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took up their abode therein. There the chief men of the city used to come to them every day and sat at their table, even to the comer and goer by night and by day.[1] Moreover, when there remained aught from their table, they distributed it to the poor and the afflicted and all the strangers in the mosques[2] would come and eat with them. So the report was noised abroad in the land of their generosity and bounty and they became in high repute and fair fame throughout all Baghdad, nor did any talk but of Zein ul Asnam and his bounty and wealth.
Now it chanced that in one of the mosques was an Imam,[3] corrupt, envious and despiteful in the extreme, and his lodging was near the palace wherein Mubarek
- ↑ Lit. “the thirsty one (es szadi) and the goer-forth by day or in the morning” (el ghadi); but this is most probably a mistranscription for the common phrase es sari (the goer by night) wa ’l ghadi, often used in the sense of “comers and goers” simply. This would be quite in character with the style of our present manuscript, which constantly substitutes sz (sad) for s (sin), e.g. szerai for serai (palace), szufreh, for sufreh (meal-tray), hheresza for hheresa (he guarded), etc., etc., whilst no one acquainted with the Arabic written character need be reminded how easy it is to mistake a carelessly written r (ra) for d (dal) or vice-versâ.
- ↑ The mosque being the caravanserai of the penniless stranger.
- ↑ The person specially appointed to lead the prayers of the congregation and paid out of the endowed revenues of the mosque to which he is attached.
