NOTE 55. This passage deserves particular notice, as being one of those which assist us to form some opinion respecting the period when the present work, in the states in which it is known to us, was composed or compiled or remodelled. It is the same in all the copies of the original work that I have seen, and bears strong evidence of having been written subsequently to the commencement of the eighth century of the Flight, or fourteenth of our era, at which period, it appears, the Christians and Jews were first compelled to distinguish themselves by wearing, respectively, blue and yellow turbans, in accordance with an order issued by the Sultán of Egypt, Moḥammad Ibn-Kala-oon.[174] Thus the white turban became peculiar to the Muslims.--An eminent German critic has been unfortunate in selecting the incident of the four fish as affording an argument in favour of his opinion that the Tales of a Thousand and One Nights are of Indian origin, on the mere ground that the same word (_varna_) is used in Sanscrit to signify both "colour" and "caste." NOTE 56. The Muslims often implore the intercession of their prophet, and of various members of his family and other holy persons, though their ordinary prayers are addressed solely to God. The regard which they pay to their reputed saints, both living and deceased, as mediators, is one of the heresies which the Wahhábees most vehemently condemn. NOTE 57. This verse, translated from my usual prototype, the Cairo edition, is there followed by another, which I omit as being inapposite. NOTE 58. In the first of the notes to the Introduction, I have mentioned that it is a general custom of the Muslims to repeat this phrase, "In the name of God!" on commencing every lawful action that is of any importance; it is, therefore, here employed, as it is in many similar cases, to express a readiness to do what is commanded or requested; and is equivalent to saying, "I this instant begin to execute thy orders." NOTE 59. The condition and offices of memlooks, who are male white slaves, have been mentioned in the thirteenth note to the first chapter. NOTE 60. Eastern histories present numerous instances of marriages as unequal as those here related; the reader, therefore, must not regard this part of the story as inconsistent. [Illustration] [150] Sale's Korán, note to chap. xxxviii. [151] El-Maḳreezee's "Khiṭaṭ;" chapter entitled "Khizánet el-Kisawát." [152] Fakhr-ed-Deen, in De Sacy's Chrestomathie Arabe, vol. i. p. 32 of the Arabic text, 2nd ed. [153] Idem, p. 4 of the Arabic text. [154] D'Herbelot, art. "Bokhteri." [155] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chapter the seventh (MS. in my possession). [156] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chapter the eighth. [157] Idem, chapter the seventh.