When a person goes to the house of another, to pay a visit, or for any other purpose, he never enters unawares; for this is expressly forbidden by the Kur-án:[323] and particularly if he have to ascend to an upper apartment; in which case he should call out for permission, or announce his approach, as he goes upstairs, in the manner which I have had occasion to describe in a former chapter.[324] Should he find no person below, he generally claps his hands, at the door, or in the court; and waits for a servant to come down to him; or for permission to be given him to seat himself in a lower apartment, or to ascend to an upper room. On entering the room in which the master of the house is seated, he gives the selám. The master returns the salutation; and welcomes the visitor with courteousness and affability. To his superiors,[325] and generally to his equals, he rises. Persons more or less above him in rank he proceeds to meet in the court, or between the court and the room, or at the entrance of the room, or in the middle of the room, or a step from the place where he was sitting: but often, to equals, he merely makes a slight motion, as if about to rise; and to most inferiors, he remains undisturbed. To his superiors, and often to his equals, he yields the most honourable place, which is a corner of the deewán: it is that corner which is to the right of a person facing the upper end of the room. This end of the room is called the “sadr;” and the whole of the seat which extends along it is more honourable than those which extend along the sides; each of which is called “gemb.” Visitors inferior in rank to the master of the house never seat themselves at the upper end, unless invited to do so by him; and when so invited, they often decline the offered honour. His equals sit at their ease, cross-legged, or with one knee raised; and recline against the cushions: his inferiors (first, at least) often sit upon their heels; or take their place upon the edge of the deewán; or, if very much beneath him in grade, seat themselves upon the mat or carpet. In strict etiquette, the visitor should not, at first, suffer his hands to appear, when entering the room, or when seated; but should let the sleeves fall over them; and when he has taken his place on the deewán, he should not stretch out his legs, nor even allow his feet to be seen: but these rules are not often attended to, excepting in the houses of the great. Various formal compliments and salutations are given and returned after the selám; and some of them, particularly the expressions of “teiyibeen” and “eysh hál’kum,” are repeated several times during the same interview.