2. AKHIR-I-CHAR SHAMBA.--This feast is held on the last Wednesday of the month Safar. It is kept in commemoration of the fact, that, as on this day, the Prophet experienced some mitigation of the disorder which in the next month terminated his life. Sweet cakes are prepared, and Fatihas in the name of the Prophet are said over them; but the most extraordinary custom is the drinking of the seven Salams. A plantain, or a mango tree leaf, or a piece of paper is taken to a Mulla, or a religious teacher, who writes seven short sentences from the Quran upon it. The writing whilst still wet is washed off, and the mixture drunk by the person for whom it was written. Peace and happiness are thus ensured for the future. The seven Salams are: (1) "Peace! shall be the word on the part of a merciful Lord." (Sura xxxvi. 58). (2) "Peace be on Noah throughout the worlds." (Sura xxxvii. 77). (3) "Peace be on Abraham." (Sura xxxvii. 109). (4) "Peace be on Moses and Aaron." (Sura xxxvii. 120). (5) "Peace be on Elias." (Sura xxxvii. 130). (6) "Peace be on you, ye have been good; enter into Paradise." (Sura xxxix. 73). (7) "It is peace till the breaking of the morn." (Sura xcvii. 5). The Shia'hs consider this an unlucky day. They call it "Char Shamba-i-Suri."--The "Wednesday of the Trumpet;" that is, of the trumpet of the last day. The Sunnis, on the other hand, rejoice in the day, and esteem it an excellent and auspicious season. 3. BARA WAFAT.--This feast is held on the twelfth day of the month Rabi'-ul-Awwal. The name is derived from bara, twelve and wafat, death, because many suppose that on this day the Prophet died. According to a well-known Muslim writer "the terrific intelligence, circulating throughout the world, produced universal consternation, and all hastened to offer to God their vows and prayers for the repose of the Prophet's soul." Others, however, maintain that he died on the second of the month and, as there is some doubt on the subject, many persons make a Fatiha {245} every day, from the first to the twelfth of the month inclusive. Those who keep the feast as Bara Wafat observe the ceremony called Sandal on the previous evening, and the 'Urs, that is, the prayers and the oblations, on the twelfth. The Sandal consists in making a perfumed embrocation from sandal wood. This is then placed into a vessel and carried in procession to the 'Id-gah,[253] or to the place where Fatiha will be said. It is then distributed to the people. It is a sort of public notice on the eve of a Feast day, or of a Saint's day, that on the morrow the usual prayers and offerings will be made in such and such a place. On the morning of the twelfth, the Quran is read in the Mosque, or in private houses: then food is cooked and Fatihas are said.