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Gabriel, or Jibrail, is called in Arabian theology Rû'h-el-Amîn, “the Faithful Spirit,” or Rû'h-el-Kuddûs, “the Holy Spirit.” It was he who delivered the Korân to Muhammad.

A commentator on this legend writes:— “Some say that Solomon brought these horses, being a thousand in number, from Damascus and Nisibis, which cities he had taken; others say that they were left him by his father, who took them from the Amalekites; while others, who prefer the marvellous, pretend that they came up out of the sea, and had wings. However, Solomon, having one day a mind to view the horses, ordered them to be brought before him, and was so taken up with them that he spent the remainder of the day, till after sunset, in looking on them; by which means he almost neglected the prayer, which ought to have been said at that time, till it was too late: but when he perceived his omission, he was so greatly concerned at it, that ordering the horses to be brought back, he killed them all as an offering to God, except only a hundred of the best of them. But God made him ample amends for the loss, by giving him dominion over the winds.”

Arafat is a mountain near Mecca, so named from the tradition that Adam, upon his repentance, was reunited there to Eve, after a separation of two hundred years.

The “Companions of the right hand” are so called because they will have the book of their good deeds put into their right hands in token of salvation; while evildoers will have their scroll of condemnation, at the last day, thrust into their left hands.

“Such, moreover, as of old time,” &c. These are the early prophets and holy teachers in all nations. The text of the Koran calls them “the leaders, the leaders!” that emphatic repetition denoting their dignity, and the assurance of their prominence in the final reward.

“Mawz-trees.” The original word talh' may mean either the plantain, or that acacia which has small round golden blossoms.

Sale has a citation upon these privileged attributes of the Houris. “Allah has created them purposely of finer materials than the females of this world, and subject to none of those inconveniences which are natural to the sex. Some understand this passage of the beatified women; who, though they died old and ill-favoured, shall yet all be restored to their youth and beauty in Paradise.”

“At Azan.” The time of the call to prayer, and especially after the sun has begun to decline.

“Michael,” or Mikâ'îl. The Archangel here named was especially the guardian of the Jews. The Israelites of Mecca told Muhammad that they would have received his Korân, if Michael instead of Gabriel had revealed it.

“People of the bench.” This was the name given to the poor persons whom the Prophet sustained by alms every day, and who used to wait for his gifts, sitting upon the bench outside Muhammad's house at Medina.

The very remarkable Sûra quoted here, entitled sometimes “The Brightness,” came to the prophet thus:— “It is related that no revelation having been vouchsafed to Muhammad for several days, in answer to some questions put to him by the Koreish, because he had confidently promised to resolve them the next day, without adding the exception, if it please God, or because he had repulsed an importunate beggar, or else because a dead puppy lay under his seat, or for some other reason; his enemies said that God had left him: whereupon this chapter was sent down for his consolation.”

“'Hadîth.” The traditional sayings which supplement the Korân.

“Zem-Zem.” This is the holy well at Mecca, within the sacred precincts, believed to be that very spring which was revealed to Hagar when she fled with Ishmael.

“Black Halîmah.” The Prophet was suckled by a Bedouin foster-nurse.

“Mikât.” These are the last six stages on the journey to Mecca. The i'hrâm, or “garb of sancitity,” consists of two wrappers without seams, one bound round the waist, the other passed over the shoulders. The tawâf is the seven-fold circuit of the Kaabah, made three times quickly, and four times slowly, by all pilgrims.

“Ye let stray your she-camels.” Nothing is held more valuable among the goods of an Arab than a shecamel near to foaling.

“Who killed thee, little maid?” This alludes to the ancient practice of infanticide among the Arabs, which Muhammad strenuously denounced.

“He saw it and he heard.” Alluding to the Prophet and his journey to Heaven.

“Al-Akhâf” is the plural of Hekf, and signifies “lands which lie in a winding or narrow boundary,” specially applied to a district in the province of Hadramaut.

—“Al-Kâuthar.” This word signifies abundance especially of good, and thence the gift of wisdom and prophecy. Or it may mean abundance of wealth, followers, and the like. It is here used of a river in Paradise, whence the water is derived into Muhammad's pond, of which the blessed are to drink before their admission. According to a tradition of the Prophet, this river, wherein his Lord promised him abundant good, is sweeter than honey, whiter than milk, cooler than snow, and smoother than cream; its banks are of chrysolites, and those who drink of it shall never thirst.

“Al-Târek” is the “star that appears” by night, i.e., the morning star.

“When the soul comes to the neck.” A Korânic phrase for the last gasp of death.

“Hilliyûn.” This means literally “exalted places.”

This is the 1st chapter of the Korân, which is also a prayer, and held in great veneration by the Muhammedans, who give it many honourable titles; as the chapter of prayer, of praise, of thanksgiving They regard it as the quintessence of the whole Korân, and often repeat it in their devotions both public and private, as Christians do the Lord's Prayer.

“The morning mills.” At daybreak in Eastern countries almost the first sound of awaking domestic life is the noise of the stones used to grind meal.

“The time for prayer,” says Professor Palmer, “is called from the minarets of the mosques by Muezzins or criers, in the following words:—‘God is great’ (4 times); ‘I bear witness that there is no God but God’ (twice); ‘I bear witness that Muhammad is the apostle of God’ (twice); ‘Come hither to prayers’ (twice); ‘Come hither to salvation’ (twice); ‘God is just!’ ‘There is no other God than God!’ In the early morning the Muezzin adds, ‘Prayer is better than sleep!’”

“The Mishkât-al-Mâsâbîh.” The book of the conversations of the Prophet.

Lailat-al-Kadr, “The Night of Power,” was that on which the Korân was declared to have been revealed.

“Al-Barsakh.” The Korân says, “Behind them shall be a bar, until the day of resurrection.” Upon this Sale writes:“The original word barzakh, here translated ‘bar,’ primarily signifies any partition, or interstice, which divides one thing from another; but is used by the Arabs not always in the same, and sometimes in an obscure sense. They seem generally to express by it what the Greeks did by the word Hades; one while using it for the place of the dead, another while for the time of their continuance in that state, and another while for the state itself. It is defined by their critics to be the interval or space between this world and the next, or between death and the resurrection; every person who dies being said to enter into Al-Barzakh. The commentators on this passage expound it as a barrier, or invincible obstacle, cutting off all possibility of return into the world, after death.”

“Birds.” If the departed person was a believer, the Muslims say two Angels meet his soul, and convey it to Heaven, that its place there may be assigned, according to its merit and degree. They distinguish the souls of the Faithful into three classes: the first of prophets, whose souls are admitted into Paradise immediately; the second of martyrs, whose spirits, according to a tradition of Muhammad, rest in the crops of green birds which eat of the fruits and drink of the rivers of Paradise; and the third of other believers, concerning the state of whose souls before the resurrection there are various opinions. Some say they stay near the sepulchres, with liberty, however, of going wherever they please; which they confirm from Muhammad's manner of saluting the dead, alluded to elsewhere.

The “ten holy eves” are the first ten nights of the sacred month of Dhu'l Hejjeh.

“Iram” was the name of the palace and pleasure-garden built by Sheddâd, son of Ad, in the desert of Aden. The story is related on another page.

The Thamudites of the Hadramaut having killed their prophet, were utterly destroyed by tempests, and their city depopulated.