[FN#180] Breslau Text, pp. 402-412.
[FN#181] i.e. on an island between two branches of the Nile.
[FN#182] It is not plain what Khalif is here meant, though it is evident, from the context, that an Egyptian prince is referred to, unless the story is told of the Abbaside Khalif El Mamoun, son of Er Reshid (A.D. 813-33), during his temporary residence in Egypt, which he is said to have visited. This is, however, unlikely, as his character was the reverse of sanguinary; besides, El Mamoun was not his name, but his title (Aboulabbas Abdallah El Mamoun Billah). Two Khalifs of Egypt assumed the title of El Hakim bi Amrillah (He who rules or decrees by or in accordance with the commandment of God), i.e. the Fatimite Abou Ali El Mensour (A.D. 995-1021), and the faineant Abbaside Aboulabbas Ahmed (A.D. 1261-1301); but neither of these was named El Mamoun. It is probable, however, that the first named is the prince referred to in the story, the latter having neither the power nor the inclination for such wholesale massacres as that described in the text, which are perfectly in character with the brutal and fantastic nature of the founder of the Druse religion.
[FN#183] i.e. the well-known island of that name (The Garden).
[FN#184] i.e. "whatever may betide" or "will I, nill I"?
[FN#185] Lit. she was cut off or cut herself off.
[FN#186] Lit. "The convent of Clay."
[FN#187] i.e. this is the time to approve thyself a man.
[FN#188] To keep her afloat.
[FN#189] Lit "Thou art the friend who is found (or present) (or the vicissitudes of Time (or
Fortune)."