Mripada Antadi pada bumi. He is as one of 

 the pillars of the earth, i.e. in character and usefulness he 

 deserves to be counted with the four angels to whom that func- 

 tion is ascribed. See Hughes 'Dictionary of Islam' s.v. 'Antad.' 



23. Janganlah anqkau mmgulangi dengan pake. Lane, 

 who has pointed out several resemblances between incidents 

 in the Thousand and one Nights and points in this romance, 

 does not notice that a similar warning against the danger of 

 striking a second blow at a jin adversary occurs in the story 

 of Seyf-el-Mulook and Bedeea-el-Jemal ch. xxiv. 



24. This whole incident appears to have been introduced 

 for no purpose in the story. It gives the author an oppor- 



Jour. Straits Branch 



