P. 9. THE RENDING ASUNDER.--_Reporters_: two angels who note respectively the good and the evil deeds and words of every man. * * * * * P. 13. THE BACKBITER.--This speech is said to have been levelled at a personal enemy. _Blasting Hell_, “El-Hutameh,” is the third stage of the Mohammadan Inferno. * * * * * P. 14. THE SPLENDOUR OF MORNING.--Evidently uttered in a time of despondency and with the intention of self-encouragement. * * * * * P. 15. THE MOST HIGH.--_The books of eld._ Mohammad asserted that his doctrine was a revival of the religion of Abraham and the patriarchs, as it was before the Jews corrupted it. * * * * * P. 17. THE WRAPPING.--A simile from the wrapping of a head in a turban. _Camels ten months_ gone with young were the Arabs’ most valuable property. _The child that was buried alive._ Infanticide of female children was among the crimes of the ancient Arab. _The Books_--in which men’s actions are recorded. _Stars that hide_, _i.e._ that set; or, as others say, “that retrogress,” _i.e._ the planets. P. 18. _Mad._ The people commonly believed Mohammad to be possessed with a jinni (or genius). _Pelted devil._ The evil jinn or devils are supposed to act the eavesdropper on the confines of heaven, and to be driven away by shooting stars. _A reminder_, _scil._, of the true religion of Abraham and the prophets, which men had forgotten. Cf. LANE: _Selections from the Kur-ān_, lxxxi. 15, 47, 48 (2d ed., Trübner’s Oriental Series). * * * * * P. 19. THE NEWS.--One of the many names which Mohammad employed to bring home to his people the reality and fearfulness of the Last Day. _Tent-pegs._ Mountains were believed to keep the earth steady, as pegs do a tent. * * * * * P. 22. THE FACT.--One of the names of the Last Day: the event which must inevitably happen. _Abasing_ the sinners, and _exalting_ the righteous. _Three kinds_: the “outstrippers,” the “people of the right hand,” and the “people of the left hand.” In the original the same word means “right hand” and “happiness,” or “good omen;” contrariwise, “left hand” and “misfortune.” Cp. the use of _dexter_ and _sinister_. An instance of Mohammad’s practice of playing upon the different senses of a word. _The outstrippers_, _i.e._ those who are the first to adopt the true religion--the prophets and apostles, who shall be rewarded by being allowed to stand nearest to God in the next world. The following fifteen lines describe their happy fate; after which, fourteen refer to the _people of the right hand_, or ordinary believers; and then seventeen lines to the _people of the left hand_, or damned. P. 24. _Zakkūm_: A thorny tree with a bitter fruit, which grows up from the bottomless pit.